That's because shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday voted to sell the entire business to the company that owns CBS, along with blockbusters like “Top Gun." Based on a preliminary vote count, Warner shareholders agreed to the proposed $81 billion buyout — valued at nearly $111 billion including debt based on Warner’s current outstanding shares.

While the deal still faces regulatory review, the megamerger would vastly reshape Hollywood and the wider media landscape, further consolidating power in an industry already run by just a handful of major players. Paramount itself was acquired by Skydance just last year.

Here's what a Paramount-Warner combo could look like for streaming, movies, news and more.

Streaming

Paramount Skydance would own both Paramount+ and, with the sale approved by shareholders Thursday, Warner's HBO Max. Company executives have said that they would combine these streamers into one platform.

What that combined service would look like (or be named) is unclear. But Paramount CEO David Ellison suggested that HBO could still have some level of independence, at least production-wise.

“Our view point is, HBO should stay HBO,” Ellison said during a conference call last month. “They built a phenomenal brand, they are a leader in this space and we just want them to continue doing more of it. But by bringing the platforms together, all of our content will be able to reach even a broader audience than we can do standalone.”

Warner and its HBO streaming platform have a powerful lineup that includes “The Pitt,” “Game of Thrones” and “Sex and the City." And beyond “Harry Potter,” Warner's library lists blockbuster films such as “Sinners,” “Barbie” and "Superman" (the company also owns DC Studios). Titles like “Top Gun," "Titanic,” “The Godfather" and “Yellowstone" fill Paramount's catalog.

In the U.S., according to streaming guide JustWatch, HBO Max controlled about 12% of on-demand subscriptions in the first quarter of this year — compared to 3% for Paramount+. Combining those two services would still fall slightly below Prime Video's 17% market share, and the 19% of the market commanded by Netflix. Disney owns about 27% of the market between Hulu and Disney+.

Beyond HBO Max, Paramount would also acquire Warner’s smaller Discovery+ streamer. And apart from Paramount+, Paramount owns Pluto TV and BET+, too.

Critics are skeptical of consumer benefits touted by Paramount. While company executives have continued to laud larger content libraries and the potential for Paramount to better compete with bigger rivals, a combination with Warner Bros. would mean fewer platform choices when it comes to streaming overall. Critics warn that could actually mean higher prices at a time when the price of almost all subscriptions continues to tick higher.

Moviemaking and theatrical releases

Paramount and Warner Bros. are two of Hollywood’s oldest studios. A merger would mean fewer companies control legacy film production.

Ellison has said the combined company to grow a slate to more than 30 movies a year, keeping Paramount and Warner Bros. as stand-alone operations. And in a star-studded CinemaCon appearance last week, he promised a 45-day exclusive window for films in theaters, pledging a “complete commitment” to the industry.

Still, others are wary about what further consolidation could mean for jobs and which projects are greenlit down the road. Regulatory filings have indicated that the new ownership will be looking for ways to cut costs — including layoffs and downsizing some overlapping operations. Paramount is taking on billions of dollars in debt to finance the deal.

Warner Bros. just had a banner year of both major blockbusters and critical successes. The studio racked up 30 Oscar nominations thanks to “Sinners,” “Weapons,” and “One Battle After Another” (which took home the top best picture slot). Paramount received zero. And in 2025, Warner Bros. movies — including “A Minecraft Movie,” “Superman” and “Sinners” — accounted for 21% of the domestic box office. Paramount’s market share was only 6%, driven largely by “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning."

The industry has already experienced a sizeable consolidation. Almost 10 years ago, Hollywood’s big six became the big five when Disney bought most of 20th Century Fox. And if the Warner sale goes through, a new “big four” era would be underway — with a bigger Paramount standing alongside Disney, Universal and Sony.

News

CNN would come under the same roof as Paramount-owned CBS. That would bring together two of America’s biggest names in television news, although whether CNN would continue to operate as a separate brand from CBS has yet to be confirmed.

Regardless, there is a lot of anxiety about Paramount taking control of CNN — a network that has long attracted ire from President Donald Trump and his allies. Critics point to Trump’s close relationship with the Ellison family, particularly billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who is putting up billions of dollars to back the bid by his son’s company.

Since coming under Skydance ownership less than a year ago, CBS has already seen significant shifts in editorial leadership. It's taken steps to appeal to more conservative viewers in its news operations, notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief of CBS News. If the company’s proposed Warner takeover is successful, many expect similar changes at CNN.

Some officials in the Trump administration have also made their opinions very clear about CNN's future ownership. In March, the White House attacked CNN for its coverage of the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran — and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters that "the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”

Ellison has said that editorial independence “will absolutely be maintained” under Paramount ownership. “It’s maintained at CBS. It’ll be maintained at CNN,” Ellison told CNBC's “Squawk on the Street” in March, while noting that his company wants to speak to “the 70%” of viewers who he said identify as center-left or center-right.

The acting head of the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division has also said that its regulatory review will not be political. Still, critics are skeptical — particularly following Skydance's acquisition of Paramount in August. That merger was approved by the Federal Communications Commission just weeks after the company agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit over editing at CBS' “60 Minutes” program. The president has continued to publicly lash out at “60 Minutes” programming since.

Other TV and cable networks

CNN is just one of the cable operations that Warner is selling. And the proposed merger would make Paramount's TV footprint even bigger.

The company also owns Discovery, TNT, TBS, Food Network, Cartoon Network and Animal Planet, among other networks — all of which would come under Paramount ownership if the deal goes through. Meanwhile, Paramount already has its own sizeable broadcast lineup. Beyond CBS, that includes Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central, Showtime and more.

The fires that spread this week during an extreme drought in Georgia and Florida have blanketed cities hundreds of miles (kilometers) away in smoke, leading to more air quality warnings Thursday across the Southeast.

Driven by strong winds and low humidity, the two biggest fires in southern Georgia have spread rapidly over the past two days and destroyed more than 50 homes in rural areas. But the growing threat led to more evacuations and school closings on Wednesday.

“I don’t know if I have a house standing or not,” said Denise Stephens, who was forced to evacuate because of the fast-moving Brantley County fire near Georgia's coast. "I know what it’s taken from other people, but I don’t know what I have left standing.”

The Brantley County fire, which has caused much of the structural damage, remained stable overnight, the sheriff’s office said Thursday.

“While this stability is encouraging, wind conditions remain unpredictable and could cause conditions to change rapidly,” according to the update, which said the blaze is about 15% contained.

It was not known yet how the wildfires started, but the bottom half of Georgia and northern Florida are both extremely dry.

The National Weather Service warned drivers in southeastern Georgia early Thursday that visibility could be down to a one-half mile (0.8 kilometers) on some highways as smoke from the wildfires moved across the area.

Visibility was especially poor in Clinch and Echols counties — near the Pineland Road fire, the state's biggest, the weather service said.

In Florida, firefighters were battling more than 130 wildfires, mostly in the state’s northern half. Those have been smaller than the fires to the north.

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Associated Press reporter Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed.

In a social media post Thursday morning, he said the military is intensifying its mine clearing efforts in the critical waterway. The move intensified the U.S.-Iran standoff in the Persian Gulf and raised questions about efforts to end the war.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it seized another tanker Thursday associated with smuggling Iranian oil, the Majestic X, in the Indian Ocean, deepening confusion over efforts to end the war. The seizure comes after a day after Iran attacked three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz, capturing two of them. Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime, with no end in sight.

Here is the latest:

‘Stable ceasefire and assurances’ needed for transit in the Strait of Hormuz

The chief safety and security officer in BIMCO, the world’s largest international shipping association, said Thursday that shipping companies need assurances from both Iran and the U.S. to transit the vital waterway.

Mine clearance efforts are also needed as they pose a “particular concern,” Jakob Larsen said in a statement, adding that the process of mine clearance could take up to several weeks.

Hours earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that the military is intensifying its mine clearing efforts in the strait.

The Strait of Hormuz remains fully closed Thursday as the U.S.-Iran standoff continues to intensify in the Persian Gulf.

Mourners bid farewell to a prominent Lebanese journalist killed in an Israeli airstrike

Dozens gathered in the southern village of al-Tiri as the coffin of journalist Amal Khalil, draped in the Lebanese flag with a press helmet placed on top, was carried through the crowd. People wept as mourners chanted “Death for Israel.”

Khalil, a reporter for the Al-Akhbar daily newspaper, was killed Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike on a house where she had taken cover while reporting on the Israel-Hezbollah war. Her body was retrieved from the rubble hours later. The Israeli military said the incident is still under review.

“This is not the first time that the Israelis have threatened Amal,” said her brother, Ali Khalil. “Three strikes within two hours or an hour and half is evidence that the Israelis intend to assassinate Amal Khalil.”

Amal had said in media interviews that she received threatening messages from an Israeli phone number. However, it wasn’t clear whether they came from the Israeli military, an Israeli official or individuals.

France is ready to host a Lebanon conference

The president of France says he’s willing to host a conference on supporting Lebanon’s army and helping rebuild the country’s battered south.

French President Emmanuel Macron said after talks with Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides on Thursday that the conference would take place when Lebanon deems it appropriate.

The conference would also aim to release additional European funding. Macron said he and Christodoulides support the idea of a European Union partnership agreement with Lebanon.

India says it’s ‘worried’ for its seafarers after vessels come under fire in Strait of Hormuz

India’s shipping ministry said Thursday it’s “worried about Indian seafarers” in the Strait of Hormuz after reports of vessels coming under fire in the region, though none have been injured.

Mukesh Mangal, Additional Secretary at the Indian Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, said two foreign-flagged vessels that came under fire had 22 Indian sailors on board.

“None of the Indian seafarer have been injured in the firing,” he said.

The ministry said at least 2,680 Indian sailors have been evacuated since the conflict began.

US stocks edge back from their records and oil prices yo-yo

The U.S. stock market is edging back from its all-time high following mixed profit reports from Tesla and other big companies. Oil prices are yo-yoing on continued uncertainty about what will happen next in the war with Iran.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% in the early going Thursday following a big rally that erased all its losses because of the war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 193 points, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%.

Oil prices wavered as uncertainty continues about what will happen with the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude rose 0.5% to $102.43 a barrel.

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Hezbollah says it attacked Israeli positions in southern Lebanon

The group said in a statement that it targeted Israeli soldiers in the southern village of Taybeh and downed a drone in Majdal Zone on Thursday. Earlier, the Israeli army said it intercepted an “aerial target” in southern Lebanon.

The group reiterated that its attacks, which resumed Tuesday, were in retaliation for Israeli violations of the 10-day ceasefire that took effect Friday. The Israeli army has been launching near-daily strikes on southern Lebanon since the ceasefire.

Israel has also been accusing Hezbollah of breaching the ceasefire.

Trump claims leadership rift is confounding Iran

“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!,” Trump said in a social media post. “The infighting is between the ‘Hardliners,’ who have been losing BADLY on the battlefield, and the ‘Moderates,’ who are not very moderate at all (but gaining respect!), is CRAZY!”

Trump has repeatedly said over the course of the ceasefire that began April 8 that his team is dealing with Iranian officials who want to make a deal, while acknowledging his decision to kill several top leaders has come with some complications.

He announced earlier this week that he was extending the truce to give the battered Iranian leadership more time to come with a “unified proposal” on ending the war.

Next UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon could be smaller than the current one

The head of the U.N.’s peacekeeping operations says he expects the possible replacement for its force in southern Lebanon will “probably be smaller” than the current one that’s been in place for nearly a half-century.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the UNIFIL operation, which has inhabited a tense zone where militants from Hezbollah and Israeli forces have battled repeatedly, has recently faced pressure from funding cuts.

The force’s mandate ends at the end of the year. U.N. officials are facing a June 1 deadline to present a proposal for the force that could replace it.

Trump threats against Iran are a boon for prediction markets, including some backed by his son

Will President Trump send troops into Iran? Will he rename the Strait of Hormuz after himself? Will he post again praising Allah?

No one knows the answers, but online betting companies that allow people to wager on Trump policies and statements are profiting — including some backed by his oldest son.

Prediction markets love the president’s unpredictability, his need to keep people guessing about his next move or social media post, leading to more wagers in these betting venues and more fees for them. That includes Polymarket, a company Donald Trump Jr. has a stake in, and Kalshi, a company he advises.

These sites have to come up with new betting lines on current events everyday, and Trump Jr.’s famously fickle father has proven to be a rich source of will-he-or-won’t-he questions.

When a wagering event on Polymarket asked whether Trump was likely to send troops into Iran, nearly 100,000 bets were placed April 8, leading to the biggest trading day of the year up to then.

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Trump orders the US military to ‘shoot and kill’ Iranian small boats choking the Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. president in a morning social media posting also said the military is intensifying its mine clearing efforts in the critical waterway.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be ... that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted. “There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now. I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!”

Trump likes a naval blockade. But Iran presents big differences from Venezuela and Cuba

President Trump has turned to naval blockades to pressure the governments of Venezuela, Cuba and now Iran to meet his demands, but his preferred tactic is confronting a very different reality in the Middle East than in the Caribbean.

Unlike Cuba or Venezuela, Iran choked off a crucial trade route for energy shipments, meaning the longer the standoff persists the more the global economy will suffer. Tehran also poses a greater military threat — beyond those posed by the adversaries in America’s own hemisphere — and requires a sustained military presence far from U.S. shores.

Iran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz gives it power during a shaky ceasefire because the widening economic risks — especially higher U.S. gas prices in an election year — could force Trump’s Republican administration to end its blockade on Iran’s ports and coastline, experts say.

“It’s really a question now of which country, the U.S. or Iran, has a greater pain tolerance,” said Max Boot, a military historian and senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

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Three killed inside vehicle in central Gaza Strip

An Israeli drone strike killed three men inside a car Thursday in central Gaza Strip, health officials said.

Those killed were taken to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. Two of them were inside the vehicle targeted on Salah al-Din Street near Maghazi camp, while a third was nearby, hospital director Raed Hussein told The Associated Press. Three others were injured.

The Israeli military didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

A fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire has held since October, but renewed strikes have killed 791 people and wounded 2,235, according to the latest figures released by Gaza’s health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll.

US military seizes oil tanker associated with Iran

The U.S. military seized another tanker Thursday associated with smuggling Iranian oil.

The U.S. Defense Department said it seized the oil tanker Majestic X in the Indian Ocean.

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” the Defense Department said.

The seizure comes after Iran attacked three cargo ships Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, capturing two of them.

The Defense Department released footage of the seizure of the vessel, showing U.S. troops on the deck of the vessel.

Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by American forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan, China.

The Majestic X is a Guyana-flagged oil tanker. It previously had been named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of American sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

“Iran relies upon a sprawling network of tankers and ship management firms in multiple jurisdictions to transport its petroleum to overseas customers — using tactics such as false documentation, manipulation of vessel tracking systems, and constant changes to the names and flags of vessels,” the Treasury said at the time.

There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.

Since the start of the war between Iran, Israel and the United States, over 30 ships have come under attack in the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman. The threat of attack, rising insurance premiums and other fears have stopped traffic from moving through the strait, through which 20% of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.

Iran’s ability to restrict traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has proved a major strategic advantage.

After the attacks Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Channel that American officials that Iran’s seizure of the ships didn’t violate truce terms because “these were not U.S. or Israeli ships, these were two international vessels.”

However, the ceasefire has been strained by dueling American attacks on Iranian ships and those by Iran on commercial vessels. It also remains unclear when, or if, the two sides will meet again in Islamabad, where Pakistani officials say they are still trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal.

Iran’s exiled crown prince splattered with red liquid

Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid Thursday as he left a building after a news conference in Berlin.

He waved to supporters in the aftermath and got into a car that drove away.

The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.

Pahlavi has been in exile for nearly 50 years.

His father, Iran’s shah, was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979, forcing him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future.

Iran’s exiled crown prince criticizes ceasefire

Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s exiled crown prince, criticized the ceasefire between the United States and Iran.

He argued Thursday that the agreement assumes the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you’re going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists.”

“I don’t see that happening,” he said during a news conference in Berlin. “I’m not saying that diplomacy should not be given a chance, but I think diplomacy has been given enough chance.”

Pahlavi has tried to position himself for a return to power should the Shiite theocracy fall and has supported the U.S.-Israeli military intervention in the Middle East.

Pahlavi called on Europeans to do more to support Iranian people fighting for democracy.

He claimed 19 political prisoners were executed by Iranian authorities in the past two weeks and another 20 people have been sentenced to death.

“Will the free world do something or watch the slaughter in silence,” Pahlavi wondered.

Pakistan interior minister meets US official

Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said in a statement Thursday he hoped for “positive progress” from Iran after a meeting with U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker.

The meeting in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad included discussion of diplomatic efforts related to a second round of U.S.-Iran ceasefire talks, which was delayed after Tehran did not confirm when it would send its delegation.

Naqvi said Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir were making efforts “at every level” to support a peaceful settlement and hoped all sides would give diplomacy a chance.

Naqvi praised U.S. President Donald Trump for extending the ceasefire, calling it a welcome step toward de-escalation.

Baker appreciated Pakistan’s “constructive role” in promoting peace, the statement said.

Iran hangs another member of exiled opposition group

Iran said Thursday it hanged another member of the Iranian exiled opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

The Mizan news agency of Iran’s judiciary identified the man as Soltanali Shirzadi Fakhr.

It accused him of cooperating with the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, without offering specifics. It also did not say when or where it arrested him.

Iran has accused many it has hanged during the war as having links to Israel. Activists say Iran routinely tries capital cases behind closed doors, uses coerced confessions and doesn’t allow the accused to properly challenge the evidence against them.

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

Per a preliminary vote count on Thursday, the overwhelming majority of Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders voted in support of selling the entire business to Paramount for $31 a share, the company said. Including debt, the deal is valued at nearly $111 billion.

Skydance-owned Paramount wants to buy all of Warner. That means HBO Max, cult-favorite titles like “Harry Potter” and even CNN could soon find themselves under the same roof with CBS, “Top Gun” and the Paramount+ streaming service. A greenlight from company shareholders increases the likelihood of that becoming a reality.

But the deal still faces ongoing regulatory reviews, including from the U.S. Department of Justice. Warner has said it expects to close the deal sometime in the third fiscal quarter.

Paramount’s quest for Warner has been far from smooth sailing. And while Warner's board now endorses the Paramount merger, it wasn’t always eager to enter this particular marriage.

Late last year, Warner rebuffed Paramount’s overtures to instead strike a $72 billion studio and streaming deal with Netflix. Paramount, meanwhile, went directly to shareholders with a hostile bid to take over the whole company, including the cable business that Netflix did not want.

All three companies spent months fighting publicly over who had the better offer on the table. Warner’s board repeatedly backed Netflix’s bid. But eventually, Paramount offered more money and Netflix abruptly bowed out of the race rather than prolonging the fight.

That corporate drama may now be over, but the implications remain. Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have voiced “unequivocal opposition” to the deal, in a letter arguing that further consolidation will lead to job losses and fewer choices for filmmakers and movie goers.

Some lawmakers are also sounding the alarm.

“What is at stake is clearly not just a corporate deal, but who controls news, who controls entertainment, who controls storytelling,” Democratic Sen. Cory Booker said in a “spotlight” hearing on the merger held in Washington last week. “It’s about the concentration and consolidation of cultural power."

The merger would bring together two of Hollywood’s remaining five legacy studios. It would also join two major streaming platforms — Paramount+ and HBO Max — and two big names in America's TV news landscape — CBS and CNN — as well as a heap of other brands and entertainment networks.

Company executives argue this will be good news for consumers, who they say will have access to bigger content libraries, particularly if HBO Max and Paramount+ become one streaming service. And Paramount CEO David Ellison has tried to assure filmmakers with a 45-day theatrical window guarantee and goal to release 30 movies a year between Paramount and Warner, which he's said will remain stand-alone operations under a combined company.

“I love cinema and I love film,” Ellison said at CinemaCon last week. "You can count on our complete commitment.”

But the new owner will also be looking to cut costs. Regulatory filings have already indicated that would include layoffs and downsizing some overlapping operations. And critics are skeptical about consumer benefits — warning of higher prices that could arise when it comes to streaming, and potentially less diversity in content down the road.

Then there’s the news. Since coming under Skydance ownership less than a year ago, Paramount-owned CBS has already seen significant editorial shifts, notably with the installation of Free Press founder Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief. If the Warner takeover goes through, many are expecting similar changes at CNN, which has long attracted ire from President Donald Trump.

Other questions of political influence have piled up. The Justice Department and company leadership have maintained politics will not play a role in the regulatory process — but Trump himself has publicly waded into Warner’s future at times, despite backpedaling on what he once suggested his personal role would be. Trump also has a close relationship with the Ellison family, particularly billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who is putting billions of dollars on the table to back the bid for his son’s company.

Meanwhile, Paramount has secured money from several sovereign investment funds — including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, as well as funds from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, per regulatory filings. But such investors will not have voting rights in a future Paramount-Warner combo, the filings noted. Paramount has not publicly specified how much they’re contributing.

Other countries, including European regulators, are looking the deal — and states could try to challenge it, too. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been particularly vocal about the transaction, and said his state is investigating it.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% following a big rally that erased all its losses because of the war and then carried it to records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 71 points, or 0.1%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% lower after setting its own record.

Tesla dragged on the market and fell 4.3% even though it reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Investors may be focusing instead on Tesla’s increased forecast for spending this year, as it builds factories to make robots and other products.

“You should expect to see a very significant increase in capital expenditures,” Elon Musk told investors late Wednesday, “but I think well justified for a substantially increased future revenue stream.”

ServiceNow dropped even more, 16.2%, even though its results for the latest quarter matched analysts’ expectations. The company has been under pressure, along with much of the broad software industry, because of worries that rivals powered by artificial-intelligence technology could undercut its business.

Analysts said investors may have also been underwhelmed by its forecast for a declaration in growth for an important measure of revenue.

Texas Instruments helped limit Wall Street's losses after breezing past analysts' expectations for profit in the latest quarter. CEO Haviv Ilan said the semiconductor company is benefiting from growth led by industrial and data center customers, and it gave forecasts for profit and revenue in the spring that cleared analysts' estimates.

The 16.6% leap for Texas Instrument's stock was the strongest single force pushing upward on the S&P 500.

In the oil market, prices swung higher as uncertainty continues about what will happen with the Strait of Hormuz. A ceasefire is still in place between the United States and Iran, but oil tankers aren’t able to get through the narrow waterway off Iran's coast to exit the Persian Gulf and reach customers.

The U.S. military on Thursday seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up the standoff a day after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards took control of two vessels in the strait. President Donald Trump also said Thursday he ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines to gum up traffic in the strait.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1% to $102.97 after bouncing between roughly $101 and $106 overnight. It’s unclear whether U.S.-Iran peace talks, previously hosted by Pakistan, would resume anytime soon.

More expensive oil has hurt airlines in particular because of the industry's already big fuel bills, and stocks diverged in the industry following the latest profit reports.

American Airlines Group rose 4% after reporting better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Even though winter storms hurt its revenue during the first three months of the year, American said demand was strong for flights, and it saw the nine best weeks for revenue intake in its 100-year history.

Southwest Airlines, though, lost 2.2% after reporting weaker quarterly results than analysts expected. It said it would not give an updated forecast for profit this year because of “the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.”

Also on the losing end of Wall Street was IBM, which sank 9.7% despite reporting better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than expected. Analysts said investors were focusing on some potentially discouraging numbers underneath the surface, including decelerating growth in trends for its software business.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.9%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 0.7% for two of the bigger losses.

South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.9% after the government reported better-than-expected economic growth for the start of the year, boosted by strong exports, particularly of computer chips used in the AI boom. Semiconductor supplier SK Hynix said its revenue for the latest quarter jumped more than analysts expected largely because of AI-related demand.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.29% from 4.30% late Wednesday.

A report in the morning said slightly more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, but the number is still at a historically healthy level. A separate, preliminary report on U.S. business output from S&P Global also suggested growth is improving a bit from its near-stagnation seen in March.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Trump’s post on social media came shortly after the U.S. military seized another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil, ratcheting up a standoff with Tehran over the strait through which 20% of all crude oil and natural gas traded passes.

“I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be...that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump posted. “There is to be no hesitation. Additionally, our mine ‘sweepers’ are clearing the Strait right now.”

“I am hereby ordering that activity to continue, but at a tripled up level!” Trump added.

He also said the military is intensifying mine clearing operations in the critical waterway.

The move comes a day after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards attacked three cargo ships in the strait, capturing two of them.

The Defense Department released video footage earlier on Thursday of U.S. forces on the deck of the Guinea-flagged oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized in the Indian Ocean.

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” a Pentagon statement said.

Trump claims leadership rift in Iran

Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by American forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan, China.

The vessel previously had been named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.

Trump this week extended a ceasefire to give the battered Iranian leadership more time to come with a “unified proposal” on ending the war, while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports.

There was no immediate sign whether peace talks, previously hosted by Pakistan, would resume anytime soon.

Trump, in a separate post on Thursday, claimed a leadership rift between moderates and hardliners was confounding Iran.

“Iran is having a very hard time figuring out who their leader is! They just don’t know!” Trump said.

Trump has repeatedly said over the course of the ceasefire that began on April 8 that his team is dealing with Iranian officials who want to make a deal, while acknowledging his decision to kill several top leaders has come with some complications.

Fragile ceasefire

Elsewhere on the diplomatic track, Lebanon and Israel were set to hold a second round of talks in Washington to discuss the possibility of extending a truce between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group.

The latest war between Israel and Hezbollah started two days after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran, after the Tehran-backed militants fired rockets into northern Israel.

In a new show of fragility of the ceasefire that went into effect Friday in Lebanon, Hezbollah says it attacked Israeli positions in southern Lebanon, targeting Israeli soldiers in the village of Taybeh.

Both sides have accused the other of breaching the 10-day ceasefire.

The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has choked off nearly all exports through the strait with no end in sight.

On Thursday, Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid as he left a building after a news conference in Berlin. The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.

During the event, Pahlavi criticized the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, arguing that the agreement assumes the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you’re going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists.”

Pahlavi, 65, has been in exile for nearly 50 years. His father, Iran’s shah, was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979, forcing him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future.

Threat to Strait of Hormuz shipping

Since the Feb. 28 start of the war between Iran, Israel and the United States, over 30 ships have come under attack in the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.

The threat of attack, rising insurance premiums and other fears have stopped traffic from moving through the strait. Iran’s ability to restrict traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has proved a major strategic advantage.

The ceasefire has been strained by dueling U.S. attacks on Iranian ships and those by Iran on commercial vessels. It also remains unclear when, or if, the two sides will meet again in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, where officials say they are still trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal.

The conflict already has sent gas prices skyrocketing far beyond the region and raised the cost of food and a wide array of other products. Officials around the world have warned the impact to businesses, consumers and economies could be long-lasting.

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Madhani reported from Washington and Keaten reported from Geneva.

The order signed by Todd Blanche does not legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use under federal law. But it does change the way it's regulated, shifting licensed medical marijuana from Schedule I — reserved for drugs without medical use and with high potential for abuse — to the less strictly regulated Schedule III. It also gives licensed medical marijuana operators a major tax break and eases some barriers to researching cannabis.

The Trump administration also said it was jump-starting the process for reclassifying marijuana more broadly, setting a hearing to begin in late June.

Trump told his administration in December to work as quickly as possible to reclassify marijuana. On Saturday, as the Republican president signed an unrelated executive order about psychedelics, he seemed to express frustration that it was taking so long.

Blanche said Thursday that the Department of Justice was “delivering on President Trump’s promise” to expand Americans’ access to medical treatment options. “This rescheduling action allows for research on the safety and efficacy of this substance, ultimately providing patients with better care and doctors with more reliable information,” he said in a statement.

What the marijuana reclassification order does

Blanche's action Iargely legitimizes medical marijuana programs in the 40 states that have adopted them. It sets up an expedited system for state-licensed medical marijuana producers and distributors to register with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

It makes clear that cannabis researchers won't be penalized for obtaining state-licensed marijuana or marijuana-derived products for use in their work, and it grants state-licensed medical marijuana companies a windfall by allowing them, for the first time, to deduct business expenses on their federal taxes.

Any marijuana-derived medicine approved by the Food and Drug Administration is similarly listed in Schedule III, it said.

Since 2015, Congress has prohibited the Justice Department from using its resources to shut down state-licensed medical marijuana systems. But the order nevertheless represents a major policy shift for the U.S. government, which has continued its longstanding marijuana prohibition — dating to the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 — even as nearly all the states have approved cannabis use in some form.

Two dozen states plus Washington, D.C., have authorized adult recreational use of marijuana, 40 have medical marijuana systems, and eight others allow low-THC cannabis or CBD oil for medical use. Only Idaho and Kansas ban marijuana outright.

The regulation of medical marijuana has come a long way since California became the first state to adopt it in 1996, Blanche wrote.

“Today the vast majority of States maintain comprehensive licensing frameworks governing cultivation, processing, distribution, and dispensing of marijuana for medical purposes,” Blanche wrote. “Taken as a whole, they demonstrate a sustained capacity to achieve the public-interest objectives ... including protecting public health and safety and preventing the diversion of controlled substances into illicit channels.”

The president of the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, Michael Bronstein, called it “the most significant federal advancement in cannabis policy in over 50 years."

“This action recognizes what Americans have long known, cannabis is medicine,” he said in a written statement.

Critic calls the order ‘a tax break to Big Weed’

The Trump administration’s decision drew derision from marijuana legalization opponent Kevin Sabet, the chief executive of Smart Approaches to Marijuana. Sabet said that while marijuana research is necessary, "there are many ways to increase our knowledge without giving a tax break to Big Weed and sending a confusing message about marijuana’s harms to the American public.”

“With this move, we are now confronted with the most pro-drug administration in our history,” Sabet said in a text message. “Policy is now being dictated by marijuana CEOs, psychedelics investors, and podcasters in active addiction."

Marijuana or marijuana-derived products that are not distributed through a state medical marijuana program will continue to be classified in Schedule I.

Schedule III drugs are defined as having moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence. Some critics of the industry have suggested that legalization in the states has led to stronger and stronger cannabis products, which need to be researched rather than categorized less strictly than before.

The efforts to reclassify marijuana

The Justice Department under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, had proposed to reclassify marijuana, eliciting nearly 43,000 formal public comments. The DEA was still in the review process when Trump succeeded Biden, and Trump ordered that process to move along as quickly as legally possible.

Blanche's order sidestepped the review process by relying on a provision of federal law that allows the attorney general to determine the appropriate classification for drugs that the U.S. must regulate pursuant to an international treaty.

It was unclear how the order might affect operations in states where licensed recreational marijuana shops also sell to medical patients. In Washington state, which in 2012 became one of the first states to legalize the adult use of marijuana, 302 of 460 licensed stores have endorsements allowing them to sell tax-free cannabis products to registered patients.

Many Republicans oppose loosening marijuana restrictions. More than 20 Republican senators, several of them staunch Trump allies, signed a letter last year urging the president to keep the current standards.

Trump has made his crusade against other drugs, especially fentanyl, a feature of his second term, ordering U.S. military attacks on Venezuelan and other boats the administration insists are ferrying drugs. He signed another executive order declaring fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction.

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This story has been corrected to show the name of the 1937 law was spelled Marihuana, not Marijuana.

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Johnson reported from Seattle.

A three-judge panel found unanimously there were “substantial grounds” to believe the ex-leader was responsible for dozens of murders, first as mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao and later when he was president.

Duterte, who served as president from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in the Philippines last year and flown to the Hague, where the global court is located. He denies the charges against him.

In their 50-page decision, judges found that the evidence shows that Duterte, 81, “developed, disseminated and implemented” a policy “to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals.”

According to prosecutors, police and hit squad members carried out dozens of murders at Duterte’s behest starting in 2011, motivated by the promise of money or to avoid becoming targets themselves.

“For some, killing reached the level of a perverse form of competition,” deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang told the court in pretrial hearings in February.

Estimates of the death toll during Duterte’s presidential term vary, from the more than 6,000 that the national police have reported to up to 30,000 claimed by human rights groups.

Prosecutors said in a statement on Wednesday that the decision “represents a significant milestone” in their effort to bring accountability.

Duterte's lead defense lawyer Nick Kaufman told The Associated Press he was disappointed in the decision, saying it “is based on the uncorroborated statements of vicious self-confessed murderers acting as cooperating witnesses.”

A date for the start of the trial has not yet been set.

Duterte has not been present in the courtroom for any hearings, having waived his right to appear. Last month judges found he was fit to stand trial, after postponing an earlier hearing over concerns about his health.

In the Philippines, families of slain victims in the brutal anti-drugs crackdown rejoiced over the decision, saying it will bring them closer to justice and toward a closure of a tragic chapter in their lives.

“This is for all the victims, who were not even given the chance to be recognized as victims because their stories were twisted in police reports, investigations and findings,” said Randy delos Santos, whose nephew, Kian delos Santos, was gunned down in an alley in August 2017 by three police officers.

“Unlike Kian, most other victims were nameless, voiceless and were just numbers and statistics whose horrific stories were never heard. Now the ICC will give their stories a chance to be told,” delos Santos told The Associated Press.

Human rights groups also praised the decision.

“Duterte’s trial will send a powerful message that no one responsible for grave crimes is above the law, whether in the Philippines or elsewhere, and that justice will eventually catch up with them,” Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch, said.

ICC prosecutors said in 2018 that they would open a preliminary investigation into the violent drug crackdowns. In a move that human rights activists say was aimed at avoiding accountability, Duterte, who was president at the time, announced a month later that the Philippines would leave the court.

On Tuesday, appeals judges rejected a request from Duterte’s legal team to throw out the case on the grounds that the court did not have jurisdiction because of the Philippine withdrawal.

In October, judges disqualified the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan from the case, citing a “reasonable appearance of bias” because he represented victims of Duterte’s alleged crimes before he took office at the ICC. Khan had already stepped back from his duties pending the outcome of an independent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.

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Associated Press journalist Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines contributed to this report.

Tilson Thomas had surgery for a brain tumor in 2021 and resumed his career, then said in February 2025 the tumor had returned. He conducted his final concert with the San Francisco Symphony in April 2025 and died at his home in San Francisco, spokesperson Connie Shuman said.

Tilson Thomas received 39 Grammy Award nominations, winning 12, and was among the Kennedy Center Honors recipients in 2019.

“It’s meant to have various intriguing and alluring, questioning things that you hear on first hearing,” he said of classical music during a 2004 interview with The Associated Press. “But by its very nature it’s holding a lot of other secrets or a lot of other perspectives much closer to its chest, which only with repeated hearing you start realizing are there.”

Tilson Thomas was born in Los Angeles on Dec. 21, 1944, to a family steeped in the arts. His father, Ted, was a producer at New York’s Mercury Theater Company, then worked in Los Angeles in the movie and television industry. His mother, Roberta, headed research for Columbia Pictures. His grandparents, Bessie and Boris Thomashefsky, were pioneers in American Yiddish theater.

He played piano at a young age and attended the University of Southern California. By the time he received a degree in 1967, he had worked with Pierre Boulez, Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

“I don’t fling the word genius around lightly, but I fling it around about Michael. He reminds me of me at that age, except that he knows more than I did,” conductor Leonard Bernstein told The New York Times Magazine for a 1971 profile. “Not only music, but things like the functions of the brain, cerebrology, physics, biochemistry.”

Tilson Thomas was the co-music director and then music director of California’s Ojai Festival in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was an assistant at Germany’s Bayreuth Festival in 1966, won the Koussevitzky Prize at the Tanglewood Music Center in 1968 and became a Boston Symphony Orchestra assistant conductor in 1969.

Tilson Thomas made his New York debut at Lincoln Center’s Philharmonic Hall on Oct. 22, 1969, as a mid-concert replacement for an ailing William Steinberg. Tilson Thomas led Robert Starer’s Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, and Strauss’ “Till Eulenspiegel.”

“A tall, thin young man, he came on stage with an air of immense confidence and authority, and showed that his confidence was not misplaced,” critic Harold C. Schonberg wrote in the Times. “He takes naturally to this music, as might be expected of a Tanglewood graduate and a pupil of Pierre Boulez.”

Tilson Thomas became the BSO’s principal guest conductor from 1972-1974 and was music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic from 1971-79 and a principal guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1981-85.

He helped found Miami’s New World Symphony in 1987 and served as artistic director until 2021. He was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 1988-95 and music director of the San Francisco Symphony from 1995-2020.

Tilson Thomas’ compositions include “Grace” (1988), “Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind” (2015-16) and “Meditations on Rilke” (2019).

His husband, Joshua Robison, died Feb. 22 while recovering from a fall suffered last August. They met while playing in the orchestra of North Hollywood Junior High School (since renamed Walter Reed Middle School), became partners in 1976 and married in 2014.

In announcing his final concert would take place in San Francisco on April 26, 2025, in a belated 80th birthday celebration, Thomas issued a statement acknowledging his mortality.

“At that point we all get to say the old show business expression, ‘It’s a wrap,’” he said. “A coda is a musical element at the end of a composition that brings the whole piece to a conclusion. A coda can vary greatly in length. My life’s coda is generous and rich.”

The shooting of Casey Goodson Jr. by former Franklin County Deputy Jason Meade, who is white, led to protests in Columbus and lingering questions, in part because the sheriff's office didn't equip its deputies with body cameras or dash cameras to record the killing.

The latest trial comes more than two years after a jury couldn't agree on a verdict in an original trial in which Meade faced the same charges. The judge in that case declared a mistrial in 2024.

Meade testified in that trial that Goodson waved a gun at him as the two drove past each other and that he pursued Goodson because he feared for his life and the lives of others. He said he eventually fired as Goodson entered his grandmother’s home because the 23-year-old man turned toward him with a gun. Goodson was shot six times, including five times in the back.

The Dec. 4, 2020, shooting happened as Meade was finishing an unsuccessful search for a fugitive as part of his work for a U.S. Marshals Service task force. Goodson was not the subject of the fugitive search, and the Marshals have said Meade wasn’t performing a mission for them at the time of the shooting.

Meade has since retired.

Goodson’s family and prosecutors have said Goodson was holding a sandwich bag in one hand and his keys in the other, having unlocked the front door, when he was fatally shot. They did not dispute that Goodson may have been carrying a gun, which he had a license to carry, but prosecutors have noted that Meade has been the only person to testify that Goodson was holding a gun.

Goodson’s weapon was found on his grandmother’s kitchen floor with the safety mechanism engaged.

Jurors in the previous trial deadlocked after one was dismissed during testimony and replaced by an alternate and three others were dismissed and replaced during deliberations, forcing the panel to restart deliberations multiple times. Court officials did not say why the jurors were removed.

No reason was given for the unexpected departure of the Navy’s top civilian official, coming as the sea service has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports and is targeting ships linked to Tehran around the world during a tenuous ceasefire in the war. Another Trump loyalist is taking over as acting head of the Navy: Undersecretary Hung Cao, a 25-year Navy combat veteran who ran unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and House in Virginia.

Phelan’s departure is the latest in a series of shakeups of top leadership at the Pentagon, coming just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George. Hegseth also has fired several other top generals, admirals and defense leaders since taking office last year.

The firings began in February 2025, when Hegseth removed military leaders, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy’s top uniformed officer, and Gen. Jim Slife, the No. 2 leader at the Air Force. Trump also fired Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Showing how sudden the latest move was, Phelan had addressed a large crowd of sailors and industry professionals on Tuesday at the Navy’s annual conference in Washington and spoke with reporters about his agenda. He also hosted the leaders of the House Armed Services Committee to discuss the Navy’s budget request and efforts to build more ships, according to a social media post from his office.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a post on X that Phelan was “departing the administration, effective immediately."

John Phelan had been a major Trump donor

Phelan had not served in the military or had a civilian leadership role in the service before Trump nominated him for secretary in late 2024. He was seen as an outsider being brought in to shake up the Navy.

Phelan was a major donor to Trump’s campaign and had founded the private investment firm Rugger Management LLC. According to his biography, Phelan’s primary exposure to the military came from an advisory position he held on the Spirit of America, a nonprofit that supported the defense of Ukraine and the defense of Taiwan.

The Associated Press could not immediately reach Phelan’s office for comment. The White House did not answer questions and instead responded by sending a link to Parnell’s statement.

Phelan is leaving during a busy time for the Navy. It has three aircraft carriers deployed in or heading to the Middle East, while the Trump administration says all the armed forces are poised to resume combat operations against Iran should the ceasefire expire.

The Navy also has maintained a heavy presence in the Caribbean, where it has been part of a campaign of strikes against alleged drug boats. It also played a major role in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January.

Hung Cao, new acting Navy secretary, ran unsuccessful bids for Congress

Taking over as acting secretary is Cao, who ran a failed U.S. Senate bid in Virginia to try to unseat Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in 2024. He had Trump’s endorsement in the crowded Republican primary and gave a speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention.

Cao's biography includes fleeing Vietnam with his family as a child in the 1970s. In a campaign video for his Senate bid, he compared Vietnam’s communist regime during the Cold War to the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden.

During his one debate with Kaine, Cao criticized COVID-19 vaccine mandates for service members as well as the military’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want,” Cao said from the debate stage. “What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them and ask for seconds. Those are the young men and women that are going to win wars.”

Trump and Hegseth have railed against DEI in the military, banning the efforts and firing people accused of supporting such programs.

When he ran for Congress in Virginia in 2022, Cao expressed opposition to aid for Ukraine during a debate against his Democratic opponent.

“My heart goes out to the Ukrainian people. ... But right now we’re borrowing $55 billion from China to pay for the war in Ukraine. Not only that, we’re depleting our national strategic reserves,” Cao said.

Cao graduated from the prestigious Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, before attending the U.S. Naval Academy.

He was commissioned as a special operations officer and went on to serve with SEAL teams and special forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia before retiring at the rank of captain, according to his Senate campaign biography.

Cao also earned a master's degree in physics and had fellowships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

Since becoming Navy undersecretary, Cao has championed returning to duty service members that refused a Biden-era mandate to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

“Q-tips actually say on the box, if you read it, not to put them in your ears,” said Dr. Kristen Angster, a Henry Ford Health ear, nose and throat specialist. “They are not safe to put in the ear canal.”

Q: I’ve seen some survey data that suggests as many as 70 or 80% of people use Q-tips despite your advice. Why do you think so many people just ignore it?

A: “I think, one, is that nobody really thinks they’re going to hurt themselves, even those who do, and I will tell you the number one thing people say when they come in with an eardrum injury is, ‘I knew I shouldn’t be doing it.’ I do, fairly often, at least a few times a year, see people for injuries to their eardrum from a Q-tip, and it most frequently happens because they either get distracted while cleaning their ears and then bump their elbow on a door frame or something in the bathroom. Or someone else bumps their elbow while they’re cleaning their ears, and then they can cause a perforation of the eardrum.”

Q: What are your thoughts on ear candling, as it is a popular internet remedy?

A: “It is. It’s very popular on TikTok. I think mostly because when you open up the packaging afterward, there’s all this debris in there, and people think that’s coming from their ear, but mostly it’s actually the inside of the ear kindling device that kind of falls apart as it’s warmed up. But you can drip burning debris onto your face or onto your ear. So we really recommend against that, and it really hasn’t been shown to be very effective.”

Back to Q-tips: if you use them, don’t walk around with one in your ear and stay away from people that might bump you. Also, you really should avoid pushing the cotton swab into your ear canal; there’s a good chance that any wax in there will just get packed in tighter. When I use them, I mostly just dry the crevices in my earlobe, and I don’t use them inside the ear canal.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad said Thursday that it earned $1.7 billion, or $2.87 per share, but it estimated that merger-related costs weighed down the results by 6 cents per share. That's still up from last year's $1.63 billion, or $2.70 per share. And the results topped the $2.86 per share that the analysts surveyed by FactSet Research expected.

Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said the railroad continued to get more efficient during the quarter as it benefited higher rates even as it prepared its case for the merger. Vena said he's even more convinced now that creating the nation's first transcontinental railroad would be good for customers and the country because Union Pacific will be able to deliver goods more quickly at a lower cost.

“Service is going to be better. We provide more opportunity. We take trucks off of the highway and our employees are guaranteed jobs,” Vena said. “I think we’re more convicted now that this is good for country and good for Union Pacific. And financially, it is good for our shareholders.”

The railroad’s revenue grew 3% to $6.22 billion even though it hauled about 1% fewer shipments. That’s because the rates it charges continued to increase and the railroad benefited from fuel surcharge fees.

Union Pacific’s expenses also grew 3% to $3.76 billion.

The railroad affirmed its outlook for midsingle digit growth in its earnings per share this year in line with its long-term plan. It plans to invest $3.3 billion in its operation.

Union Pacific plans to resubmit its application to acquire Norfolk Southern next week. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board rejected the railroad's first request to approve the $85 billion merger because the regulators wanted more information. The STB hasn't yet decided whether the deal that would cut the number of major freight railroads down to five will enhance competition.

The deal has divided labor and the shippers who rely on both railroads. UP is already one of the biggest railroads and it serves the western United States. The nation's largest rail union and a number of the smaller ones supported the merger after Union Pacific promised that their workers would have jobs for life, but two of the other largest unions that represent engineers and track maintenance workers oppose it.

The railroads' customers are also split with trade groups representing chemical makers and agricultural businesses expressing concerns, but hundreds of other businesses lining up behind it. President Donald Trump has also said the deal sounds good to him.

Vena has argued that creating a railroad that stretches from coast to coast would be good for the economy because without the need for a hand-off between railroads in the middle of the country rail shipments would move faster, meaning it could better compete against trucking.

Unlike Cuba or Venezuela, Iran choked off a crucial trade route for energy shipments, meaning the longer the standoff persists, the more the global economy will suffer. Tehran also poses a greater military threat than those two adversaries in America’s own hemisphere and requires a sustained military presence far from U.S. shores.

Iran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz gives it power during a shaky ceasefire because the widening economic risks, especially higher U.S. gas prices in an election year, could force the Republican president to end the blockade on Iran's ports and coastline, experts say.

“It’s really a question now of which country, the U.S. or Iran, has a greater pain tolerance,” said Max Boot, a military historian and senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Iran presents ‘major differences’ from other blockades

The effectiveness of Trump's use of the world’s most powerful navy to block the trade of Iran's sanctioned oil and other goods is very much up for debate. But it certainly appears to be intensifying as the war grinds on.

The U.S. military on Thursday announced the seizure of another tanker associated with the smuggling of Iranian oil, a day after Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guards took control of two vessels in the crucial waterway.

Trump also announced he has ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats laying sea mines in the strait.

But the situation in Iran is not exactly analogous to what is playing out with the U.S. operations in Venezuela and Cuba.

Some experts say Trump’s success in Venezuela likely had more to do with the U.S. military raid that captured leader Nicolás Maduro than American warships seizing sanctioned oil tankers to enforce U.S. control over the South American country.

A U.S. oil embargo on Cuba, meanwhile, has caused the island’s most severe economic crisis in decades. While U.S. and Cuban officials have met recently on the island for rare talks, the financial strangulation has failed to produce the Trump administration’s stated goal of leadership change.

“I do think that the success of the Maduro mission in Venezuela has probably emboldened the president,” said Todd Huntley, director of Georgetown University’s National Security Law Program.

That does not make the situations in Venezuela and Iran similar — geographically, militarily or politically. “There are some major differences,” said Huntley, a retired Navy captain and judge advocate general.

While the blockade against Iran has delivered a severe blow to its economy, including stopping freighters from importing various supplies, the country has still been able to move some of its sanctioned oil, ship tracking companies say.

Iran has rejected Trump’s demands to reopen the strait, where 20% of the world’s oil normally flows, and it has been firing on ships again this week. Stalled shipments through the strait have sent gasoline prices skyrocketing far beyond the region and raised the cost of food and a wide array of other products, creating a political problem for Trump before the November's elections.

“Blockades are usually just one tool of a mechanism used in a conflict,” said Salvatore Mercogliano, a maritime history professor at Campbell University in North Carolina. “They can be important. But it’s only one element. And I don’t think it’s going to be enough to convince the Iranians.”

Effectiveness of US blockade called into question

Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, claimed last week that “no ship has evaded U.S. forces." The command overseeing the Middle East said it has directed 31 ships to turn around or return to port as of Wednesday.

Merchant shipping groups are skeptical.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence said “a steady flow of shadow fleet traffic” has passed in and out of the Persian Gulf, including 11 tankers with Iranian cargo that have left the Gulf of Oman outside the strait since April 13.

The maritime intelligence firm Windward said this week that Iranian traffic continues to flow “via deception."

Iranian ships have several ways to sneak through the blockade, including spoofing their location tracking data or traveling through Pakistani territorial waters, Mercogliano said. He also noted that the sheer volume of shipping traffic the military needs to screen is a challenging task.

Blockades require patience to work

The last time the U.S. mounted a blockade similar to the one focused on Iranian ships was during the Kennedy administration in the early 1960s, against Cuba, Huntley said.

“And it wasn't even called a blockade,” he said. “We called it quarantine.”

Some naval blockades over the course of history have had an impact, such as Britain's blockade on Germany during World War I. "But they tend to be very long-term impacts, whereas Trump is looking for short-term, quick results,” according to Boot, the military historian.

He said Trump probably saw the blockade on sanctioned oil tankers tied to Venezuela as playing a large role in the success of leadership changes in that country. But Boot said it had more to do with the U.S. ousting Maduro and the subsequent cooperation from his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who is now the acting president.

“There is no Delcy Rodríguez in Cuba or Iran,” Boot said. “I think his success in Venezuela led him astray, thinking that this was a template that could be replicated elsewhere. He sees it as a huge success at little cost. And, in fact, it turns out to be a unique set of circumstances.”

The construction often requires archaeological surveys before the paving starts, and some of the latest discoveries have emerged along the BR-156 highway in Brazil's northern state of Amapa. Among the findings so far from nine dig sites: pottery vases that may be funerary urns, as well as small artifacts that resemble human faces.

“What we now about the region’s past is also tied to the opening created by these projects, which gives our relationship with them a somewhat ambivalent character,” said Lúcio Flávio Costa Leite, who manages the Archaeological Research Center at Amapa’s Institute for Scientific and Technological Research. “At the same time, the knowledge we gain about these sites leads us to pay closer attention to these regions, including by adopting permanent protection measures.”

Scientists say recent research has reinforced understanding of the region's past not as a human desert, but rather as a landscape shaped by interconnected societies long before Columbus arrived. The material found along BR-156, for example, included pottery in multiple styles and techniques that reflected influences from communities ranging from Brazil’s Para state to the Caribbean.

It's been cleaned and analyzed by a team working for the National Department of Transport Infrastructure. One of the archaeologists, Manoel Fabiano da Silva Santos, said the layers of the Amazon soil he excavated are a historic timeline.

In the upper layers, he found items such as Portuguese porcelain and nails linked to European occupation.

“Digging deeper, we uncovered pottery and ceramics associated with earlier Indigenous presence, marking the site’s transition before and after the arrival of colonizers,” Santos said.

The artifacts will eventually go to Amapa's state collection, overseen by Costa Leite, which includes about 530,000 pieces. The oldest piece is around 6,140 years old, confirming a long human presence across Amapa, he said.

The artifacts offer insight into how ancient Indigenous societies lived, died and interacted with the rainforest.

“Here is something I often debate with my students -- we usually think of technology as computers and microchips,” Costa Leite said, walking through shelves of ancient pottery. “But all of this required careful reading of the landscape and deliberate choices of materials.”

Indigenous design behind an intriguing monument

One of the most impressive historic areas in Amapa is in the city of Calcoene, where a 1,000‑year‑old stone monument made up of 127 carved monoliths arranged in a circle about 30 meters (98 feet) in diameter, set in open grassland amid the rainforest and bordered by a slow river.

Some have dubbed the Archaeological Park of the Solstice the “Stonehenge of the Amazon” for its resemblance to the British monument. Researchers found that the stones were positioned so that during the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere they marked the exact point where the sun rises, said archaeologist Mariana Petry Cabral, a professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais who was part of the team that began digging at the site some two decades ago.

“It’s hard to say exactly what all the stones mean, but what we do know is that they are not from the site itself. They were brought from other nearby locations,” she said.

Subsequent research and excavations found the site also served as a burial ground. Radiocarbon dating showed it was occupied for hundreds of years, beginning around 1,100 years ago, she said.

The site, discovered by scientists in 2005, can be visited with prior approval from Amapa’s Institute for Scientific and Technological Research. At the same time, the site is going through the process to become a national park, which will allow more people to visit.

Such archaeological sites are protected by Brazilian law, which prohibits them being altered. That adds a layer of protection for surrounding rainforest.

Ancient roads point to connected Amazon societies

Modern archaeological and historical ecology research shows that Indigenous peoples not only lived in the Amazon for centuries but also shaped it. They managed and cultivated the landscape through long‑term, sustainable practices, said Eduardo Neves, an archaeologist professor at the University of Sao Paulo.

Neves has studied the Amazon rainforest for more than 30 years and, since 2023, has led the Amazon Revealed project, which uses satellite scans to identify archaeological sites hidden beneath the forest canopy.

Scans have revealed roads linking archaeological sites and buried patterns in the rainforest that point to repeated occupation and deliberate landscape modification. Together, Neves said, the features suggest large settlements.

Archaeologists had long suspected such connections, Neves added, but technology has made it possible to see their broader geographic reach. The scans show networks of roads connecting clusters of settlements across the forest, most clearly in southern Amazonas state and Acre.

“When people think of an Indigenous tribe, they often imagine a small village isolated in the middle of the forest. But evidence shows a high degree of interconnectivity linking different settlements,” Neves said.

“Amapa is a key piece that helps us see how dynamic and active these populations were, and how they maintained networks of exchange that have been in place for millennia,” Cabral said.

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Felipe Campos Mello contributed reporting.

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

The EU also approved a new raft of sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine. The measures were prepared early this year and set to be announced in February to mark the fourth anniversary of the conflict, but Hungary and Slovakia opposed the move.

Hungary and Slovakia have been locked in a feud with Ukraine since Russian oil deliveries to the two EU countries were halted in January after a pipeline was damaged. Ukrainian officials blamed the damage on Russian drone attacks. Both countries confirmed Thursday that deliveries have resumed.

Ukraine desperately needs the 90-billion-euro ($106 billion) loan package to prop up its war-ravaged economy and help keep Russian forces at bay. Hungary angered its EU partners by reneging on a December deal to provide the funds.

“Today the Council approved the final element needed to allow for the disbursement of the 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine,” Cypriot Finance Minister Makis Keravnos said. “Loan disbursements will start flowing as soon as possible, providing vital support for Ukraine’s most pressing budgetary needs.”

“Promised, delivered, implemented,” European Council President Antonio Costa posted on social media, just hours before he was due to chair a summit of EU leaders in Cyprus, which holds the bloc’s presidency until June 30.

Pipeline breakthrough

The political greenlight for the loan package came after Russian oil began flowing to Hungary and Slovakia again through the Druzhba pipeline that crosses Ukraine. Populist Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico welcomed that development as “good news.”

“Let’s hope a serious relation between Ukraine and the European Union has been established,” Fico said.

Hungarian energy group MOL said it had “received crude oil at the Fényeslitke and Budkovce pumping stations earlier Thursday. Crude oil deliveries via the Druzhba pipeline system have thus resumed to Hungary and Slovakia after a hiatus of nearly three months.”

Ukraine and most of its European backers oppose imports of Russian oil which have helped to fund Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine, now in its fifth year. But unlike the rest of the European Union, Hungary and Slovakia still depend on Russia for their energy needs.

Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was recently defeated in an election, had accused Ukraine of deliberately delaying repairs — an allegation that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied.

Fico said Thursday he still didn’t believe the pipeline was damaged at all and alleged that the pipeline and oil “were used in the current geopolitical battle.”

Another EU voting hijack

The row has raised yet more troubling questions about decision-making in the EU, which can often be held hostage to national interests when unanimous votes are required. Several top officials have in recent months called for more majority voting.

The 27-nation bloc had originally intended to use frozen Russian assets as collateral for the loan. But that option was blocked by Belgium, where the bulk of the frozen assets are held.

In December, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia agreed not to stop their EU partners from borrowing the money on international markets as long as the three countries did not have to take part in the scheme.

But Orbán, who has repeatedly blocked EU aid to Ukraine, angered the other 24 countries by later reneging on that deal over the pipeline dispute and as campaigning heated up ahead of the April 12 election that he lost in a landslide.

More sanctions on Russia

The EU has also been trying since February to push through a new raft of sanctions against Russia to undermine its war effort, but Hungary and Slovakia were also blocking those measures over the oil feud.

The sanctions set up a ban on providing services, like maintenance or refueling, to ships illicitly transporting Russian oil. More than 40 ships believed to be part of Russia’s shadow fleet were also targeted.

Oil revenue is the linchpin of Russia’s economy, allowing Putin to pour money into the armed forces without worsening inflation for everyday people and avoiding a currency collapse.

Asset freezes were slapped on around 60 more “entities” – often companies, government agencies, banks or other organizations – adding to a growing list of more than 2,600 Russian officials and entities already under sanctions, including Putin, his political associates, oligarchs, and dozens of lawmakers.

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Spike reported from Budapest. Janicek reported from Prague.

This year’s main competition with 35 competing countries is scheduled to be held May 12-16 in Vienna.

Slovenia along with a handful of other countries — Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain — are boycotting because Israel was allowed to take part.

“We will not be broadcasting the Eurovision Song Contest," Ksenija Horvat, RTV Slovenia director told The Associated Press. "We will be airing the film series ‘Voices of Palestine,’ featuring Palestinian documentaries and feature films.”

Organizers of the song competition decided in December to allow Israel to compete, which prompted the walkout of Slovenia and other countries. Slovenia has been a vocal critic of Israel over its conduct of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The Eurovision contest strives to put pop music before politics but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It also has been roiled by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, stirring protests outside the venues and forcing organizers to clamp down on political flag-waving.

Nearly 250 pieces from almost 40 schools across the district. This partnership has been going on for 89 years now. It’s the longest continuous collaboration between the DIA and any educational organization ever.

The show runs now through May 24. And the best part -- if you live in Wayne, Oakland or Macomb County, it is free to see.

Ani Garabedian, the manager of community engagement programs at the Detroit Institute of Arts, joined Local 4 Live to talk about the exhibit.

You can watch the full interview at the beginning of this article.

Gyllenhaal, who most recently directed “The Bride!”, brought her directorial debut “The Lost Daughter” to the festival in 2021. Her adaptation of Elena Ferrante's novel, starring Jessie Buckley, Olivia Colman and Dakota Johnson, won the festival’s screenplay award that year.

“Maggie Gyllenhaal embodies an artistic path of uncommon consistency, constructed over time with intelligence and courage,” festival director Alberto Barbera said in a statement. “Having her as the president of our jury means being able to rely on an authoritative and independent voice.”

The jury, which will eventually be filled out with others in the international film community, is responsible for watching all the competition titles and assigning prizes, including the Golden Lion. Last year, Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” was awarded the top prize by the Alexander Payne-led jury over the likes of Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice,”Yorgos Lanthimos’s “Bugonia” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein.”

“Venice has always supported truthful, singular voices and I am honored to play a part in continuing that brave and necessary tradition,” Gyllenhaal said in a statement. “I will not be standing in judgement, but in curiosity, admiration and excitement.”

The 83rd edition of the festival runs from Sept. 2 through Sept. 12. Organizers typically announce the slate in late July.

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For more coverage of the Venice Film Festival, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/venice-film-festival

The Lyrid meteor shower began on April 16th and continues through April 25th.

The peak of the shower was April 21st into the morning hours of April 22, but you can still see some meteors over the next couple of nights.

HOW MANY

The Lyrids are known for being bright and fast meteors.

You’ll typically see between 10 and 20 meteors per hour during peak timing, but meteors are still visible outside of peak hours.

HISTORY

The Lyrids, which peak in April, are one of the oldest recorded meteor showers.

The earliest sightings of the Lyrids on record dates back to approximately 2,700 years ago by the Chinese.

VIEWING

The Lyrid meteors are best viewed during predawn hours away from city lights.

Especially since we’re now out of the peak time frame, you may want to lie down in a chair or on a blanket for viewing, as meteors may not be as frequent.

Look toward the eastern sky, allowing your eyes to adjust to the darkness for 20 to 30 minutes.

Tonight’s skies across Southeast Michigan will be mainly clear.

Thursday night will be partly cloudy, and although the meteor shower will continue, we expect more clouds and rain to move in for Friday night.

Meteors move quickly, so look for a quick trail of light through the dark sky.

You can watch the proceedings in the stream posted above.

Michael Lopez, 44, of Southfield, first encountered Melvindale police Officer Mohamed Said at 12:34 p.m. July 21, 2024, at a car wash near the intersection of Oakwood Boulevard and Clarann Street in Melvindale, officials said.

Said, 26, was called to the car wash and Lopez fled on foot, according to authorities.

While Said chased Lopez, Lopez pulled out a handgun and shot Said, police said.

Said died from his injuries.

Lopez is facing the following charges:

• Murder of a police officer -- a felony with a maximum penalty of life in prison.
• Felon in possession of a firearm -- a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
• Felon in possession of ammunition -- a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
• Carrying a concealed weapon -- a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
• Possession of methamphetamine/ecstasy -- a felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
• Possession of under 25 grams of a controlled substance -- a felony with a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
• Carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent -- a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
• Five felony firearm violations -- each two-year felonies, to be served consecutively.

On May 1, 2025, a judge ruled Lopez was competent to stand trial. Jury selection was held on Monday and Tuesday, April 20-21, 2026.

A powerful rainstorm drenched the Malabo sports stadium and the estimated 30,000 people who gathered before dawn for Leo’s farewell liturgy. But the deluge let up before Leo arrived in his covered popemobile for a romp through the deafening crowd.

Leo departed for Rome after a farewell ceremony at the Malabo airport, ending an 11-day, four-nation voyage that took him from Algeria in the north of Africa to Angola in the south and Cameroon in between.

Over that time, Leo covered more than 17,700 kilometers (about 11,000 miles) on 18 flights, including three on Wednesday alone that saw him crisscross Equatorial Guinea from the west coast to the far east border with Gabon and back again.

Leo gets wild welcome nearly everywhere he goes

Nearly everywhere Leo went, history’s first U.S. pope received a raucous welcome, especially in the farther away places that had never had a pope visit.

Popes have been traveling the world since Pope Paul VI made the first modern foreign visit in 1964 to Jordan and Israel. But it was St. John Paul II who revolutionized the papacy with his globe-trotting papacy that took him on 104 foreign trips over a quarter century, many with the multination itinerary on which Leo’s trip seemed modeled.

At Leo’s final Mass on Thursday, Michaela Mecha and her sister, Encarnacion, arrived at the Malabo stadium in the downpour at 4 a.m. They were dressed from head to toe in pope-themed attire, complete with yellow umbrellas decorated with Leo’s face.

“We feel very special and blessed that the pope has chosen our country,” said Michaela, who works as a nurse and brought her two young daughters with her. “This visit is bringing young people closer to God.”

In his homily, Leo referred to the April 17 death of the Rev. Fr. Fortunato Nsue Esono Ayíambeng, a member of the committee that organized the trip and the vicar general of Malabo.

“May full light be shed on the circumstances of his death,” Leo said, in apparent reference to rumors that foul play might have been involved.

A feud with Trump that lasted days

Few people could have expected that Leo’s trip, his first to Africa as pope, would have played out against Trump’s unprecedented attacks over the Iran war. But the timing was such that Leo was already in the media crosshairs when it began, and the exchange didn’t let up for days.

On Day 1, Leo insisted he was just preaching the Gospel of peace and wasn’t afraid of the Trump administration after Trump accused him of being soft on crime and cozy with the left. As the attacks continued and Vice President JD Vance joined the fray, telling Leo he should “be careful” when speaking about theology, Leo tried to de-escalate by blaming the media for taking his words out of context.

The initiative seem to have worked, as both Leo and the Trump administration moved on and the pope could concentrate on his Africa agenda. It was focused on rallying Catholics with a message of hope while also blasting what he called the “colonization” of the continent's natural resources by foreign interests.

A kaleidoscope of moments across four countries

The trip had its high-emotion moments, such as when Leo broke away from a choreographed visit to a psychiatric hospital in Sampaka, Equatorial Guinea, to greet the patients, one by one, and pose for selfies.

Another powerful moment came when Leo, whose ancestors include enslaved persons and slave owners, prayed the rosary in Muxima, Angola. The site of a onetime hub of the African slave trade is now Angola's most popular pilgrimage site after a reported vision of the Virgin Mary around 1833.

There were personal stops, too, such as when Leo visited with nuns of his Augustinian religious order in Bab El Oued, Algeria, and stopped at a table of jewelry made by local women. He picked out a necklace featuring a tree of life design and assured the superior, “It’s not for me, it’s for my niece.”

In Bamenda, Cameroon, he traveled to the epicenter of a nearly decade-long separatist conflict and begged for peace while lashing out at the “handful of tyrants” who were ravaging the Earth. It was that day’s news headlines that prompted Leo to come to the back of the plane a few days later and insist he wasn’t talking about Trump.

One of the most troubling events came in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, when Leo visited a prison. All the inmates, their heads shaved, were dressed in new neon orange or beige uniforms and new Croc-like rubber shoes. The facility had been recently painted salmon pink with fresh saplings planted around the perimeter.

The inmates stood silently in seemingly assigned spots in the open courtyard waiting for Leo. When he arrived, they sang for him a song about their sins. As Leo told them God loves them and spoke of their dignity, they danced for him and waved their Holy See flags in choreographed unison, as the heavens opened and a downpour drenched them.

As soon as Leo left, with the country’s justice minister still in the courtyard, the inmates broke away from their places into a raucous, dancing chant of “Libertad! Libertad! Libertad!” (Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!)

Milestones inside the papal bubble

The trip was so long that several milestones were crossed: Leo marked the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ death with an off-the-cuff tribute from the papal plane remembering Francis’ mercy and gestures.

Leo also offered best wishes to the handful of reporters who celebrated birthdays over the course of the trip, which were marked each time with the ITA Airways flight crew passing around birthday cake.

Leo’s mid-trip remarks to the press, as he traveled from country to country, gave the local media in the Vatican pool a chance to ask questions of interest back home. One nugget that certainly gave joy to Angolans was Leo’s revelation that Angola might have its first cardinal, not in the near future but “a bit further on.”

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Associated Press writer Monika Pronczuk contributed to this report.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Thousands of people were injured in the violence, with more than 800 people having gunshot wounds.

The commission chairman, Mohamed Chande Othman, said that the number of deaths was likely to be higher, because some families buried their loved ones without taking their bodies to morgues.

Tanzania experienced postelection violence on Oct. 29, after young people took to the streets, accusing the government of silencing the opposition, as the country’s main opposition party leader remained in prison for treason and the presidential candidate for the second-largest opposition party was barred from running.

The internet was shut down in the country for days, a move that President Samia Suluhu Hassan later apologized to the diplomatic community for and promised would never happen again.

Hassan was seeking a second term in office after serving out the term of her predecessor, John Magufuli, after he died in office. Hassan won with 97% of the vote, and some international observers said the election fell short of a free and fair vote.

Othman recommended that a further investigation be conducted on the use of firearms, as some of the witnesses told the commission that their loved ones were shot while sitting inside their houses.

Since the violence, 245 people remain unaccounted for, and 39 families reported having seen the bodies of their loved ones in morgues before they later disappeared.

The commission ruled out the presence of mass graves, as alleged by human rights groups.

The commission concluded that the demonstrations weren't peaceful but were “acts of violence” based on their contravention of laws requiring a 48-hour police notice and because it was an election day, thus denying some citizens the right to vote.

Othman said that the protests were planned and coordinated by people who had been recruited and trained, and violence occurred simultaneously in various locations to confuse the police.

Her nails are down to the quick, except for her thumbs, which feature inch-long talons covered in fancy silver swirls.

Unable to afford a new set of nails as Cuba’s economic crises grind on, the 56-year-old cafeteria worker opted instead to do her lashes, a cheaper alternative she hoped would draw people’s attention upward.

Severe shortages of water, power and money combined with a U.S energy blockade has deepened poverty and increased hunger across the island as severe blackouts persist. Even those who are more affluent are now eliminating long-established and often beloved routines as they adapt to increasingly dire realities.

“The Cuban woman likes to look beautiful — to do her hair, do her nails, do her feet — and wear perfume,” Zamora said. “I don’t look how I would like to look.”

Changes in beauty routines

Melina Colás knows the feeling.

The young manicurist who works in Havana recently got long braids to celebrate her birthday but quickly realized it’s a difficult style to maintain given chronic water shortages.

She used to wear her hair long and straightened but has decided to cut it and wear it natural, even though she thinks it would not suit what she called her short stature and round face.

“Before, you could do whatever you wanted,” she said of hairstyles when water was readily available. “Not now.”

Colás also has tweaked things at the salon where she works.

She has learned patience, aware clients show up late because public transportation is scarce.

And she now relies on a mix of water and vinegar in a spray bottle to offset water shortages – a concoction she said also helps soften clients’ cuticles and staves off a growing number of fungus cases because time between manicure appointments is growing longer for many.

“Some cases are critical,” Colás said.

She also lamented how the island’s economic crisis and shrinking budgets have led to a drop in customers, a trend that hairstylist Betty Ramírez Aldana, 50, also has noticed.

“It really came as a shock to me, because I’ve lost a lot of clients,” he said on a recent afternoon at a makeshift hair salon with bubblegum pink walls. “Normally by now I’d have five, six, eight clients. Look at the hour. And no one has showed up.”

The hair salon where he works recently spent three weeks without water, since electricity powers many pump stations on the island and severe outages are commonplace. He no longer can provide certain hair straightening treatments, so he offers clients options including flattering cuts.

“A lot of them have opted to embrace their natural curly hair,” he said.

An increasing number of women also have been forced to grow out their roots given a lack of gasoline and public transportation, coupled with withering budgets, Ramírez said.

Those who can afford it call him for home visits, with the original customer likely joined “by her aunt and the upstairs neighbor. I don’t serve one, I serve two or three,” he said.

A demand to lift the US energy blockade

Beauty aside, Cubans also are agonizing over being forced to cut corners on basic hygiene: some say they are washing their hair only twice a month, and clothes stay dirtier longer.

Antonia Isalgués Barrién, 60, who works for a state-run company running boats from eastern Havana to the heart of the capital, said she hangs her clothes outside every day after working on a boat because she doesn’t have water to wash them.

“It’s very hot here in Cuba; you sweat a lot,” she said, recalling how she used to wash clothes nearly daily. “I’ve never been forced to hang clothes in the fresh air… and then put them on again.”

Isalgués said she has noticed a surge in the number of passengers as a growing number of gas stations close and only a handful of public buses remain in circulation.

Cuba had spent three months without fuel shipments until a Russian tanker arrived in late March with 730,000 barrels of oil. It is expected to last only nine or 10 days.

Iván de los Ángeles Arias, a 44-year-old boat pilot, often boards the boat for a five-minute ride across the Bay of Havana, keeping his car at home for emergency use only.

“That’s the reality we’re forced to live,” he said. “You deal with it as best you can.”

U.S. diplomats flew to Cuba earlier this month to meet with top government officials for the first time since 2016 as tensions remain high between the two countries.

Cuba’s government has said that the elimination of the U.S. energy embargo was a top priority for its delegation, calling it an “act of economic coercion” and “unjustified punishment.”

In late January, just weeks after the U.S. invaded Venezuela in a move that halted critical oil shipments to Cuba, President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba, which produces only 40% to meet its needs.

The U.S. has called for an end to political repression, the release of political prisoners and liberalization of the island’s imploding economy as part of several conditions to lift its sanctions on Cuba.

Arias, the boat pilot, said he didn’t think the talks will change anything for him.

“I have no hope,” he said. “That means nothing if living conditions remain the same.”

Over 400 nuclear reactors are operational in 31 countries, while about 70 more are under construction. Nuclear power accounts for producing about 10% of the world’s electricity, equivalent to about a quarter of all sources of low-carbon power.

Nuclear reactors have seen steady improvements, adding more safety features and making them cheaper to build and operate.

While Chernobyl and the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan diminished the appetite for such power sources, it was clear years ago that there probably would be a revival, said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency.

With the war in the Middle East, “I am 100% sure nuclear is coming back,” he added.

“It’s seen as a secure electricity generation system, and we will see that the comeback of nuclear will be very strong, both in (the) Americas, in Europe and in Asia,” Birol told The Associated Press.

Nuclear energy reliance stays strong

The United States is the world’s largest producer of nuclear power, with 94 operational reactors accounting for about 30% of global generation of nuclear electricity. And it is increasing efforts to develop nuclear energy capacity with a goal to quadruple it by 2050.

“The world cannot power its industries, meet the demands of artificial intelligence, or secure its energy future without nuclear power,” U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas DiNanno said last month.

China operates 61 nuclear reactors and is leading the world in building new units, with nearly 40 under construction with a goal to surpass the U.S. and become the global leader in nuclear capacity.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has acknowledged that it was Europe’s “strategic mistake” to cut nuclear energy and outlined new initiatives to encourage building power plants.

Russia, meanwhile, has taken a strong lead in exporting its nuclear know-how, building 20 reactors worldwide.

Chernobyl’s Reactor No. 4 exploded on April 26, 1986, while Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. The accident contaminated nearby areas and spewed radiation across Europe.

Ukraine still relies heavily on nuclear plants to generate about half of its electricity. Those plants have played a vital role after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. Moscow's forces have captured Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Kyiv accused Russia of a drone attack on the protective containment structure covering the damaged Chernobyl reactor.

Japan has restarted 15 reactors after reviewing the lessons of the earthquake and tsunami that damaged the Fukushima plant, and 10 more are in the process of getting approval to restart.

South Africa has the only nuclear power plant on the African continent, although Russia is building one in Egypt, and several other African nations are exploring the technology.

“The momentum we are seeing today is the result of a growing recognition that reliable, low-carbon electricity will be essential to meet the world’s rising energy demand,” said Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

EU eyes nuclear expansion

Europe sought to wean itself off Russian energy after the Ukraine conflict, but its dependence on hydrocarbons was underlined by the war in the Middle East.

The European Commission has shifted its perception of nuclear energy and views it as part of clean energy, along with wind and solar power, to achieve climate goals.

In 1990, nuclear energy accounted for about a third of Europe’s electricity; now it's only about 15%, and von der Leyen has acknowledged that its reliance on imported fossil fuels puts it at a disadvantage.

“I believe that it was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable, affordable source of low-emissions power,” she said recently. “In the last years, we see a global revival of nuclear energy. And Europe wants to be part of it.”

The EU is considering the development of Small Modular Reactors. Expected to become operational in the early 2030s, they are seen as cheaper and faster to build and more flexible than traditional reactors.

France and a few other EU members, including Sweden and Finland, have spearheaded nuclear power. On the other hand, Germany, Austria and Italy are among the EU members that outlawed its use.

In a major policy reversal last year, Belgium repealed a law that demanded the closure of its reactors and extended their lifespan. Spain, meanwhile, still plans to phase out its nuclear capacity and shut down its seven operational reactors between 2027 and 2035.

France remains a nuclear powerhouse

With 57 reactors at 19 plants, France relies on nuclear power for nearly 70% of its electricity.

Successive governments have backed nuclear power as central to France’s energy independence, undeterred by the Chernobyl disaster. In 2022, President Emmanuel Macron announced plans to build six new pressurized water reactors, aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions and support the transition to low-carbon energy.

The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with the gas supply crunch triggered by the conflict in Ukraine, “revealed the limits of deploying renewable electricity and Europe’s dependence on gas,” said Nicolas Goldberg, a partner at Paris-based Colombus Consulting.

“France has therefore been reinforced in its strategy of maintaining its existing nuclear plants, which means extending their lifespan as much as possible,” he said.

Germany stands firm in phasing it out

Decades of anti-nuclear protests in Germany, stoked by past accidents, had pressured successive governments to end using a technology that critics saw as unsafe and unsustainable. Germany switched off its last three nuclear reactors in 2023, the final step in plans that had been drawn up by governments of various political stripes over two decades.

A significant nuclear revival in Europe’s biggest economy still looks far-fetched, despite recent talk among some in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right bloc about being open to a possible future generation of small modular reactors.

“The decision is irreversible — I regret it, but that’s how it is,” Merz said, noting the plant operators's "consistent answer was: ’We are too far along with demolition.'”

Russian domestic nuclear expansion and exporting reactors

Russia has aggressively expanded its nuclear power capacity both domestically and internationally.

It has 34 operational reactors, including eight Chernobyl-type RBMK reactors, known as the light water graphite reactors, which account for about a quarter of all nuclear power generation. They have seen extensive modernizations, adding safety features to fix the inherent design flaw that, coupled with human error, triggered the Chernobyl disaster.

Key projects under construction include new units at the Kursk, Leningrad and Smolensk sites, a prospective plant in the Far East, and prospective floating nuclear units.

Russia also is building 20 reactors in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and has signed contracts to launch construction in several other countries.

Russia has built the first nuclear reactor for neighboring ally Belarus, which has seen a third of its territory contaminated from the Chernobyl accident.

“Belarusian authorities are using the changed context and the so-called ‘nuclear renaissance’ to claim that we are acting like everyone else in the world, rather than solving the problems of Belarusians in the contaminated territories,” said Irina Sukhiy, founder of the Belarus ecological group Green Network.

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John Leicester and Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa and Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed.

In practice, he thinks one side has gained an advantage.

And it's not the guys throwing the baseball.

“It's what (MLB) wanted — people on base,” Sewald said. “Tough time to be a pitcher. Balls flying everywhere, you've got a smaller strike zone. But you just go out there and do the best you can."

So ... is Sewald right? It depends on which numbers you want to use, but it sure seems like the strike zone has shrunk.

Walks have skyrocketed to near historic highs through the season's first month. There's no direct evidence ABS is the reason for the increase, but as D-backs catcher James McCann said: “Of course it is. What other rules have changed?”

MLB players have drawn a walk in 9.8% of plate appearances this season through Wednesday's games, which would be the highest rate since 1950. The rate is likely to come down as the season progresses — pitchers usually have more trouble finding the zone during widespread chilly conditions in northern cities during March and April.

But even adjusted for the time of year, walks have made a massive jump from last season.

Everyone knew the strike zone would change. MLB had to re-write its definition of the zone to accommodate the shift to robot umpires. The Official Baseball Rules long described a zone stretching from the midpoint of the hitter's torso down to the “hollow beneath the kneecap.” The new zone is more precise. It starts at 27% of a batter's standing height and stretches to 53.5%. The ABS zone is 17 inches wide, matching the width of home plate. All pitches are measured at the midpoint of the plate.

The spike in walks doesn't tell the whole story about who is benefiting during the ABS era. MLB's league-wide batting average is down slightly to .240 through Wednesday, a few ticks below the .242 rate through last year's games in March and April. That pokes a hole in Sewald's claim that there are “balls flying everywhere.”

The difference in opinion is fascinating as MLB players digest the new rules and new data.

New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger isn't putting too much stock in the early numbers. He said hitters and pitchers are always playing a cat-and-mouse game, and there will eventually be equilibrium.

“I think there’s always an adjustment to something new,” the 2019 National League MVP said. “It’s also such a short sample size. It’s (20-25) games into the season, so numbers skyrocket both ways early on.”

McCann's not so sure. The veteran catcher said a smaller strike zone will inevitably lead to more walks.

“I think it's tighter in general,” McCann said. “Umpires are getting instant feedback on what's a strike or a ball and everything's becoming much more uniform. That's what the guys who had used it in the minor leagues told me was going to happen before the season started, and they were exactly right.”

Chicago Cubs star infielder Nico Hoerner had a slightly different take — arguing that hitters might be benefiting in the short-term by laying off pitches at the top of the strike zone — but that all adjustments have an expiration date.

“Getting on base has been emphasized for a long time,” Hoerner said. “Walking is incredibly valuable as a hitter. A lot of pitchers — their approach is to avoid slug at all cost. Sometimes that involves throwing less strikes. But I'm sure there will be a back and forth, just like every trend in baseball.”

If recent history is any indication, MLB rule changes can cause a lasting effect. There was a nearly 50% increase in stolen bases from 2022 to 2023 after a rules package introduced a pitch clock and limits on how many times a pitcher could make pickoff throws.

Stolen bases have remained high in the subsequent years — even after teams adjusted to the new rules.

And when MLB lowered the mound in 1969, the walk rate jumped from 7.6% to 9.1%. It dipped slightly after that but didn't return below 8% again until 2013.

Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough believes the ABS issue is a different animal. He's watching the trends and doesn't believe the higher walk rate is here to stay.

Who knows? The next five months will tell the tale.

“I think that we’ll get to a point where it gets close and stabilizes to what it’s been, where relievers are walking around 10%. Starters are going to be more around 8%,” McCullough said. “My hypothesis sitting here now early in the year is that by the time the season ends, (walk rates) will look very much like they have, say the last several seasons.”

___

AP Baseball Writer Jay Cohen, AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames and AP freelancer Larry Fleshier contributed to this story.

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

U.S. jobless aid applications for the week ending April 18 rose by 6,000 to 214,000, up from the previous week’s 208,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s slightly more than the 210,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting.

Filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

The Iran war, now in its eighth week, has injected a large degree of uncertainty about how it will affect the U.S. and global economies even as Iran and the U.S. remain under a ceasefire agreement.

U.S. financial markets have rebounded to record levels and prices for a barrel of U.S. crude oil have settled in around $94 per barrel. That’s better than the $112 earlier this month, but still 40% higher than before the war began. Gas prices also remain elevated, saddling businesses and consumers with higher costs.

The largest monthly jump in gas prices in six decades sent consumer prices up 3.3% in March from a year earlier, the Labor Department recently reported. That’s up sharply from just 2.4% in February and the biggest yearly increase since May 2024. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.9% in March from February, the largest such increase in nearly four years.

This comes at a time when U.S. inflation was already above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, further diminishing the chances of an interest rate cut by central bank officials any time soon. Lower interest rates can boost the economy and hiring, but also tend to fuel inflation.

Fed officials voted to cut rates three times to close 2025 out of concern for a weakening job market but have held off lowering rates further this year. The Fed meets next week to decide on rates.

The Labor Department reported earlier this month that U.S. employers added an unexpectedly strong 178,000 new jobs in March, nudging the unemployment rate back down to 4.3%. That followed a surprisingly large loss of 92,000 jobs in February. Revisions also have trimmed 69,000 jobs from December and January payrolls, a sign that the labor market remains under strain.

A number of high-profile companies have cut jobs recently, including Morgan Stanley,Block, UPSand Amazon.

Weekly jobless aid applications have stabilized in a range mostly between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. economy emerged from the pandemic recession. However, hiring began slowing about two years ago and tapered further in 2025 due to President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff rollouts, his purge of the federal workforce and the lingering effects of high interest rates meant to control inflation.

Employers added fewer than 200,000 jobs last year, compared with about 1.5 million in 2024, according to the data firm FactSet.

The American labor market appears stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state that has kept the unemployment rate historically low, but has left those out of work struggling to find a new job.

The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, inched up by 750 to 210,750.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending April 11 rose by 12,000 to 1.82 million.

Gates, who founded Microsoft, reportedly spoke “candidly” about his relationship to Epstein in a February town hall meeting of the influential foundation he started with his ex-wife Melinda French Gates. But the external probe marks the nonprofit's plainest attempt yet to address associations that have cast a pall over its efforts to end preventable maternal and child deaths and control infectious diseases.

The Gates Foundation said in a statement that CEO Mark Suzman, with support from Gates, commissioned an external review in March to assess past foundation engagement with Epstein and look at current policies for vetting and developing new partnerships. The Wall Street Journal first reported news of the staff memo detailing the review.

The philanthropic giant has already undergone a period of change. The Gates Foundation shared plans in January to cap operating costs and incrementally cut as many as 500 positions, or about 20% of its staff, by 2030. The move follows last year’s announcement that the foundation would close in 2045, earlier than previously expected.

The Justice Department's files include email correspondence between Gates and Epstein about philanthropic projects, calendar entries documenting dates they held meetings, and photos of Gates at events also attended by Epstein. Gates has not been accused of any wrongdoing regarding their connection, denies knowledge of Epstein's crimes and claims they met only to discuss philanthropy.

The foundation acknowledged in a February statement that “a small number” of employees met with Epstein based on his “claims that he could mobilize significant philanthropic resources for global health and development." They never created a fund together and the foundation made no payments to Epstein, according to the previous release.

“The foundation regrets having any employees interact with Epstein in any way,” the statement read.

The files' disclosures are being closely followed by one of the Gates Foundation's earliest and most ardent supporters. Investor Warren Buffett, who donates a portion of his annual Berkshire Hathaway shares to the nonprofit, told CNBC's “Squawk Box” last month that it's clear “there was a lot I didn't know."

Buffett, who resigned as the foundation's trustee in 2021, has completed his donation every year around the end of June. But he said he will “wait and see what unfolds” in the Justice Department's documents and congressional hearings on their contents. He noted the foundation is “sitting” on a large endowment, which totals $86 billion, and said Gates has “plenty of his own money.”

“So, in any event, I’ll just wait and see. And there’s three and a half million, or whatever it is pages – I mean, it is astounding,” Buffett said of the Epstein files.

A Gates Foundation spokesperson described Buffett as “an extraordinarily generous partner” for nearly two decades in a statement Wednesday to the Associated Press.

“We are deeply grateful for his support, which has enabled us to accelerate progress on some of the world’s toughest challenges that would not otherwise have been possible,” the spokesperson said.

The Gates Foundation expects its board and management will receive an update on the Epstein review this summer. The third-party investigators have not been publicly named.

___

The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation and for news coverage of women in the workforce and statehouses from Melinda French Gates’ organization, Pivotal Ventures. ___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Feds: Detroit-area trio tied to $450K pandemic fraud scheme

Three metro Detroit women are accused in a conspiracy that federal investigators said pumped more than $450,000 in suspected fraudulent pandemic benefits out of Michigan’s unemployment system.

In a federal complaint and arrest warrant unsealed April 22, 2026, investigators said it all started with an online “digital footprint:” an internet address tied to a home in Eastpointe.

Read more here.

99-year-old from Metro Detroit nearly fooled by fake IRS letter. Here’s how her daughter spotted the scam

At 99-years-old, Katherine Leaphart says she’s blessed to be here every day. Retired since 1991 after working for the department for corrections, she leads a simple, quiet life at a senior living facility in Allen Park.

“I have a niece who says she wants to be like me,” she said on Wednesday. “She wants to be retired longer than she worked.”

Last week, a letter arrived, seemingly from the IRS, saying that it needed her bank account information to further process a tax refund.

Read more here.

7 Michigan properties listed on National Register of Historic Places so far in 2026

This year, seven properties in Michigan have already been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The National Register of Historic Places is an official list of historic buildings, structures, districts and objects deemed worthy of preservation by the federal government due to their historical significance. It’s a National Park Service program that is administered by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).

Read more here.

Grosse Pointe Park attorney pasted family members’ faces onto child porn photos, prosecutor says

A Grosse Pointe Park attorney used photos of family members’ faces and pasted them onto child porn pictures to view and share with others, according to prosecutors.

Nelson Otto Ropke, 41, of Grosse Pointe Park, was arraigned on 26 felony counts on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.

Read more here.

Weather: Stretch of sunshine continues in Metro Detroit before showers, thunderstorms arrive Friday

Try to make some time to get outside and enjoy another beautiful day of sunshine and seventies. We will be mostly dry today with an isolated shower or thunderstorm chance west of I-75/US-23.

The stretch of 70s rolls on through Friday. However, widespread showers and thunderstorms are expected to arrive in the afternoon and evening tomorrow. Large hail and damaging wind gusts up to 60 mph will be the main threats. Pockets of heavy rainfall will also lead to the potential of ponding on the roads and minor flooding of low-lying areas.

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The most recent flooding happened during last week’s heavy rain, soaking basements along Miami Road and nearby streets.

Steve Layne and other homeowners Local 4 spoke with said this has been happening for years, and they’re frustrated.

“First of all, we want a resolution to our problem,” Layne said.

Layne, who has lived in his Miami Road home for six years, said his basement has flooded multiple times during that span. He shared photos of belongings he was forced to remove after last week’s storm flooded his basement again.

Layne said he regularly has his drains snaked to prevent backups and believes the cause lies beyond his property. A neighbor across the street recently brought in a restoration company to address water damage, and another homeowner down the block said he has experienced the same issue.

In response, Layne is now working with an attorney and going door to door, handing out letters to neighbors.

The letters invite residents to join a potential legal case against the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office at no cost.

“It’s a little bit of a ping pong in terms of blame,” Layne said. “Over the weekend, we called after hours, and they were insistent on it being the DPW’s problem, the city, and the following week it was the county’s.”

Local 4 contacted both the city of Pontiac and the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office seeking clarity on the source of the problem.

Pontiac’s mayor sent a statement that said:

“We want all Pontiac neighborhoods and all of our residents to have a good quality of life in their homes, and that’s certainly also true for the historic Seminole Hills neighborhood. Our city team checked the storm sewers in that area to ensure there were no obstructions and they were able to confirm that the storm sewers were flowing and no obstructions found. We will continue to closely monitor this situation and be as supportive and responsive as possible.”

Mike McGuinness, Mayor of Pontiac

In a statement, Jim Nash, the Water Resources Commissioner said:

“The Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office operates and maintains Pontiac’s drinking water and sanitary sewer systems, while the City of Pontiac’s Department of Public Works (DPW) manages the stormwater system. Residents experiencing drinking water or sewer concerns should contact our office directly, and stormwater issues should be directed to Pontiac DPW. Pontiac has experienced significantly above-average rainfall this year, which can contribute to localized flooding caused by multiple factors, including conditions on private property. Our office and the City continue working together to invest in infrastructure improvements, securing more than $30 million in grants and funding in recent years to strengthen water and sewer systems serving Pontiac residents.”

Jim Nash, Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner

Layne said that the answer is not enough for residents who see water in their basements year after year.

“As far as what I want to know, what can be done?” Layne said.

Local 4 reached out to David Dubin, the attorney Layne is working with, and we are awaiting a response.

“As I said the other day, I promised my family, this organization and this team that I was going to give them the best version of me that I can possibly give them. In order to do so, I have committed to seeking counseling, starting this weekend,” Vrabel told ESPN on Wednesday night. “This is something that I have given a lot of thought to and is something I would advise a player to do if I was counseling them.

“I have always wanted to lead by example, and I believe this is what I have to do to be the best husband, father and coach that I possibly can be. This is not an easy thing for me to admit, but it is one that I know will make me a better person. I appreciate the support that everyone has given me and promise a stronger resolve as a result.”

The Patriots confirmed Vrabel will miss the third day of the draft.

The photos of Vrabel and Russini at a Sedona resort were taken before the annual NFL meetings that began in Phoenix on March 29, according to the New York Post, which published the photos this month.

The NFL said last weekend that it is not investigating Vrabel’s behavior.

Vrabel addressed the matter for the first time on Tuesday, telling reporters he’s had “ difficult conversations with people I care about.”

Vrabel and Russini, who are both married, released written statements to the Post after the publication of the story downplaying what the photos depict. But Russini resigned from The Athletic less than a week later, after the Post’s report prompted an internal investigation at The New York Times-owned sports outlet.

Vrabel said he addressed players about the matter on Monday after they arrived for the start of the voluntary workout program. Two Patriots players were scheduled to be made available to reporters on Tuesday, but Vrabel said he wanted to speak before they did. He also said he didn’t want the interest in the Post photos to take attention away from the NFL draft, which begins Thursday.

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AP Sports Writer Kyle Hightower contributed to this report.

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

The Defense Department released video footage of U.S. forces on the deck of the Guinea-flagged oil tanker Majestic X, which was seized in the Indian Ocean.

“We will continue global maritime enforcement to disrupt illicit networks and interdict vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate,” a Pentagon statement said.

Ship-tracking data showed the Majestic X in the Indian Ocean between Sri Lanka and Indonesia, roughly the same location as the oil tanker Tifani, earlier seized by American forces. It had been bound for Zhoushan, China.

The vessel previously had been named Phonix and had been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2024 for smuggling Iranian crude oil in contravention of U.S. sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

There was no immediate response from Iran on the news of the seizure.

It comes a day after Iran attacked three cargo ships in the strait, capturing two of them, in a move that intensified its assault on shipping in the key waterway through which 20% of the world’s traded oil passes in peacetime.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining an American blockade of Iranian ports. There was no immediate sign whether peace talks, previously hosted by Pakistan, would resume anytime soon.

The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has effectively choked off nearly all exports through the strait with no end in sight.

On Thursday, Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid as he left a building after a news conference in Berlin. The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police.

During the event, Pahlavi criticized the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, arguing that the agreement assumes the Iranian government’s behavior will change and “you’re going to deal with people who all of a sudden have become pragmatists.”

Pahlavi, 65, has been in exile for nearly 50 years. His father, Iran’s shah, was so widely hated that millions took to the streets in 1979, forcing him from power. Nevertheless, Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a player in his country’s future.

Since the Feb. 28 start of the war between Iran, Israel and the United States, over 30 ships have come under attack in the waters of the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman.

The threat of attack, rising insurance premiums and other fears have stopped traffic from moving through the strait. Iran’s ability to restrict traffic through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has proved a major strategic advantage.

The ceasefire has been strained by dueling U.S. attacks on Iranian ships and those by Iran on commercial vessels. It also remains unclear when, or if, the two sides will meet again in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, where officials say they are still trying to bring the countries together to reach a diplomatic deal.

The conflict already has sent gas prices skyrocketing far beyond the region and raised the cost of food and a wide array of other products. Officials around the world have warned the impact to businesses, consumers and economies could be long-lasting.

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Keaten reported from Geneva.

No one knows the answers, but online betting companies that allow people to wager on Trump policies and statements are profiting — including some backed by his oldest son.

Prediction markets love the president's unpredictability, his need to keep people guessing about his next move or social media post, leading to more wagers in these betting venues and more fees for them. That includes Polymarket, a company Donald Trump Jr. has a stake in, and Kalshi, a company he advises.

These sites have to come up with new betting lines on current events everyday, and Trump Jr.'s famously fickle father has proven to be a rich source of will-he-or-won't-he questions.

When a wagering event on Polymarket asked whether Trump was likely to send troops into Iran, nearly 100,000 bets were placed on April 8, leading to the biggest trading day of the year up to then.

And Trump's policies and social media comments generate bets beyond the war-related ones: Who will Trump back to run Venezuela? Will his insults of Pope Leo XIV continue? Will he seize Greenland?

“Trump is the guy. He makes the market possible,” said Kwok Ping Tsang, a Virginia Tech economist who has studied Polymarket. “He’s so unpredictable.”

Sports wagers make up the largest portion of the volume on prediction markets, but politics runs a close second, according to crypto analysis firm Dune.

People are also betting “Yes” or “No” on all kinds of other things — the price of gold, the winner of “Survivor,” even the weather. The cost of the wager, in cents per dollar, reflects the number of people making the same bet, with a price of 49 cents for “Yes,” for instance, reflecting 49% odds.

The betting has drawn bipartisan criticism for inviting insider trading but the president seems to be a big fan, applying a light regulatory touch and helping the industry expand. His family company, the Trump Organization, is even working on opening its own prediction market, called Truth Predict.

One of the biggest fee generators lately has been Trump's approach to the Iran war, notably his Truth Social post on April 5 demanding the country “Open the F—- Strait."

Trading on Polymarket soared with “Yes” or “No” wagers on whether an invasion was imminent, according to Dune, only to be surpassed on April 7 by betting on another question — Will there be a ceasefire? — when Trump posted ominously that a “whole civilization will die tonight.”

In total, 413 million bets on the Iran war were made risking more than $100 million from Sunday, April 5, through Wednesday, April 8, the day after Trump announced a ceasefire, according to Dune.

In a report after the surge, Dune called Trump an “unpredictability machine” and marveled at how his “governing-by-tweet” style sends trading volumes soaring.

Asked whether the president's son should be profiting from a business benefitting from his father's actions, a Trump Jr. spokesman called the question “fact-free Democratic propaganda.”

“Don does not interface with the federal government as part of his role with any company that he invests in or advises and has no influence or involvement with administration policies relating to prediction markets," said the spokesman, Andrew Surabian.

Polymarket didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The betting venues have jumped in popularity since Trump was reelected in November 2024 in part because they correctly predicted, unlike many pundits, that he would win decisively.

Since then the Trump administration has sued states trying to ban prediction markets under no-gambling laws. The head of the industry's chief regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has even promoted the business publicly, calling the online bets in a Wall Street Journal op-ed “exciting products.”

Benefiting particularly has been Polymarket, which was banned from operating anywhere in the U.S. in 2022 after the Biden administration fined it for running an unregistered exchange. It recently got permission to return, and its value has soared.

The company is now worth $9.6 billion, according to research firm PitchBook, a nearly tenfold increase in eight months since a venture capital fund in which Trump Jr. is a partner last invested.

Just how much Trump Jr. is benefiting from the increase in value is unclear because Polymarket is private and doesn't release ownership stakes. Kalshi, which took on Trump Jr. as an adviser last year, is also private.

As for profiting off turmoil and war, Trump Jr. has other possible ways besides the prediction markets.

Through his venture capital fund he also owns pieces of aerospace, defense and technology companies seeking Pentagon contracts and other federal agency dollars. Separately, he and his brother, Eric, just struck a deal giving them stakes in a military drone maker not just selling to the U.S. forces but also pitching to Gulf countries under Iranian attack and beholden to their father for U.S. military protection in a war he started.

Asked last month about the drone company potentially profiting off his father's position as president, Eric Trump sent The Associated Press a statement saying, “I am incredibly proud to invest in companies I believe in.”

Critics in Congress, virtually all Democrats, have decried what they believe is blatant profiting off the presidency, and are waiting for the midterms to do something about it, possibly voting for impeachment.

But whether that happens is anyone's guess — or to be more specific, tens of thousands of guesses.

In Polymarket trading, those betting that Trump would get impeached by the end of his term were putting the chances at 13% at the start of the year. But that has changed dramatically after his “civilization wipe out” threat and calls from Democrats to oust him from office.

By Tuesday, the odds had jumped to 66%.

——

AP reporters Ken Sweet in New York and Christopher Keller in Albuquerque, N.M., contributed to this story.

For people like Zack Loud of Farmington, Minnesota, it was a surprise to learn that under a new law, Canada already considered him and his siblings citizens because their grandmother is Canadian.

“My wife and I were already talking about potentially looking at jobs outside the country, but citizenship pushed Canada way up on our list,” he said.

Since the new law took effect Dec. 15, immigration lawyers in the United States and Canada say they have been overwhelmed by clients seeking help submitting proof of citizenship applications. Driven by politics, family heritage, job opportunities and other factors, thousands of Americans are exploring whether the easier process makes now the right time to gain dual citizenship.

Nicholas Berning, an immigration attorney at Boundary Bay Law in Bellingham, Washington, said his practice is “pretty much flooded with this.”

“We’ve kind of shifted a lot of other work away in order to push these cases through,” he said.

And immigration attorney Amandeep Hayer said his Vancouver, British Columbia, area practice went from about 200 citizenship cases a year to more than 20 consults per day.

How the new law works

Canada has been changing its citizenship laws for decades, whether to update historic interpretations of law or to address discrimination issues.

Previously, Canadian citizenship by descent could only be passed down to one generation, from a parent to a child. That changed when Canadian bill C-3 took effect Dec. 15, and opened up citizenship to anyone born before that date who could prove they have a direct Canadian ancestor — a grandparent, great-grandparent or even more distant ancestor.

Those born on or after Dec. 15 need to show their parent met a residency requirement of 1,095 days.

Under the new law, descendants of Canadians already are considered citizens, but they must provide proof to obtain a certificate of citizenship. Hayer estimated that there are millions of Americans who are Canadian descendants.

“You are Canadian, and you’re considered to be one your whole life,” said Hayer, who advocated for the new law in the Parliament of Canada. “That’s really what you’re applying for, the recognition of a right you already have vested.”

“The best way I can put it is like, if a baby’s born tomorrow in Canada, the baby’s Canadian even though they don’t have the birth certificate,” he said.

Americans interested in dual citizenship

American applicants have different motivations, but many say President Donald Trump's efforts on immigration and other topics have led them to seek dual citizenship.

Michelle Cunha, of Bedford, Massachusetts, said she decided to move to Canada after reflecting on decades of political activism and deciding she had “nothing left to give.”

“I put in my best effort for 30 years. I have done everything that I possibly can to make the United States what it promises the world to be, a place of freedom, a place of equality,” Cunha said. “But clearly we’re not there and we’re not going to get there anytime soon.”

Troy Hicks, who had a great-grandfather born in Canada, said he was spurred by an international trip.

“I recently went to Australia and you know, first words out of the first person I talked to in Australia was basically an expletive about Trump and the U.S.,” said Hicks, of Pahrump, Nevada. “It was just like, whoa, I walked off a 20-hour flight and literally the first words of somebody’s mouth to me were that. ... So the idea of doing that with a Canadian passport just seemed easier, better, more palatable.”

Maureen Sullivan, of Naples, Florida, said she was motivated by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota, which hit home when her teenage nephew encountered federal officers near his high school in St. Paul. Sullivan, whose grandmother was Canadian, said she sees citizenship in Canada as an option in case things in the U.S. “really go south.”

“When I first heard about the bill, I couldn’t believe it. It was like this little gift that fell in my lap,” Sullivan said. “There was kind of this collective excitement amongst the (family) who just felt like, we wanted to feel like we were doing something to take care of our security in the future if needed.”

How much will Canadian citizenship cost?

For those with documentation ready at hand, the proof of citizenship application fee is a relatively inexpensive 75 Canadian dollars ($55).

But costs will climb for those seeking help from an attorney or genealogist.

Cunha said she used an attorney and estimates the cost will be about $6,500.

However, Mary Mangan, of Somerville, Massachusetts, filed her application in January using advice from online forums.

“There are some situations where a lawyer might be the right thing, but for many people, I would guess 90% of people can probably do this on their own,” Mangan said.

The website for the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada office, which processes applications, says processing times for a certificate is around 10 months, with more 56,000 people awaiting a decision.

The agency said that from Dec. 15 to Jan. 31, it confirmed citizenship by descent for 1,480 people, though not all were Americans. Last year, 24,500 Americans gained dual US-Canada citizenship.

What do Canadians think?

Fen Hampson, professor of international affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa, said Canadians are generally a “welcoming people.”

“I think where people start looking askance is someone who’s never been to Canada, who has very thin ties. They can get a passport, becoming Canadians of convenience. People don’t like that,” he said.

Hampson said some also worry a surge of interest from Americans could delay efforts by refugees and asylum-seekers fleeing vulnerable situations.

“Canadians don’t like queue jumpers,” Hampson said.

“Of course, we are hitting what is painful for Russia, and it is very painful,” Zelenskyy said in voice messages to reporters. He said that Russian losses in the strikes have reached tens of billions of dollars.

It wasn't possible to independently verify Zelenskyy’s comments, but Russian officials have reported that attacks have struck infrastructure in regions more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) inside Russia.

While Russia presses its all-out invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukraine is using its domestically developed drone and missile technology to strike Russian territory. The Ukrainian military also uses American-made Patriot air defense systems to stop Russian missile attacks on Ukraine's territory.

“We see that the Russians do not want to stop — they are hitting our energy sector and our people. We will respond,” Zelenskyy said.

Prince Harry praises Ukraine's resistance

Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s bigger army drew renewed praise from Prince Harry, who arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for his third visit in a year.

Ukrainians have demonstrated “strength not just in bravery and capability, but in unity, in trust,” he said in a speech to a Kyiv security conference

Ukraine “continues to hold together, and hold together you must,” he said.

The Duke of Sussex stepped off a train in Kyiv’s main station after an overnight journey from Poland, which is the only way to travel to the Ukrainian capital.

It wasn’t clear whether Harry would meet with Zelenskyy, who was due to attend a summit of European Union leaders in Cyprus on Thursday evening.

Russian firefighters tackle huge drone strike blaze

Hours before Harry arrived, three people were killed and 10 were wounded in a Russian drone attack on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to Oleksandr Hanzha, the head of the regional military administration.

A 13-story building and an administrative building were damaged in the strike, Hanzha said on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian air defenses, meanwhile, intercepted 154 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the annexed Crimea Peninsula, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Authorities in the Krasnodar region on Russia's Black Sea coast said that 276 firefighters at the Black Sea port of Tuapse were fighting for a third straight day a huge blaze caused by a Ukrainian drone attack earlier this week.

Toxic material from the fire fell with rain, covering several districts of Tuapse with a black layer of dirt, the region’s emergency headquarters reported. The concentration in the air of chemicals from the fire surpassed admissible levels, officials said, and authorities advised residents to stay indoors.

Ukraine targets more Russian oil facilities

For the second consecutive night, Russia’s Samara region also was targeted. In the Samara city of Novokuybyshevsk, about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, a drone attack on an unspecified industrial facility killed one person, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said.

Drone debris also fell on a roof of a residential building in the city of Samara, wounding a number of people, Fedorishchev said. One person was hospitalized.

Unconfirmed media reports said that a petrochemical plant in Novokuybyshevsk owned by the Rosneft oil and gas company came under attack.

Ukrainian forces also struck Russian oil infrastructure in the Samara region and a pipeline in the Nizhegorodskaya region that transports oil from Western Siberia to Tatarstan, said Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation.

An oil refinery in the Samara region and an oil pipeline in the Nizhegorodskaya region were hit, he said. The pipeline transports oil from Western Siberia to Tatarstan. He didn’t offer more details about the strikes.

Also, units of Ukraine’s Security Service struck the Gorky oil pumping station in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region east of Moscow, said a senior official from the agency, which goes by the abbreviation SBU.

The nighttime drone attack damaged three oil tanks and caused a large fire, the official said. The official wasn't authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The operation of main pipelines is disrupted, the efficiency of processing at refineries decreases, and transportation costs increase. As a result, this directly affects the revenues of the Russian budget, which are used to finance the war against Ukraine,” the official said.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

The NFL draft is here in the Steel City.

A total of 257 players will live out a dream and hear their name called over the course of the next three days, culminating a long journey that required a ton of hard of work and plenty of sacrifice.

The first round kicks off Thursday night when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell takes the stage inside the main theater outside Acrisure Stadium and announces the Las Vegas Raiders’ selection with the No. 1 pick. Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner who quarterbacked Indiana to its first national title, is the consensus favorite for the Raiders. It would be a downright stunner if he’s not headed to Las Vegas.

The poised and polished Mendoza will get a chance to learn from Kirk Cousins and play for part-owner Tom Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion who is ready to impart some of his wisdom.

While 16 other players will enjoy the on-site festivities and have the opportunity to give Goodell a giant hug on stage, Mendoza is spending the night with his family in Miami. His mother, Elsa Mendoza, has multiple sclerosis so traveling is difficult.

“I’ve done so much traveling this year, it’s a lot easier for my mom and her health is at the forefront,” Mendoza said. “We need to hop on a plane the next day for whatever team drafts me and to be there with the village that’s poured into me — friends, family, coaches, mentors — to be there with all of them and to share the start of this NFL journey, it’s going to create the best memory for our family.”

Mendoza would be the fifth No. 1 pick in the last nine in-person drafts - 2020 was held virtually - to skip the spectacle and celebrate privately with family and friends. Travon Walker (2022), Trevor Lawrence (2021), Baker Mayfield (2018) and Myles Garrett (2017) were the others.

The biggest question is who goes No. 2 to the New York Jets. Will it be Ohio State’s Arvell Reese or Texas Tech’s David Bailey? They’re considered the two best edge rushers in the draft. Or will the Jets pull off a surprise?

After Mendoza, it could be a while until another quarterback is selected. Alabama’s Ty Simpson is expected to be the next one. He’s among the group of players in attendance and there’s a chance he might have to wait until Round 2 on Friday night.

“I can't control how people think,” Simpson said Wednesday. “All I can control is how I play and how much of a player I can be so wherever I go, whoever gets me, I'm gonna make sure that's what I do wherever that is.”

The first round should be about an hour faster than it's been because the time between picks was shortened from 10 minutes to eight minutes.

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

DeBoer is getting a $2 million raise — up to $12.5 million — and a two-year contract extension after leading the Crimson Tide to the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff, where Alabama lost to eventual national champion Indiana.

Oats is getting a $1.2 million raise — up to $7.2 million — and a two-year contract extension after leading Alabama to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16, where the Crimson Tide lost to eventual national champion Michigan. Oats' new deal had been agreed to earlier this month.

Alabama announced both deals Wednesday during a board of trustees meeting.

DeBoer had been scheduled to make $10.5 million during 2026. His salary was set to increase $250,000 annually. He is now under contract through the 2033 season.

Oats had been scheduled to make $6.02 million in 2026-27. He made $5.5 million this past season. He is now under contract through the 2032 season.

DeBoer, courted by Michigan to replace fired coach Sherrone Moore, now has a $10 million buyout through January 2027. It drops to $8 million the following year and $6 million through January 2029.

“We are excited about the opportunity to continue our time in Tuscaloosa with this contract extension,” DeBoer said in a statement. "This university has become a special place to us, and I look forward to working to ensure that Alabama football remains at the forefront of college football.

"This program has a long history of success and an unmatched tradition that I was eager to be a part of two years ago, and I cannot wait to keep coaching our guys and bring more championships to Alabama.”

DeBoer is entering his third season in Tuscaloosa since replacing legendary coach Nick Saban. The Tide are 20-8 in his tenure, with a Southeastern Conference title game appearance and a first-round CFP victory over Oklahoma.

But he also has blowout losses to Indiana in the Rose Bowl and Georgia in the SEC title game on his Alabama resume as well as regular-season upsets to Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Florida State.

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

Nearly a year after his death in South Africa, Lungu’s remains are still unburied, the subject of a macabre fight between his family and the longtime rival who succeeded him.

In a statement Wednesday, Zambia's attorney general said the government had custody of Lungu's remains after a South African court ordered the body be released to them. It said the body had been moved from a private funeral home in the South African capital, Pretoria, to another facility run by the South African government.

A separate urgent order then ruled that the body be returned to the funeral home where it had been since Lungu's death last June.

That order, though, said a date of May 21 had been set for the body to ultimately be handed over to the Zambian government. It wasn't clear Thursday where the body was and if it had been returned to the family.

The bizarre battle revolves around Lungu's relationship with current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. The two were bitter political rivals and the animosity has continued after Lungu's death.

Hichilema's government has said Lungu should have a state funeral at home and be buried at a cemetery set aside for Zambian leaders. Lungu's family claims that he made clear that one of his last wishes was that Hichilema should not go anywhere near his body and not preside over his funeral.

In June last year, the Zambian government succeeded in getting a court order to stop his funeral service in South Africa as it was taking place, forcing family members to leave the church ceremony and travel to a courthouse.

Lungu, who was Zambia’s leader from 2015 to 2021, died of an undisclosed illness in a South African hospital on June 5. He was 68.

When Lungu was president in 2017, Hichilema was arrested, charged with treason and detained for four months, only to be released and the charge dropped after international condemnation.

Lungu lost to Hichilema in a 2021 election, and claimed years later that his movements were being restricted by Zambian police and that he had been effectively placed under house arrest by authorities to prevent any political comeback. Hichilema's government denied the allegations.

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa. AP writer Jacob Zimba in Lusaka, Zambia, contributed to this report.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

He was one of the key negotiators of the agreement reached in late 2024 that provisionally comes into force May 1.

“In a moment that the world much needed it, at a time of protectionism, a tough world, this gives a message that it is possible to open markets,” Alckmin said Wednesday during an interview with media, including The Associated Press, at the presidential palace in Brasilia. “It is the biggest deal between trade blocs in the world. A market of $22 trillion and 720 million people.”

Fierce opposition by farmers and environmentalists delayed the deal in December. It then hit another wall after EU lawmakers sent the deal to the bloc’s judiciary. The EU executive responded by saying it would provisionally enact the deal, which sidesteps the European Parliament. After the trade deal is implemented, it will be halted if the European Court of Justice rules against it.

Alckmin said not finishing the deal with the EU would have meant staying behind while other competitors accomplished other agreements.

“It is a win-win. The societies of the Mercosur countries win, and so the 27 countries of the EU,” added Alckmin, who expects a boost in Brazilian exports to the EU of about 13% per year.

The trans-Atlantic trade deal was signed Jan. 17. The European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen repeatedly paid tribute to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration for its efforts in making the deal happen despite opposition in Europe. Brazil is by far the largest economy of Mercosur, with a gross domestic product estimated at more than $2.3 trillion in 2025.

Alckmin confirmed other potential deals with the United Arab Emirates and Canada are being negotiated.

Change of mind and time

Two decades ago, Alckmin and Lula were on opposite camps in almost every issue, including the negotiations for a deal between the EU and the bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. While the man who was then governor of the powerful Sao Paulo state advocated for a pact with European nations, Lula did not.

Fast forward to 2022, the two gathered forces to unseat then-President Jair Bolsonaro, who they deemed to be a risk to Brazil's democracy. Both gravitated toward the political center. Lula made Alckmin his trade and industry minister, one of the government's key negotiators in any front.

Lula's win in 2022 for a third nonconsecutive term and his bid for reelection this year did not assure the Mercosur-EU trade deal was going ahead, but the conversations gained a new momentum after U.S. President Donald Trump took office last year and imposed tariffs against several countries, including Brazil.

French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the critics of the deal, has demanded safeguards to monitor and stop large economic disruption in the EU, increased regulations in the Mercosur nations like pesticide restrictions, and more inspections of imports at EU ports.

Alckmin rejected the accusation that Mercosur countries have less concerns about environmental preservations, as some EU farmers have said.

“If there’s one country that is a role model of environmental preservation, that is Brazil … Brazil reduced deforestation in 50%,” Alckmin said.

“So no one is too scared in either side, if there’s an import boom any of the two (blocs) can ask for safeguards,” he added.

The full implementation of the deal might take up to 12 years, which Alckmin sees as key for Mercosur companies to improve productivity and quality of thousands of products. He said the fruit, beef and sugar industries of the South American bloc will be among the first to benefit but many more will over time.

“It is better to do it gradually than not do it at all,” Alckmin said. “This was a very well-built deal.”

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

“They were demolishing it gradually until they reached the main square and now, as you can see, there are no more houses,” said Hassan Sweidan, a resident of a neighboring village looking across at Beit Lif — about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) north of Lebanon’s border with Israel — from a nearby hill.

Since agreeing last week to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, the Israeli army has been leveling neighborhoods in towns and villages near the Lebanese-Israeli border. The military says it destroys buildings that were used as outposts by the Iran-backed militant group.

But in many cases, like Beit Lif, the demolition is almost complete. The wide scale of destruction has Lebanese officials and residents increasingly worried that large numbers of people displaced by the latest war will have nowhere to return if the fragile truce holds.

Because of security concerns and limited access, neither U.N. peacekeepers nor Lebanese officials have been able to conduct a detailed survey of the villages where demolitions are taking place. But observers have described entire residential neighborhoods in multiple villages being systematically destroyed.

The demolitions mirror what has happened in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli bulldozers and controlled explosions have almost entirely razed the city of Rafah and other towns under Israeli control. There, Israel says it is removing structures used by Hamas.

Lebanese officials plan to raise the issue of widespread demolitions on Thursday when they hold ceasefire talks with their Israeli counterparts in Washington — part of the first direct negotiations between the two countries in decades.

A 10-day ceasefire is shaky

On March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel launched the war with Iran, Hezbollah entered the fray by firing missiles into northern Israel. The group had been under pressure by the Lebanese government to disarm following its previous war with Israel in 2024, but refused to do so.

Israel responded with an intense bombing campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon that prompted hundreds of thousands of people to flee the southern part of the country. The fighting has killed around 2,300 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of women and children.

The fighting was mostly halted by a 10-day ceasefire that began Friday. But both sides have carried out strikes since then. Hezbollah has justified its attacks in part by pointing to the Israeli military’s destruction of houses.

Israeli officials have said they intend to occupy parts of southern Lebanon, and the military has issued maps of a “forward defense line” that extends several miles into Lebanon and encompasses dozens of villages whose residents have not been allowed to return.

Following the announcement of the ceasefire, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said this area had been "cleared of terrorists and weapons and is empty of citizens, and will continue to be cleared of terrorists' infrastructure, including the destruction of houses in Lebanese villages that border (Israel) and have become terrorists outposts in every sense.”

‘There are no more houses’

After the ceasefire went into effect, Sweidan returned to check on his home in the southern Lebanese village of Yater. It is still intact.

Because Sweidan's village overlooks neighboring Beit Lif, he has been able to observe Israeli army operations there. Despite damage from Israeli airstrikes during the war, most of Beit Lif was still standing on the first day of the ceasefire, he said.

But on the second day, Israeli forces arrived with bulldozers, jackhammers and tanks.

“We would come each day to see how much of the village was demolished," he said.

Tilak Pokharel, a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL, said that peacekeepers “have observed demolitions taking place in several areas” since the truce.

The Israeli military said in a statement that the target of the demolition work is Hezbollah, not Lebanon or its civilians, and that it "operates in accordance with international law and does not destroy civilian property unless required by imperative military necessity.”

New demolitions come on top of existing destruction

There was already widespread destruction in border areas after the previous Israel-Hezbollah war in 2024. Some homeowners could afford repairs, but there was no large-scale reconstruction.

Demolition also took place during the most recent war. Photographs taken on April 12 by AP from the towns of Menara and Misgav Am in northern Israel show excavators and bulldozers destroying homes on the Lebanese side of the border.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported Wednesday that Israeli bulldozers were destroying neighborhoods, roads and infrastructure in the town of Khiam, a battleground in the Israel-Hezbollah fighting, “in a scene that suggests an attempt to completely erase the town’s identity.”

The news agency also reported “systematic bombing operations" Wednesday affecting residential neighborhoods in the city of Bint Jbeil — another flashpoint in the fighting — and in the villages of Beit Lif, Shamaa, Tair Harfa and Hanine.

Hezbollah said Tuesday it had launched drone and rocket attacks, the first since the ceasefire, in response to Israeli “attacks on civilians and the destruction of their homes and villages in southern Lebanon.”

As Lebanese officials scramble to keep the ceasefire in place, President Joseph Aoun said in a statement that “halting Israel’s demolition operations in southern villages and towns” is something Lebanese ambassadors in the United States will raise with their Israeli counterparts during ceasefire talks on Thursday.

The talks were expected to focus on a potential extension of the 10-day truce and establishing a framework for future talks aimed at a lasting a peace between the two countries.

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This story has been updated to correct that UNIFIL is a U.N. peacekeeping force, not a U.S. peacekeeping force.

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Associated Press journalists Malak Harb in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.

Trump’s return to the presidency was fueled by a wide-ranging coalition that built on his loyal base of supporters. Now that Trump has been in the White House for more than a year, the survey of more than 2,500 U.S. adults from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that many key groups — including Hispanic adults, younger adults and men — are increasingly dissatisfied with his presidency.

The poll was conducted from April 16 through Monday, as oil prices fluctuated and Americans spent more at the gas pump.

It’s a particularly bad moment for Trump, a Republican whose economic approval slumped over the past month as the Iran war drives prices higher. But AP-NORC polls show that discontent has been building among critical segments of the population over the past year.

Trump's overall approval among Hispanic adults has fallen 16 percentage points since March 2025, and his support has declined by 9 percentage points among men.

And while Trump’s base is still largely behind him — most Republicans approve of his performance — there are signs that his second term may not be living up to their expectations.

Here’s what polling shows about Trump’s current status with four important groups:

Hispanic adults

Hispanic Americans have grown increasingly discontented with Trump over the past year.

About one-quarter of Hispanic adults approve of how he’s handling the presidency in the new poll, down from about 4 in 10 in March 2025.

That decline has been visible since late last year — suggesting that it’s not just the war in Iran or recent spikes in gas prices that are leaving this group unhappy.

Trump’s restrictive immigration approach may be playing a role. Only about one-quarter of Hispanics approve of his handling of immigration, down from 36% at the beginning of his term.

His immigration tactics appear to be particularly unpopular among younger Hispanics — a group with which he made gains in 2024. Only 18% of younger Hispanic adults approve of his performance on immigration, compared with 40% of Americans overall.

There is also broad discontent about the state of the U.S. economy among Hispanics. Only about one-quarter of Hispanic adults approve of how Trump is handling that issue, and about 2 in 10 say they approve of his approach to the cost of living. Few Hispanic adults, about 2 in 10, describe the nation’s economy as “good.”

Young adults

Trump’s overall approval with Americans under age 45 has slid over the past year, falling from 39% in March 2025 to 28% in the latest poll.

Younger women have a particularly dim view of Trump’s handling of the economy.

Only about 2 in 10 women under age 45 approve of how Trump is handling the economy, including only 7% of younger Hispanic women who approve of his economic approach. More young men, about 3 in 10, approve of him on this issue.

Trump’s struggles among young adults extend to other groups, too. Only about one-third of white adults under age 45 approve of his overall performance, compared with 45% of white adults age 45 or older.

A downtick among men

Trump made broad appeals to men throughout his 2024 campaign, and most male voters backed Trump in the presidential election over Democrat Kamala Harris. In particular, he made slight but significant gains with Black and Hispanic men, who were drawn by his vows to revitalize the economy.

Since he reentered office, though, American men have become slightly less likely to approve of his performance, declining from 47% at the start of his second term to 38% in the most recent poll.

There are signs that Black men, in particular, aren’t seeing Trump’s economic promises pan out. Black men are more likely than white or Hispanic men to disapprove of Trump’s approach to the presidency, as well as his approach to the economy, the cost of living and Iran. Only about 1 in 10 Black men say they approve of how Trump is handling the cost of living, and roughly 2 in 10 approve of how he’s handling the economy.

Hispanic men, too, have a relatively dim view of Trump’s overall performance. About 3 in 10 approve of how Trump is handling the presidency, regardless of their age. That support is stronger among white men, with about half approving of Trump.

While young Republicans are frustrated, MAGA still backs Trump

Trump has benefited from Republicans’ loyalty for years, but there are recent signs of frustration even within his base.

Roughly two-thirds of Republicans approve of Trump’s job performance. That is down slightly from 82% near the start of his second term and is generally in line with the GOP low point from his first term.

But only about half of Republicans overall approve of Trump’s approach to the cost of living, and a majority of Republicans under age 45 disapprove of him on that issue.

Trump is still buoyed by the support of his MAGA base, even as he faces backlash from conservative media figures on some of his recent actions in Iran.

About 9 in 10 MAGA Republicans — those who consider themselves supporters of the “Make America Great Again” movement — approve of Trump’s job performance, and a similar share approve of his handling of Iran.

It's a good sign for Trump that his most robust supporters are still in his corner, but not all Republicans identify with MAGA. About half of Republicans, 54%, say they consider themselves MAGA supporters.

Among non-MAGA Republicans, Trump's approval is much lower, at 44%.

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The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

She's followed by Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny. That comes as no surprise: In 2025 the artist born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio was named the streaming giant's most played artist of the year for a fourth time, dethroning Swift.

It's a been bit of a cat-and-mouse game for the two: She claimed the top spot the previous two years; he did the same from 2020 to 2023.

Drake is Spotify's third most streamed artist of all time, followed by The Weeknd, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Eminem, Kanye West, Travis Scott, BTS, Post Malone, Bruno Mars, J Balvin, Rihanna, Coldplay, Kendrick Lamar, Future and Juice WRLD, in that order.

Spotify did not provide insight into its data collection methodology when asked about it by The Associated Press.

In addition to naming its most streamed artists globally, Spotify compiled its most streamed albums, songs, podcasts and audiobooks to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Streaming accounts for most of the money generated by the music industry — 82% in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Spotify, a Sweden-based company founded in April 2006, is the largest platform of all. It accounts for over 31% of the total market share, with a reported 751 million users and 290 million subscribers in more than 184 markets.

Spotify's most streamed albums of all time

1. Bad Bunny's “Un Verano Sin Ti”

2. The Weeknd's “Starboy”

3. Ed Sheeran's “÷ (Deluxe)”

4. Olivia Rodrigo's “SOUR”

5. The Weeknd's “After Hours”

6. SZA's “SOS”

7. Post Malone's “Hollywood’s Bleeding”

8. Taylor Swift's “Lover”

9. Arctic Monkeys' “AM”

10. Billie Eilish's “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”

11. Dua Lipa's “Future Nostalgia”

12. Post Malone's “Beerbongs & Bentleys”

13. XXXTENTACION's “?”

14. Karol G's “Mañana Será Bonito (Bichota Season)”

15. Bad Bunny's “YHLQMDLG”

16. Bruno Mars' “Doo-Wops & Hooligans”

17. Drake's “Views”

18. Taylor Swift's “Midnights”

19. Drake's “Scorpion”

20. The Weeknd's “Beauty Behind The Madness”

Spotify's most streamed songs of all time

1. The Weeknd's “Blinding Lights”

2. Ed Sheeran's “Shape of You”

3. The Neighbourhood's “Sweater Weather”

4. The Weeknd ft. Daft Punk's “Starboy”

5. Harry Styles' “As It Was”

6. Lewis Capaldi's “Someone You Loved”

7. Post Malone and Swae Lee's “Sunflower — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

8. Drake ft. Wizkid and Kyla's “One Dance”

9. Ed Sheeran's “Perfect”

10. The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber's “Stay”

11. Imagine Dragons' “Believer”

12. Arctic Monkeys' “I Wanna Be Yours”

13. Glass Animals' “Heat Waves”

14. Billie Eilish and Khalid's “Lovely”

15. Coldplay's “Yellow”

16. Lord Huron's “The Night We Met”

17. The Chainsmokers ft. Halsey's “Closer”

18. Billie Eilish's “Birds of a Feather”

19. Vance Joy's “Riptide”

20. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' “Die With A Smile”

The stretch of 70s rolls on through Friday. However, widespread showers and thunderstorms are expected to arrive in the afternoon and evening tomorrow. Large hail and damaging wind gusts up to 60 mph will be the main threats. Pockets of heavy rainfall will also lead to the potential of ponding on the roads and minor flooding of low-lying areas.

Seasonal sixties are forecasted for the upcoming weekend. Here are some other factors to consider for outdoor activities:

• Allergy Forecast - Levels of maple, ash and poplar are very high today through the weekend.
• Dog Walking Forecast - Great dog walking conditions are on tap Saturday and Sunday, but plan for muddy paws on Friday. Your dry window for dog walking on Friday will be through the morning.
• Skeeter Meter - We are starting to see mosquitos across the area following the rain and warmth over the last two weeks. You don’t have to be super concerned this weekend will be too buggy, but the conditions are right for some mosquitoes to come out. If you are the cautious-type, then using some mosquito protection is a good idea.

The senators this week introduced what they're calling the Hot Rotisserie Chicken Act, which would make the supermarket staple an eligible purchase under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

“America’s best (and delicious) affordability play is Costco’s $4.99 rotisserie chicken,” said Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who joined Republican Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia and others in sponsoring the bill. “It’s one of my family’s favorites, and I’m proud to join this bill with Sen. Justice for all to try. SNAP funds would be well spent to feed our nation’s families who need it.”

The SNAP program provides a monthly stipend for low-income families to buy groceries, but it doesn't pay for hot prepared foods. The exclusion, which dates back decades, was meant to promote home cooking. But critics say it's outdated and penalizes families that are already struggling to make ends meet, excluding convenient and nutritious options.

Lawmakers at the state and federal level have long debated which foods should be eligible for SNAP benefits. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pressed states to exclude junk food such as soda and candy. Twenty-two states, mostly led by Republicans, have requested or been granted permission to ban certain foods.

SNAP is a major piece of the U.S. social safety net used by nearly 42 million, or about 1 in 8, Americans to help buy groceries. On average, the monthly benefit per household is about $350, and the average benefit per person is about $190.

Besides Fetterman and Justice, the senators introducing the bill are Republican Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Democrat Michael Bennet of Colorado. Republican Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas has pushed for similar legislation in the House.

“We have to give people the option to put a healthy, protein-dense choice on the table that actually tastes good and doesn’t take an hour and a half to cook,” Justice said in a statement.

🍇 Grapevine

🌅 Good morning! On this day in 1985, The Coca-Cola Company announced that it had changed the formula of its signature soft drink for the first time in 99 years. The short-lived, sweeter New Coke, as it was called, debuted to a consumer backlash that pundits call the marketing blunder of the century.

Here are a few things to know about for Thursday, April 23, 2026:

⛅ 4Warn Weather: Try to make some time to get outside and enjoy another beautiful day of sunshine and seventies. We will be mostly dry today with an isolated shower or thunderstorm chance west of I-75/US-23. Check the 10-day forecast.

🚔 Reward Increased: Two years after her son’s death, the mother of 15-year-old Tyler Johnson is asking for donations to increase the reward for information that leads to an arrest in the case. Read more.

📄 IRS Scam: A 99-year-old from Metro Detroit was nearly fooled by a fake IRS letter, but her daughter spotted the scam. Read more.

🪴 Facing Closure: A community garden in South Warren is now fighting for its survival after struggling to reach an agreement with the city. Read more.

🚌 Hero or Overstep?: A man intervened on a Dearborn school bus. Now, he’s facing legal consequences. Read more.

🏊 Morning Dive

Good morning ☀️

The Lyrid meteor shower will be visible for the next couple of nights in Southeast Michigan. Here’s what to know, according to Meteorologist Christina Burkhart:

WHEN

The Lyrid meteor shower began on April 16th and continues through April 25th.

The peak of the shower was April 21st into the morning hours of April 22, but you can still see some meteors over the next couple of nights.

HOW MANY

The Lyrids are known for being bright and fast meteors.

You’ll typically see between 10 and 20 meteors per hour during peak timing, but meteors are still visible outside of peak hours.

HISTORY

The Lyrids, which peak in April, are one of the oldest recorded meteor showers.

The earliest sightings of the Lyrids on record dates back to approximately 2,700 years ago by the Chinese.

VIEWING

The Lyrid meteors are best viewed during predawn hours away from city lights.

Especially since we’re now out of the peak time frame, you may want to lie down in a chair or on a blanket for viewing, as meteors may not be as frequent.

Look toward the eastern sky, allowing your eyes to adjust to the darkness for 20 to 30 minutes.

Tonight’s skies across Southeast Michigan will be mainly clear.

Thursday night will be partly cloudy, and although the meteor shower will continue, we expect more clouds and rain to move in for Friday night.

Meteors move quickly, so look for a quick trail of light through the dark sky.

🗞️ Other headlines to know today

• Ypsilanti family turns food scraps into compost through county pilot program
• Madison Heights police save choking woman at local restaurant
• Pontiac homeowner seeks legal help after years of basement flooding in Seminole Hills
• Senate passes budget plan for ICE and Border Patrol in bid to reopen Homeland Security Department
• Detroit man saw TikTok videos of big lottery wins. Days later, he ended up winning $500K
• Loud exhaust complaints spark crackdown in Dearborn
• Teaching the next generation: Michigan students lead recycling efforts as state pushes toward 30% goal
• Lebanon and Israel to resume rare direct talks in Washington to extend Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire
• New York Times says FBI investigated reporter after article about director Kash Patel’s girlfriend
• 988 hotline’s launch is linked to thousands of fewer suicide deaths among teens and young adults
• Find more Local News headlines here
• Find more Entertainment headlines here
• Find more Health headlines here
• Check out the latest ClickOnDeals here
• Introducing the ClickOnDetroit Help Desk: How it works and how to use it

🌎 Meanwhile

News from around the world via the Associated Press:

Opponents of smoking got a breath of fresh air as Parliament passed a bill that will put cigarettes out of reach for future generations.

“The end of smoking, and the devastating harm it causes, is no longer uncertain — it’s inevitable,” Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said after a decades-long campaign in favor of legislation approved Tuesday.

Children born after Dec. 31, 2008 will be banned from ever buying cigarettes under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. (Read more)

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A paddle-wielding robot is so adept at playing table tennis that it is posing a tough challenge to elite human players and sometimes defeating them, according to a new study that shows how advances in artificial intelligence are making robots more agile.

Japanese electronics giant Sony built the robotic arm it calls Ace and pitted it against professional athletes. Ace proved a worthy adversary, though one with some non-human attributes: nine camera eyes positioned around the court and an uncanny ability to follow the ball’s logo to measure its spin.

The robot learned how to play the sport using the AI method known as reinforcement learning. (Read more)

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Englishman Ollie Jenks remembers when his friend first pitched the idea to him.

“It was so ridiculous I couldn’t say no,” Jenks said.

The proposal by his Canadian buddy Seth Scott, a fellow lover of cars and crazy adventures, was for them to drive a decades-old British-made Reliant Robin car from London to the southern tip of Africa — a 14,000-mile (22,500-kilometer) journey through 22 countries — to set a record for the longest trip in a three-wheeled vehicle. (Read more)

---> Find more headlines from around the world right here <---

📝 Word Up

Today’s Word Up is: Fusty /ˈfəstē/ (adjective) -- defined as “Smelling stale, damp, or stuffy.”

Example: “A fusty odor seeped out from the door of the pantry.”

🧹 Housekeeping

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Holding signs and waving banners, the workers gathered at a factory compound amid a heavy police presence, shouting “make compensation transparent and remove maximum limits on bonuses!” Union officials said about 40,000 members participated in the protest. Police did not immediately provide a crowd estimate.

The rally came hours after Samsung’s cross-town rival, SK Hynix, posted an all time high in quarterly revenue and operating profit for the January-March quarter. It attributed the jump to expanding global investments in data centers and other AI infrastructure that drove up the demands for its memory chips.

Samsung, which together with SK Hynix produces about two-thirds of global memory chips, forecast earlier this month that its first-quarter operating profit would reach a record 57.2 trillion won ($38.6 billion). That would be higher than the 37.6 trillion won ($25.4 billion) posted by SK Hynix on Thursday, although Samsung has a more diverse lineup of businesses, including smartphones and consumer electronics.

Samsung’s union, which represents about 74,000 workers, says the company has failed to offer adequate compensation despite its strong performance. It has rejected the management’s proposal for bonuses of restricted stock and has called for removing caps on bonuses.

The union has threatened to stage an 18-day walkout starting May 21 if negotiations with management fail, and claims that such action would cost the company more than 1 trillion won ($676 million) a day.

“We won’t stop this fight until our fair demands are met,” Choi Seung-ho, a union leader, said through a loudspeaker from atop a crane-mounted structure.

While semiconductor makers have benefited from the AI boom, the war in the Middle East has clouded the outlook, disrupting supplies of key materials such as helium that are crucial to chipmaking and pushing up energy costs.

In a conference call Thursday, Woo Hyun Kim, SK Hynix’s chief financial officer, said the company is closely monitoring the conflict but does not expect a meaningful impact on production, saying it has been diversifying its sourcing of helium and bromine beyond the Middle East and has sufficient inventory.

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Kim Tong-hyung reported from Seoul, South Korea. AP writer Hyung-jin Kim contributed to the report from Seoul.

In a federal complaint and arrest warrant unsealed April 22, 2026, investigators said it all started with an online “digital footprint:” an internet address tied to a home in Eastpointe.

A Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General said in a criminal complaint filed April 17, that Lela Lewis, Letora Liggins and Mesa Allen took part in a scheme that “resulted in the outlay of over $450,000” in suspected fraudulent benefits from March 2020 to approximately October 2021.

Investigators said some claims were filed from an internet address subscribed to Liggins at her Eastpointe home, while other activity traced back to an address linked to Lewis.

Court records said investigators reviewed financial records, employment records, vehicle license records and property records along with unemployment claim data, surveillance and information from other agencies, including the FBI and Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency fraud unit.

The money trail

Often referred to as Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), during the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan used Bank of America-issued debit cards and electronic funds transfers to pay claimants. Those transfers, the feds said, traveled through Bank of America data centers located in Virginia and Colorado, making them “interstate wire communications.”

Michigan’s unemployment system, called MiDAS, then captured access data, like dates, times, and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, that investigators said they later used to help stitch together the “coordinated operation.”

“Each time a claim is accessed in MiDAS, it creates a digital footprint of sorts,” the feds said.

For example, according to the complaint, a $32,000 claim filed in May 2020 was traced to Liggins and her Eastpointe address. Another claim also filed in May 2020 from the same IP address paid over $33,000 between June 2020 and August 2021, court records show.

In both cases, investigators said Bank of America ATM surveillance footage captured Liggins withdrawing cash at ATMs in St. Clair Shores, Grosse Pointe Woods and Eastpointe.

A phone number tied to that IP address, the agent said, “was associated with a UI claim in the name of Lewis.” Federal investigators said Lewis also used a Clinton Township address on her unemployment claim and driver’s license, and said Lewis is Allen’s sister.

Investigators said the claim paid out over $17,000 between June and November 2020, and another claim paid out over $20,000 between June 2020 and March 2021.

According to the feds, Bank of America surveillance footage showed Allen withdrawing cash tied to the fraudulent claims. The feds compared the footage to her driver’s license photo and a distinctive “Ariel” tattoo on her upper right arm.

What the women told investigators

In an interview on April 25, 2025, Liggins identified herself in the ATM footage tied to withdrawals from accounts connected to fraudulent claims, confirmed she knew Lewis, then stopped talking, the feds said.

Lewis, according to investigators, confirmed Allen was her sister, confirmed she lived at the St. Clair Shores address for several years, and acknowledged Liggins was “a friend.” But Lewis denied filing anything beyond a claim in her own name.

Allen denied filing fraudulent claims but acknowledged she was the person in the ATM footage. She told investigators someone else gave her debit cards and asked her to withdraw cash -- and she kept a small cut.

“Allen kept approximately $20-$30 from the cash she withdrew,” the feds said.

Lewis, Liggins and Allen were charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 13, 2026, in Detroit.

Remote working has been made possible by reliable high speed internet and turbocharged by the pandemic. For some remote workers, that includes working from somewhere other than their home, perhaps because their company doesn't have a physical location in their area, or because they don't have an ideal home office setup.

Working in public, however, doesn't come without privacy and security risks. Here's a quick reminder of precautions to take:

Read the rulebook

Hybrid or fully remote working is the norm for many jobs, so it's a good idea to check for guidance from your employer on what's expected when working away from the office.

Many companies and organizations have internal guidelines including best practices for working in public, or even offer privacy and confidentiality training for staff.

Some discourage working in crowded public places like coffee shops because of data privacy risks. The British government spells it out in guidance for staff working with classified documents. “These environments can present additional risks, including being more freely accessible to people without the appropriate clearance and need-to-know.”

If you're planning to travel and work, some employers might also have rules forbidding staff from working from certain countries.

Think visually

Cafes and co-working spaces are often busy with strangers, most of whom will be minding their own business. But it's still a good idea not to leave yourself exposed.

Try to find a secluded place to sit to prevent others from seeing what's on your screen, even if it's by accident. It's harder for someone to “shoulder surf” if you've got your back to a wall.

To make it even harder for prying eyes, get a screen privacy filter. This is a thin film that has tiny louvres to prevent anyone from seeing your screen when looking at it from an angle.

Be wary of the Wi-Fi

It's so tempting to log on to that free Wi-Fi network in the airport lounge or hotel lobby so you can check your email. But cybersecurity experts advise against it because the risks are high.

Avoid a public Wi-Fi network that doesn't need a password, because any data sent over it is vulnerable to theft or manipulation, the National Security Agency warns.

Even if a Wi-Fi network requires a password, that doesn't mean the data will be encrypted, the NSA says in a cybersecurity tip sheet.

The agency warns about a number of cybersecurity risks involving public Wi-Fi. One possible danger is a rogue network that tricks people into joining.

“A malicious actor can set up a fake access point, also known as an evil twin, to mimic the nearby expected public Wi-Fi, resulting in that actor having access to all data sent over the network,” the NSA says.

Instead, use a mobile hotspot, which is more secure because it uses your cellphone signal to create a mini wireless network. Most iPhones or Android phones can do this.

For even more security, use a VPN, or virtual private network. This is software that encrypts data traffic and routes it through private tunnels to secure servers to prevent anyone from being able to read it. Companies usually provide them for staff. If not, you can sign up for one yourself.

Don't forget the obvious measures

There are other common-sense measures you can take in public.

Beware of your surroundings. Sitting in a public place with a laptop in plain sight could make it an attractive target for thieves. If you need to leave your spot to go to the restroom, take your devices with you.

Avoid having private conversations in public. If you're on a noisy train car or in a busy hotel lobby talking on a Zoom call about a sensitive project, it might be tempting to raise your voice to make sure you're being heard. But you can never be sure if anyone is eavesdropping.

"In public areas be aware of whether you can be overheard by any unauthorized individuals, such as members of the public, or smart listening devices," the British government's guidance warns.

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Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip.

The meeting between Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh Moawad and her Israeli counterpart Yechiel Leiter is the second between the two diplomats, days after they held the first such direct talks between the two countries in three decades.

Lebanon President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that contacts are ongoing to extend the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect Friday.

Hamadeh will put forward an extension of the ceasefire during the meeting and ask for an end to ongoing Israeli home demolitions in villages and towns occupied by Israel after the latest war broke out on March 2, Aoun said in comments released by his office.

Preparations are ongoing for wider-reaching negotiations between Lebanon and Israel. The aim of the future talks is to “fully” stop Israeli attacks, withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, release of Lebanese prisoners held in Israel, deployment of Lebanese troops along the border and beginning the reconstruction process, Aoun said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Lebanon to work with Israel to disarm the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah ahead of negotiations in Washington.

“We don’t have any serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are a few minor border disputes that can be solved,” Saar said during Independence Day remarks to Israel’s ambassadors and diplomatic corps in which he also described the neighboring country as a “failed state.”

“The obstacle to peace and normalization between the countries is one: Hezbollah,” he said, adding that Lebanon could have “a future of sovereignty, independence and freedom from the Iranian occupation.”

The latest war started after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after Israel and the U.S. launched attacks on Iran. Israel responded with widespread bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion in which it captured dozens of towns and villages along the border.

Israel’s military currently occupies a buffer zone stretching as much as 10 kilometers (6 miles) into southern Lebanon. Israel says it aims to remove the threat of short-range rockets and anti-tank missiles towards northern Israel.

Despite Hezbollah’s outright rejection, the talks are a major step for two countries with no diplomatic relations that officially have been at war since Israel’s inception in 1948.

The Lebanese government hopes the talks will pave the way to a permanent end to the war. While Iran has set ending the wars in Lebanon and the region as a condition for talks with the U.S., Lebanon insists on representing itself.

Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking member of the militant group’s political council, told The Associated Press that the group will not abide by any agreements made during the direct talks, which it opposes.

Since the ceasefire went into effect last week, there have been multiple violations by both side sides.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war killed around 2,300 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of women and children, and displaced over 1 million people.

Last week’s talks were the first between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. Both countries have relied on indirect communication, often brokered by the U.S. or UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s top political authorities, critical of Hezbollah’s decision to fire rockets toward Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, quickly proposed direct talks in a bid to stop the escalation, hoping Israel would not launch its ground invasion.

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Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed.

It's the first time in a generation that California has a wide-open contest for the heavily Democratic state's highest office, with more than 50 names on the ballot. Mail ballots are scheduled to go to voters early next month in advance of the June 2 primary election.

It was mostly a mannerly exchange. There were few instances of candidates talking over or interrupting each other, indicating they were eager to make a positive impression with voters who might be seeing them for the first time.

The debate brought together the two leading Republicans, conservative commentator Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, and four Democrats including former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter,billionaire Tom Steyer, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and former Biden administration Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

Over 90 minutes, candidates fielded questions on housing and wildfire insurance, social media and gas taxes, while bickering over professional experience, individual wealth and the direction of the nation's most populous state. Democrats made clear they would fight President Donald Trump in a state known as the home of the so-called Trump resistance, while Republicans said ruling Democrats are to blame for the state's woes.

“Donald Trump is trying to punish California every way he can,” Steyer said.

Homeless policy displays sharp partisan divide

California has more people living on the street than any other state and Democrats generally credited outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom for his efforts to deal with the long-running crisis. But Republicans said the state has spent billions of taxpayer dollars with little evidence of progress.

“Everything has taken us in the wrong direction,” Hilton said.

Bianco called the state's record on homelessness a “dismal failure.”

Social media use for kids at issue

Candidates were asked if the state should ban social media use for children under 16 years old and their answers didn't fall neatly on party lines.

Steyer and Becerra said they support such a ban. Hilton said there should be a social norm to keep smartphones away from children under 16. Porter said she doesn't support a ban at that age but may support a different age ban, noting two of her teenage children use social media in different ways. Bianco and Mahan said it should be left to parents, with Mahan saying he supports parental consent for kids under 16 and cellphones should be banned in schools.

There also were some sharp exchanges and candidates sought to distinguish themselves from rivals.

A billionaire faces questions

References to Steyer's wealth and previous business dealings came up repeatedly.

“The only housing Tom Steyer’s built has been private prisons and ICE detention centers,” Mahan said, echoing criticism that Steyer, a hedge fund founder turned liberal activist, invested in private prisons that today house people picked up in federal immigration raids.

Steyer responded that he and his wife have financed thousands of low-income housing units.

Steyer has been vastly outspending his rivals in advertising and was asked about being the only billionaire in the race. He noted major corporations including utility companies are spending millions against him.

“I’m the billionaire who wants to tax other billionaires,” Steyer added. “I’m the billionaire who's taking on the electric monopoly and trying to break up their power. I’m the billionaire who wants to tax the oil companies and make polluters pay.”

California's unique primary rules fuel uncertainty

The candidates were all on stage together because California puts all candidates on the same ballot regardless of party, and the two with the most votes go to the November general election. Democrats have been fretting their crowded field could result in two Republicans advancing, a result that would be a historic calamity for Democrats.

The campaign has just come through an unstable period, with U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell — one of the leading Democrats — leaving the race and Congress following sexual assault allegations that he denies.

Becerra and Mahan were late additions to the debate lineup after Swalwell exited the race. Both candidates in the reordered contest have been getting fresh attention, and endorsements. Becerra was the only candidate who declined to speak to reporters after the debate.

Porter, who became a social media celebrity by brandishing a whiteboard at congressional hearings while grilling CEOs, could become the state's first woman governor. Steyer, who in 2020 ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign, is known for his involvement in climate issues. Becerra served in the Biden administration and as a state attorney general, a congressman and a state legislator, and would be the state's first Hispanic governor in modern history. Mahan says he has made gains against homelessness and crime while leading Northern California's largest city.

California takes center stage

Democrats have dominated government in the nation's most populous state for years. Republicans haven't won a statewide election in two decades, and Hilton and Bianco faulted Sacramento's one-sided politics for the state's troubles.

Bianco said Democratic policies were driving up the cost of living.

Hilton, while discussing the state's notoriously high tax rates, said, “All the Democrats here are part of this system that obviously isn’t working.”

Nexstar Media Group hosted the debate that aired on its local channels, as well as NewsNation, and streamed online via The Hill. ___

Sophie Austin and Trân Nguyễn contributed from Sacramento, California.

Comet 3I/Atlas is only the third interstellar visitor to be confirmed and quite possibly the oldest. Scientists estimate it could be up to 11 billion years old, more than twice as old as the sun.

A team led by the University of Michigan used the ALMA observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert to examine the comet last fall. The errant but harmless iceball was discovered last summer, giving NASA and the European Space Agency plenty of time to aim multiple space telescopes at it as it zoomed past Mars in October and made its closest approach to Earth in December. It's now well past Jupiter on its way out of our solar system for good, still visible only to the professionals.

In the study, scientists said they detected extremely high amounts of deuterium, or heavy hydrogen, in the comet's water. That suggests that the comet originated in a place considerably colder — before the star of this solar system even formed — than our own cosmic neighborhood, said the University of Michigan's Teresa Paneque-Carreno.

While our sun may have been surrounded by other newborn stars as it was forming, she noted, this comet's home star could have been more of a loner, leading to less heating and colder conditions.

The findings were published in Nature Astronomy.

The comet's precise place of origin is still unknown. Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope put the size of its nucleus somewhere between a quarter-mile and 3.5 miles (440 meters and 5.6 kilometers). It's hurtling away at 137,000 mph (220,000 kph).

Linking all these “puzzle pieces together may give an idea to how the planet-forming conditions were at these early times,” Paneque-Carreno said in an email.

The first known interstellar object to stray into our celestial backyard — Oumuamua — was discovered by a telescope in Hawaii in 2017. Comet 2I/Borisov followed in 2019, named for the Crimean amateur astronomer who first spotted it.

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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.

Iran’s ability and willingness to go to the World Cup across north America starting June 11 has been unclear since the U.S. and Israel launched military attacks Feb. 28.

“The Ministry of Youth and Sports made an announcement about the full preparedness of our national soccer team for presence in the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., by the order of the minister,” Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohejerani told Iran’s state TV on Wednesday.

FIFA has consistently said Iran will stick to the World Cup game schedule decided last December, and refused to negotiate any suggestion of playing the team’s games in Mexico.

Progress was made March 31 when FIFA President Gianni Infantino went to meet Iranian soccer leaders and players in Turkey where the team had two warmup games.

Though the Iranian soccer league has shut down during the war, the team’s official Instagram account posted photos this week of a practice in Tehran.

Mohejerani added Wednesday “the necessary arrangements that these dear ones need for the team’s proud and successful participation, (have been made).”

Infantino promised the Iranian team three weeks ago he would help find a training camp outside of the country for the team to prepare for the World Cup. That could also be in Turkey, where Iran played warmup games last month in Antalya against Nigeria and Costa Rica.

FIFA did not immediately confirm details Wednesday of a possible camp being organized.

Iran is scheduled to play two group-stage games at the Los Angeles Rams’ stadium in Inglewood — against New Zealand and Belgium — then face Egypt in Seattle.

The team is due to arrive at its training camp in Tucson, Arizona no later than June 10, which is at least five days before its first game as required by FIFA’s World Cup rules.

A key issue to be resolved is the U.S. government giving entry visas to the Iranian delegation including soccer federation president Mehdi Taj. He is a vice president of the Asian soccer body who was barred from attending the World Cup draw in December in Washington D.C., where Infantino presented U.S. President Donald Trump with the specially created FIFA Peace Prize.

Mexico and Canada are co-hosting the 48-nation tournament that runs through July 19.

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

On April 22, 1926, the University of Michigan Board of Regents approved plans that would shape one of college football’s most iconic venues, granting then-Athletic Director and football head coach Fielding H. Yost permission to build Michigan Stadium.

On Wednesday, April 22, 2026, Michigan Stadium, widely known as “The Big House,” a nickname popularized by broadcaster Keith Jackson, stands as the largest stadium in North America and the third-largest in the world.

The beginning of a landmark

Michigan Stadium first opened Oct. 1, 1927, when Michigan defeated Ohio Wesleyan University 33-0. It was formally dedicated three weeks later, Oct. 22, 1927, with a 21-0 victory over rival Ohio State University.

Both dates are among several milestones the university plans to recognize during the anniversary celebration.

The athletic department has created a commemorative logo and will mark the occasion with in-game tributes, special events, merchandise, and digital storytelling across its platforms.

Growth of an institution

Originally built as a football-only venue for the Michigan Wolverines, Michigan Stadium has undergone 10 expansions, increasing its capacity to 107,601.

The program has led the nation in attendance in 48 of the past 51 seasons and has drawn crowds exceeding 100,000 fans for 329 consecutive home games.

The stadium also set an NCAA single-game attendance record in 2013, when 115,109 fans attended a night game against the University of Notre Dame.

Beyond football

The venue has hosted major events, including “The Big Chill at the Big House” in 2010 between Michigan and Michigan State University, the NHL Winter Classic in 2014 featuring the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, and multiple International Champions Cup soccer matches with global clubs such as Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea FC, Liverpool FC, FC Barcelona, and SSC Napoli.

The stadium has also expanded its reach into entertainment. On Sept. 27, 2025, country artist Zach Bryan performed the venue’s first concert, drawing a record-breaking crowd of 112,408, the largest ticketed concert attendance in U.S. history.

Morgan Wallen is scheduled to perform two shows there in July 2026.

Looking ahead

The 2026 season will mark the 99th year of competition at Michigan Stadium for the Wolverines, college football’s winningest program and a 12-time national champion.

The National Register of Historic Places is an official list of historic buildings, structures, districts and objects deemed worthy of preservation by the federal government due to their historical significance. It’s a National Park Service program that is administered by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO).

In 2025, 13 properties were added to the list, including the Dearborn Country Club, the Ferry Street Historic District and the St. Mary of Redford Catholic Church complex.

--> Click here for the full 2025 list.

“One of the great things about the National Register program is that the designation makes clear that this place matters,” said National Register Coordinator Todd Walsh said in a news release in January. “Each of these places is important for the people and stories they represent, for the challenges faced and overcome, and for the achievements of so many people who built our great state. The 13 new places listed in 2025, and all the others in Michigan, embody what it means to be a Michigander. I encourage everyone to find the places that matter in their communities and celebrate them, whether that is through the National Register or in another meaningful way.”

In 2024, 11 Michigan properties were added to the list, while 19 properties were added in 2023.

To be considered for the list, a property must be at least 50 years old and have historical significance in terms of major events or trends within that community, state or the nation.

The site must also have historical integrity (the ability to convey its significance) to receive this designation.

Here’s a look at the Michigan properties that have been added to the list so far in 2026:

Odd Fellows Hall

• Location: Midland (Midland County)
• Date listed: Jan. 8, 2026

Odd Fellows Hall building first went up in 1876 as the Harris Block, with storefronts at street level, storage above.

Starting in 1878, a third-floor meeting space for a local chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, according to the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office.

In 1914, IOOF Midland Lodge No. 418 purchased the building as its meeting hall, and for more than a century, the lodge used the hall for meetings and community events.

Members played an active role in local life, promoting mutual aid, civic pride, and charitable initiatives that supported organizations across the area.

The lodge occupied the building until 2022, when it consolidated with another chapter.

Now, the upper floors are being rehabilitated into apartments.

Zeeland Record Company Building

• Location: Zeeland (Ottawa County)
• Date listed: Jan. 8, 2026

Since 1925, the Zeeland Record Company Building, at 16 South Elm Street, has been known for its role in telling the city’s story.

The Zeeland Record newspaper traces its roots to 1893, and after outgrowing several locations, owner Adrian Van Koevering built a home for the operation at this building.

The SHPO said that through the 1920s, the company expanded beyond local news, adding publications with regional and national readership, which was a remarkable accomplishment for a small-town printer.

The paper brought outside news into Zeeland while sending information about Zeeland’s chick hatching industry and religious community life out.

Two front offices handled business transactions, while a large, column-free shop room in the rear gave workers the flexibility to move heavy printing equipment as needs changed.

The owner sold the business to his sons in 1947.

The building currently serves as the offices of a construction contractor, but a 1906 printing press, a 1940 paper shear, and other artifacts from the Zeeland Record are still inside, according to the SHPO.

Manistee Fire Station

• Location: Manistee (Manistee County)
• Date listed: Jan. 20, 2026

The Manistee Fire Station is the oldest continuously operated fire station in Michigan.

The station is a two-story, pressed-brick structure that is anchored at one end by a two-and-a-half-story tower topped with a copper dome, according to the SHPO.

In 1871, on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire, there was also a devastating fire in Manistee.

This prompted the city to build a new firehouse in 1888/1889 to house the city’s new professional fire department.

When it opened, it had electric doors and a tall lookout tower that had also been used for drying horses.

“In the early days, the daily ritual of firemen practicing the swift hitching of horse teams became a source of pride, both for the firemen and for the community,” according to the SHPO. “Photographs show schoolchildren gathered across the street from the fire station on the steps of the Third Ward Elementary School to witness the demonstration at noon each day, forging a unique bond between the fire department and the town’s residents.”

Bagley-West Vernor Historic District

• Location: Southwest Detroit (Wayne County)
• Date Listed: Jan. 22, 2026

The Bagley-West Vernor district covers Detroit’s popular Mexicantown neighborhood and includes several well-known restaurants and other landmarks along the two streets.

The designation recognizes the district’s significance in Hispanic ethnic heritage, social history, and commerce, according to the SHPO. Its contributing properties date from 1920 to 1975.

Cooley School

• Location: Cadillac (Wexford County)
• Date Listed: Jan. 22, 2026

The original two-building Cooley school complex opened in 1924 and was built on the site of a school that previously served the Cadillac area.

It was designed by district architect Judson Newell Churchill as part of a broader effort to modernize educational facilities in the city. It features a two-story layout based on an “I”-shaped floor plan, a style commonly used in early 20th-century school design.

Unlike some of Churchill’s more decorative work, Cooley School has a more understated appearance, with simple brickwork and minimal ornamentation that reflect a practical design approach, according to the SHPO.

In 1964, the school was expanded with the addition of an Annex building to address growing student enrollment.

This added four extra classrooms and was designed with cost-efficiency in mind.

Its architectural style reflects mid-century trends, including reduced window space, the use of fluorescent lighting, and colorful tile finishes in the hallways.

The school closed in 2017. It is in the process of being converted into housing.

“After a school closes, the building(s) can be great candidates for adaptive reuse, serving the neighborhood in a new way such as housing, community space, or for small businesses,” the SHPO said in a social media post announcing The Cooley School‘s addition to the National Register of Historic Places. “Historic preservation can be a key solution to addressing important regional needs such as housing.”

Washington Square Historic District

• Location: Holland (Ottawa County)
• Date Listed: Jan. 26, 2026

The Washington Square Historic District is a one-block commercial corridor in the middle of a neighborhood located southwest of Holland’s downtown area.

The district’s period of significance was from 1911 to 1958, with the oldest building illustrating early twentieth-century commerce.

Other buildings in the district reflect how local commerce developed before World War II, while those constructed after the war highlight changes in business practices and broader societal shifts. Together, they show how the area evolved over time.

The district was nominated for historic designation by graduate students from the University of Notre Dame’s Master of Science in Historic Preservation program.

Their research included site visits, archival work and the review of maps and other historical records for each building.

According to the SHPO, being listed on the National Register fosters community pride and helps guide future planning by recognizing the importance of the past.

It also allows property owners in the district to access historic preservation tax credits to support building rehabilitation.

St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Parsonage, and Cemetery

• Location: Northfield Township (Washtenaw County)
• Date Listed: Feb. 23, 2026

St. John’s Church was founded in 1869 by Reverend Friedrich Schmid, a German immigrant who went on to establish more than 20 Lutheran congregations throughout Southeast Michigan. Its early membership was largely drawn from German settlers who began arriving in the Northfield Township area in the 1830s, according to the SHPO.

The church stands as a notable example of Gothic Revival religious architecture, reflecting both the cultural heritage of its congregation and the character of the surrounding rural communities in the northern part of Washtenaw County.

Its recognized period of significance extends from 1874 to 1974.

More information on National Register listings

The National Park Service releases weekly lists of properties across the U.S. as they are named on the National Register of Historic Places. To see those lists, visit here.

Being listed on the register allows property owners to utilize historic preservation tax credits to rehabilitate their historic buildings. For more on the nomination and listing process, visit here.

To learn about the Michigan properties as they are added to the list throughout the year, you can visit the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office’s Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Jeffrey William Lyle, 38, is facing federal charges of online enticement of a minor and transfer of obscene material to a minor. He also faces two state charges of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the case, according to court records.

A criminal complaint was filed on April 21, 2026, detailing the events leading to Lyle’s arrest. This includes the messages and images he allegedly sent to the child and accusations of touching the girl inappropriately.

On Sept. 26, 2025, a 13-year-old girl told her school counselor that Lyle touched her inappropriately over her clothing multiple times. She also said Lyle followed her to the bathroom and forcibly kissed her against her will.

The child said Lyle had been allegedly doing this to her since she was 11 years old.

The 13-year-old also reported that Lyle had been sending her sexually explicit messages on Snapchat. Court documents stated that she screen-captured the conversations and recorded the messages.

The screen captures were made on Aug. 31, 2025. Messages from Lyle allegedly include sexually graphic messages, along with him saying, “I know your super young and all of this is kinda weird/crazy to be saying but idc [sic],” and “It’s ok to say you’re a little curious about it lol its just you and I talking remember??? [sic]”

Additional screen captures include more alleged messages sent, including “Why? It’s not wrong to be curious and say yes. Will you be mad if I send a pic???”

The young girl was interviewed by a federal official on Oct. 3, 2025. In the interview, she told the federal official that when she was in Tennessee visiting a friend, Lyle allegedly sent her “really weird stuff,” including an image of his genitalia and making comments about the girl’s body.

She also said Lyle had allegedly purposely brushed up against her inappropriately multiple times and touched her inappropriately while they were sitting next to each other on a couch.

On Oct. 2, 2025, St. Clair Shores police executed a search warrant on Lyle’s Snapchat account and matched the account information to Lyle’s personal information, including his IP address and date of birth.

On Nov. 10, 2025, St. Clair Shores police were able to confirm Lyle’s phone number was associated with the Snapchat account after executing search warrants with the phone provider.

Lyle is currently on bond on the criminal sexual conduct charges and is awaiting trial.

The entire department has been shut down since mid-February as Democrats have demanded policy changes in the wake of fatal shootings of two protesters by federal agents. Republicans are now trying to fund the two immigration enforcement agencies through the complicated, time-consuming process called budget reconciliation, a maneuver that they also used to pass President Donald Trump’s package of tax and spending cuts last year with no Democratic votes.

“We have a multistep process ahead of us, but at the end Republicans will have helped ensure that America's borders are secure and prevented Democrats from defunding these important agencies,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

The budget process only requires a simple majority in the Senate, bypassing filibuster rules that require Republicans to find 60 votes on most bills when they only hold 53 seats. But it also comes with increased scrutiny from the Senate parliamentarian and a long, open-ended series of amendment votes at the beginning and the end of the process.

The Senate held the first series of votes through the night, starting Wednesday evening and into early Thursday morning, with Democrats proposing amendments to lower health care expenses and other costs in an effort to contrast with Republicans’ focus on Trump’s campaign of immigration enforcement.

“Instead of pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into ICE and Border Patrol, Republicans should be working with Democrats to lower out-of-pocket costs,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The Senate adopted the final resolution 50-48, just past 3:30 a.m.

A lengthy effort to reopen Homeland Security

Once the House approves the framework and the Senate Parliamentarian approves it, the two chambers can then move to pass the measure.

The Senate has already voted on a bipartisan basis to reopen the rest of the department, but Republican leaders in the House say they won’t take that bill up until the Senate shows progress toward funding ICE and Border Patrol, as well.

The $70 billion budget resolution would fund the two agencies for three years, through the rest of Trump’s term. Thune and other GOP leaders say they hope to keep the bill narrowly focused on ICE and Border Patrol and get it to Trump’s desk in the coming weeks, along with the rest of Homeland Security Department funding that has already passed the Senate.

But that could prove difficult as many in the party see the budget bill as the last real chance this year to enact their priorities. Republicans in both the Senate and House have pushed to add other items, including money for farmers and Trump’s proof of citizenship voting bill, called the SAVE America Act.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., briefly held up the vote series late Wednesday, frustrated that the bill would not include parts of the SAVE America Act or other legislation.

“This is the last train leaving the station,” Kennedy said, predicting they would not be able to pass any other major bills ahead of November's midterm elections. But he withdrew his objections and allowed the voting to proceed.

Democrats say reform needed at ICE and Border Patrol after shootings

Democrats say any funding bill for the Homeland Security Department should place restraints on federal immigration authorities, including better identification for federal officers and more use of judicial warrants, among other asks.

After federal agents shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January, Trump agreed to a Democratic request that the Homeland Security bill be separated from a larger spending measure that became law. But bipartisan negotiations went nowhere, and the DHS funding lapsed with no agreement on changes to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

In March, the Senate passed the legislation by voice vote that would separate out ICE and Border Patrol and fund the rest of the department, including the Transportation Security Administration as security lines grew long at some airports. But Republicans in the House refused to consider it, saying they wouldn’t support any bill that didn’t include money for immigration enforcement.

Congress then left town for a two-week recess, leaving the issue unresolved. Trump has used executive orders to pay some department salaries in the meantime, but the future of those paychecks is uncertain.

Potential roadblocks in the House

During the recess, Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that they would pursue a two-track approach — pass the Senate bill that includes most of the department’s funding through regular order and use the party-line bill to pass ICE and CBP funding.

Weeks later, though, Johnson has still not said when the House will take up the Senate’s legislation that would fund the rest of the department. And it is unclear if members of his GOP conference will unite behind the narrowed budget bill as some House Republicans have argued, like Sen. Kennedy, that they should add other priorities to the legislation.

Johnson said this week that the sequencing of the two bills is important. House lawmakers don’t want to see the rest of the department funded without ICE and Border Patrol, he said.

But Thune warned after the Senate vote that other parts of the Homeland Security Department may run out of money before they are able to finish the winding budget process and fund those two agencies. He said he hopes the adoption of the budget resolution is a signal to the House that “we're going to be following through."

“We'll see what they can do with it," Thune said. “And if they can't, I guess we will go to the next plan.”

___

Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

The legislation is the latest in a global trend to protect young people from dangerous online activity.

Its passage comes a week after a 14-year-old boy killed nine students and a teacher at a middle school in Kahramanmaras, southern Turkey, in a gun attack. Police are investigating the online activity of the perpetrator, who also died, in a bid to uncover his motivation for the attack.

The bill will force social media platforms to install age‑verification systems, provide parental control tools and require companies to rapidly respond to content deemed harmful, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan must now accept the bill within 15 days for it to pass into law. He spoke in the wake of the Kahramanmaras killings of the need for to mitigate the online risks to children’s safety and privacy.

“We are living in a period where some digital sharing applications are corrupting our children's minds and social media platforms have, to put it bluntly, become cesspools,” he said in a televised address Monday.

The main opposition party — the Republican People’s Party, or CHP — has criticized the proposal, saying children should be protected “not with bans but with rights-based policies.”

Under the law, digital platforms — such as YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and others — would have to block children under 15 from opening accounts and introduce parental controls that would manage children’s access.

Online game companies will also be required to appoint a representative in Turkey to ensure they abide by the new regulations. Potential penalties include internet bandwidth reductions and fines imposed by Turkey’s communications watchdog.

The Turkish government has a recent record of restricting online platforms as they have grown as a means of expressing dissent. Online communications were widely restricted during last year’s protests in support of Istanbul’s jailed opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.

Restrictions on social media access for children under 16 first began in December in Australia, where social media companies revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to children.

Last month, Indonesia began implementing a new government regulation banning children younger than 16 from access to digital platforms that could expose them to pornography, cyberbullying, online scams and addiction.

Some other countries — including Spain, France and the United Kingdom — are also taking or considering measures to restrict children’s access to social media amid growing concern that they are being harmed by exposure to unregulated social media content.

China’s profile in international diplomacy has risen in recent years, thanks to active efforts from its diplomats. Long reluctant to get involved in conflicts far from its borders, it has nevertheless emerged as a major player with attempts to mediate conflicts from Southeast Asia to Europe.

With the Iran war, Beijing is not an official mediator, but all parties — including Washington and Tehran — say it has played an important role in trying to de-escalate the conflict.

Experts say Beijing's strategies for diplomacy in multiple conflicts have looked similar and have had mixed success in influencing negotiations, but the efforts come at an opportune time, as U.S. actions under President Donald Trump have increased tensions with traditional diplomatic allies.

In the Iran war, experts say, China's close economic and political ties to Tehran put it in a unique position of influence as the conflict hurts the global energy supply, especially in Asia.

Trump says China encouraged Iran to negotiate ceasefire

Trump has said he believes China helped encourage Iran to negotiate the fragile ceasefire that he has now extended.

Diplomats told The Associated Press that Beijing, the biggest purchaser of sanctioned Iranian oil, used its leverage to urge the Iranians back to the negotiating table for historic face-to-face talks in Pakistan earlier this month.

Beijing has not confirmed that account, likely because it does not want to be seen as part of a U.S.-led security framework, said Yaqi Li, a researcher at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Still, some saw it as a major moment for Beijing, which has criticized the U.S.' and Israel’s war against Iran.

After the war began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with counterparts including Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. As of mid-April, he had 30 phone calls with various parties about the war, according to a tally of his calls from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Wang also hosted his counterpart from close ally Pakistan, which has been acting as the main mediator in the latest talks, to present a five-point proposal calling for an end to hostilities and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Chinese President Xi Jinping in recent days has been uncharacteristically outspoken, warning last week against “the world’s retrogression to the law of the jungle.” This week, he called for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen.

China leans on its role as an economic power

George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group consultancy, said China’s role in the Iran situation is irreplaceable. As Tehran's biggest oil buyer, its advice carries weight. China is also one of the few countries that has showed sympathy for Iran's situation at the United Nations, he said.

Further, Iran’s ballistic missile program was built with Chinese technology, and China sells dual-use industrial components that can be used for missile production, according to the U.S. government.

Although China isn’t as immediately influential as Pakistan or key Arab Gulf states in active mediation, it occupies a unique position as the key economic partner for many of those countries.

Tuvia Gering, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub, said China is uniquely positioned to offer economic incentives that matter to Tehran, especially after the war ends, as Beijing can promise investment in reconstruction and commercial relief in ways few others can.

“It could be one of the few actors capable of giving Tehran both political cover and material incentives to accept constraints and stick to them,” he said.

China's role as a global mediator is growing

One of China's biggest diplomatic wins in recent years came in 2023, when it was among the parties bringing Saudi Arabia and Iran together to restart official engagement.

It was widely seen as a major geopolitical breakthrough that reduced the risk of direct and proxy conflict, said Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat, a researcher at the Center of Economic and Law Studies in Indonesia.

But China is choosing when to play a role cautiously, he said, noting that Saudi Arabia and Iran had preexisting incentives to reengage diplomatically. “Its mediation tends to be opportunistic and low-risk, often occurring when conditions are already conducive to agreement," he said.

Beijing also was active during the recent conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, hosting multiple meetings between them and attending initial ceasefire talks alongside the U.S. in Malaysia. When fighting started again in December, China and the U.S. helped broker another ceasefire.

Beijing also has issued peace proposals for the war in Ukraine, hosting the Ukrainian foreign minister at one point, even though it maintains what it calls a “no-limits” friendship with Russia.

Beijing's role remains carefully worded

China's diplomatic efforts tend to follow a pattern, experts say, with Beijing reiterating calls to respect the U.N. charter and national sovereignty.

With the Iran war, Xi last week called for “upholding the principles of peaceful coexistence, upholding national sovereignty, upholding the rule of international law, and coordinating development and security.”

“A lot of the points are remarkably consistent,” said Hoo Tiang Boon, a professor of Chinese foreign policy at Nanyang Technological University.

In conflicts further afield, the stakes for Beijing can be low but benefits can be high as the world tries to come to terms with the Trump administration’s approach to negotiating, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of international relations at Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University, said.

“What the U.S. is doing is deeply damaging, and everyone suffers from it ... and China is displaying global leadership and exerting its global role by speaking to the rules-based international system,” he said. “It’s an inescapable contrast.”

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Leung reported from Hong Kong.

The latest war in the Middle East has far-reaching effects, including on countries ravaged by conflicts of their own.

After three years of war in Sudan, a public health clinic in Qoz Nafisa village in Khartoum state is struggling to support thousands of people like the 61-year-old Awad.

He said he has been spacing out his medicine for glaucoma, worried he won't be able to find more or afford it when he does. Money was already an issue because of the war at home, he said.

“Now we have the problem of the war in the Middle East. It's just made things worse," he said.

Aid groups say the Iran war has cut off vital shipping routes, upending their ability to get food and medicine to millions of people around the world in need. The standoff between the United States and Iran has essentially shut down the Strait of Hormuz, and other routes from strategic hubs such as Dubai also have been impacted.

Transport costs have spiked with higher fuel and insurance rates, further straining the ability to deliver supplies. The United Nations says there's been up to a 20% cost increase on shipments, along with delays, as goods are rerouted.

The International Rescue Committee, which supports the clinic where Awad gets some of his medicines, said about $130,000 worth of pharmaceuticals intended for Sudan was stranded in Dubai for weeks and only now is making its way there.

The IRC says medicines and supplies such as antibiotics, painkillers and stethoscopes that were supposed to be flown from the United Arab Emirates to Port Sudan were instead transported by road to neighboring Oman and then flown out.

U.S. President Donald Trump this week extended the fragile ceasefire with Iran, but aid groups worry little will change.

“There’s still a real lag in the system. Shipments remain blocked or delayed, and that’s deeply worrying," said Madiha Raza, associate director for global public affairs and communications for IRC.

Sudan has widely been described as facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and Raza said any delay in delivering food, medicine and fuel has devastating consequences.

For the roughly 5,000 people who rely on the public health clinic that the IRC supports in Qoz Nafisa, some now must search at other clinics and spend their own money, which they often don't have.

During a visit by AP journalists on Wednesday, clinic staff said that since the war with Iran began at the end of February they've been struggling to meet demand.

A member of the military media accompanied The Associated Press during the visit for safety reasons. The AP retains full editorial control of its content.

Dr. Amira Sidig, the center's medical director, said the last shipment from the IRC was in December. Ones expected in February and April have not arrived.

Sudan's health ministry tries to fill the gap, but it only accounts for half of what's needed, Sidig said.

“It’s never enough because they also have a shortage, and we’re again out of stock quickly,” she said.

For several days this month, the clinic had no malaria treatment to give the 50% of patients who come in with the disease, Sidig said.

Ahmed Ibrahim, who works at the clinic, said patients are getting frustrated.

“When people come to the window, they say, ‘Why are you here and there is no medicine?’"

———- For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The 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.

Matt Duchene tied it for Dallas on a power play midway through the third period, seconds after his backcheck on Matt Boldy averted a short-handed goal that would’ve put Minnesota up by two.

After the Wild failed to convert two overtime power plays, finishing 1 for 7 with the man advantage, the Stars took advantage of their opportunity after Danila Yurov’s delay-of-game penalty. Miro Heiskanen's shot was knocked in by Johnston for his third goal in three games — and his sixth winning goal in four career postseasons.

“It’s kind of a little blurry, but just trying to get to the net and just trying to get my stick on the puck,” said Johnston, who had a career-high 45 goals during the regular season.

The game ended at 12:54 a.m.

Radek Faksa had a close-range chance in the second overtime he poked behind Wild goalie Jesper Wallstedt, but the puck skidded straight across the crease.

Wallstedt polished off the first Stars' power play by snapping his glove around Mikko Rantanen’s shot and smothering Esa Lindell’s bad-angle attempt. Johnston then spoiled a brilliant 32-save performance by Wallstedt with his deflection.

“We definitely played well enough to win," Wallstedt said. "It’s small margins. It’s a ‘D’ shot that double tips and hits twice and goes over my shoulder. Yeah, it’s bounces, but that’s what it is.”

Seconds after the audible thump from Stars goalie Jake Oettinger’s blocker save on Brock Faber’s slap shot, the Wild had another prime opportunity to win it in the first overtime when Hughes drew a tripping penalty on Sam Steel. But even with Faksa playing most of that penalty kill without a stick, the Wild failed to generate much pressure. Jamie Benn’s holding penalty on Nick Foligno gave them another try to crack Oettinger, who finished with 28 saves.

“I had my head down, looking out of one eye, just like, ’Good Lord, get through this,'” Duchene said.

The Wild killed four penalties between Rantanen’s power play tip-in just 1:25 into the game and Duchene’s crowd-quieting snap shot that slipped between defenseman Jared Spurgeon and the near post. That included 40 seconds of a 5-on-3 after Boldy’s delay-of-game penalty late in the second period.

As soon as he left the box, Spurgeon saw an opening to start a rush that Michael McCarron finished with his first goal in the NHL playoffs to give the Wild a 3-2 lead.

Jason Robertson scored after a slick stretch pass by Duchene to put the Stars up 2-0 in the first period.

Marcus Johansson scored on a power play to start the rally less than five minutes later, and Joel Eriksson Ek had the tying goal in the second after a brilliant setup by Boldy. The U.S. Olympian, who had a career-high 42 goals during the regular season, weaved through four Stars skaters and drew a crowd behind the net before zipping the puck back into the slot for Eriksson Ek to knock in.

Entering these playoffs, the winner of Game 3 after a split of the first two games in a best-of-seven went on to win the series nearly two-thirds of the time (245 of 369) in NHL history.

The Wild, who have not advanced in the postseason since 2015, fell on the flip side of that ratio in each of their last three appearances. They won Game 3 to go up 2-1 on Vegas last year, on Dallas in 2023 and on St. Louis in 2022, before being eliminated with three straight losses every time.

This was the third time in Wild history they reached double overtime, including a 3-2 win at Dallas in Game 1 of their first-round series with the Stars in 2023.

The Wild, who have a 4-14 series record in their underwhelming playoff history, have lost 17 of their last 23 postseason home games.

“Whether we won tonight or lost tonight, this series isn’t over,” Hughes said. “It’s a really good hockey game. We had our looks. They had their looks. Just leave it at that.”

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

“I've run out of things to say,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “Obviously, he continues to put himself in a really good spot to take good swings on good pitches. He's making great swing decisions, making a ton of contact and when he hits it, he hits it really hard.”

He added: “Even the singles he's hitting are hard. The damage is incredible and it's impressive to watch.”

He is the 13th rookie in big-league history to go deep in five straight, according to MLB.com. The Japanese first baseman also tied the team's franchise record, a mark shared by A.J. Pierzynski (2012), Paul Konerko (2011), Carlos Lee (2003), Frank Thomas (twice in 1994), Ron Kittle (1983) and Greg Luzinski (1983).

Murakami's two-run homer came off Diamondbacks reliever Ryan Thompson in the seventh, cutting Arizona's lead to 10-7. His 10 homers are second in the big leagues behind Houston's Yordan Alvarez, who has 11.

Murakami’s 10 homers, eight coming on the road, are the most in MLB history by a Japanese-born player in his first 24 career games.

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

Some of the biggest blazes were near Georgia’s coast, while others were popping up in northern Florida, a state facing one of its worst fire seasons in decades.

It was not yet clear how the wildfires started, but the bottom half of Georgia is perilously dry and the conditions prompted the state's forestry commission to issue a burn ban for the first time in its history. Southeastern Georgia has seen just 11 inches (28 centimeters) of rain since the beginning of September — almost 15 inches (38 centimeters) below normal, the National Weather Service said.

The fires spread so quickly in that area that residents received no warnings or alerts.

“I wish that I had knew something more,” said Brianna Elliott, who left home Tuesday only to find her route back blocked by the fires 90 minutes later. “I would have turned around in that moment and gone home and got my animals before anything.”

She now fears that her home and her dogs are gone.

Georgia’s two biggest wildfires together have burned more than 53 square miles (137.3 square kilometers), and crews responded Wednesday to 34 smaller fires newly burning across the state, the state's forestry commission said.

Dry timber feeds Georgia fires

The fast-moving Brantley County fire threatened roughly 1,000 homes Wednesday after destroying dozens a day earlier.

That fire grew by roughly six times in just a half day Tuesday, said Joey Cason, the county manager. There were fires erupting “in the backyard and people taking off in the front yard,” he said Wednesday.

So far no major injuries have been reported, Cason said.

The rural county is roughly midway between Georgia's coastal beaches and the Okefenokee Swamp, dotted with livestock and fruit farms as well as thick stands of planted pines grown for timber.

Crews worked to create fire breaks and stop the flames from reaching populated areas. The biggest concern was gusting winds that could easily spread embers.

Authorities said rain is desperately needed. The area with the worst fires was in exceptional or extreme drought, the most dire levels, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

“If you could start praying for that right now, we’d be grateful,” Cason said.

Pine and hardwood forests in the region are helping charge the fires, said Seth Hawkins, a spokesperson for the Georgia Forestry Commission, and swampy lowlands with thick layers of leaves and woody debris are “super flammable” when they dry out.

The commission's 30-day burn ban is for the southern part of the state.

FEMA announced the approval of grants for Georgia and Florida to battle the blazes.

More residents told to evacuate

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for more than half of the state's counties.

More people were told to evacuate from Brantley County on Wednesday afternoon, on top of the 800 evacuations previously. Another large fire that started in nearby Clinch County also prompted evacuations.

Mike Reardon and his wife packed family photos and their dog, Molly Rose, along with new e-bikes before leaving their Brantley County home.

The fire was about a mile away, and a shift in the wind would put flames “in our backyard in a matter of minutes,” he said.

The couple just built the home two years ago.

“It’s more than our house. It’s land that my dad bought years ago,” Liz Reardon said, fighting back tears. “It’s the most beautiful place in the world to me.”

Florida sees its worst wildfire season in decades

In Florida, firefighters battled more than 130 wildfires that burned 39 square miles (101 square kilometers), mostly in the state’s northern half.

“Florida has got one of the worst fire seasons in maybe the last 30 or 40 years, or it’s turning out to be that way,” state Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson said. “We’ve been in drought for 18 months now all across the state.”

Smoke blows into Atlanta and Jacksonville

The National Weather Service said a dangerous combination of low humidity and breezy winds would keep the fire danger elevated Wednesday.

Smoke drifted to Atlanta, Savannah, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida. The air quality in parts of south Georgia declined to the unhealthy category, meaning all people there might feel health effects.

Smoky conditions were expected to linger throughout the Atlanta area, according to the Atlanta-Fulton County Emergency Management Agency. The worst fires were more than 200 miles (322 kilometers) southeast of the city.

Smoke from Georgia fires also spread into South Carolina, according to its forestry commission.

The high fire risk was expected to continue each afternoon through Friday due to the very dry conditions, the weather service said.

___

Martin reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers Jeff Amy and Kate Brumback in Atlanta, Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

The daily Al-Akhbar newspaper says its reporter Amal Khalil was killed in the southern village of al-Tiri.

Khalil had been covering the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group that resumed in early March, in the shadow of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. She took cover in the house in al-Tiri after an earlier Israeli airstrike hit near the car she was traveling in with another colleague.

The Lebanese health ministry said the first strike killed two people. A second Israeli strike then hit the house in al-Tiri where Khalil and her colleague Zeinab Faraj had taken cover.

At first, rescue workers were able to get to Faraj, who was seriously wounded, and retrieve the bodies of two killed in the first airstrike. But they were fired on by Israeli forces so they were forced to halt attempts to reach Khalil, the ministry said.

Khalil remained under the rubble for hours before the Lebanese army, civil defense and the Lebanese Red Cross were able to get to the scene hours later. Khalil's body was retrieved shortly before midnight, at least six hours after the strike.

Israel’s military said individuals in the village had violated the ceasefire, endangering its troops. Israel denied that it targets journalists or that it prevented rescue teams from reaching the area. It said the incident was under review.

"Killing of journalists is a crime and a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law,” said Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos.

Khalil's death comes on the eve of the second round of direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials in Washington on extending the ceasefire that went into effect last Friday.

Khalil, who was from southern Lebanon, had been covering the area since 2006 for al-Akhbar. Her latest reporting was about Israeli demolitions of Lebanese homes in villages where Israeli troops are now positioned inside Lebanon.

Her death brings to nine the number of journalists killed in Lebanon so far this year. At least 2,300 people have been killed in Israeli strikes and more than 1 million displaced since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on March 2.

Earlier on Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders called for international pressure on the Israeli army to allow Khalil's rescue. Committee to Protect Journalists expressed its “outrage” at the apparent targeting of the two journalists and warned the obstruction of rescue efforts “may amount to a war crime.”

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun asked the Lebanese Red Cross to coordinate with the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers “to carry out the rescue operation" as quickly as possible.

In late March, an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon killed three journalists covering the war. Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV said its longtime correspondent Ali Shoeib was killed. Israel’s military said it had targeted Shoeib, accusing him of being a Hezbollah intelligence operative, without providing evidence.

Also killed in the same strike was reporter Fatima Ftouni, who worked for the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV along with her brother Mohammed Ftouni, a video journalist.

Days earlier, an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed Mohammed Sherri, the head of political programs at Hezbollah’s at Al-Manar TV, along with his wife.

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Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points in the series-opening win on Sunday, going 5 for 18 from the field. He bounced back in Game 2 with 13-for-25 shooting after being presented the NBA Clutch Player of the Year trophy before the game.

Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams each added 19 points for Oklahoma City, though Williams left the game in the third quarter with a left hamstring injury and did not return. Williams, an All-Star in 2024-25, missed 30 games this season with a right hamstring injury after missing the first 19 games of the season following surgery on his right wrist.

Five higher-seeded teams had lost home games in the first week of the playoffs before Wednesday, including the top three seeds in the Eastern Conference, Detroit, Boston and New York, and the No. 2 and 3 seeds in the West, San Antonio and Denver. Oklahoma City avoided that fate by shooting 47.3% from the field and forcing 21 turnovers.

Dillon Brooks led the Suns with 30 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter. Devin Booker scored 22 points and Jalen Green added 21 for Phoenix, which will host Game 3 on Saturday.

The Thunder led 65-57 at halftime. Williams made his first six field goals and had 19 points at the break, while Gilgeous-Alexander had 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

The action picked up early in the second half as Brooks and Oklahoma City's Lu Dort — both members of Canada's national team — got double technical fouls after a brief skirmish following a made free throw.

Holmgren started the second half hot. He scored eight points in just over four minutes to help the Thunder go up 77-63 and force a Phoenix timeout. Oklahoma City extended the lead to 100-77 at the end of the third quarter.

Oklahoma City pushed the lead to 26 points early in the fourth quarter before Phoenix made a final push. Booker made a pull-up jumper and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but he rebounded and made a mid-range jumper to cut Oklahoma City's lead to 110-97 with five minutes to play. The Suns got no closer than 10 points.

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

It's something only Ohtani could achieve, but the two-way superstar could be having games like that a little bit less often.

“I’m focused, as a leadoff hitter, to get on base. As long as I feel good overall, the result will follow," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "It hasn’t been the case (lately).”

Before Wednesday's loss to San Francisco, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made it clear he's committed to Ohtani's health and keeping him fresh to perform both on the mound and at the plate for the long haul.

And that may look different by the day or week, depending how Ohtani is feeling.

“I'll always let the manager make that final decision and I'm always going to be prepared when I'm starting that I'm hitting,” Ohtani said. “But if it makes sense as a team to occasionally put a guy in as a DH or hit later that's fine as well. I wouldn't want to same more aside from that.”

For some games, that could mean Ohtani pitches but doesn't bat as the designated hitter — and Roberts plans to keep his options open.

Ohtani was solid on the mound again for the Dodgers in a 3-0 loss to the Giants, allowing no earned runs for the third time in four starts this season. A week earlier, Ohtani was held out of the lineup while pitching for the first time since 2021 because he was still sore from getting hit by a pitch.

Ohtani batted in his customary leadoff spot and went 0 for 4 with a strikeout, hitting a fly ball to left in his last at-bat. That ended an on-base streak that matched Shawn Green for the second-longest in Dodgers history. Duke Snider owns the team record at 58 games from May 13-July 11, 1954. Ohtani’s streak was the longest in the majors since Orlando Cabrera reached base in 63 straight from April 25-July 6, 2006.

“The season’s not over, and I could start another streak and that would be great," Ohtani said. "We’ll see how it goes.”

The 31-year-old Ohtani saw his batting average drop from .271 to .258. He has allowed one earned run over 24 innings for an ERA of 0.38 and a 2-0 record, surrendering 15 hits with 25 strikeouts and six walks.

“I think if you look at the overall numbers it's certainly something. I still feel really good about putting his name in the lineup,” Roberts said. “I know the last start I chose not to have him hit and just pitch. I am open to it. We'll see. It's something that we've certainly flagged, and also you have to look at what's the option. In years past or last year, you've got to kind of weigh, who's a different option?”

Catcher Dalton Rushing has become a capable fill-in at DH. He's hitting .414 with seven homers and 13 RBIs.

The two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers have dropped four of five. They lost 3-1 in Tuesday night's series opener at rival San Francisco.

Roberts had yet to decide whether Ohtani would play the series finale Thursday. He said beforehand he had no qualms about giving Ohtani five at-bats on a day he’s pitching but would consider moving him down in the batting order if that makes sense.

“I think everything should be on the table,” Roberts said.

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

Juan Soto went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk in his return from a strained right calf, but shortstop Francisco Lindor was removed with left calf tightness after laboring around the bases while scoring from first on Francisco Alvarez's go-ahead double in the fourth.

Byron Buxton tied it 2-all with a leadoff homer in the sixth against Clay Holmes, his second longball in two nights.

Brett Baty, who came off the bench to replace Lindor in the lineup, drew his second walk of the game with two outs in the eighth against Taylor Rogers (0-1). Alvarez coaxed a nine-pitch walk from Justin Topa before Vientos dumped an RBI single into shallow right field.

In the sixth, Vientos blatantly ran through a stop sign rounding third and was easily thrown out at home plate for the final out of the inning.

Luke Weaver (2-0) retired Luke Keaschall with the bases loaded to end the top of the eighth and struck out three batters in a one-hit ninth to secure New York's first victory since April 7 at home against Arizona.

The 12-game skid was the team's longest since August 2002.

Connor Prielipp, the Twins' top pitching prospect, needed 82 pitches to get through four innings in his major league debut. But the 25-year-old left-hander showcased a good slider and limited a slumping New York lineup to two runs and four hits with six strikeouts and no walks.

Holmes allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings.

Batting cleanup, Lindor drove in a run by legging out an infield single with two outs in the first. Victor Caratini's sacrifice fly tied the score in the fourth.

Up next

All-Star right-hander Joe Ryan (2-2, 3.29 ERA) pitches Thursday night for Minnesota in the series finale against RHP Christian Scott, who will be called up from Triple-A Syracuse to make his first major league start since Tommy John surgery in 2024.

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

The election has national implications. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is seeking gains in a state long dominated by a regional opposition party, while a victory for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would bolster her position as a leading opposition figure.

A second phase of polling is scheduled for next week. Voting also was taking place Thursday in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The voting was part of a wider round of state elections testing the BJP's reach in opposition strongholds. The results of the latest elections and the earlier polls in Kerala and Assam states and the federally administered territory of Puducherry were expected May 4.

9 million names removed, but voters aren't sure why

The election is taking place after a sweeping revision of electoral rolls by the Election Commission of India aimed at removing duplicate, deceased and ineligible voters. Officials say about 9 million names — roughly 12% of the electorate — were deleted, including 6.3 million listed as deceased or absent and 2.7 million marked “doubtful” and pending verification.

Some affected voters said they had voted in previous elections and hold valid identification but were removed without clear explanation.

Sheikh Najrul Islam, a 53-year-old paramilitary officer on election duty in West Bengal, said he last voted in 2021 and holds valid identification documents, yet his name no longer appears on the voter list.

“The Election Commission has deputed me to ensure free and fair polls. Yet, it does not consider me a citizen of this country,” he said.

In another case, Taibunessa Begum, a 62-year-old retired school administrator, said she was shocked to find her name deleted despite having a passport, pension records and earlier voter registration.

“It felt like being told I don’t exist,” she said.

Polarizing rhetoric deepens the concerns

Opposition leaders allege the deletions disproportionately affect Muslims and other marginalized communities.

The Election Commission of India has denied the allegations, saying the exercise eliminated dead, duplicate and fake voters on the electoral roll.

Modi’s party said the revision was a routine administrative exercise carried out across multiple states and argued that any disproportionate impact in West Bengal reflects the presence of undocumented migrants. They say many Hindu voters were also removed.

Critics, however, link the deletions to broader political messaging by Modi and some BJP leaders, who have repeatedly suggested the revisions of the voter lists targeted people who immigrated illegally from neighboring Bangladesh. Opposition leaders said such rhetoric has deepened fears among minority communities, particularly Muslims, that the voter roll revision is being used to exclude them.

Derek O’Brien, of the opposition Trinamool Congress, called the exercise “invisible rigging.”

"The motive is to disenfranchise voters,” he said.

Analysts warn the deletions could fuel fears of longer-term consequences.

“Losing one’s place in the electoral roll can be deeply unsettling. It is not only about voting rights; it is about dignity, recognition, and the assurance that one counts as a citizen,” political analyst Iman Kalyan Lahiri said.

For many affected voters, however, the issue is more immediate.

“This is not just about politics,” said Begum. “It is about identity, about whether we belong to this country.”

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Saaliq reported from New Delhi.

Colombia is lobbying to become a buyer of Venezuelan gas and last month sought an exemption from U.S. sanctions to invest in Venezuelan electricity projects and natural gas ventures, which could include the reopening of a gas pipeline between the neighboring South American countries.

Petro's administration also reached agreements with Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA to replace the pipeline in the Colombian section.

Petro and Rodríguez are also expected to discuss the presence of illegal armed groups and drug trafficking along their shared border.

“The United States has an interest in Colombia becoming the buyer of Venezuelan gas,” said Ronal Rodríguez Durán, a researcher at the Venezuela Observatory at the Universidad del Rosario.

“Colombia, by virtue of its geographical nature, would become the client that could quickly bring revenue into Venezuela under U.S. supervision," he added.

The topic was part of the conversation during the nearly two-hour meeting between Petro and U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in February. Both said the talks were friendly — a dramatic about-face from weeks earlier, when Trump accused Petro of pumping cocaine into the U.S. and threatened his country with military action.

According to Petro, they discussed how to revitalize the Venezuelan economy with Colombia’s assistance, as well as the role of the U.S., which the Colombian leader said should “lift sanctions” on Venezuela.

The Trump administration is aiming to revive the Venezuelan economy by drawing foreign investment toward its vast natural resources, particularly oil, following years of decline under the Maduro government, which saw the country crumble and forced at least 7.7 million people to migrate.

Petro's leverage as mediator in Venezuela is limited

Ahead of Friday's meeting, Petro announced that his delegation, which includes top military and police officials, will tackle border security with Rodríguez.

The focus remains on the Catatumbo region, where rival armed groups fight for territorial control and Petro stressed the necessity of “close collaboration on intelligence,” warning that without it, “bombs land in the wrong places ... and end up killing civilians.”

Colombia-Venezuela ties have long been on the rocks. Petro did not recognize Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president in the wake of the contested July 2024 elections that triggered protests, which sparked widespread repression. Still, he maintained diplomatic ties with Caracas.

Colombia's government has said that the Petro-Rodríguez meeting on Friday aims to “contribute to a resolution of Venezuela’s political crisis.”

However, it's unclear how this can be achieved.

Rodríguez Durán, the university researcher, said Petro’s leverage is limited regarding any potential mediation, given that his term ends in August. Future ties with Venezuela will likely also be influenced by who takes power next in Colombia.

Petro and Rodríguez were expected to meet last month at their shared border, but their respective governments abruptly canceled the meeting citing “force majeure,” which they did not explain, and simply said it would take place at a later time.

Before that canceled meeting, several Venezuelan nongovernmental organizations had addressed an open letter to Petro, urging Colombia to contribute to the “promotion of democratic principles and human rights,” including the release of “all political prisoners” and an end to “persecution.”

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Suárez reported from Bogota, Colombia.

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

Officials plan to unveil the marker Thursday in Ellerbe, North Carolina, a community of about 1,000 people where the wrestler born Andre Rene Roussimoff lived on a ranch just outside town.

Andre was billed at 7-foot-4 (2.24 meters) and 520 pounds (236 kilograms) during his time wrestling for the WWE in the 1970s and 1980s.

A larger than life villain, Roussimoff was touted as unbeatable until he faced Hulk Hogan in a match in 1987 at WrestleMania III that launched the once regional wrestling company into a nationwide entertainment force.

Later that year, Roussimoff appeared on film as the giant Fezzik in “The Princess Bride.” Fezzik was the gentle-hearted muscle for the antagonist and needed rhymes to remember his instructions.

Roussimoff was born in France. But as he wrestled around the U.S. South he fell in love with the region, buying his North Carolina ranch and raising cattle on his land about 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Charlotte.

He became a critical part of the Ellerbe community. In 1990, he taped TV and radio spots against a possible low-level radioactive landfill nearby. A pair of his size-26 cowboy boots are kept at a museum.

Roussimoff died in 1993 at age 46 in France where he was visiting for his father’s funeral. They had a service for him there, but his body was cremated and his ashes spread at his beloved ranch.

The Richmond County marker at NC Highway 72 and Old NC Highway 220 simply says “Andre The Giant. 1946-1993. Actor and professional wrestler. Was born Andre Roussimoff. Known for role in The Princess Bride in 1987. Lived nearby.”

The 21-year-old whose legal name is David Burke returns to a Los Angeles court for a hearing Thursday, just three days after he was charged and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, and seven months after the girl's dismembered body was found in his Tesla in the Hollywood Hills.

In a rare move, he is exercising his right in California to have a judge decide within 10 court days of his arraignment whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.

Nearly all defendants waive this right, slow-pedal this part of the process and wait months to reach this stage.

“We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez,” lead defense attorney Blair Berk told a judge Monday.

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said in court that the prosecution would be “very happy” to present their evidence, and that “40 terabytes” of it have been collected and can be shared.

One key set of evidence became public Wednesday with the release of the months-old autopsy report from the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office. It said Rivas Hernandez’s death was caused by two penetrating wounds to the upper body.

Burke, who is being held without bail, also pleaded not guilty to lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a dead body. Prosecutors allege he had been sexually abusing Rivas Hernandez for at least a year starting when she was 13, killed her when she threatened to report the relationship and dismembered her body about two weeks later.

Thursday's hearing comes exactly one year after the day authorities say she was last known to be alive and went to Burke's house.

A secret grand jury heard months of testimony in the case. But it had not issued an indictment when the singer was arrested last week. Its existence became public in a February court filing in Texas where Burke’s relatives sought to reject subpoenas that they testify.

His attorney told the judge Monday that it was this secret testimony that was prompting the defense to attempt to have the evidence be seen.

It is not clear whether the presentation of evidence would begin at Thursday's hearing or whether the proceedings will be used to schedule witnesses for the coming days.

The girl's parents, Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez, made their first public statement in the case on Tuesday, calling their daughter “a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance.”

“We love her very much and she always told us that she loved us," they said. "We miss her deeply. All we want is justice for Celeste.”

D4vd, pronounced “David,” gained popularity among young fans for his blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit “Romantic Homicide,” which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He released his debut EP “Petals to Thorns” and a follow-up, “The Lost Petals,” in 2023.

His debut full-length album, “Withered,” was released one year ago, two days after the date prosecutors estimate that Rivas Hernandez was killed.

The star slugger was reinstated from the injured list and went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk as the Mets stopped their 12-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

"He looked really good,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.

However, the excitement surrounding Soto's return was tempered when teammate Francisco Lindor went down with an injury similar to the one that had sidelined Soto since April 3.

Lindor exited in the fifth inning with left calf tightness, and the switch-hitting shortstop will have an MRI on Thursday.

“Here we go again,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to wait and see what we’re dealing with.”

Soto, who missed 15 games with a right calf strain, batted second as the designated hitter. He received a warm hand when he stepped to the plate in the first inning, with some in the sparse crowd standing, and his flyout to deep center field advanced Bo Bichette from second to third. That led to a run when Bichette scored on Lindor's two-out infield single.

Soto also lined out to right in the third, walked in the fifth and singled in the eighth before getting picked off first base while trying to steal second.

“I don’t think it’s going to be any pressure,” Soto said before the game. “I’m just going to be myself and be out there, definitely help as much as I can to get out of this and put the team in the right spot again.”

Soto has hit safely in all nine games he's played this season. He became the first player in major league history to draw 900 walks before turning 28.

“It makes a big difference just to add his name in the lineup. But also, I said it yesterday: You can’t put all the pressure on him," Mendoza said. "It’s going to take all of us to get out of this. It’s not just Juan Soto.”

To open a roster spot, third-string catcher Hayden Senger was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse following Tuesday night's 5-3 loss to Minnesota.

After beginning the season with baseball's largest opening-day payroll at $352.2 million, the Mets (8-16) entered Wednesday with the worst record in the majors. New York was outscored 67-22 during the skid while batting .194 with a .284 slugging percentage. The slide began with a 7-2 loss to Arizona on April 8.

“I feel like we have a great lineup. We have guys (who) are going through tough times right now. They can’t get a hit or anything, and it’s part of it. We all go through that stuff," Soto said. "But it’s tough when kind of like most of the lineup is going through it. It makes it a little hard to win games like that.”

At first, the Mets will be cautious with Soto. He is scheduled to play the outfield Thursday night and then the team will “reassess,” Mendoza said. The four-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger Award winner will receive some full days off moving forward.

“We need to be flexible and we have to stay on top of things with him,” Mendoza explained. "If we see that there’s a couple of games, two or three games where he does a lot of running on base, going first to third, first to home, second to home, in the outfield, then we’ll have to adjust. And hopefully that’s the case. That means he’s on base and we’re scoring a lot of runs. So, yeah, I think it’s fluid. But at the same time we just have to be smart with him.”

Soto exited early from a 10-3 victory at San Francisco on April 3, and the Mets won their next three games without him before descending into a tailspin. The 12-game slide was their longest since August 2002.

“It’s a little uncomfortable when you see it from the outside,” Soto said. “It’s just a tough time, but we’re going to get out of it.”

Soto is in the second season of a record $765 million, 15-year contract he signed with the Mets as a free agent in December 2024. He was batting .355 with one homer and five RBIs before getting hurt while running from first to third on an RBI single by Bichette against the Giants.

Soto did not go on a minor league rehab assignment to prepare for his return, instead going through workouts at Citi Field while the Mets were on the road last week.

“Felt like he got what he needed here," Mendoza said. "Plenty of at-bats. We brought a lot of pitchers in here. We were able to simulate a lot of the things that you do on a rehab assignment.”

Soto said he's 100% healthy. He and Mendoza both insisted the left fielder did not rush back any earlier than expected.

The stint on the IL was the first for Soto since 2021 with Washington, when a strained left shoulder sidelined him from April 20 through May 3.

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

The child's parent, Rose Inessa-Ethington, a transgender woman, is accused of taking the child to Cuba without the permission of the biological mother. Federal and state authorities sought the return of the child after a family member expressed concern that Inessa-Ethington went to Havana to get the child gender transition surgery.

Inessa-Ethington, who had run a popular Utah political blog in the 2010s, was arrested along with her partner, Blue Inessa-Ethington, and charged in the U.S. with international parental kidnapping.

The couple traveled with the child to Canada ostensibly for a camping trip in late March with Blue’s 3-year-old child. However, the two adults turned off their phones after telling the older child’s mother they had arrived in Canada. They flew from Vancouver to Mexico and then to Cuba on April 1, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in federal court in Utah.

The charges don't say if the couple actually planned on getting the child gender-affirming surgery in Cuba or how they would get it because that surgery isn't legal for children in Cuba.

The FBI said that Blue Inessa-Ethington withdrew $10,000 from her checking account before leaving. Agents also found at their home a note with instructions from a mental health therapist in Washington, D.C., “to send the therapist the $10,000.00 and instructions on gender affirming medical care for children.” That note didn't mention Cuba.

The use of the Department of Justice plane in a parental kidnapping investigation comes after the Trump administration sought to block access to gender-affirming care for minors and pressured health care providers over the issue.

The Associated Press left telephone and email messages with the court-appointed attorneys who represented Blue and Rose Inessa-Ethington in Virginia. The defendants will be returned to Utah to face one count each of international parental kidnapping, according to court filings.

Search began after child wasn't returned as scheduled

The search for the child began on April 3 when they were not returned to the mother in Utah as scheduled, court documents show.

The 10-year-old’s mother, who was divorced from Rose Inessa-Ethington and had shared custody of the child, filed a missing-person report with police in Logan, Utah, a college and dairy farming town about 70 miles (115 kilometers) north of Salt Lake City.

Logan City Police Chief Jeff Simmons said his department’s initial focus was on the custodial interference allegations in the case, and he said investigators did not learn until later about concerns over gender-affirming surgery.

Logan police spokesperson Sgt. Brandon Bevan said those concerns were raised by one family member. He declined to say who.

“They just had the concern about it, no actual physical evidence” Bevan said.

A Utah state judge ordered the return of the 10-year-old to the child’s mother on April 13. Three days later, a federal magistrate judge issued an arrest warrant for the Inessa-Ethingtons. On the same day, Cuban law enforcement located the group. They were deported to the U.S. aboard the government plane Monday and arraigned in federal court in Richmond, Virginia.

The 10-year-old was returned to the child’s biological mother, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak in Utah indicated in a statement. Representatives of the FBI and U.S. attorneys office in Utah declined to say what happened to the 3-year-old child who had been with the group.

Parents engaged in custody dispute

The custody dispute between the parents does not appear to be a new development. An online fundraiser created five years go by Blue Inessa-Ethington titled “Help a Trans Mother Keep Custody of Her Child” raised $9,766.

“Last week, Rose’s ex relocated several counties away, negatively impacting Rose’s parent-time with the child,” she wrote on the fundraising page. She said the money would be used to seek a court order that would keep the child “safe and stable throughout this process.”

Anyone who has spent time with Rose knows “how much care and thought she puts into parenting her gender open child,” she wrote.

Family members said the child was assigned male at birth but identifies as a girl because of what they believed to be “manipulation” by Rose Inessa-Ethington, according to an April 16 affidavit from FBI Special Agent Jennifer Waterfield.

Gender-affirming care for minors has been limited

The Trump administration moved in December to cut off gender-affirming care for minors, prompting a third of states to sue.

It was the latest in a series of clashes between an administration that says transgender health care can be harmful to children and advocates who say it’s medically necessary.

Gender-affirming surgery is rare among U.S. children, research shows. Guidance from several major medical organizations calls for caution around surgery for minors and says decisions about treatments are case-by-case. Fewer than 1 in 1,000 U.S. adolescents receive gender-affirming medications, such as hormones or puberty blockers.

In Cuba, gender-affirming surgeries are banned for minors and only performed for adults through the public health system under strict supervision in designated public hospitals for Cuban citizens. They must be authorized by a medical commission after a comprehensive review of the patient’s file. That process often takes years because it requires a wide range of medical and psychological evaluations.

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Brown reported from Billings, Montana, and Boone from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press journalists Eric Tucker in Washington, Cristiana Mesquita in Havana and Devi Shastri in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

After a few isolated showers and storms earlier Wednesday evening in Lenawee and Monroe counties, conditions have quieted down. Skies will stay mostly clear overnight with lows dropping into the mid to upper 40s.

That clear sky is setting the stage for a great opportunity to catch the Lyrid meteor shower, which peaks around this time in April. If you are planning to skywatch, the best viewing will be after midnight into the early morning hours.

You will want to look toward the northeastern sky, away from city lights, for the best chance to spot meteors. Under ideal conditions, you might see around 10 to 20 meteors per hour, though the numbers can vary. No special equipment is needed. Just give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness.

Thursday

Thursday looks like one of the nicest days of the stretch. Expect plenty of sunshine with afternoon highs climbing into the mid-70s.

Winds stay light out of the south-southeast, making for comfortable conditions from morning through evening.

That includes a great setup for the Detroit Tigers’ afternoon game at Comerica Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Temperatures will be in the upper 60s to near 70 at game time, warming into the lower to mid-70s through the afternoon. Skies will be partly to mostly sunny with no rain expected, making for ideal baseball weather.

It is also a great day to tackle outdoor tasks.

If you have been waiting to mow the lawn, Thursday offers dry conditions, light winds, and comfortable temperatures before wet weather returns.

Friday

Rain chances begin to increase on Friday.

While a few showers are possible during the afternoon, the better chance for widespread rain and a few thunderstorms arrives Friday evening into Friday night.

Some of that rain could be steady at times, so plan accordingly for evening travel and outdoor plans.

This weekend

By Saturday, a few lingering showers are possible early, especially in the morning, before drier air works in.

Temperatures trend cooler behind the system, with highs settling back into the 60s for the weekend and into early next week.

Overnight lows throughout the period will generally fall into the 40s and low 50s, closer to seasonal norms for late April.

Share your weather photos with Local 4 at MIPics.

Francisco Lindor was removed Wednesday night against the Minnesota Twins with left calf tightness, just hours after teammate Juan Soto came off the injured list. The switch-hitting shortstop will have an MRI on Thursday, putting the top of New York's punchless batting order in flux once more.

“Here we go again," manager Carlos Mendoza said.

New York (8-16) ended its 12-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Minnesota, but it might have come at a cost.

“We’ve got to wait and see what we’re dealing with,” Mendoza said.

Lindor labored around the bases while scoring from first on Francisco Alvarez's one-out double up the right-center alley in the fourth inning. He grimaced as he rounded third and paused for a bit from the seat of his pants after beating the relay throw with a feetfirst slide.

“I knew right away when he was rounding third base that something wasn’t right there. So, we’ll see what we’ve got,” Mendoza said. "Right away, he scores and you could see his face. Looking from the dugout, I knew something wasn’t right.”

Lindor headed down the dugout tunnel with an athletic trainer and was replaced in the lineup by Brett Baty, who entered at third base in the top of the fifth. Bo Bichette slid over from third base to shortstop.

Batting cleanup, Lindor knocked in a run when he legged out an infield single with two outs in the first. Moments earlier, he made an outstanding leaping grab at shortstop for the second out of the game.

Soto was reinstated from the 10-day IL earlier in the day. The slugging outfielder had been sidelined since straining his right calf while running from first to third on April 3 in San Francisco.

“We got good news, relatively good news with Soto, and it was still three weeks,” Mendoza said. "So, we’ll see what we’re dealing with.”

After a slow start this season, Lindor was starting to come on recently. He launched a three-run homer Tuesday night and is hitting .226 with two home runs and five RBIs.

“Can’t sit here and make excuses. It’s all part of it. We lost Soto, and we had a hard time," Mendoza said. “Another really good player, and we’ve got to figure it out.”

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

“I'm sure they appreciated it,” Pistons power forward Isaiah Stewart said.

Wallace, a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and Mahorn, an enforcer for the Bad Boys, helped the Pistons win a lot of games that looked like Wednesday night's slugfest.

Stewart had two blocks, including one that denied Paolo Banchero a dunk.

“I’m willing to lay my body on the line to make those plays for the energy,” Stewart said.

Top-seeded Detroit held eighth-seeded Orlando to 33% shooting and season lows in points and field goals. The Pistons forced 19 turnovers and blocked 11 shots.

“When we play defense at the level we’re capable of, it triggers everything for us,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We can be an elite defensive team, a disruptive defense. It's Pistons basketball. That’s what it looks like.

“We had one off night and it came at a bad time.”

In Game 1, the Pistons had a sluggish start in each half and allowed the Magic to make almost half their shots All five Orlando starters scored at least 16 points in a 112-101 win.

The Pistons were the aggressors in Game 2, blocking seven shots in the opening 12 minutes to tie a franchise playoff record for blocks in a quarter.

In the third, they went on a 30-3 run and outscored the Magic 38-16.

Detroit coasted in the fourth quarter, winning a playoff game for the first time at Little Caesars Arena. The Pistons ended an NBA-record, 11-game home losing streak in the playoffs that dates to 2008, when the franchise played at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

“Obviously, we've heard it,” Tobias Harris said after scoring 16 points, blocking two shots and making two steals.

The Magic, a little reluctantly, gave the Pistons some credit for their defense.

“They did a heck of a job of reaching, grabbing and holding,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “They protected that paint and our ability to get downhill.”

Jalen Suggs scored 19 and Banchero had 18 for the Magic. They combined to make just 14 of 35 shots.

“They met us at the rim a few times, and they brought the intensity on defense,” Banchero said. “But we got good looks, and nobody really had a great night shooting the ball.”

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

Click here to read the latest 4Warn Weather forecast.

Here’s a list of the alerts for each county:

Wayne County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

Oakland County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

Macomb County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

Washtenaw County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

Livingston County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

Monroe County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

Lenawee County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

Lapeer County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

Sanilac County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

St. Clair County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

Genesee County

• No advisories, warnings in effect at this time.

Nelson Otto Ropke, 41, of Grosse Pointe Park, was arraigned on the following 26 felony counts on Wednesday, April 22, 2026:

• Two counts of aggravated child sexually abusive activity -- a felony with a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison.
• Four counts of aggravated distribution of child sexually abusive activity -- a felony with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
• Four counts of aggravated possession of child sexually abusive activity -- a felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
• Two counts of capturing/distributing an image of an unclothed person -- a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
• One count of possession of child sexually abusive matter -- a felony with a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
• 13 counts of using a computer to commit a crime -- all felonies with various maximum penalties (more on that below).

During the arraignment, Ropke waived a formal reading of the charges, stood mute and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.

Tina Ripley, assistant prosecuting attorney at the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, argued for a high bond, alleging the case involves more than passive possession.

They told the court Ropke is accused of creating child sexually abusive material by pasting faces, including his own and those of family members, onto images of children engaged in sexual acts.

They further alleged he communicated with others online to receive and distribute such material.

They also accused him of secretly capturing videos and pictures of himself and his ex-wife engaged in sexual acts, sharing the materials on a website.

Ripley argued Ropke poses a danger to the community, emphasizing that he is accused of actively creating and distributing illicit material. She also cited his profession as an attorney, saying his access to resources and connections increases his potential flight risk.

Prosecutors requested a $1 million bond and, if released, sought conditions including no access to electronic devices, no contact with minors or his ex-wife, and GPS monitoring. Concerns were also raised about fear among family members due to alleged past threats. He allegedly

Andrew Moxie, Ropke’s court-appointed attorney, told the court Ropke is currently unemployed and that his “housing situation is limited.” He most recently was at a nursing facility in Harper Woods, and “seems to be having some severe heart conditions,” noting he was hospitalized at the time of the hearing.

Ropke is currently on probation out of Grosse Pointe Farms.

Judge John R. Parnell said he was “very concerned” about the nature of the allegations, especially given that they are alleged to have occurred while Ropke was on probation.

According to court records, in September 2024, Ropke was sentenced to 24 months of probation on the charges of disturbing the peace/disorderly person and operating while impaired.

The judge set bond at $1 million cash/surety, with no 10% option.

If Ropke posts bond, he must have no contact with anyone under 18, no contact with his ex-wife or any alleged victims, and a ban on using internet-capable devices. He must also surrender his passport and any devices with cameras, including his cellphone. The court said he may use a phone without internet access solely to communicate with his attorney.

A probable cause conference is scheduled for May 6, and his preliminary examination is scheduled for May 13.

Tomika Alexander is raising money to boost the Crime Stoppers of Michigan reward for the killing of her son from up to $2,500 to $10,000.

She renewed her call for tips as Johnson’s classmates prepare for milestones he will never reach.

“My son would be turning 18 years old. He would be having a graduation this year, he would be going to prom,” Alexander previously told Local 4. “I don’t get none of that.”

Johnson was shot and killed Feb. 11, 2024, at a sleepover with friends at the Westin Hotel in Southfield.

Four other teenagers were in the room when the shooting occurred, but investigators say they have not provided information about what happened.

Alexander said public support has helped her continue pressing for answers.

“I have like strangers just to come up to me and just letting me know they’re praying for me and continue my fight and don’t give up, and I’m not,” she said. “From phone calls, just text messages, a card in the mail, those go a long way.”

Southfield police have said they recovered two guns from one of the teens at the scene and later determined that one was the weapon that killed Johnson.

However, authorities have said they still don’t have enough evidence to make an arrest.

Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren has said investigators face challenges determining who was handling the gun when it fired and why it was discharged.

Barren has also said that attorneys representing the teens have advised them not to cooperate.

On April 1, what would have been Johnson’s 18th birthday, Alexander joined Southfield police and the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office in renewing calls for information.

In a statement, Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald urged anyone with knowledge of the shooting to come forward.

“We know there are people who were with Tyler that night and have important information about what happened,” McDonald said. “We urge anyone with information to contact the Southfield Police Department and tell the truth about what happened to their friend.”

“The Southfield Police Department remains committed to seeking justice for Tyler Johnson,” said Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren in a statement. “We stand in solidarity with his family and share the community’s desire for accountability. We know there are people with important information about what happened that night. We continue to urge anyone with information to come forward and speak with our investigators so we can provide Tyler’s family with answers and help bring them some measure of closure.”

Alexander has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the reward.

“I can’t do it by myself, but as a community, my supporters, all together, we can make this happen,” Alexander said.

Alexander said she is holding onto hope that a tip will eventually bring her family answers.

“We’re going to get charges for Tyler, definitely,” Alexander said. “He didn’t deserve this, and I’m not going to let this go and fall on deaf ears.”

Anyone with information in the case can call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous. Click here to submit a tip online.

The Pistons had lost 11 straight home postseason games, a drought that started in 2008.

Game 3 is Saturday in Orlando.

Detroit dominated the third quarter, turning a tie game into a rout by outscoring the Magic 38-16 in the period with six players scoring at least five points.

After Cunningham scored a career playoff-high 39 points in Game 1 and didn’t get much help, the All-Star guard had plenty of support, with five teammates scoring in double figures.

Jalen Suggs scored 19 points and Paolo Banchero had 18 for the Magic. They combined to miss 21 of 35 shots as the team shot 33% and was held to a season low in points.

Detroit’s Tobias Harris scored 16 points, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson had 11 each, and Duncan Robertson and Isaiah Stewart each scored 10. Robinson made three much-needed 3-pointers for a team that struggles with outside shooting.

Orlando’s Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane had 12 points apiece and Wendell Carter Jr. was limited to three points on 1-of-6 shooting after he scored 17 in the opener.

The Magic did not trail in the opener as their starters scored at least 16 points apiece and the Pistons had just two players in double figures.

Detroit took its first lead of the series on the opening possession of Game 2 and jumped to a 14-7 lead with a desperately needed strong start after coming out sluggish in Game 1.

The Pistons led by four points after the opening quarter and the game was tied at 46 entering the third period, when Detroit looked like the defensive-minded team that had the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Both teams will have two days to make adjustments for Game 3.

Detroit hasn't advanced beyond the first playoff round in 18 years and Orlando hasn’t reached the second round in 16 years.

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

“The end of smoking, and the devastating harm it causes, is no longer uncertain — it’s inevitable,” Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said after a decades-long campaign in favor of legislation approved Tuesday.

Children born after Dec. 31, 2008, will be banned from ever buying cigarettes under the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

The legislation that needs approval by King Charles III — a formality — before taking effect will also allow the government to regulate tobacco, vaping and nicotine products, including flavors and packaging.

It is currently illegal to sell cigarettes, tobacco products or vapes to people younger than 18. But most youths today will continue to face a ban their entire life as the minimum age to buy cigarettes rises each year.

The passage gives the U.K. one of the toughest antismoking measures in the world. The law is similar to one New Zealand lawmakers passed in 2022, but that was repealed by a subsequent government.

The number of people who smoke in Britain has declined by two-thirds since the 1970s, but some 6.4 million people — or about 13% of the population — still smoke, according to official figures.

Authorities say smoking causes some 80,000 deaths a year in the U.K, and remains the number one preventable cause of death, disability and poor health.

“Children in the U.K. will be part of the first smoke-free generation, protected from a lifetime of addiction and harm,” Health Secretary Wes Streeting said.

Pakistan had planned to host a second round of talks, but the White House suspended Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to Islamabad as Iran rebuffed efforts to restart negotiations. Iran acknowledged the ceasefire extension but didn't say Tehran was ready to attend a new round of talks to end the war, state television reported Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Iran’s semiofficial news agencies are reporting that the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has attacked a third ship on Wednesday in the Strait of Hormuz, throwing into question efforts to end the war. Nour News, Fars and Mehr all reported the attack by the Guard on a vessel called the Euphoria. They said the vessel had become “stranded” on the Iranian coast, without elaborating. The Guard has seized the other two ships that were attacked, Iranian state television separately reported.

Here is the latest:

CENTCOM says more than 30 ships affected by US blockade

The U.S. military’s Central Command said Thursday its forces in the Mideast had “directed 31 vessels to turn around or return to port as part of the U.S. blockade against Iran.”

Panama condemns ‘illegal seizure’ of a vessel traveling under its flag through Strait of Hormuz

The Central American nation’s foreign ministry wrote in a statement that the boat, owned by the Italian company MSC Francesca, was “forcibly taken” into Iranian waters on Wednesday, and it accused Iran of violating international law. It wasn’t immediately clear if the boat remained in Iranian custody.

The seizure “represents a serious attack on maritime security and constitutes an unnecessary escalation,” it wrote.

Panama has one of the largest ship registries, with around 16% of the world’s ships flying under the country’s flag, according to 2024 data from Panamanian authorities.

Pentagon says it will take months to clear mines in the Strait of Hormuz, AP source says

The Pentagon told lawmakers this week it will likely take six months to clear the mines set in the strait, according to a person familiar with the situation who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive information.

Officials from the Department of Defense delivered the information during a classified briefing at the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

The session left more questions than answers as lawmakers probed for information about the cost of the war against Iran, the strategy and objectives, the person said. The lawmakers also raised questions that have still gone unanswered about the strike on a school compound during the early days of the war.

___

— By Lisa Mascaro

Senators have again rejected a Democratic attempt to halt Trump’s war in Iran

The U.S. Senate rejected the resolution 46-51 on Wednesday as Republicans in Congress have largely backed Trump’s military efforts.

It was the fifth time this year that the Senate voted to cede its war powers to the president in a conflict that Democrats say is illegal and unjustified. The resolution would require the U.S. to withdraw forces from the conflict until Congress authorizes further action.

“The longer Trump waits to extricate the U.S. from this war, the deeper the hole gets and the harder it will be for him to get out,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

Republicans have been reluctant to criticize Trump or the war, even as they say they want it to end quickly.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday that most Republicans believe “that the president is correct in making sure Iran can’t threaten the world with a nuclear weapon.”

Israeli strike kills at least 5 people in Gaza, hospital says

At least five people, including three children, were killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza on Wednesday night, according to Shifa hospital, where the bodies were taken.

Local health authorities said the group of people was targeted by a drone while they were in a street in Beit Lahiya, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

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

Israeli attacks have killed more than 780 people since the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was put in place six months ago, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilian and militant deaths.

Overall, the health ministry says 72,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war in Gaza began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel.

US stocks rally to records, but Brent oil also tops $100 on worries about the Iran war

The U.S. stock market rallied to more records Wednesday after GE Vernova, Boston Scientific and other big companies joined the parade, reporting fatter profits for the start of the year than analysts expected. But caution still hung over Wall Street, and oil prices rose on uncertainty about what would happen in the war with Iran.

The S&P 500 jumped 1% and topped its prior all-time high set on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 340 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite set its own record after jumping 1.6%.

Strong performances have helped the S&P 500 power higher, and the index recorded its 13th gain in its last 16 days.

Still, another rise in oil prices helped keep enthusiasm in check on Wall Street. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed 3.5% to $101.91.

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Paramedics recover body of Lebanese journalist hours after Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon

The body of a Lebanese journalist killed in an Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon on Wednesday has been pulled from under the rubble hours after the attack.

The daily Al-Akhbar newspaper confirmed that its reporter, Amal Khalil, was killed in the strike on the southern village of al-Tiri.

Information Minister Paul Morcos also confirmed Khalil’s death.

Khalil had been covering the Israel-Hezbollah war since it started in October 2023 and had been reporting from different parts of southern Lebanon on the hostilities.

Earlier on Wednesday, Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, called on the international community to immediately pressure the Israeli army to allow the rescue of Khalil.

Iran says it is prepared for 2026 World Cup participation in the US

However, it was unclear whether it would ultimately take part.

“The Ministry of Youth and Sports made an announcement about the full preparedness of our national soccer team for presence in the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., by the order of the minister,” Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohejerani told Iran’s state TV on Wednesday.

“They informed that the necessary arrangements that these dear ones need for the team’s proud and successful participation, (have been made),” Mohejerani added.

The tournament is scheduled to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico this summer.

White House says only Trump knows how long extension of Iran ceasefire will last

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump hasn’t set a deadline for receiving a proposal from the Iranians.

“Ultimately, the timeline would be dictated by the commander in chief,” she said.

Trump announced a ceasefire extension on Tuesday.

White House says Iran seizing 2 ships doesn’t violate ceasefire terms

Iran taking control of two ships is not a violation of the truce terms because “these were not U.S. or Israeli ships, these were two international vessels,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Channel.

She said Iran’s navy has been decimated and that the ships in question “were taken by speedy gun boats,” meaning that Iran is acting “like a bunch of pirates.”

Leavitt said Trump’s blockade remains in place “on ships coming to and from Iranian ports” and that the seizure by Iranian forces “is piracy that we are seeing on display.”

Hezbollah says it launched drones at Israeli positions in southern Lebanon

The group added in a statement that the two attacks targeting soldiers and vehicles in the village of Qantara on Wednesday evening were in retaliation for alleged Israeli violations of the 10-day ceasefire that took effect Friday.

The strikes marked the group’s third attack on Wednesday. Israel did not immediately comment on the latest attacks but has previously accused Hezbollah of breaching the ceasefire.

Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli troops fired at rescuers searching for missing journalist

The ministry said two Israeli strikes on al-Tiri in southern Lebanon killed two people. The journalist Amal Khalil and her colleague took cover in a house, which the ministry said was targeted in the second strike. When rescuers arrived, they were able to recover the two bodies and one injured journalist. But the Israeli military fired live ammunition at the ambulance, preventing the team from completing the search for Khalil, the ministry said. Lebanon’s National News Agency showed pictures of the damage to the ambulance.

Khalil’s condition is not clear. She is a prominent journalist with the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar.

Israel’s military alleged the individuals in the village violated the ceasefire, posing a risk to the troops’ safety. It denied that it prevented rescue teams from reaching the area or that it targets journalists.

Reopening Strait of Hormuz ‘impossible’ amid breaches, Iranian official says

“A complete ceasefire only makes sense if it is not violated by the maritime/naval blockade and taking the world’s economy hostage, and if the Zionist warmongering across all fronts is halted,” Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said on Wednesday.

“Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is impossible with such flagrant breach of the ceasefire,” Qalibaf added. “The only way forward is to recognize the rights of the Iranian nation.”

Israeli military says it struck targets in south Lebanon, denies blocking rescue

Lebanese officials and Reporters Without Borders said a journalist was missing following an Israeli strike near the southern village of al-Tiri on Wednesday, while another journalist was wounded.

The Israeli military said it struck a vehicle and a structure in the area after identifying what it described as militants posing an immediate threat near the border.

The military said it was aware of reports that journalists were injured but did not confirm them and denied preventing rescue teams from reaching the area.

The details of the incident are under review, it added.

Trump says Iran respected his request, will free women whose release he demanded

The president said he has been informed that four of the women will be “released immediately,” while four others will be sentenced to one month each in prison.

“I very much appreciate that Iran, and its leaders, respected my request ... and terminated the planned execution,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform.

He said the women protesters were expected to be executed Wednesday.

Rights groups that monitor Iran had said two of the women were already released on bail in March, and two others were known to face charges that carry the death sentences. They had been arrested during the January anti-government protests.

Trump re-posted a photo of the women, including two teen girls, on Tuesday on social media, which a conservative activist noted are facing prosecution in Iran.

The Iranian judiciary responded promptly, denying that any of them were on the verge of execution, saying some were already released.

Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli strike on southern Lebanon kills 2

The ministry added that the Wednesday afternoon strike on the village of Yohmor also wounded two people.

UN’s global shipping regulation body condemns Persian Gulf shipping attacks

Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, on Wednesday condemned attacks on shipping after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, seizing two and taking them to Iran. Earlier, Trump said the United States would continue to blockade Iranian ports.

“The attacks on and seizures of commercial ships are unacceptable,” Dominguez said, urging an immediate halt and the release of vessels and crews. He warned that the situation remains “extremely volatile” and questioned why companies risk seafarers’ lives.

Nearly 20,000 seafarers remain at sea after seven weeks, uncertain when they can return home, he added.

Firm says over 10M barrels of Iranian oil left Persian Gulf since US blockade of Iran’s ports

An analytics firm focusing on global energy and freight markets says it recorded 34 movements of sanctioned and Iranian-linked tankers in and out of the Persian Gulf in the week after the U.S. imposed a naval blockade of Iranian ports.

The firm, Vortexa, says it identified 19 outbound and 15 inbound movements of such vessels between April 13 and Monday.

Six of those outbound movements were “confirmed laden with Iranian crude, representing about 10.7 million barrels,” it said in an email to The Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear whether all those barrels reached markets overseas.

Lebanese journalist missing after Israeli strike on southern Lebanon

Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, called on the international community on Wednesday to immediately pressure the Israeli army into allowing the rescue of journalist Amal Khalil, who works for the daily Al-Akhbar.

RSF added that Khalil is currently trapped near the southern Lebanese village of al-Tiri following an Israeli airstrike close to her vehicle.

“Her life is in danger right now! Continued Israeli airstrikes are preventing rescuers from reaching her,” RSF said.

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun called on the Lebanese Red Cross to work on the rescue of Khalil, along with another journalist, Zeinab Faraj, who was with her.

Aoun requested the Lebanese Red Cross to coordinate with the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers “to carry out the rescue operation in the shortest possible time.”

Crew of a ship attacked in the Strait of Hormuz is safe, management company says

The management company of a container ship that was fired upon in the Strait of Hormuz early Wednesday says the Liberian-registered Epaminondas was “approached and fired upon by a manned gunboat” while transiting the strait about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Oman.

The Technomar company said all crew were “safe and accounted for” and no injuries were reported, but that preliminary inspections indicated the ship’s bridge had been damaged.

“Technomar remains in close contact with the crew and relevant authorities. Our priority remains the safety and well-being of our crew as we work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure their continued safety and investigate the incident,” the company said. It did not provide further details, but said more information would be released “when there are material developments.”

Iranians have long sought work and relative stability in Turkey. The war could force some to return

Sadri Haghshenas spends her days selling borek — a layered, savory pastry — at a shop in Istanbul, but her mind is on her daughter in Tehran.

The family had to send her home to Iran after they ran into difficulties renewing her visa, despite fears that a shaky ceasefire could soon collapse.

For years, short-term residency permits have allowed tens of thousands of Iranians to pursue economic opportunities and enjoy relative stability in neighboring Turkey. But it’s a precarious situation, and the war has raised the stakes.

“I swear, I cry every day,” Haghshenas said, raising her hands from behind the counter of the pastry shop. “There is no life in my country, there is no life here, what shall I do?”

Turkey hasn't seen an influx of refugees, as most Iranians have sought safety within their country. Many who've crossed the land border were transiting to other countries where they have citizenship or residency.

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Israeli strike kills two people in southern Lebanon despite ceasefire

The strike targeted a vehicle in the town of Tayri on Wednesday, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.

No further details on the identities of the victims were immediately available.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack.

The strike comes despite a 10-day ceasefire that went into effect Friday. Since then, several Israeli strikes have been reported, while Hezbollah has claimed a couple of attacks since Tuesday.

A second French soldier has died after an attack on peacekeepers in Lebanon

On Saturday, a U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon came under attack with small arms fire leaving one French peacekeeper dead and three others wounded, two of them seriously.

French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X that a wounded soldier, who was repatriated Tuesday from Lebanon “where he had been seriously wounded by Hezbollah fighters, died this morning from his injuries.”

Hezbollah had denied is was behind the attack.

Iran says it has yet to decide whether to join a new round of talks with the US

“We entered the negotiations in good faith and with seriousness, but the negotiating party (the United States) has shown disregard and lack of good faith,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baqaei, said Wednesday, according to Iran’s State TV.

A second round of negotiations, expected in Pakistan’s capital later this week, has not yet been confirmed. On Tuesday, President Trump extended a ceasefire with Iran indefinitely, leaving the next steps for resuming talks unclear.

“Iran has not yet decided whether it will participate in the new round of peace negotiations with the United States scheduled for later this week,” Baqaei said.

US stocks climb, but so do oil prices with uncertainty rising about the war with Iran

GE Vernova, Boston Scientific and Boeing are leading the U.S. stock market toward another record after joining the list of companies reporting fatter profits for the start of the year than analysts expected.

But caution is still hanging over Wall Street on Wednesday, and oil prices are also rising on uncertainty about what will happen in the war with Iran.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% and was on track to top its all-time high set Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 360 points and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.9%. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil briefly topped $100.

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Energy agency head says energy crisis will trigger major response by governments and industry

Talking about the repercussions of the Iran war, the head of the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that “we are facing the biggest energy crisis in the history.”

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin that what ”we lost in the this war is much bigger than all the crises put together in terms of oil and gas. Plus, plus, there are vital commodities that we are losing — petrochemicals, fertilizers, helium, sulfur.”

However, Birol also pointed out that “there will be a major response to this crisis as well” and that “it is now the job of the governments to design their energy policies in terms of industrial sector, while keeping the competitiveness of the existing industries, preparing the next steps for the tomorrow’s industries.”

He said he also expects that “there will be a similar response in all parts of the economy, car manufacturing industry, electric industry and in the industry sector.”

“And this is a wonderful opportunity,” he added.

Dozens of Israeli civilians attempt to enter Syria

The Israeli military said it intercepted around 40 Israeli civilians that attempted to enter Syria on Wednesday afternoon. The military said the civilians gathered at the border and then were able to infiltrate several hundred meters into the Israeli-military controlled buffer zone in Syria before being returned to Israel and taken into police custody.

The Israeli media identified the infiltrators as part of the right-wing group “Pioneers of Bashan,” which calls for establishing Jewish settlements in Lebanon and Syria.

The leak occurred at the Catalyst Refiners plant in Institute as workers were preparing to shut down at least part of the facility, Kanawha County Commission Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman said.

A chemical gas reaction occurred at the plant involving nitric acid and another substance, Sigman said at a news briefing. He added that there was "a violent reaction of the chemicals and it instantaneously overreacted.”

“Starting or ending a chemical reaction are the most dangerous times,” Sigman said.

The chemical reaction that was believed to have occurred during a cleaning process produced toxic hydrogen sulfide, Kanawha County Commission President Ben Salango said.

Among the injured were seven ambulance workers responding to the leak, officials said.

“We know that the first responders, they always run to the fire. They put themselves in harm’s way,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said at an evening news conference. “We’re very grateful to these brave men and women and what they do. And they’re in our prayers, and we’re monitoring the recovery of those transported to our local hospitals.”

Other people were taken to the hospitals in private cars or even in one case a garbage truck, Sigman said.

Morrisey said one person was in serious condition.

Vandalia Health Charleston Area Medical Center, one of several hospitals in the area, was treating multiple patients, some brought by ambulance, while members of the community were arriving Wednesday afternoon asking to be checked, hospital spokesman Dale Witte said.

Witte said patients were experiencing respiratory symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, sore throat and itchy eyes. They were being evaluated in the emergency room.

WVU Medicine Thomas Memorial Hospital in South Charleston said in a statement it has cared for a dozen patients, including eight who arrived by personal vehicle and were not at the scene but were in the area at the time. It said those injuries were not considered life-threatening.

A shelter-in-place order was issued for the surrounding area and lifted more than five hours later. Officials said all the deaths occurred on the plant site.

“You had to get really close to the facility to smell it,” Sigman said.

The leak required a large-scale decontamination operation in which people had to remove their clothes and be sprayed down, authorities said.

Morrisey said it's believed the local air quality and water supply were unaffected.

Catalyst Refiners works to remove silver from what remains of chemical processes. Ames Goldsmith Corp., the owner of Catalyst Refiners, said it is saddened by the deaths and its thoughts were with all those impacted and their families.

“This is an unfathomably difficult time,” company President Frank Barber said in a statement released at the briefing. “Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues and their families.”

Ames Goldsmith promised to work with local, state and federal officials as they investigate the leak. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into what happened, a spokesperson said, adding that the agency has six months to complete its examination.

Silver is in a number of items ranging from circuit boards and other electronics, photographic and X-Ray films and jewelry. Nitric acid is used to dissolve materials, leaving behind silver nitrate that can be processed to recover pure silver. Recovery businesses can also crush or sandblast items with silver and use magnets or differences in density to sort out the precious metal.

Sigman said Ames Goldsmith recovers silver from the various plants at the Institute complex "and they'll use it again. When they vacuum their carpets in their office, they recover so many thousands of dollars’ worth of silver out of it just vacuuming their carpets.”

The plant is located near Institute, a community about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Charleston, the state capital. The plant is in a region known as West Virginia’s “chemical valley,” although many plants that lined the area along the Kanawha River and produced hazardous materials have closed or changed ownership in the past several decades.

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Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tennessee,.contributed to this report.

It is the latest high-profile case of alleged insider trading on prediction markets including Kalshi and Polymarket, which have brought bipartisan scrutiny from Congress and calls for stricter regulations of the websites where people can put money on just about anything.

Kalshi's disciplinary documents named Mark Moran, who is running as an independent in Virginia's U.S. Senate race; Ezekiel Enriquez, who ran in a Texas Republican primary for a U.S. House seat; and Matt Klein, a Democratic state senator running for a U.S. House seat in Minnesota.

Klein and Enriquez both placed bets less than $100 related to their “own candidacy,” Kalshi said. Moran said on social media that he “traded $100 on myself.”

These relatively small bets follow mammoth wagers on prediction markets earlier this year that raised eyebrows. In one case, an anonymous Polymarket user made a $400,000 profit in January on a wager that former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro would soon be out of office.

In March, after two U.S. senators announced legislation that threatened prediction markets, Kalshi and Polymarket highlighted new rules, including against political candidates trading on their own campaigns.

Moran refused to reach an agreement with Kalshi and was fined the most at more than $6,200, while Klein and Enriquez did reach agreements and face penalties of over $530 and $780, respectively, the company said. All were suspended from Kalshi for five years.

Some politicians said the punishments didn't go far enough. U.S. Rep. Mike Levin, a California Democrat, slammed the repercussions on social media, saying, “That’s not a punishment. That’s a parking ticket.”

The agreements are with the company, and not with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates predication markets. The agency is chaired by Michael Selig, who is considered friendly to the burgeoning industry.

Far from denying the allegations, Moran told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he placed the bets intending to draw attention to what he said was unjust sway that platforms like Kalshi have on elections. Moran added that he'd met with the company and had asked for his name to appear on its website.

Moran said he was fined more than the other candidates because he refused to sign a settlement that would've required him to post a statement on X. He said he felt that the stunt was successful.

“When I piss people off, when I upset people, and when I captivate their attention, that’s when they have to start listening,” he said.

Klein also confirmed Kalshi's findings in a post on social media on Wednesday. The $50 wager he placed in October was the first time he had used a predictions market, he said in a statement on X, and he was “curious about how it worked.”

“This was a mistake and I apologize,” he wrote, saying that the experience made it clear that the markets need more regulation.

Klein is a cosponsor of a bill working its way through the Minnesota Legislature to ban most wagering on predictive markets, including the outcome of elections. In an interview, he said he didn’t think there was an inconsistency between his betting $50 on himself to win his primary and his sponsorship of legislation.

Klein said he spent the winter learning about predictive markets and signed onto the bill well before he learned that his bet violated Kalshi’s rules.

Enriquez, known as Zeke, lost his House race in the beginning of March with less than two percent of the vote. Contact information for Enriquez was not immediately found to request comment. ___

Associated Press reporters Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Hannah Schoenbaum in Logan, Utah, contributed.

In his testimony to various committees in both the Senate and the House over multiple days this week and last, Kennedy was tasked with defending President Donald Trump’s proposed 2027 budget, which would boost defense spending while cutting more than 12% of funding from Kennedy’s Department of Health and Human Services.

With lawmakers of both parties raising concerns about programs and research funding being reduced or eliminated, Kennedy acknowledged the cuts were “painful” but said they were necessary to address the federal government’s record $39 trillion deficit.

When Democrats came out swinging, Kennedy became more defiant, even at times screaming his rebuttals — though some of them didn’t align with the facts. He accused multiple Democratic lawmakers of grandstanding, making things up and seeking sound bites over meaningful responses.

Here are takeaways from Kennedy’s gauntlet of budget hearings:

Kennedy deflects blame for Americans not vaccinating

One of the central fights shaping Kennedy’s interactions with Democratic lawmakers was over who bears responsibility for the decline in childhood vaccination rates and measles outbreaks that have ripped across the country over the past year, threatening the country’s measles elimination status. Kennedy’s refrain was consistent: It’s not my fault.

“It has nothing to do with me,” Kennedy said Tuesday of the uptick in measles across the country over the past year. He noted there is a global rise in measles cases, including in other countries like Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

Kennedy, who spent years as an anti-vaccine crusader before entering politics and in 2021 said he urged people to “resist” CDC guidelines on when kids should get vaccines, disputed accusations that he is anti-vaccine, saying he is “pro-science.”

Throughout the hearings, he sought to focus on HHS’s initiatives unrelated to vaccines — part of a broader administration pivot toward less controversial health topics like nutritious eating.

Kennedy argued that fewer Americans are vaccinating because they lost trust in government recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he was working to restore that trust. In fact, surveys show trust in federal health agencies has continued to decline during Kennedy’s tenure.

Rep. Kim Schrier, a Democrat from Washington, argued Kennedy’s vaccine views have caused a “spillover effect” that has led to mothers not giving their babies vitamin K injections common at birth to prevent brain bleeding.

“I’ve never said anything about vitamin K,” Kennedy said.

“That’s exactly the point,” Schrier replied.

Kennedy did get credit, however, from Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who said his work was crucial in helping the state manage a troubling measles outbreak over the past year.

“We would not be on the right side of this outbreak without your leadership,” Scott told Kennedy.

Kennedy forcefully denies there are Medicaid cuts – a claim experts call political spin

Nearly every time Democrats brought up the nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade largely being created through new work requirements for enrollees, Kennedy lashed back to argue there are no cuts to Medicaid.

“Only in Washington is it considered a cut,” Kennedy told New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat, on Wednesday.

Kennedy cited a Congressional Budget Office report showing that Medicaid outlays are estimated to increase by about 47% over the next decade. But experts say his analysis of that report is disingenuous, politicized framing and that the increased spending reflects factors like inflation and a growing population.

“This is an old, sort of tired argument that’s been used by conservatives to justify spending cuts by saying, well, if spending is still growing in nominal terms, somehow there wasn’t a cut,” said Edwin Park, a research professor at Georgetown University. “The federal government is spending nearly a trillion dollars less than it otherwise would have in the absence of the legislation.”

Lawmakers of both parties are concerned about affordability

A major concern for voters in the 2026 midterm elections is affordability — including skyrocketing costs for health care and health insurance. That wasn’t lost on those questioning Kennedy, as lawmakers from both parties raised the issue.

On Tuesday, Rep. Cliff Bentz, a Republican from Oregon, shared the story of his brother who pays $26,000 per year for his health coverage.

“What in the world can I go back to him and say? ‘Hey, the administration is working on trying to drive these prices down?’” he asked Kennedy.

Kennedy, for his part, cited several Trump administration initiatives to lower prices, including the White House's TrumpRx website for discounted drugs and Trump’s so-called most favored nations deals with pharmaceutical companies.

Pressed by senators, Kennedy pledged to provide details of those deals that didn’t include proprietary information or trade secrets. Some Democrats wanted him to do more.

“Why don’t you do an agreement yourself? he said in a jab to Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat. “You’ve had power to do that for 20 years and haven’t done it.”

Kennedy acknowledges some HHS cuts are ‘painful’

To achieve a more than 12% cut of the more than $100 billion HHS budget, the Trump administration is proposing slashing some $5 billion from the National Institutes of Health and cutting a bevy of other programs and initiatives, including a low-income home energy assistance program.

Several senators asked Kennedy why different areas were being cut. NIH cuts, in particular, raised bipartisan outcry.

“There’s an argument to be made that we’re handing China our lunch,” said Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Kennedy was candid that neither he nor others at his agency wanted to see the cuts, which he called “painful.”

“There’s a lot of cuts to the agency that nobody wants,” he said.

Detroit opened the second half on an 11-0 run, sparked by a midrange jumper from Tobias Harris to open the half, sparking the massive run to eventually tie the series at 1-1 inside Little Caesars Arena.

On Wednesday (April 22), the Pistons ended an 11-game home playoff losing streak, having lost all three games in 2025, both home games after getting swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2019 and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.

Detroit also got swept by the Cavaliers in 2009, extending their streak to 11 games.

Meaning, prior to Wednesday’s victory, the Pistons had never won inside LCA since the building’s inception in 2017.

The victory also ended an 18-year home-game drought, as they achieved their last home playoff victory, which dates back to their 94-75 victory over the Boston Celtics on May 26, 2008, at The Palace of Auburn Hills, which has since been demolished.

Cade Cunningham finished with 27 points, 11 assists, and six rebounds in the victory.

Game 3 will take place inside the Kia Center in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday, April 25, at 1 p.m. on Peacock.

The champs are in Motown! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/6FAritijJB

— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) April 23, 2026

Spartan Dawg in the building 🔥#DetroitBasketball x @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/AifJUvzgew

— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) April 23, 2026

1st quarter

The Magic won the tip, and Jalen Duren picked up a foul in the game’s first 20 seconds.

Duncan Robinson shot a quick three-pointer following a defensive rebound, which was an airball, but Tobias Harris rebounded it for a putback to give them their first lead of the series.

Cade Cunningham came down and drained a three-pointer to take a 5-0 lead before Wendell Carter Jr. picked up a foul on Cunningham, sending him to the line, where he split the pair as Detroit took a 5-1 lead.

Former Michigan Wolverines forward Franz Wagner made a driving layup for the Magic’s first basket of the game to cut the deficit to two.

Paulo Banchero drew a foul on Harris, sending him to the line for two free throws, but he missed the pair.

Cunningham found Ausar Thompson under the basket for a lay-up.

Motor Cade got a block after a turnover, but Carter Jr. returned the favor with a block on Harris, leading to a Jalen Suggs bucket, assisted by Desmond Bane.

Duren found Thompson for an alley-oop slam before Duren got a block, leading to a defensive rebound by Cunningham, who found fellow Wolverines’ alum Robinson for a contested corner three-pointer as Detroit took a 14-7 lead as Orlando called a timeout with 6:42 to play.

Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff got a technical foul, sending Banes to the line to cash in on the free point.

Suggs hit a corner three-pointer before Cunningham knocked down a jumper, before leading a fastbreak for a slam dunk as Detroit took an 18-11 lead.

Thompson fouled Suggs on a fast break, sending him to the line for two, bringing in Isaiah Stewart and Javonte Green for him and Duren.

Suggs made both free throws before Kevin Huerter entered the game and turned the ball over, leading to a Banchero rim run to bring the deficit to three.

Goga Bitadze got fouled and sent to the line, making both to cut the deficit to 18-17 before Cunningham made a driving dunk to go back up three.

Banchero drained a jumper before Cunningham turned the ball over under the basket, while trying to find Green under the rim.

The turnover was their fifth of the quarter, while Detroit had six blocks with 2:54 to play.

After some sloppy play, Anthony Black made a contested layup to take the Magic’s first lead of the game.

Stewart got an offensive rebound following a Bitadze block on Daniss Jenkins for the putback to retake the lead.

Huerter drilled a contested three-pointer to take a 25-21 lead, before Jenkins drew a foul on Bane with one second to play, sending him to the line for two free throws, missing both to end the quarter.

Detroit went 0-2 from the line while Orlando went 6-9, although they trailed by four.

Cunningham led all scorers with nine points while Suggs and Thompson tied with four rebounds in the quarter.

But Detroit was sending everything away as they combined for seven blocks, putting defense as the focal point.

2nd quarter

Caris LeVert turned a Green deflection into a contested rim rim before Jenkins made a contested floater.

Duren turned the ball over, leading to a Carter Jr. fastbreak dunk.

LeVert, another Michigan alum, made a contested jumper to take a 31-23 lead.

Jenkins fouled Black, sending him to the line for two, making both to cut the deficit to six.

Duren missed a driving layup as Suggs grabbed the rebound and lobbed assists to Jamal Cain for the slam and the foul, by way of Green.

Cain missed the free throw, which was rebounded by Duren, but the Pistons couldn’t convert on the other end.

Detroit forced a 24-second shot-clock violation before Duren made a running jump hook, then Suggs drilled a three-pointer.

Jenkins turned the ball over, leading to a three-on-one fastbreak, but Banchero turned the ball over under the basket, leading to a Pistons timeout with 6:46 to play.

Detroit came out of the timeout with consecutive three-point misses from Robinson and Cunningham before Harris got a steal on the play.

Orlando turned the ball over before Thompson got called for a moving screen, picking up his third foul with 5:22 to play.

Ronald Holland II re-entered the game and drew a foul on Banchero, sending him to the line for two, which he made.

Cunningham missed a driving layup as Cain got an offensive rebound, but couldn’t convert.

Stewart made a putback before Suggs hit another three-pointer to tie the game at 35-35.

Bitadze fouled Cunningham, sending him to the line for two, splitting the pair.

Wagmer got the defensive rebound, finding Banchero for the and-one attempt, but he missed the free-throw, his third of the game.

Cunningham grabbed the defensive rebound and drew a foul on Suggs with 3:36 to play, but split the pair to tie the game at 37-37.

Banchero got the rebound and found Suggs for a three-point attempt, but he missed.

Robinson got the defensive rebound, leading to a foul by Suggs, his second of the game and the fourth for the Magic with 3:05 to play.

Wagner poked the ball away from Cunningham, leading to a full timeout by the Magic with 2:53 to play.

Cunningham found Duren for the lob attempt when he brought him back to the ground, and a quick putback to take a 39-37 lead.

Banchero drew a foul on Robinson, splitting the pair as Detroit led by one.

Harris made a floater before Bane tied the game with a three-pointer.

Cunningham went at Bane for the contested jumper before Bane picked up a third foul on Robinson, sending him to the line, where he split the pair.

Cunningham made a contested floater before Suggs hit an offhand floater.

Huerter missed a wide-open jumper before Duren got an offensive rebound while drawing a foul on Banchero, his third of the half.

Duren split the pair to take a two-point lead.

Wagner drew a foul on Green, sending him to the line for two to toe the game.

Cunningham turned the ball over, leading to a Wagner three-point contest at the buzzer, which bounced off the rim to end the half tied at 46-46.

3rd quarter

The Pistons opened the second half on an 11-0 run before Bane made a three-pointer to stop the bleeding.

Thompson made a dunk to push the lead to 10 points with 8:18 to play.

Carter Jr. fouled Cunningham before Harris stretched the lead with a baseline jumper.

Banchero missed a three-pointer before Robinson drained a three to take a 64-49 lead as Orlando took a timeout with 7:21 to play.

Harris started the run by opening the second half with a 12-foot step-back jumpshot.

Cunningham made a 12-foot jumper off a Wagner turnover.

He then found Duren for a slam dunk before Cunningham made a running layup and got fouled to take a nine-point lead before Harris made the jumper to push the run to 11-0.

Out of the timeout, Detroit forced another shot-clock violation before Robinson drilled another three-pointer, pushing the lead to 18-points.

Thompson got a steal and made a jam to go on another 12-0 run in 2:48.

Duren got fouled by Carter Jr. at the rim as Detroit went on a combined 22-3 run in the third quarter with 5:51 to play.

Carter Jr. got called for a flagrant foul, sending Duren to the line for two, splitting the pair before making an and-one, taking a 73-49 lead.

Detroit was on a 27-3 run, 16-0 in 3:46.

Banchero fouled Thompson during a defensive rebound, sending him to the line where he split the pair, moving the run to 28-3 and 17-0 in 4:05.

Stewart blocked Suggs at the rim, leading to a Green defensive rebound and foul on Bitadze, making both to push the run to 30-3 and 19-0 in 4:20.

Bitadze grabbed an offensive rebound and drew a foul on Stewart, sending him to the line for two, splitting the pair to stop the run at 30-4 and 19-1 with 4:08 to play in the quarter as the Pistons led 76-50.

Cunningham turned the ball over, leading to a Suggs bankshot.

Stewart drained a three-pointer to take a 79-52, pushing the run to 33-6 before Tristan da Silva made a three pointer.

Stewart made a bunny before getting fouled by Bane, converting the and-one to take an 82-55 lead.

Detroit pushed the run to 36-9 in the quarter as the assist by Cunningham as he had 20 points and 10 assists.

Black got fouled at the rim by Stewart, splitting the pair.

Green grabbed the defensive rebound, but Harris missed a nine-foot jumper as Wagner got the defensive rebound and went coast-to-coast for the contested layup.

Jenkins got called for a foul on Banes while going after a contested rebound on the offensive glass, as he went to the line to make both.

Jenkins made an off-balance jumper to take an 84-60 lead before Wagner made an eight-foot floater to cut the deficit to 22 to end the quarter.

Detroit outscored the Magic 25-21 to end the first quarter, but Orlando flipped the script to outscore the Pistons 25-21 to end the first half, tying the game at 4-46.

But Detroit opened the third quarter on a mega run, turning defense into offense to outscore the Magic 38-16 to blow the game open.

4th quarter

Bane got fouled by Cunningham, sending him to the line for two, making both.

Cunningham turned the ball over as Black had a steal, but Bitadze made a bad pass to Robinson for a steal of his own.

Cunningham missed a 15-foot jumper before Wagner grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast to coast for a six-foot driving jumper to cut the deficit to 18 as Bickerstaff called a timeout with 10:35 to play.

Cunningham made a nine-foot jumper to push the lead back to 20.

Bitadze fouled Duren, but Harris got blocked by Bane.

Harris got a defensive rebound, but Cunningham turned the ball over.

Thompson made a dunk before Banchero made a jumper.

Robinson got called for a foul, sending Wagner to the line, making both to cut the deficit to 18.

Cunningham drew a foul on Banchero, sending him to the line for two, splitting the pair as Banchero grabbed the defensive rebound.

Banchero drove to the basket and tried to dunk on Stewart, who got all ball on the play, but was called for a foul, leading to a challenge by Bickerstaff with 7:32 to play.

The call was overturned, as Detroit had 11 blocks in the game.

Since no one had possession, both teams jumped at center court, as Stewart got the tip but got called for an offensive foul on the possession.

Suggs couldn’t convert on the following possession, leading to a nasty crossover and finish at the rim to take a 91-70 lead.

Cunningham had 25 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists.

Stewart turned the ball over, leading to a Banchero monster jam over him, drawing the foul to complete the three-point play.

Harris made a floater for his 14th point of the game. He also had 10 rebounds in the matchup.

Banchero blocked Harris before Robinson and Bane got called for double technical fouls with 4:46 to play.

Orlando challenged the play and won the appeal on the Banchero-Harris block.

Suggs made a jumper to cut the deficit to 93-75.

Suggs got called for a foul before getting called for a delay of game technical, but Cunningham missed the free-throw.

Banchero got an easy bunny following another turnover by Detroit as Detroit led 93-77.

Harris got fouled hard with 2:57 to play, sending him to the line where he converted both.

Former Michigan State Spartans star Jase Richardson entered the game and drilled a three-pointer.

Cunningham knocked down a jumper before Richardson nailed another three-pointer, before fellow Wolverines alum Moritz Wagner drew a foul on Robinson.

A double-technical was called on Harris and Jevon Carter.

Robinson split the pair as former Wolverines star Jett Howard shot a three-pointer to end the game.

The FBI said Wednesday that its agents interviewed Patel's girlfriend, country singer Alexis Wilkins, when she expressed concern about a death threat received after Williamson's article was published, but took no further action.

The Times, in an article posted online Wednesday, said that the FBI looked on federal databases for information about Williamson and recommended pursuing it further, but was blocked by the Justice Department.

The newspaper said it learned about all of this only through a tip given to reporter Michael S. Schmidt. The paper called the action alarming.

“The FBI's attempt to criminalize routine reporting is a blatant violation of Elizabeth's First Amendment rights and another attempt by this administration to prevent journalists from scrutinizing its actions,” said Joseph Kahn, the newspaper's executive editor. “It's alarming. It's unconstitutional. And it's wrong.”

It's not clear whether The Times has any recourse other than asking a federal inspector general to review whether the actions were improper.

Williamson briefly interviewed Wilkins when reporting, but the singer insisted the conversation be off the record. The reporter also spoke to people who knew Wilkins or had worked with her, the newspaper said.

The original piece, published on Feb. 28, looked at the use of federal officials called upon to perform personal duties for an administration figure. She wrote that Patel had assigned four agents to protect Wilkins full time, and that they had ferried her to appearances in Britain, Illinois and Nashville.

FBI spokesman Ben Williamson, in a statement posted on social media, said that while investigators “were concerned about how the aggressive reporting techniques crossed lines of stalking, no further action regarding Williamson or the reporting was ever pursued by the FBI.”

Patel hasn't been reluctant to fight back against reporting that displeases him. On Monday, he filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic for its article that discussed allegations about his excessive drinking and mismanagement at the law enforcement agency.

Multiple videos from bystanders show a masked agent grabbing and pulling Franci Stagi across the street during a protest in October against the detention of three Colombian asylum-seekers in Durango, Colorado. She said he grabbed her by the hair and put her in a chokehold. The state is among several that prohibited or severely limited police officers from using chokeholds and neck restraints since George Floyd’s death in 2020.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigations launched an investigation into the U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer's actions against Stagi at the request of Durango Police Department Chief Brice Current, who raised concerns about possible violations of state law — an unusual if not unprecedented request.

The Department of Homeland Security, which includes Customs and Border Protection, called the prosecution “unlawful” and a “political stunt.” It said states have no authority to investigate such cases.

“Federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be investigated by other Federal agencies,” DHS said in a statement.

The department said it was still investigating what happened in the incident.

Court documents didn’t list any attorney as representing the officer, Nicholas Rice.

Stagi said she was standing close to the officer and filming him outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Durango, a college town popular for outdoor recreation, when he hit her hand hard, causing her to lose her cellphone. Stagi, a retired hypnotherapist, said she then reached for the officer's shoulder to get his attention. After she said he put her in a chokehold, she said he threw her down an embankment next to the street. She said she still experiences pain in her arm doing normal everyday activities, like putting on her jacket.

Court documents allege that Rice committed third-degree assault by causing bodily injury to Stagi, but the documents don’t describe how she was injured or make mention of a chokehold. Rice also is charged with criminal mischief for allegedly damaging Stagi’s cellphone.

Stagi said Wednesday she was disappointed Rice was charged with less serious crimes. The assault charge, a misdemeanor, carries a maximum sentence of just under a year in jail. But she hopes the prosecution sends a message that immigration officers can't tackle people indiscriminately and use excessive force.

“It did open my eyes to how quickly I can be under someone else's control, and it's frightening,” said Stagi, whose legal name is Anne Francesca Stagi.

Federal law enforcement officers have broad legal protections when acting in the course of their official duties, and the Justice Department has in recent months taken a hard line against state efforts to arrest or prosecute federal agents. Late last year, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said arrests of federal officers performing their duties would be “illegal and futile,” citing the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and federal law. Legal experts say those protections are significant but not absolute and the Supremacy Clause does not provide blanket immunity.

Chokeholds have been at the center of public discourse and state legislative initiatives about what constitutes an unreasonable use of force since Eric Garner died in New York in 2014 after he was put in a chokehold by a white police officer.

Garner’s dying words, “ I can’t breathe ” became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.

While some states have banned chokeholds and other tactics, sweeping changes were met with resistance.

A federal package of reforms that would have banned chokeholds nationwide passed the U.S. House in 2021 but failed to reach then-President Joe Biden’s desk. The bill was named in honor of Floyd, who died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee to his neck.

Within a month of Floyd’s death, Colorado lawmakers approved a ban on chokeholds as part of broader police reform legislation. The law overrode more limited chokehold restrictions that were put in place four years earlier.

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Slevin reported from Denver, and Lee from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Her death was ruled a homicide in the report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office that had been blocked from release for months.

The autopsy was limited by “extensive postmortem changes” to the body that was dismembered and decomposing when it was found in two bags in the trunk of a Tesla parked in the Hollywood Hills in September.

The examination revealed “two penetrating wounds of the torso with smooth edges that may represent sharp force injuries.” One wound on the upper abdomen penetrated the liver. Another, on the left chest, damaged her ribs. A tube top she was wearing appeared to be cut in three places.

A judge had ordered the report sealed late last year at the request of law enforcement, but prosecutors agreed this week to allow its release.

The 21-year-old alt-pop singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged in the killing Monday. He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a dead body. Burke’s attorneys said he did not cause Rivas Hernandez’s death and they will vigorously defend his innocence.

The girl's parents made their first public comments on Tuesday night, thanking investigators for their work and the people of their hometown of Lake Elsinore, California, for their support. Lake Elsinore is about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.

“Celeste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance. Every Friday night was movie night and we spent wonderful times together,” Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez said. "We love her very much and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply. All we want is justice for Celeste.”

Prosecutors allege Burke killed Rivas Hernandez because she threatened to report they had a sexual relationship that began when she was 13 years old and he feared it would ruin his rising career.

A criminal complaint alleges he killed her with a sharp object and dismembered the body about two weeks later.

Medical Examiner's investigators called to the scene where the body was found discovered her torso and head in a black, zippered body bag in the Tesla's trunk, with arms and legs in a separate trash bag.

Her body had so degraded that examiners couldn't even determine her eye color. She had braces at the time of her death, and a tattoo that read “Shhh....” on the inside of a finger, according to the report. Two other fingers were missing — as were parts of her arms and legs.

Toxicology tests on the liver showed a low level of alcohol, but it may have been due to postmortem chemical changes and didn't appear to be a factor, the report said.

LA County's Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Odey C. Ukpo has sought to emphasize his agency's independence from law enforcement and to make its work as public as possible since he took over the job three years ago. He has said he does not believe sealing reports of his office's work helps investigations and has said he would only put holds on releasing the reports if compelled by a court order.

“After several months, I am grateful this information can now be released, not only to the public, but also to the grieving family enduring loss,” Ukpo said in a statement Wednesday. “It is unfathomable they have had to wait this long to learn what happened to their daughter.”

D4vd, pronounced “David,” gained popularity among young fans for his blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit “Romantic Homicide,” which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He released his debut EP “Petals to Thorns” and a follow-up, “The Lost Petals,” in 2023.

His debut full-length album, “Withered,” was released one year ago, two days after the date prosecutors estimate that Rivas Hernandez was killed.

The lawsuit, filed by Lorrayne Mavromatis in federal court in North Carolina on Wednesday, accuses MrBeastYouTube, LLC and GameChanger 24/7, LLC of violating federal law that entitles eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying family and medical reasons, including childbirth. Mavromatis also filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, pregnancy, and retaliation.

Mavromatis claims that she worked “nonstop” following her baby's birth as well as while in the delivery room. “I was still bleeding, and I just had to show up,” Mavromatis told The Associated Press in an interview.

Less than three weeks after she returned to work full time, she said she was fired.

A Beast Industries spokesperson called the lawsuit a “clout-chasing complaint” built on “deliberate misrepresentations and categorically false statements” in an emailed statement. Mavromatis's position was eliminated, according to the spokesperson, when the new head of ecommerce reorganized her team.

The company shared a March 31, 2025 exchange on the workplace messaging app Slack, in which a coworker told Mavromatis that she “shouldn't even be checking” her messages after Mavromatis canceled a meeting because she wrote she was “actually in labor at the hospital as we speak.” In response to allegations that MrBeast failed to inform her of her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, the company shared a screenshot of her signature confirming receipt of the employee handbook including FMLA policies.

“We will not submit to opportunistic lawyers looking to manufacture a payday from us,” the statement said.

Company culture once again under scrutiny

Mavromatis's lawsuit raises disturbing allegations about the culture behind YouTube’s most popular creator as new company leaders seek to rapidly expand the media empire founded by Jimmy Donaldson under his MrBeast alias.

It portrays a toxic, misogynistic workplace that Beast Industries has recently tried to clean up as Donaldson’s media empire launches ambitious ventures into television and financial services. His “Beast Games” Amazon Prime reality competition show is two seasons deep and the company recently acquired the teenager-focused banking app Step.

Questions about Beast Industries’ internal culture surfaced two years ago after a social media firestorm over Donaldson’s past racist and homophobic language coincided with accusations that a longtime collaborator shared inappropriate sexual messages with minors. In an August 2024 email to employees, Donaldson said he recognized that he must “create a culture that makes all our employees feel safe and allows them to do their best work.”

Beast Industries fired several employees following a third-party investigation that identified “isolated instances” of workplace harassment and misconduct.

Donaldson has since become a growing presence in American entertainment outside of YouTube. He appeared at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards, advertised for business software maker Salesforce in a Super Bowl commercial and joined the cast of the upcoming “Angry Birds Movie 3.”

Beast Industries — which employs about 700 people, according to chief communication officer Gaude Paez — continues to expand. The company has been on a hiring spree of late, landing executives from the likes of NBCUniversal and TikTok as the brand tries to find success beyond Donaldson’s name and image.

Mavromatis’s lawsuit was filed ahead of Thursday’s TIME100 celebration in New York City, where Donaldson is scheduled to be honored as one of the magazine’s most influential people, along with Pope Leo XIV, President Donald Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

A high intensity workplace

Beast Industries encouraged employees to “go to great lengths” to get the job done, according to Mavromatis’s lawsuit, which refers to a 36-page “HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION” guide circulated among employees at the time of her employment. The guide included sections saying, “It’s okay for the boys to be childish" and “The Amount of hours you work is irrelevant.”

It was against that backdrop that Mavromatis said she joined a team meeting from her hospital bed in the throes of labor, afraid she would be fired if she refused.

“I actually had to hold my breath in between talks because of how hard the contractions were,” she said.

Mavromatis, now 34, was hired in August 2022 as MrBeast’s head of Instagram, and was promoted twice within a year. Between June 2023 and January 2024, she oversaw operations for the company's verticals division, which she described as an executive position, but Beast Industries' Paez called mid-level.

A few months after she started at the company, she asked James Warren — Donaldson's cousin and CEO at that time— for advice when she noticed Donaldson would not make eye-contact with her.

According to the complaint, Warren responded: "Jimmy gets really awkward around beautiful women. Let’s just say that when you’re around and he goes to the restroom, he’s not actually using the restroom.”

The company attributed Donaldson's bathroom trips to his Crohn's disease.

The lawsuit said that after Mavromatis reported sexual harassment issues as well as a hostile work environment to human resources, which was headed by Donaldson's mother, she was transferred and demoted to “an obscure role." The company refuted that claim, calling it “false and inaccurate.”

TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund at the National Women’s Law Center, which was founded during the early days of the #MeToo reckoning against sexual misconduct, says it is supporting Mavromatis's case.

“Abusive workplaces rely on a persistent lack of accountability. We see this pattern frequently, where those with influence and power are allowed to harm others and retaliate against those who decide to speak up,” said senior director Jennifer Mondino. “We are in a collective fight to address a longstanding culture of harassment that relies on entrenched silence and shame.”

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Edwards contributed 30 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and a loud voice of encouragement for his teammates. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch had already been reassured by Edwards' influence as the four-time All-Star left the court following a lackluster performance in Game 1.

“He was calm and gave confidence to the guys,” Finch said, reflecting on the series opener after practice on Wednesday. “When we were down early and big, he was really into them with the right messages, to stay calm but to do the things that were asked to be done — put a little bit more work in, be a little smarter with the fouling, all that kind of stuff. So I thought that was really key.”

Edwards was instrumental in urging Rudy Gobert on to a dominant defensive effort against Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic. He has also demonstrated his leadership by playing through the right knee pain that sidelined him for 11 of the last 13 regular-season games.

“It definitely uplifts me. I feel like I can’t let him down. If he’s out there battling, then there’s no excuse why I can’t give my best and make the extra effort plays and just go out there and compete at the highest level,” teammate Julius Randle said.

For the Timberwolves to beat the team that has recently become their biggest rival three more times and reach the second round, they will need a steady supply of Edwards' energy on both ends of the court, on the bench and in the locker room.

The Nuggets are sure to bring their own moxie on the road to Minnesota for Game 3 between these well-matched opponents on Thursday. The other Game 3s on Thursday are New York at Atlanta and Cleveland at Toronto.

Over the last four years, including the regular season and playoffs, the Timberwolves and Nuggets have each won 15 of their last 30 meetings.

“Who doesn’t love a big game? Who doesn’t want to wake up for a game with a lot of excitement, a lot of back and forth in it?” Timberwolves sixth man Naz Reid said.

New York Knicks at Atlanta Hawks

When/Where to watch: Game 3, 7 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)

Series: Tied 1-1.

Betting line: Knicks by 1 1/2.

What to know: The Knicks were outscored 28-15 by the upstart Hawks in the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden in Game 2, a one-point loss to stew on as they seek to regain home-court advantage in the series. Even in the Game 1 win, the Knicks saw a 19-point lead with a little more than three minutes left shrink to eight in the closing seconds. “We've got to play better with the lead,” point guard Jalen Brunson said. The Hawks have plenty of reason for optimism as they come home, considering they split the first two games with little beyond the clutch play of veteran C.J. McCollum to relish from their performance.

Cleveland Cavaliers at Toronto Raptors

When/Where to watch: Game 3, 8 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)

Series: Cavaliers lead 2-0.

Betting line: Cavaliers by 3 1/2.

What to Know: The Cavs are seeking a 3-0 lead in a first-round series for the second straight year. If they get there, they would set an NBA postseason opponent record with a 13th straight playoff win over the Raptors. Donovan Mitchell has scored at least 30 points in six of his last seven playoff games, averaging 33.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists during that span. Cleveland is 21-7 when its lineup includes James Harden, who became the second player in franchise history with at least 28 points and five steals in the 115-105 win in Game 2 on Monday. Toronto point guard Immanuel Quickley has missed the first two games with a left hamstring strain and remains questionable. Raptors All-Star Brandon Ingram is aiming to bounce back after going 3 of 15 from the field and only scoring seven points in Game 2. “He’s our go-guy guy. We trust him and believe in him. We know he’s going to get shots to drop,” Scottie Barnes said.

Denver Nuggets at Minnesota Timberwolves

When/Where to watch: Game 3, 9:30 p.m. EDT (Prime Video)

Series: Tied 1-1.

Betting line: Nuggets by 2 1/2.

What to know: With so much recent drama between these division rivals — who are facing off in the postseason for the third time in four years — and plenty of chippy play on the court over the first two games, this series is just getting started. After erasing a 19-point deficit early in the second quarter to win 119-114 in Game 2, Minnesota took some momentum home from the Mile High City. Edwards recorded his sixth 30-point game against Denver in 14 playoff meetings, and guard Donte DiVincenzo was all over the court with a game-high plus-20 rating and 16 points. He's 10 for 16 from 3-point range in the series. The Nuggets claimed to be unbothered by the postgame barb from Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels, who said Minnesota's best offensive strategy was to continue to directly attack the Nuggets because they're “all bad defenders.”

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AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in New York and AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in Cleveland contributed to this report.

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

The dramatic events unfolded at Monday’s running of the iconic race. As scores of runners passed Haridasse, his fellow competitors Robson De Oliveira of Brazil and Aaron Beggs of Britain stopped, helped him up and carried him on their shoulders to end of the race.

Pete Grasso, who was watching the race, caught the moment on video when the pair picked up Haridasse.

“The coolest part about this moment was that these two guys were less than a tenth of a mile away, in the middle of a really, really fast race, and still stopped to help a fellow runner who needed some help. That’s not easy to do,” Grasso said in an email. “Seeing them put everything aside in that moment just to get another runner across the line was incredible. And hearing the crowd respond, cheering for them, supporting them, truly gave me chills.”

The North Down Athletic Club in Northern Ireland, where Beggs is a member, hailed his effort.

“We are immensely proud of Aaron’s sporting achievements, along with his incredible actions shown at the Boston Marathon, having already endured 26 miles at that point,” the club said in an email. “Aaron is an honest gentleman, and we are delighted to have him as a member of North Down Athletic Club.”

A similar scene played out when runner Lan Nguyen of Washington, D.C., struggled toward the finish. Fellow racers Jessica Kier of Snohomish, Washington, Meredith Rosenberg of Boston and William Bara-Jimenez of Bethesda, Maryland, helped her to the finish — at one point carrying her part of the way. Nguyen then scooted across the finish line.

Rosenberg, who was on pace for a personal best, said she spotted Nguyen about mile 25 of the race, adding that she “clearly could not walk. There were medics that were trying to get her into a wheelchair.” But she and the other runners decided to carry Nguyen the rest of the way, passing cheering volunteers as they reached the end of the race. As Nguyen was placed in a wheelchair after finishing, all four of the helpers hugged.

“I have run 12 marathons. Every finish line is special, but this was just even better to be able to help her get across the finish line and just to know that I was part of that,” Rosenberg said. “That’s really what running in the community is about. And it was just incredible. When we put her down, we were hyping up the crowd. People were cheering.”

Jack Fleming, the president and CEO of the Boston Athletic Association, which organized the race, said the actions of these runners is typical of the kindness marathon runners exhibit around the world. Sometimes, it's just checking on a struggling runner, bonding with strangers for part of the race or, in this case, getting fellow competitors to the finish.

“No marathon is easy. There’s no fooling this distance,” Fleming said. “We do see marathoners, athletes taking care of each other around the world, not just at the Boston Marathon. It’s awesome when we do see it at Boston firsthand and up close. But we know that’s a common denominator in our sport.”

Leo’s visit to the prison in the Central African port city of Bata followed in the tradition of Pope Francis, who frequently met with inmates on his foreign visits to give them a message of hope.

But Leo’s stop, at the end of his four-nation African tour, took on added significance after it emerged that Equatorial Guinea was one of several African nations that have been paid millions of dollars in controversial deals with the Trump administration to receive migrants deported from the U.S. to countries other than their own.

While none of those migrants are being held at Bata, the visit put the spotlight on Equatorial Guinea’s overall human rights record and its judiciary, which rights campaigners have criticized for its lack of independence, arbitrary detentions and other abuses.

“You are not alone. Your families love you and are waiting for you. Many people outside these walls are praying for you,” Leo told the inmates in Spanish. “If any of you fear being abandoned by everyone, know that God will never abandon you, and that the Church will stand by your side.”

The inmates, all dressed in new neon orange and beige uniforms, had gathered in a central courtyard of the prison, which appeared to have been recently painted salmon pink. As soon as he started speaking, a huge rainstorm opened, drenching the inmates.

In his remarks, Leo also reminded authorities that justice is meant to protect society, but that incarceration is not meant to be punishment alone.

“To be effective, it must always promote the dignity and potential of every person,” he said. “True justice seeks not so much to punish as to help rebuild the lives of victims, offenders and communities wounded by evil.”

After Leo left, the drenched inmates broke into a raucous dance party in the courtyard as the rain continued to pour, shouting “Libertad! Libertad! Libertad!” (Freedom, freedom, freedom).

'Greater room for freedom'

Leo began the day with Mass in Mongomo, an eastern city on the border with Gabon that has experienced major development since Equatorial Guinea’s oil boom in the 1990s.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been accused of widespread corruption and authoritarianism in his four-decade rule, comes from Mongomo and the city has benefited from government investment and infrastructure, even though no official institutions are located here.

While more than half of Equatorial Guinea’s population lives in poverty, Mongomo boasts opulent buildings, curated gardens behind gilt-tipped gates, an 18-hole golf course and is the starting point of the lone highway in the country, linking the city to Bata on the west coast.

Obiang and his wife were on hand for Leo’s Mass, as was their son, Teodoro “Teddy” Nguema Obiang, the country’s vice president who was convicted of embezzling millions of euros by a French court, which handed him a three-year suspended sentence, a 30 million euro ($35.2 million) fine and ordered the seizure of his luxury homes and cars in France worth tens of millions of euros. The country has protested the seizures at the International Court of Justice.

Last year, the United States gave the younger Obiang a temporary waiver on U.S. corruption sanctions so he could travel to a U.N. gathering and visit other American cities. Obiang also met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.

The Vatican said an estimated 100,000 people attended the Mass, most standing in the grand entryway to Mongomo’s Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. The monumental church was consecrated in 2011 and is modeled on St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

In his homily, Leo urged all citizens to work together to build a society “capable of engendering a new sense of justice,” where there is “greater room for freedom” and where “the dignity of the human person always may be safeguarded.”

He urged everyone, according to their roles, to work to “serve the common good rather than private interests, bridging the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged.”

“My thoughts go to the poorest, to families experiencing difficulty and to prisoners who are often forced to live in troubling hygienic and sanitary conditions,” he said.

‘Troubling disregard for human life’

Equatorial Guinea’s prisons and justice system have been repeatedly faulted by the United Nations and condemned by human rights groups and the U.S. State Department.

In its 2023 report on the country, the U.S. listed a host of abuses, including arbitrary or unlawful killings and arrests, political detentions, torture, life-threatening prison conditions and “serious problems” with the judiciary’s independence.

Speaking to journalists at the Bata prison, Equatorial Guinea Justice Minister Reginaldo Biyogo Ndong denied the rights abuses and said the country’s prison and justice systems respect international human rights laws. He said the country's justice system features an “enviable” infrastructure and that it's “ready to guarantee human rights, fundamental rights.”

On the eve of his prison visit, 70 human rights organizations published an open letter to Leo, urging him to speak out especially about the U.S. deportation of migrants here and encourage African nations to not be complicit.

“These practices circumvent humanitarian protections, expose refugees to detention and coercion, and subject individuals to refoulement, in direct contravention of international law,” they wrote.

In the run-up to Leo’s arrival, the government released nearly 100 people who had been arrested in a 2022 crackdown on street violence, according to a local lawyer, who requested anonymity given the country’s human rights record.

The lawyer termed the releases one “positive outcome” of the visit but also noted that the government still hasn’t taken action on releasing jailed activists and politicians.

EG Justice, a rights group which has repeatedly denounced the detention of political prisoners in Equatorial Guinea, urged Leo to use his moral authority to speak out about abuses and the detention of activists and politicians especially.

“There are individuals — prisoners of conscience, and human rights activists — in detention whose cases raise serious humanitarian and due process concerns,” said Tutu Alicante, a U.S.-based activist who runs the EG Justice group.

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Monika Pronczuk contributed to this report from Malabo.

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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.

State-funded preschool enrollment in the U.S. rose to 1.8 million kids, reaching 37% of 4-year-olds and about 10% of 3-year-olds, according to an annual report published Wednesday by the National Institute of Early Education Research. In total, states added 44,000 students to their preschool enrollment. But the report's authors noted that the gains were smaller than the year prior and said preschool access remains wildly uneven from state to state. Some states even lost ground.

“If providing high-quality preschool education to all 3- and 4-year-olds were a race,” the authors wrote, “some states are nearing the finish line, others have stumbled and fallen behind, and a few have yet to leave the starting line.”

Free preschool has expanded in California

More than half the nation's public preschool enrollment gain — some 25,000 students — came in California, which this year made every 4-year-old eligible for its “ transitional kindergarten ” program, or “TK.” The rapid rollout has had its tradeoffs. The national institute outlines 10 quality benchmarks for preschools, related to teacher training, class size and curriculum. California met just two of them last school year. And private preschool owners say the rush of 4-year-olds joining public schools threatens to cripple their businesses.

“Universal TK ... is a real win, but it’s also just the start of the work and not the end of it,” said Jessica Sawko of Children Now, which advocates on early childhood issues in California. She noted that the state will hit two more quality benchmarks in next year's report, by lowering its student-teacher ratio to 10-to-1 and by requiring lead teachers to have early education training.

The report illustrates some of the difficult tradeoffs states face when they scale up programs quickly or have limited funding. Hawaii is one of six states that meet all the institute's benchmarks. Its state preschool program also only serves 10% of 4-year-olds.

Evidence is mounting that the impact of high-quality preschool can follow children into adulthood, making them better prepared for kindergarten, more likely to graduate high school and more likely to find work. And it is increasingly seen as essential for success in kindergarten and beyond. Educators now also expect youngsters to start their first year of school already equipped to navigate kindergarten.

“We have a lot of kids who still do not fulfill their potential,” said Steven Barnett, founder and director of the early education institute. “We have evidence — very strong evidence — that preschool programs substantially improved the foundation for later success.”

Some states also recognize that free prekindergarten can make a difference for the wider economy, allowing parents to return to work at a time when private child care is becoming less affordable.

Preschool means confident kindergartners

Heather Sufuentes witnessed the impact of preschool when she was principal of Parkview Elementary in Chico, California, as it began its transitional kindergarten program. She said students who attended the program, which has a play-based curriculum and runs the length of a workday, arrived with more confidence and often volunteered to be class leaders.

“They're well prepared to transition into that big elementary school setting,” said Sufuentes, now director of elementary education for Chico Unified School District. Chico has more than doubled the number of TK seats it offers since 2022.

Marisol Márquez, a secretary who works for the state, sends her daughter to transitional kindergarten at 1st Street Elementary in Los Angeles. She had been sending her for free to a learning center underwritten by COVID-19 relief funding. But she would have had to start paying tuition this year, and she's not sure how she and her husband, a UPS driver, would have made it work. She was elated to hear 1st Street Elementary was offering free transitional kindergarten.

Educators there quickly discovered her daughter was bright and began sending her to kindergarten for math and reading lessons.

“If it hadn’t been for this program, we would have never found that out," Márquez said.

In some states, preschool is expensive. In others, it's free

Despite the raised expectations for 5-year-olds, no state mandates that children attend preschool, and only some cities and states make it accessible to every 4-year-old. Preschool offerings differ vastly. A family living in Wyoming, which has no state-funded preschool, could move to Colorado, where every parent can send their 4-year-old to part-time preschool without paying a dime in tuition. In the District of Columbia, even affluent families have access to two full years of prekindergarten, while neighboring Virginia has a far less robust program.

The uneven access across states can exacerbate disparities. Wealthier families can often afford private preschool tuition, regardless of what their state offers. In 2024, private child care centers, which often use preschool curriculum, averaged annual tuition of more than $12,000 for 4-year-olds, according to Child Care Aware of America.

For families that can't afford preschool tuition, the options can be limited. State-funded preschool programs often have waitlists.

If a family's earnings are low enough, they can qualify for programs like Head Start, which provides early education for the neediest Americans. But the number of children in Head Start is falling, in part due to staff shortages. Lower-income families may also qualify for state or federal child care subsidies that can help with private preschool, but those have growing waitlists, too.

Trump says states should pay

Federal support for expanding early education funding is sparse and shrinking. Recently, President Donald Trump said the federal government couldn’t afford to support child care while it was waging a war with Iran.

“We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care,” Trump said. States, he added, “should pay for it. ... They’ll have to raise their taxes.”

The map of states that offer the highest-quality public preschool programs would surprise some partisans. Republican-led states have pioneered universal prekindergarten, with Oklahoma introducing it in the late 1990s. Alabama and West Virginia also have preschool-for-all programs that receive top marks. Wealthier, Democratic-led states have lagged behind, even as many blue-leaning cities have moved ahead with their own initiatives. New York state lost enrollment last school year, even as New York City, which already has universal prekindergarten, is charging ahead with a plan to make all child care free for younger children.

And Georgia, another state with Republican leadership, is the first to have a universal preschool program that meets all quality benchmarks set by the National Institute of Early Education Research.

Rebecca Ellis's son John Patrick, 5, attends the private Capitol Hill Child Enrichment Center in Atlanta free of charge, thanks to the state's preschool-for-all program. She said it saved her family a huge amount of money, and she is impressed by how much her son has grown socially and emotionally.

“They focus so much on just helping kids learn how to calm down, to make friends, to regulate their feelings, to solve problems,” Ellis said.

John Patrick and her older son, who attended the same preschool, have even given their parents advice. When they become agitated, the children urge them to take deep breaths.

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The Associated Press’ education 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.

Mother elephant Nhi Linh gave birth to Linh Mai on Feb. 2 after nearly two years of pregnancy.

Robbie Clark, the zoo's elephant manager, said, “Linh Mai is a hoot, she's a fantastic little elephant to get to know.”

“She's very curious,” Clark added. “She's learning how to be quite playful with the enrichment and the environment that she's living in, and she's confident.”

The Asian elephants at the National Zoo live in an expansive area called Elephant Trails, which contains outdoor walkways and pools. Fans who can't visit Washington can check out Linh Mai on the zoo's elephant cam.

Tarrance Williams-Armstrong, 27, worked as a bus monitor for First Student Management LLC, a company that transports students with special needs.

He says that on Jan. 16 in Dearborn, he witnessed a 22-year-old passenger engaging in explicit behavior within view of about 10 nonverbal children, some as young as four.

Williams-Armstrong says he intervened, secured the passenger back into a harness, and reported what happened.

He and his attorney, Dionne Webster-Cox, say the behavior was not a one-time incident and that prior complaints had been made.

Williams-Armstrong says the company’s response did not match the seriousness of the situation, and that he did not see any corrective steps to prevent it from happening again.

Williams Armstrong was fired Feb. 9, he and his attorney say.

They say he was told his services were no longer needed and that he should not have physically touched the passenger.

Williams Armstrong and Webster-Cox have filed a lawsuit against First Student seeking his job back and changes to policies and oversight.

The company said it cannot comment, citing pending litigation.

Here in Metro Detroit, our normal high is 61°, and we’ll see 70s in most neighborhoods through Friday before turning cooler.

Earth Day afternoon temperatures will reach the low to mid 70s for most locations. A northerly breeze will keep those in the thumb region and closer to Lake Huron cooler, in the 50s and 60s.

The morning and lunchtime hours will be filled with sunshine, and many will remain under blue skies throughout the afternoon.

Closer to the I-94 corridor and southward will see a chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms this afternoon and evening.

The main time frame for these storms is between 2:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.

We dry out with clearing skies tonight. Make sure to check out the Lyrid meteor shower while viewing is still possible. Overnight temperatures will fall to near 40° in our northern communities to near 50° toward the Ohio border.

Thursday features a few clouds with highs in the mid 70s. We’ll keep afternoon temperatures in the 70s Friday, also.

Friday brings our next best chance of rain. Scattered showers and storms look to begin midday and linger into the start of Saturday.

The weekend marks our temperatures falling back closer to where they should be for this time of year. Both Saturday and Sunday we’ll see highs in the low to mid 60s.

Highs stay in the mid 60s to start the upcoming workweek with rain chances Monday and Tuesday.

League officials requested the meeting, which took place last Friday in Washington. The FCC recently sought public comments on the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services. As of Wednesday, nearly 8,700 comments have been logged.

The NFL's letter about the meeting and its PowerPoint presentation to the FCC were posted to the FCC's public comment section on sports broadcasting on Wednesday.

The NFL is not alone in creating packages for streamers. Its standing as the most popular league and the revenue it receives from media rights, however, put it front and center in a changing landscape.

The NFL reiterated the benefits of its distribution strategy, including the fact that more than 87% of all games last season were on broadcast television. All games in a team’s home market air on a broadcast network.

“This distribution model is good for our fans, for local television broadcasters, for our 32 clubs in small and large markets alike, and for the competitiveness of the game itself. The success of our fan- and broadcast-friendly strategy is evident as the 2025 season was the most viewed since 1989 and one of the most competitive in League history,” Brendon Plack, the NFL's senior vice president of public policy and government affairs, wrote in a filing recapping the meeting.

Plack was among the officials who represented the NFL at the meeting, a group that also included Hans Schroeder, the executive vice president of media distribution.

The FCC officials included Greg Watson, chief of staff for Chairman Brendan Carr. Carr had used an illustration of a fan watching a Green Bay Packers game when he announced the public comment period on Feb. 25.

Games aired last season on CBS, NBC/Peacock, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube TV.

The league is expected to move at least three more games to streaming as part of a five-game package next season. That would include games on Thanksgiving Eve, a second on Black Friday and Christmas Eve. The Week 1 game between San Francisco and the Los Angeles Rams in Australia on Sept. 10 would also be offered via streaming. The Week 1 games from Brazil the past two seasons were also streamed.

A five-game package could bring the league at least $250 million.

The league averages nearly $11 billion in revenue per season from its media deals. That could increase since the sale of Paramount to Skydance Media allows the league to renegotiate its deal with CBS.

Besides the FCC scrutiny, the Justice Department is investigating the NFL for potential anticompetitive practices.

Congress and other federal agencies have also discussed changes to the Sports Broadcasting Act. Passed by Congress in 1961, it grants professional sports leagues limited antitrust immunity, allowing them to pool their media rights and negotiate as a single entity while protecting them from antitrust lawsuits.

The act applies only to broadcast networks. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other media, including cable, satellite and streaming. There has been bipartisan sentiment in favor of updating the law.

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

With a runner on third in the first inning of the Mariners' 5-4 victory over the Athletics, Carlos Cortes belted a line drive at the Seattle right-hander and the ball somehow lodged in Gilbert's jersey.

Gilbert grabbed at his stomach and turned to locate the ball as Cortes made his way down the first-base line, only to find he in fact caught it — well, kind of — in his shirt.

“It happened so quick, I wasn’t quite sure what happened,' Gilbert said. "And then, I mean, I hurt a little bit after that. So, had to take a second.”

Cortes was credited with a single as the play was considered dead, but Nick Kurtz remained at third base. Shea Langeliers advanced to second base.

Gilbert was aware of the rule that awarded Cortes first base, yet still considered himself lucky.

“At first, I thought I was pretty fortunate that it was a catch,” Gilbert said. "But, I guess it wasn’t a catch. But at the same time, if they hit it like 110 off the bat, I don’t really feel like I deserve an out there.”

Gilbert was briefly checked out by Mariners head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson, but he remained in the game and made it through the inning. After the game, in which Gilbert gave up three runs in four innings, he revealed he had a bruise on his stomach, as well as a cut on his left hand.

Otherwise, Gilbert said he was fine, much to the relief of teammates like first baseman Josh Naylor, who hit a walk-off single on Wednesday.

“Anything hit back to the pitcher with that exit velocity’s kind of scary,” Naylor said. "You never know what’s going to happen. So, I’m glad he’s okay.”

Manager Dan Wilson commended Gilbert for bouncing back, though he did allow two earned runs on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Soderstrom and an RBI single by Jeff McNeil in the first inning. Gilbert joked postgame he no interest in exiting the game since the incident happened so early in it.

“That was crazy," Gilbert said. "That was a freak thing, to end up through the jersey, too.”

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

The statement made as part of 96-page filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. provided a glimpse at the arguments that Anthropic's lawyers intend to make as part of a lawsuit filed last month in the fallout of a contract dispute over how AI technology can be used in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans.

San Francisco-based Anthropic contends the Pentagon is illegally retaliating against it by stigmatizing it with a designation meant to protect against sabotage of national security systems by foreign adversaries.

Earlier this month, the appeals court rejected Anthropic’s request for an order that would have blocked the Pentagon's actions while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case.

Anthropic's new filing is meant to directly address some of the court's questions ahead of oral arguments scheduled for May 19. The Trump administration will have an opportunity to file its response before that hearing.

Anthropic's temporary setback in the Washington case came after it already had prevailed in a separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic, according court filings.

But the lack of a similar order in the parallel case in Washington continues to cast a cloud over Anthropic, whose AI tools have turned it into a rising tech star along with rival OpenAI. After the Pentagon canceled a $200 million contract with Anthropic in the wake of their disagreement, OpenAI struck a deal to provide its technology to the U.S. military.

The electric vehicle maker run by billionaire Elon Musk said it earned $477 million in the quarter, up 17% from a year ago. Earnings per share totaled 13 cents. Adjusted for certain items, per share earnings were 41 cents, topping Wall Street estimates of 36 cents.

Revenue rose to $22.39 billion, led by a 16% increase in automotive revenues.

Still, profits and revenue are far below their peak when its cars were grabbing market share. Now that is in reverse as European and Chinese rivals steal its customers. The company last year lost its crown as the world's largest EV maker to China's BYD.

Musk has repeatedly shrugged off its car troubles, emphasizing that Tesla’s future lies less in car sales than getting people to t ake rides in them a s self-driving taxis. The company said robotaxi miles doubled in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of last year. They are currently running in San Francisco and three Texas cities, including Austin where Tesla is headquartered.

Musk has also been highlighted Tesla's production of robots for homes and businesses In a conference call with investors Wednesday, he talked about breaking ground for a new factory in Texas for the robots, called Optimus, with a potential capacity of making 10 million a year.

“I think Optimus will be our biggest product," said Musk, adding, “not just Tesla’s biggest product ever, but probably the biggest product ever.”

The company noted that it has begun making its so-called Cybercabs without pedals or wheels. And Musk added a teaser in the call, saying that Tesla could debut a new manually driven Roadster sports car in a month or so.

The company is spending big on its transition, including $2.5 billion last quarter in capital expenditures, up 67% from the year earlier period.

Musk warned of “a very significant increase” in the future, too.

Shares fell 1% in after-hours trading.