The charges revealed key details and were among the first concrete public moves made in a grisly and horrific case that had been under a largely secret investigation in the seven months since the body of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said the 21-year-old D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body. His attorney entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to all counts.

The girls' parents were in court for Burke's first appearance in the case Monday.

“We believe the actual evidence will show David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez,” lead defense attorney Blair Berk told the judge. “We would like to have the evidence come into the light of day.”

Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman, the lead prosecutor, said, “We’ll be very happy to put on the evidence that we’ve collected.”

Alleged child sex abuse during a career on rise

Authorities alleged the Houston-born alt-pop singer killed Rivas Hernandez to protect a career on the rise after she threatened to report their sexual relationship. His debut album, “Withered,” was released just two days after they said she was last known to be alive. She was reported missing by her family in 2024, when she was 13. That was her age when, according to allegation in a criminal complaint, the singer engaged in continuous sexual abuse of her for at least a year from September 2023 to September 2024. California law penalizes abuse of a child under 14 especially harshly.

Authorities, who described her Monday as a “runaway,” said she was 14 when she was killed with a sharp object on or around April 23, 2025, and was headed to the singer's house in the Hollywood Hills.

Prosecutors allege Burke mutilated her body about two weeks later.

The murder charges included special circumstances — lying in wait, committing crime for financial gain and murdering the witness in an investigation — that could carry the death penalty. Prosecutors haven’t announced whether they will seek it.

The witness he is alleged to have killed is Rivas Hernandez herself, who could have given testimony about the sex crime allegations.

Defense says D4vd ‘did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez’

Attorneys for Burke said he would be exonerated in a statement released after the charges were announced.

“The actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death,” they said. “We will vigorously defend David’s innocence.”

Burke was arrested at a home in Hollywood Thursday.

A missing child and the grisly discovery of a body

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman called the case “a parent's nightmare.”

“Celeste, a 14-year-old at that time, went to Mr. Burke’s house in the Hollywood Hills. She was never heard from again,” Hochman said at Monday's press conference.

The long-dead body of Rivas Hernandez was found inside a Tesla that was towed from the Hollywood Hills on Sept. 8, when Burke was on tour in support of his album. It was a day after she would have turned 15.

Her family had reported her missing from her hometown of Lake Elsinore, about 70 miles (112 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.

The singer had been under investigation by an LA County grand jury looking into the death. The probe was officially secret, but its existence — and his designation as its target — was revealed in February when his mother, father and brother objected in a Texas court to subpoenas demanding they testify. The 2023 Tesla Model Y was registered in the singer’s name at their address, according to court filings. Authorities did not publicly acknowledge him as a suspect until his arrest.

Police investigators searching the Tesla in a tow yard found a cadaver bag “covered with insects and a strong odor of decay,” court documents said. Detectives partially unzipped a bag and found a head and torso.

Investigators from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office removed the bag and “discovered the arms and legs had been severed from the body,” according to court documents. A second black bag was found under the first, and dismembered body parts were inside it. No cause of death has been publicly revealed, and police got a judge to block the release details of the autopsy. The court order was expected to be lifted after the charges.

The family of Rivas Hernandez has remained private and has not made any public statements on her death or the case.

“I had the chance to meet with some of the family members of Celeste and their grief in incalculable as to what happened to their daughter,” Hochman said.

D4vd was a social media-savvy singer making breakthroughs

D4vd, pronounced “David,” gained popularity among Gen Z 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 then signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records and released his debut EP “Petals to Thorns” and a follow-up, “The Lost Petals,” in 2023.

The Associated Press confirmed that D4vd was dropped by Interscope last year.

When the body was discovered, the singer continued his North American tour, but when reports of his possible involvement spread widely, he canceled the final two shows and a European tour that was to follow.

On April 11, about two weeks before the killing, he made his debut appearance at the Coachella music festival, where he talked to the AP.

“I was such an internet kid. The internet is really what I claim as my home,” he said. “My neighborhood was Instagram and the society was the internet.”

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AP Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed reporting from New York.

The shooter later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mexican authorities wrote in a statement.

The local government said four people were wounded by gunshots and that two more were injured from falls and were taken to hospitals for treatment. Among those injured were Colombian, Russian and Canadian tourists, the local government said. It wasn't immediately clear the extent of their injuries.

Video and photos published by local news organizations show a man standing with a gun on top of one pyramid while people duck for cover. A number of gunshots ring out in the videos.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on social media that the shooting would be investigated and that she was in touch with the Canadian Embassy.

“What happened today in Teotihuacán deeply pains us. I express my most sincere solidarity with the affected individuals and their families,” she wrote.

The Teotihuacán pyramids are a series of massive structures on the outskirts of Mexico City built by three different ancient civilizations. As one of Mexico's most important touristic destinations, the site drew more than 1.8 million international visitors last year, according to government figures.

Security officials found a gun, a knife and ammunition after the shooting.

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

Wolves cannot amass enough points in its last five games to avoid the drop and will return to the Championship for the first time since 2018.

Relegation looked inevitable for the Midlands club for most of a woeful season but even a string of more encouraging performances over the last couple of months could not save it.

The end came far from home in a listless match in south London.

West Ham had the better of the opening exchanges but the scoreline remained goalless at halftime. Although Palace perked up in the second half it did not create many chances and neither goalkeeper was very busy.

The point was nevertheless welcomed by the Hammers, who moved two clear of Tottenham Hotspur in 18th place.

“A point at the end of the day isn’t the worst thing in the world,” captain Jarrod Bowen said.

“We’re trying to keep West Ham in the Premier League. We can’t rely on anyone else, we need to look at ourselves and keep fighting to stay in the Premier League.”

Palace, which has won only three of its last 26 Monday night games in the Premier League, remained in 13th.

Goalkeeper Dean Henderson’s shutout was Palace’s 12th clean sheet of the season, a record bettered only by the top two Arsenal and Manchester City.

“(That record) is an unbelievable return for our league position,” Henderson said. "The defensive unit is so good, anyone who steps in has been excellent. That’s the foundations we’ve built and hopefully add some goals at the other end."

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

Chavez-DeRemer is the third Trump Cabinet member to leave her post after Trump fired his embattled Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March and ousted Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month.

Unlike other recent Cabinet departures, Chavez-DeRemer’s exit was announced by a White House aide, not by the president on his social media account.

“Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be leaving the Administration to take a position in the private sector,” White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement. “She has done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers, enacting fair labor practices, and helping Americans gain additional skills to improve their lives.”

He said Keith Sonderling, the current deputy labor secretary, would become acting labor secretary in her place.

Chavez-DeRamer’s departure follows reports that began surfacing in January that she was under a series of investigations. The news outlet NOTUS was the first to report her resignation Monday.

A New York Times report last Wednesday revealed that the Labor Department’s inspector general was reviewing material showing Chavez-DeRemer and her top aides and family members routinely sent personal messages and requests to young staff members.

Chavez-DeRemer’s husband and father exchanged text messages with young female staff members, according to the newspaper. Some of the staffers were instructed by the secretary and her former deputy chief of staff to “pay attention” to her family, people familiar with the investigation told the Times.

Those messages were uncovered as part of a broader investigation of Chavez-DeRamer’s leadership that began after the New York Post reported in January that a complaint filed with the Labor Department’s inspector general accused Chavez-DeRemer of a relationship with the subordinate.

She also faced allegations that she drank alcohol on the job, and that she tasked aides to plan official trips for primarily personal reasons.

Both the White House and the Labor Department initially said the reports of wrongdoing were baseless. But the official denials got less full-throated as more allegations emerged — and when Chavez-DeRemer might be out of a job became something of an open question in Washington.

At least four Labor Department officials have already been forced from their jobs as the investigation progressed, including Chavez-DeRemer’s former chief of staff and deputy chief of staff, as well as a member of her security detail, with whom she was accused of having the affair, the New York Times reported.

Confirmed to Trump’s Cabinet on a 67-32 vote in March 2025, Chavez-DeRemer is a former House GOP lawmaker who had represented a swing district in Oregon. She enjoyed unusual support from unions as a Republican but lost reelection in November 2024.

In her single term in Congress, Chavez-DeRemer backed legislation that would make it easier to unionize on a federal level, as well as a separate bill aimed at protecting Social Security benefits for public-sector employees.

Some prominent labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, backed Chavez-DeRemer, who is a daughter of a Teamster, for Labor Secretary. Trump’s decision to pick her was viewed by some political observers as a way to appeal to voters who are members of or affiliated with labor organizations.

But other powerful labor leaders were skeptical when she was tapped for the job, unconvinced that Chavez-DeRemer would pursue a union-friendly agenda as a part of the incoming GOP administration. In her Senate confirmation hearing, some senators questioned whether she would be able to uphold that reputation in an administration that fired thousands of federal employees.

Aside from reports of wrongdoing in recent months, Chavez-DeRemer had been one of Trump’s more lower-profile Cabinet picks, but took key steps to advance the administration’s deregulatory agenda during her tenure.

For instance, the Labor Department last year moved to rewrite or repeal more than 60 workplace regulations it saw as obsolete. The rollbacks included minimum wage requirements for home health care workers and people with disabilities, and rules governing exposure to harmful substances and safety procedures at mines. The effort drew condemnation from union leaders and workplace safety experts.

The proposed changes also included eliminating a requirement that employers provide adequate lighting for construction sites and seat belts for agriculture workers in most employer-provided transportation.

During Chavez-DeRemer’s tenure, the Trump administration canceled millions of dollars in international grants that a Labor Department division administered to combat child labor and slave labor around the world, ending their work that had helped reduce the number of child laborers worldwide by 78 million over the last two decades.

The Labor Department has a broad mandate as it relates to the U.S. workforce, including reporting the U.S. unemployment rate, regulating workplace health and safety standards, investigating minimum wage, child labor and overtime pay disputes, and applying laws on union organizing and unlawful terminations.

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Associated Press Writers Cathy Bussewitz in New York and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

Update: Surveillance video leads to charges in Royal Oak Township church shooting

The Detroit Regional Communication Center said they received a call from a person who reported hearing gunshots near Cloverdale Avenue and Woodside Avenue on Thursday (April 16) around 12:10 p.m.

When troopers arrived, they said they found the glass front door of God’s Grace Missionary Baptist Church, 8712 Cloverdale Avenue, was shattered and scattered.

Police said no injuries were reported and no suspects were immediately identified at the scene.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Metro North Post at 1-248-584-5740 or Crime Stoppers at 800.SPEAK.UP .

Patrol Activity:
04/16/26 at 12:10 p.m.
Location:
God’s Grace Missionary Baptist Church - 8712 Cloverdale Avenue, Charter Township of Royal Oak
Synopsis:
The Detroit Regional Communication Center received a call from a person who said they heard gunshots in the area of Cloverdale… pic.twitter.com/5JyMkXDI1f

— MSP Second District (@mspmetrodet) April 16, 2026

Michael Tyrone Bowers III, 23, was charged with discharging a firearm from a vehicle, discharging a firearm in or at a building, and two counts of felony firearm.

Authorities allege Bowers fired shots at God’s Grace Missionary Baptist Church on Thursday, April 16.

The Michigan State Police responded to a report of gunfire and found bullet holes in the church entryway and a shell casing nearby.

Investigators said surveillance video indicated the vehicle used in the shooting was linked to Bowers.

Discharging a firearm from a vehicle and discharging a firearm in or at a building are each punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

Each felony firearm count carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence to be served consecutively with any other sentence.

The violence reverberated across Shreveport a day after the nation’s deadliest mass shooting in two years. Schools brought in counselors for the victims' young classmates and community leaders called for a city-wide reckoning on stopping domestic violence.

“We can not afford to wait until the next crisis,” said Caddo Parish Sheriff Henry Whitehorn. “We owe it to the eight children who were lost.”

The shooter, identified as Shamar Elkins, killed seven of his children and another child, police said. His wife and her sister also were shot and wounded.

Shooter “just snapped," brother-in-law says

Elkins had voluntarily checked into a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in January for just over a week, said his brother-in-law, Troy Brown, who lived in the house with his wife, Keosha Pugh, and was at work during the attack. Elkins appeared “better when he came home” and seemed fine a day before the shooting, Brown said.

“All I know is he just snapped,” Brown told the AP. “If I wouldn’t have been at work, he was going to kill everybody in the house and that includes me."

Brown's wife, who made a series of frantic calls for help when the shooting started, and their 12-year-old daughter escaped through the home's roof, he said. His wife broke her pelvis after falling, he said.

“She said she was running for her life,” said Lionel Pugh, an uncle of the two women shot. “The only ones he didn’t kill was the ones who got away.”

Elkins died after fleeing and a police pursuit. It was not clear whether he was killed by officers who fired or from a self-inflicted gunshot, Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said.

Officials said the children who died — three boys and five girls — ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old.

Elkins and his wife, identified by family members as Shaneiqua Elkins, were separating and had been due in court Monday, said Crystal Brown, a cousin of a woman shot in the attack. She said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.

Family members described Shaneiqua Elkins as a doting mother, who celebrated her children’s success in school and carefully dressed them before family events.

“She raised those kids right,” Pugh said. “They were the center of her universe.”

Gunman had no recent arrests for domestic violence, police say

While the shooter did not appear to have a long criminal history, court records showed Elkins was placed on probation in 2019 after pleading guilty to illegal use of weapons. In that case, Elkins fired five rounds at a vehicle and told police that someone inside it had pulled a gun on him, according to a police report.

Based on Louisiana law, a person convicted of certain violent felonies — including illegal use of weapons — are banned from having a gun for at least 10 years after completing their sentence and probation.

Authorities said Monday that how and when Elkins got the gun is being investigated.

Louisiana, a reliably red state, has expanded access to guns in recent years. For years, Democrats in Louisiana have proposed bills to tighten gun control — or at least put “red flag” measures in place. But Republicans have routinely blocked such legislation.

Investigators were not aware of other domestic violence issues involving Elkins, said police spokesperson Chris Bordelon.

Elkins had served in the Louisiana National Guard from 2013 to 2020, said guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Noel Collins. Elkins held the rank of private and had no deployments, Collins said.

The violence started before sunrise Sunday

Authorities said the shooting erupted before dawn at two homes.

Elkins shot a woman in a neighborhood south of downtown, and opened fire a few blocks away at the home where the children were targeted, police said. Elkins' nephew was among the slain children, according to the Caddo Parish coroner’s office.

One of the victims, 5-year-old Braylon Snow, was getting ready for preschool graduation next month, said Laurance Guidry, president and CEO of Caddo Community Action Agency, which runs the Head Start program where Braylon was a student.

“They have the cap and gowns just like you would have when you were graduating from high school,” Guidry said.

Mourners lit candles for the victims Sunday night in a nearby parking lot.

“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them because you just don’t know,” said Kimberlin Jackson, who attended the vigil and is an advocate at the Head Start program where one of the victims was a student. She said the last time she saw him was Friday.

A relative says they were a joyful family

Francine Monro Brown, a cousin of Shaneiqua Elkins, said she would often see the children playing in the yard on Sunday mornings when she drove past the house on her way to church.

“Happy children, joyful children. Shaneiqua is a great mother, She provided a great home for the kids,” Brown said as she stood near a growing memorial of stuffed teddy bears, flowers and pink and blue balloons.

Betty Pugh, another cousin of Shaneiqua Elkins, said she was always with her children. “That was the way we were taught: to love our kids, to take care of our kids. And that’s what she did,” Pugh said.

The mayor of Shreveport, a city of about 180,000 residents in northwestern Louisiana, called it one of the city's worst days.

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

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Brook reported from New Orleans. Contributing were Associated Press reporters Gerald Herbert in Shreveport; Sara Cline in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Jake Offenhartz in New York.

Voters in the Commonwealth will consider a ballot measure that would amend Virginia’s constitution to give the Democratic-majority General Assembly temporary power to redraw the state’s congressional districts. It’s the latest move in an escalating redistricting arms race that began in July 2025, when Texas Republican lawmakers redrew their state’s congressional map to favor Republicans at President Donald Trump’s urging.

Democrats hold six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats, but if a plan passed by the legislature in February and signed by Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger is enacted, the party could gain the upper hand in 10 districts, a net pickup of four seats.

The new boundaries would be in place in time for November’s midterm congressional elections, where just a handful of seats could determine which party controls the House for the last two years of Trump’s final term.

Under the proposal, state lawmakers would retain the power to redraw district boundaries until October 2030, when the authority would revert to the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission.

Spanberger and former President Barack Obama are among the high-profile Democrats who have endorsed the referendum, saying it's a necessary response to Republican-initiated mid-decade redistricting in other states. But groups opposed to the measure have also prominently featured the two in campaign materials alongside their past quotes critical of gerrymandering. Former GOP Govs. Glenn Youngkin and George Allen oppose the measure.

Groups supporting the proposed amendment have far outraised those opposing it, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.

Democrats won Virginia in the past five presidential elections, but voters tend to be less party-loyal in state elections, as the governorship has changed party hands six times over the last 33 years.

If support for the measure falls mostly along party lines, the “Yes” side can expect overwhelming support in the state’s traditional Democratic strongholds of Northern Virginia and the cities of Richmond and Norfolk, while the “No” side should see wide margins in the smaller, more rural counties that make up the bulk of the state geographically.

Fairfax County, the state’s most populous, votes heavily Democratic, but Republican candidates who can chip away at the Democratic advantage there can win statewide. In 2021, Republicans Youngkin and then-attorney general candidate Jason Miyares received about 35% of the vote in Fairfax and won their races. By comparison, Trump lost Virginia in all three of his presidential campaigns, and his best showing in Fairfax was about 31% in 2024. Republican Winsome Earle-Sears received about 26% of the vote in her unsuccessful 2025 gubernatorial bid.

Other key jurisdictions to watch are Chesterfield and Stafford counties and the cities of Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. Spanberger and Democratic presidential nominees Joe Biden and Kamala Harris carried all four areas in their statewide victories, but Youngkin swept the four in 2021. Majority “No” votes in any of these areas on election night could be an indicator of a very close race.

The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing side to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

Virginia does not conduct automatic recounts. On ballot questions, a group of 50 or more voters may request and pay for a recount if the vote margin is 1 percentage point or less. The government will pay for the recount if the margin is less than 0.5 percentage points or the recount changes the outcome. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The proposed constitutional amendment is the only statewide contest on the ballot.

It reads: “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”

A “yes” vote would support allowing the General Assembly to redraw congressional districts ahead of the midterms. A “no” vote would leave current boundaries unchanged until the next round of regularly scheduled redistricting after the 2030 census.

Who gets to vote?

Any voter registered in Virginia can cast a ballot. Eligible voters may register on Election Day.

How many voters are there?

There were 6,386,877 registered voters as of March 1. Virginia voters do not register by party.

How many people actually vote?

About 3.4 million votes were cast in the 2025 general election for Virginia governor, which was the last statewide election. This was about 54% of registered voters at the time.

How much of the vote is cast early or absentee?

About 43% of total votes cast in the 2025 general election for governor were cast early or by absentee ballot.

As of Monday, about 1.4 million ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election. That’s about 93% of the total advance votes cast in the 2025 gubernatorial election. In-person early voting concluded on Saturday.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Virginia counties and independent cities vary in terms of when they release results from early and absentee voting.

Less than a third of jurisdictions release all or almost all of their early and absentee voting results in their first vote update of the night.

Nearly half the jurisdictions release no early or absentee voting results in the first vote update.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2025 general election for Virginia governor, the AP first reported results at 7:10 p.m. ET, or 10 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 1:52 a.m. ET with more than 99% of total votes counted.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 196 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/.

Winston-Salem police Capt. Kevin Burns said a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old died at the scene after being shot around 10 a.m. at Leinbach Park, near a middle school. Five others between the ages of 14 and 19 were shot and suffered injuries ranging from critical to minor, Burns said at a news conference. Four of those victims are female, officials said.

Officials said multiple people fired guns during the shooting. Winston-Salem police Chief William Penn said no one was in custody but authorities believe some of those injured may have also been involved in the shooting.

“I feel like everyone else. I’m frustrated, I’m angry, I’m sad. This didn’t have to happen,” Penn said.

Penn said he couldn’t immediately answer whether the teens who died were the ones scheduled to fight. The police chief also said “no” when asked if it was known what the fight was about.

Officials said schools near the park were safe.

The shooting happened in a park in a suburban and residential area northwest of downtown Winston-Salem, a city of about 250,000 known for decades as the home of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

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Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland, contributed to this report.

A man appeared to be posing as a contractor -- arriving in construction gear and accompanied by two teens -- showed up April 7 at a west side Detroit home, offering to do brick work for about $300. But according to the homeowner’s daughter, the situation started to seem fishy -- and expensive -- fast.

Tameka Kelly said the trio told her 76-year-old mother they were with “State Line Construction” and began working almost immediately.

“I just felt used and taken advantage of,” Kelly said, looking back at the situation.

“They kept working -- kept putting cement down, I said, ‘you might want to tell them to stop.’ He said, ‘well right now it’s $1129.’ I said, ‘my mother‘s not paying you $1000,’” Kelly said.

At one point, the man even offered to repair the bottom of the home’s wheelchair ramp -- something Kelly said her sister, who lives with her mother, relies on daily. But she refused because something just didn’t sit right.

“I gave him the $300,” Kelly said, hoping they would just leave. “I thought, well, he knows where my mom lives. I don’t want him coming back trying to do something to my mom‘s house or something to our vehicles.”

Kelly later tried to confront the man, who identified himself as Brian Lopez, and called the number on the invoice.

“When I called he was like, ‘no no no brickwork no brickwork’ I said, ‘yes you did. You were just here. I said I don’t forget a voice,’” she said.

But the biggest red flag came when she looked closer at the address listed on the invoice.

The address -- 70 West Maple in Troy -- turned out to be a McDonald’s.

“I really got upset when I found out that address was to a McDonald’s,” Kelly said.

Initially, Kelly said when she tried to file a report with Detroit police, she said they told her the situation was a civil matter and she could not file one. She then filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.

Now, Detroit police tell Local 4 they will be taking Kelly’s fraud report, and once that is completed, an investigation will follow.

State Line initially told Local 4 they were not familiar with a Brian Lopez, then an attorney for State Line construction told Local 4 that, after checking the company’s records, there is no Brian Lopez that works for the company. As a matter of fact, the attorney said, State Line Construction does not do cement or residential construction. He said they focus on electrical work.

Attempts by Local 4 to reach the man going by the name Brian Lopez with the number given were unsuccessful.

Kelly said she felt compelled to speak up to prevent others from falling victim.

“I’m really upset about it, and I don’t want it to happen to anybody else,” she said.

Ariyoshi, a Democrat who led the state from 1973 to 1986, died peacefully while surrounded by family on Sunday night, according to a statement Monday from current Gov. Josh Green.

“Governor Ariyoshi devoted his life to Hawaiʻi with humility, discipline and an unwavering sense of responsibility to the people he served,” Green said. “He led our state during a pivotal moment with quiet strength and integrity, and his legacy as a trailblazer and public servant will endure for generations."

Ariyoshi was a three-term governor who first rose to the position in October 1973. Three years earlier, he had been elected lieutenant governor, and he then became acting governor when Gov. John Burns fell ill with cancer.

Ariyoshi won the office outright in 1974 and was reelected in 1978 and 1982. Hawaii governors are now subject to a two-term limit. His political career coincided with the Democratic Party's rise to power in Hawaii.

Democrats wrested control of the Legislature from Republicans in 1954, the year Ariyoshi won the first of two terms in the Territorial House of Representatives. He won a territorial Senate seat in 1958, becoming a state senator the following year when Hawaii became a state.

Ariyoshi won three more state Senate races — in 1964, 1966 and 1968 — before becoming lieutenant governor.

Ariyoshi was born March 12, 1926, in a two-room tenement near Honolulu Harbor to parents who immigrated to Hawaii from Japan. He grew up in the hardscrabble neighborhood of Kalihi, near downtown Honolulu.

His father, Ryozo, a sumo wrestler from Fukuoka Prefecture, became a stevedore and owner of a dry cleaning shop in Hawaii. His mother, Mitsue, came from Kumamoto, Japan.

In his 1997 autobiography, “With Obligation to All,” Ariyoshi wrote about growing up with a lisp.

“The fact that we had no money did not seem to be a barrier, but I had a barrier of a different kind," he wrote, describing how he wanted to grow up to become a lawyer if he could learn to speak properly.

Following graduation from McKinley High School in 1944, Ariyoshi served as an interpreter with the U.S. Army's Military Intelligence Service in Japan at the end of World War II.

After the war, Ariyoshi attended the University of Hawaii before transferring to Michigan State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in history and political science in 1949. Ariyoshi earned a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1952.

Going to school on the U.S. mainland, Ariyoshi didn’t feel a sense of being treated differently. “On the contrary, I enjoyed the fact that Hawaii had a reputation even then for people of different backgrounds coming together and living harmoniously,” he wrote in his book.

He began practicing law in Hawaii the year after he graduated from law school. Ariyoshi withdrew from private practice and resigned various corporate directorships after he was elected lieutenant governor.

He said his decision to seek the position was influenced by a desire to break the barrier for minorities.

“The new state of Hawaii had produced United States representatives and senators of Caucasian, Chinese and Japanese ancestry, reflecting our diversity,” he wrote. “But only Caucasians had been governor.”

Ariyoshi’s time as governor was marked by Hawaii becoming a tourist destination and a booming population. “I was convinced that neither our infrastructure nor our environment would support this rate of growth,” he wrote.

In 1975, Ariyoshi and his wife, Jean Hayashi Ariyoshi, attended their first National Governor’s Conference in Washington, D.C., where they were invited by President Gerald Ford to a black-tie dinner at the White House.

Jean Ariyoshi wrote in her book, “Washington Place: A First Lady’s Story,” that as the couple jitterbugged on the dance floor, she stood on tip-toe and whispered in his ear: “Look at the little girl from Wahiawa dancing at the White House.”

He replied: “And she’s dancing with the kid from Kalihi.”

John Waiheʻe, who became Ariyoshi’s lieutenant governor in 1982, went on to be elected the first governor of Native Hawaiian ancestry in 1986 with Ariyoshi’s support.

In addition to his wife Jean, Ariyoshi is survived by daughter Lynn and sons Donn and Ryozo.

The 46-year-old author and the vice chair of the Clinton Foundation ran the 26.2-mile (42.195-kilometer) race in 3 hours, 40 minutes, 52 seconds. Joining former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to meet her at the finish line was 2014 champion Meb Keflezghi — the last American man to win the race.

According to athlinks.com, Chelsea Clinton has run six other marathons, including New York four times, and Monday's run was a personal best.

Other notable participants who ran in Monday's record-setting race included astronaut Suni Williams, who finished in 5:52:49; hockey Hall of Famer Zdeno Chara, who ran it in 3:18:00; 2018 Boston winner Des Linden, who finished second in the women's masters division in 2:35:49; and 1968 men's winner Amby Burfoot, who finished in 5:11:29.

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

An estimated 1,000 activists from around the country came to Ridglan Farms in rural Blue Mounds in an attempt Saturday to free an estimated 2,000 beagles kept there about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were met by police who repelled them with tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The Dane County Sheriff's Department said 29 people were arrested.

More than 100 protesters were met outside of the Capitol hallway that leads to the offices of Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul by police officers who handed out constituent contact forms for Wisconsin residents to complete.

Evers and Kaul did not immediately return messages seeking comment. No one from their offices spoke directly to the protesters, some of whom carried pictures of Evers, Kaul and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin interacting with dogs.

Aidan Kankyoku, a co-leader of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs that organized the effort, said they were hoping that both Evers and Kaul would break their silence about the dog breeder. Kankyoku said activists also wanted Kaul to execute a search warrant on the facility to investigate allegations of ongoing animal cruelty.

Ridglan has denied mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges. A special prosecutor determined that Ridglan was performing eye procedures on the dogs that violated state veterinary standards.

Under that settlement, Ridglan will no longer be able to sell beagles to outside researchers starting July 1.

Ridglan says it has served as a biomedical research facility “that supports health studies benefitting both humans and animals” for more than 60 years. Nearly all of its current research is aimed at improving veterinary medicine, according to its website.

Ridglan said in a statement Monday that activists “have spread false and highly misleading claims about our research and our deep commitment to animal welfare, fueling dangerous levels of anger and hatred.” Ridglan said staff members have been threatened and followed as they leave the facility.

Many of those who were at the facility on Saturday returned to the Capitol on Monday to decry law enforcement’s reaction. Some of them showed off bruises they said were caused by rubber bullets.

Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett defended the actions of his officers, telling The Associated Press on Monday that their response was “appropriate and decisive” to the risk posed by between 300 and 400 protesters who attempted to break into the facility.

“We were outnumbered,” Barrett said of the 26 officers on scene.

The activists were organized into three groups, with one willing to commit felony breaking and entering, another willing to be arrested for trespassing, while others were there to peacefully protest, the sheriff said.

The sheriff's department released a video that showed a truck driving through Ridglan's gate, which Barrett said put officers and Ridglan staff who were in its path at risk. Barrett said another video released Monday showed an activist taking a baton away from an officer as protesters tried to rush the gate to the facility.

Protesters previously broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan last week questioned U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. during a House Appropriations Committee hearing about federal grants going to organizations that use beagles from Ridglan Farms.

Kennedy said he had a hard time believing what Pocan was telling him but that he would look into it.

Pocan on Sunday called on state officials to work with Ridglan on a plan for releasing the dogs that won't overwhelm placement groups and prevent the beagles from being euthanized.

Kankyoku said if Ridglan would release the dogs, homes and veterinary care could be found for them.

“We just want the dogs out,” he said.

—-

This story has been updated to correct that Pocan's social media post was Sunday, not Monday.

The subpoenas were issued in recent days and represent an effort by the Justice Department to press forward with the investigation even as a Florida-based career prosecutor who'd been helping lead the inquiry left the case after expressing doubts about the legal viability of a potential criminal prosecution.

Joseph diGenova, a former Justice Department lawyer who served as a top prosecutor in the 1980s and later supported legal efforts by President Donald Trump to overturn his 2020 election loss, has since been sworn in to serve as a special counselor to the attorney general, and is expected to work on the investigation.

The months-old Brennan investigation is one of several criminal probes the Justice Department has opened over the last year against Trump's perceived adversaries. It centers on one of the Republican president's chief grievances — a U.S. intelligence community finding that Russia interfered on his behalf during his successful 2016 presidential campaign.

The subpoenas were described by people with knowledge of them who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. At least three were said to have been issued, said two of the people. CBS News earlier reported the issuance of subpoenas.

Brennan served as CIA director under President Barack Obama and was in that role when the intelligence community in January 2017 published an assessment detailing Russian interference aimed at helping Trump defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016. An investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller concluded that Russia meddled on Trump's behalf and that his campaign welcomed the assistance, but it did not find sufficient evidence to prove a criminal conspiracy.

The Justice Department last year received a criminal referral from Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, alleging that Brennan made false statements before the panel in 2023 about the preparation of the intelligence community assessment. Brennan and his lawyers have vigorously denied any wrongdoing and have called the investigation politically motivated.

The investigation has been unfolding for months in Florida, with investigators lining up interviews and issuing subpoenas for records. The latest subpoenas seek grand jury testimony in Washington, an indication that prosecutors expect they would have to bring any criminal case in Washington since that is where Brennan's testimony took place.

On Friday, it was revealed that a key national security prosecutor in Florida who'd been handling the investigation, Maria Medetis Long, left the case. She expressed doubts about the case and was removed, another person familiar with the matter said.

The Justice Department has tapped diGenova, 81, a Trump loyalist who served as the U.S. Attorney in Washington for part of the 1980s, to serve as a special counselor to the attorney general. He was sworn in Monday in Florida and is expected to work on the Brennan investigation.

DiGenova supported Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He made headlines that year when he said Chris Krebs, a top Trump administration cybersecurity official who had determined that the 2020 election was free of major fraud or interference, should be killed. diGenova later apologized and a lawsuit filed against him by Krebs was withdrawn.

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Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.

Trump said Vice President JD Vance, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff would be going Monday to Islamabad, where Pakistani officials were preparing the venue, but Iranians made no commitment to a Round Two of talks with the U.S., and Vance's motorcade was later spotted at the White House. Trump said he’s “highly unlikely” to renew the ceasefire before it expires at 0000 GMT Wednesday (8 p.m. ET Tuesday.)

The escalating standoff threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after nearly two months of fighting that Iran's forensic chief has killed at least 3,375 people in Iran.

Israel and Lebanon meanwhile said they would join another round of talks in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, continuing their first direct diplomatic talks in decades.

Here is the latest:

Oil prices rise and US stocks give back a bit of their record-breaking rally

Oil prices climbed Monday following the latest rise of tensions between the United States and Iran, but the moves were more modest than they were earlier in the war.

U.S. stocks, meanwhile, gave back a bit of their record-breaking rally.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed 5.6% to settle at $95.48 on worries that Iran could keep petroleum pent up in the Persian Gulf if it continues to block tankers from exiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% from its all-time high for just its second drop in 14 days after the United States seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 4 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%.

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Iraq and Syria tout their reopened border crossing as an alternative oil route

Iraq and Syria have reopened a key border crossing between the two nations for the first time in more than a decade, with officials highlighting its potential for trade and oil exports.

They say it offers an alternative to the embattled Strait of Hormuz at the focus of the Iran war — though overland oil transports are far inferior to pipelines and oil tankers at sea.

At the opening ceremony on Monday, Nadia al-Jubouri, a member of Iraq’s provincial council of Nineveh, said the crossing will allow for “trade exchange and oil transportation toward this great gate.”

Iran’s foreign minister says US actions are ‘incompatible with the claim of diplomacy’

Abbas Araghchi says he relayed his message in a phone call with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov.

In a social media post, Araghchi gave no indication as to what Iran will do after the ceasefire expires Wednesday or whether Iran will return to a second round of negotiations with the U.S.

He says his country “will monitor the behavior of the other side and take the appropriate decision to protect its interests and national security.”

Experts vary on whether US broke ceasefire with Iran

The U.S. did not violate the ceasefire because it was limited to bombing Iran, not enforcing the American blockade against Iranian-linked vessels, according to Michael O’Hanlon, a defense and foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution.

“We agreed to stop dropping bombs on them, and that’s the basic thing they wanted,” O’Hanlon said. They U.S. still had to enforce the blockade “if you’re going to make it mean anything,” he said.

But Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel and a senior defense adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said a violation is up for interpretation because there were no defined terms.

“Trump announced it. The Iranians agreed. But there’s no formal agreement,” Cancian said. “So whether it broke the ceasefire or not depends on your perspective ... Nothing was written down.”

Trump offers mixed messages about path ahead

The U.S. president has made a series of statements Monday about next steps in the U.S. war against Iran, declaring that he's in no rush to end the conflict while also expressing confidence that more negotiations with Tehran will soon happen in Pakistan.

Trump whipsawed in telephone interviews and social media posts between measured optimism that a deal could soon be reached and warning that “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there’s no agreement before the ceasefire expires at 0000 GMT Wednesday (8 p.m. ET Tuesday.)

“I am under no pressure whatsoever,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, “although, it will all happen, relatively quickly!”

UN and EU report says Gaza recovery and reconstruction will cost $71.4 billion over 10 years

The report by the United Nations and the European Union with input from the World Bank says the total includes $26.3 billion in the first 18 months to restore essential services, rebuild critical infrastructure and support economic recovery.

The damage to physical infrastructure is estimated at $35.2 billion, and economic and social losses at some $22.7 billion since the war began following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks in southern Israel, the report says.

Gaza’s economy has contracted by 84%, more than 371,000 housing units in Gaza have been destroyed, over half of Gaza’s hospitals are “non-functional” and nearly all schools are destroyed or damaged, it says.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Monday that the next steps are to get the funding and “the conditions on the ground, both humanitarian and security conditions for this reconstruction to happen — and I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Trump gets defensive on Iran strategy

In a pair of social-media posts, the U.S. president lashed out at Democrats — calling them “TRAITORS, ALL” — and the media for their criticism and skepticism about his handling of the war in Iran.

Trump accused Democrats of doing “everything possible” to hurt the administration on Iran and he stressed that he wouldn’t be rushed into a deal “that is not as good as it could have been.”

“This is being perfectly executed, on the scale of Venezuela, just a bigger, more complex operation. The result will be the same,” Trump wrote, insisting that “time is not my adversary.”

He also rebutted notions that a deal he’s negotiating with Iran is similar to what former President Barack Obama reached in 2015, ranting about a Washington Post column on the topic.

Lebanese official confirms next meeting with Israel set for Thursday

A Lebanese official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, confirmed Monday that the next second scheduled session for direct talks between Israeli and Lebanese officials will take place in Washington Thursday.

The ambassadors of Lebanon and Israel to the U.S. met last week, the first such direct, face-to-face talks to take place in decades. The Lebanese official said the second session will focus on solidifying the 10-day truce currently in place between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and on the logistics and timing of wider negotiations that will take place at a later date over the two countries’ relations.

The two countries have had a rocky and often hostile relationship since Israel’s inception in 1948. Like the majority of Arab countries, Lebanon has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

Israeli airstrike wounds six people in southern Lebanon

The Lebanese Health Ministry said Monday’s strike hit the southern village of Qaaqaait al-Jisr.

Since a 10-day ceasefire went into effect at midnight Thursday, there have been several Israeli strikes. Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it detonated explosives Sunday in an Israeli convoy inside Lebanon.

The U.S. State Department said Thursday that according to the ceasefire agreement, Israel reserves the right to defend itself “at any time, against planned, imminent, or ongoing attacks.”

Despite ceasefire, Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon kill several people the army says were militants

The Israeli military said the two separate strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday killed an unspecified number of people who the army said had approached its soldiers in a threatening manner.

There was no immediate comment from Lebanese authorities or from the Hezbollah militant group.

Israel has launched multiple airstrikes since a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon took effect Friday. Israel says the people it targeted were violating the truce by operating in what it calls a “Forward Defense Area” in territory that Israeli forces still occupy. The ceasefire text published by the U.S. State Department does not mention such an area.

The military said Monday’s strikes took place in Bint Jbeil, a village that saw fierce fighting before the ceasefire, and in the Litani area.

Israel gives its highest honor to Argentine President Javier Milei

The South American leader, one of Israel’s biggest boosters on the international stage, received the country’s Presidential Medal of Honor at a ceremony in Jerusalem.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office said the award was in recognition for Milei’s support of Israel, his solidarity with families of hostages who were held by Hamas in Gaza and his connection to the Jewish people.

“The state of Israel is not alone,” Herzog said. “We have allies, and we have great friends,” he said, adding that Milei had demonstrated his friendship with his visits. He has made two previous trips to Israel since taking office in late 2023.

Milei and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also signed the “Isaac Accords,” an initiative launched by the Argentine president to expand cooperation between Israel and Latin American countries.

Additionally, Milei received an honorary doctorate from Israel’s Bar Ilan University. Among those in attendance at the university were former Israeli hostages of Argentine ancestry.

EU hosts Palestinian peace conference as it seeks greater sway in the Middle East

Europe turned its attention to the Palestinians on Monday as the election defeat of Israel ally Victor Orban in Hungary gives new momentum to efforts addressing Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

More than 60 nations sent representatives to Brussels for talks with Palestinian representatives on stability, security and long-term peace.

The European Union has largely been on the sidelines in the Middle East despite being the biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and backing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The 27-nation bloc is also Israel’s top trading partner and a major buyer of Israeli weapons.

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

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Vance is at the White House, not Pakistan

Reports based on Trump saying to The New York Post that Vice President JD Vance was en route to Pakistan were off by several thousand miles.

The vice president’s motorcade pulled up to the White House at roughly 11 a.m. EST on Monday, meaning that he has not left for Islamabad for talks regarding the Iran war.

US official confirms it will host another round of Israel-Lebanon talks this week

A second round of direct talks would come as uncertainty mounts over the prospects for an end to the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict and the Iran war.

The U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the talks between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States would take place on Thursday at the State Department.

The official did not say who the U.S. would be represented by, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the first round last week. The main U.S. interlocutor between Israel and Lebanon has been U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa.

“We will continue to facilitate direct, good-faith discussions between the two governments,” the official said.

— By Matthew Lee in Washington

Trump says he’s ‘highly unlikely’ to prolong ceasefire with Iran that’s set to expire this week

Trump told Bloomberg News that he’s “highly unlikely” to renew the two-week ceasefire announced on April 7.

The president also said that the Strait of Hormuz would continue to be blockaded until the U.S. and Iran reach an agreement on the war.

US military says it has directed 27 ships back to Iranian ports during the blockade

The U.S. military’s blockade of Iranian-linked ships has focused on vessels entering or exiting Iranian ports. It’s an attempt to pressure Iran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint in the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world’s oil normally flows.

The U.S. attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel over the weekend that it said had tried to evade its blockade. Iran’s joint military command has vowed to respond.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is preparing for a new round of talks between the United States and Iran two days before a tenuous ceasefire is set to expire

Israeli official says talks with Lebanon to resume in Washington

The official says the countries are resuming their historic diplomatic dialogue on Thursday.

The ambassadors of the two countries met in Washington last week for the first direct diplomatic talks in decades. The Israeli official says the same representatives will join Thursday’s talks.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes talks. There was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. or Lebanon.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah opposes the talks, but is observing a 10-day ceasefire announced last week.

Israel says the talks are aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement with Lebanon.

— By Josef Federman

US and allied forces kick off combat drills with Philippines as China objects

The United States and the Philippines kicked off their annual display of allied military might on Monday, aimed at deterring aggression in Asia, despite Washington’s preoccupation with the war in the Middle East.

More than 17,000 American and Filipino military personnel will participate in the weekslong Balikatan exercise, which includes mock battles and live-fire maneuvers facing the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

Nearly 10,000 U.S. military personnel will participate. “Regardless of the challenges elsewhere in the world, the United States focus on the Indo-Pacific and our ironclad commitment to the Philippines remains unwavering,” Marine Lt. Gen. Christian Wortman said in the opening ceremony.

China has objected. “Unilateralism and military bullying have already brought profound disasters to the world,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun warned, without mentioning the United States.

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Trump snaps at critique that Israel dragged him into Iran war

In the lead-up and throughout the seven-week war, Trump has faced criticism from the left and from some of his own supporters that he followed Israel’s lead into launching the conflict.

But Trump on social media is blaming the media for pushing what he claims is a false narrative.

“Israel never talked me into the war with Iran, the results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” Trump posted.

Still no commitment by Iran for Round 2 talks with US

The office of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said he spoke Monday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, urging sustained diplomacy to address pending issues.

The Pakistan Foreign Office statement did not mention whether they discussed Iran resuming talks with the US in Islamabad, but said officials agreed to remain closely engaged going forward.

Trump says Vance is en route to Pakistan, but it’s not clear where the VP actually is

The New York Post quoted Trump in an interview claiming that Vice President JD Vance is headed to Pakistan for negotiations on the Iran war, along with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law.

“They’re heading over now,” Trump said. “They’ll be there tonight.”

But it’s not quite clear if Trump was speaking more broadly or if the claims about Vance are accurate. Administration officials have in response to questions declined to confirm if Vance is, in fact, midair on the way to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

Top Catholic leader in Israel condemns defacing of statue of Jesus in Lebanon

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, on Monday expressed “profound indignation and unreserved condemnation” of the defacing of a statue of Jesus Christ by an Israeli soldier in Lebanon, saying the act “constitutes a grave affront to the Christian faith.”

The Israeli military confirmed on Sunday that images showing an Israeli soldier smashing the head of a toppled Christ statue with a sledgehammer were genuine, setting off a wave of condemnation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had launched a criminal investigation into the soldier’s actions. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described it as “shameful” and apologized “to every Christian whose feelings were hurt.”

In a statement from Jerusalem, The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, headed by Pizzaballa, called for “immediate and decisive disciplinary action, a credible process of accountability, and clear assurances that such conduct will neither be tolerated nor repeated.”

Germany warns wars are destabilizing ‘far beyond Middle East’

The country’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, called on both Iran and the United States to cease hostilities and reach a negotiated solution in the Middle East.

He told reporters Monday in Hannover that the uncertainties created by the continuation of the conflict “have massive repercussions not only on the Middle East, not only on the Asian region, but also on the European region.”

“And the repercussions will not stop at America’s doorstep,” Merz added.

“All of this is currently jeopardizing economic development around the world and could lead to further political destabilization,” the chancellor warned. “The most important prerequisite for stability in the energy markets is an end to hostilities.”

UAE arrests people over alleged ties to Iran

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates arrested members of a unit with alleged ties to Iran, the state’s media reported.

The UAE-run WAM news agency reported Monday that those arrested had extremist views and were part of a “terrorist” unit, holding secret meetings, threatening internal security, planning to share sensitive location information and trying to recruit people to join suspicious foreign groups.

Dubai has previously shut down the city-state’s Iranian Hospital and Iranian Club, institutions that date back to the time of the shah.

Oil prices climb as US stocks give back only a bit of their record-breaking rally

Monday’s opening trades in the U.S. are a sharp turnaround from Friday, when oil prices tumbled after Iran said it was reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Now oil prices are climbing and U.S. stock prices are slipping again as the U.S. seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel on Sunday cast doubt on a second round of peace negotiations before the ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. expires on Wednesday. Airline stocks also tumbled again, as they tend to when oil prices jump.

“The problem for markets is not the absence of hope; it is the overpricing of it,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

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What captaining an oil tanker in the Mideast is like right now

Captain Rahman Al-Jubouri helms the Palau-flagged Sea Moon in one of the world’s most volatile maritime corridors, where the U.S.-Israel war with Iran has disrupted global trade and left some crews stranded and exposed to attacks.

The hostilities are not new for al-Jubouri, an Iraqi who has worked these seas during decades of upheaval, including the Iran-Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War. Once again, he finds himself operating in high-risk waters, as military strikes threaten vessels seeking to navigate through chokepoints like Bab el-Mandeb and the Persian Gulf.

“We’re sailing over a ball of fire,” he said, speaking to The Associated Press by phone as he guides the ship from the Gulf of Aden toward the Gulf of Oman to unload oil at Ras Isa port in Yemen.

▶ Read more

Israel condemns a soldier defacing a statue of Jesus in Lebanon

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned an Israeli soldier filmed defacing a statue of Jesus Christ during operations in Lebanon, saying he was “stunned and saddened” by the soldier’s actions.

Photos surfaced on Sunday of a soldier smashing the head of a toppled statue of Jesus with a sledgehammer. The Israeli military overnight confirmed the images were genuine, setting off a wave of condemnation. Netanyahu said Israel had launched a criminal investigation into the soldier’s actions. The Israeli military also said it was assisting the community to restore the statue.

The military did not immediately confirm where or when the incident took place. The Israeli military controls a large swath of southern Lebanon, reaching some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Israeli border, and has not allowed residents to return.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a staunch Christian, said Israel must take action against the “outrageous act.”

Several parents with kids attending college outside Michigan, along with snowbirds, are reaching out to Local 4 for answers.

“My insurance was going up, so I looked around for other insurance, and I have a child in North Carolina, and he’s transferring to Pennsylvania,” one Metro Detroit dad said.

He started entering his information into the online sign-up sheet for a popular car insurance provider.

“They asked me where the vehicle was garaged,” he said. “The ‘garage’ spit me out in North Carolina.”

He called a live agent for the insurance company.

“They said, ‘Yes, you can’t be in North Carolina for more than 30 days,’” he said. “And then, when I asked, ‘Well, what about if he’s going to college?’ They said, ‘It doesn’t matter.’”

Turns out, in many cases, this is true and could cost hundreds.

“If they are out of state for more than 30 days, they are driving illegally, and they need to register and insure their vehicle in that other state,” the dad said the agent told him.

In many cases, it’s recommended that people either get a policy in an additional state or risk getting fined.

“I put this out to my friends, and one of them said his son was in Dallas and got pulled over because his vehicle was a Michigan vehicle in state and his dorm room said Texas, so he got hit with a $750 fine,” the dad said.

Of course, it’s not just college students who are leaving the state of Michigan. This could impact snowbirds or anyone traveling out of state for an extended time.

Local 4 did some digging and reached out to the Insurance Alliance of Michigan.

They tell me that, for snowbirds, you may need to update your “garaging” address to stay covered.

They say each insurance company may handle the situation differently, saying a college kid must be legally domiciled at their parents’ house to remain on their parents’ insurance.

“The safest thing to do is notify your insurance company right away that you have a kid that’s moving out and letting them know where they are going to be,” Lawrence Kajy, the CEO of Kajy Law Firm, said.

The state’s Department of Insurance and Financial Services also says it’s up to each insurance provider, saying snowbirds should update their garaging address.

“I told the gentleman that the one insurance company that the vehicle will only be there 29.5 days and that I will bring it home and put it back,” the dad said. “I thought it was a real pain. I know I’ve gone out of state - to Arizona, and did not have this problem.”

Statement from Erin McDonough, executive director of the Insurance Alliance of Michigan:

“A college student is eligible to be on their parents’ auto insurance policy in Michigan while attending an out-of-state college if they are still legally domiciled at their parents’ house.

This can mean the student still uses their parents’ home as a mailing address and uses their parents’ address on their driver’s license or other documents, among other things.

Each insurance company may handle the situation slightly differently, so it is very important for families to consult with their insurance company or agent and be transparent about the car location and ownership before the student moves out of state for college to make sure proper insurance coverage is secured.

A student may not be covered under their parents’ policy if the student establishes legal residency outside of Michigan or if the student registers the vehicle in that state, among other things.

Other states may also have different insurance requirements than Michigan, so we encourage students to check with a local insurance agent from that state and their college admissions office.”

Erin McDonough, executive director of the Insurance Alliance of Michigan

Additional statement from the Insurance Alliance of Michigan:

“If your vehicle is registered in Michigan, you must maintain Michigan auto no-fault insurance, even if you leave the state for months. The policy will cover you when you are in other states.

Some insurance companies may ask you to update your garaging address if you are gone for an extended period of time, but this will vary by company. You should reach out to your insurance company or agent if you have any questions about being gone from the state for an extended period of time.”

Insurance Alliance of Michigan

Statement from the Department of Insurance and Financial Services.

“Families who have students who are not living at home should discuss their policy with their insurance agent or company.

Some insurers consider out-of-state students who intend to return home as members of the household under the terms of the auto insurance policy.

Each situation may have unique circumstances, which is why it is important to discuss this information to an agent or insurance company.

Students should not assume they are covered by a parent’s auto insurance policy without discussing and documenting their individual situation with their agent or insurer.

DIFS strongly encourages consumers to shop around and compare coverage options, including with respect to whether out-of-state students are covered by the policy. Doing so helps consumers find the policy that best meets their needs and budget.

Consumers and insurance agents, and companies with questions or concerns can contact DIFS Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 877-999-6442 or via email at AutoInsurance@michigan.gov. For more information about auto insurance in Michigan, visit Michigan.gov/AutoInsurance.”

Department of Insurance and Financial Services

Additional statement from DIFS.

“We cannot speak to insurance requirements in other states, but Michigan law requires an auto insurance policy for any vehicle driven in the state for more than 30 days in a calendar year.

If a vehicle is in Michigan for over 90 days, it must also be registered in Michigan. Drivers should update their garaging address with their insurer and adjust coverage as needed when the vehicle is stored out of state.”

Department of Insurance and Financial Services

Last year, an American Airlines jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C., killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft. That crash on Jan. 29, 2025, put the spotlight on midair collisions, which are rare in commercial flights where the planes are equipped with systems to alert pilots about a potential collision.

Most of the close calls that happen every year involve small planes that don’t have those systems, but the Federal Aviation Administration couldn’t immediately provide a number for how many happen annually. There are typically several collisions involving small planes every year like the one that happened in February 2025 in Arizona that killed two people.

Both of the Southwest pilots involved in this incident over the weekend told the air traffic controller that they received alarms from their collision avoidance systems that directed them to take action with one plane climbing while the other descended to avoid the potential midair collision, according to audio posted by www.LiveATC.net.

Location data from these two planes show their flight paths converging after one pilot decided to abort landing and circle around to try again. The controller directed that plane to turn into the path of the other Southwest plane that had just taken off. By the time the controller recognized the threat and tried to direct the plane that had just taken off to stay below 2000 feet (609 meters), the pilot reported that he was already above that level.

That location data appears to show these planes getting as close as 500 feet (152 meters) apart with one of them flying just over the top of the other plane, according to FlightRadar24, so that would fit the official definition of a near midair collision. But it may not be clear exactly how close they planes got until after the incident is reviewed.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating. The agency said the pilot of Southwest flight 507 “received instructions from air traffic control that put the flight in the path of another airplane that was departing from a parallel runway. Both flight crews responded to onboard alerts.”

But the FAA did not say how close the planes got during the incident that happened around 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Southwest Airlines spokesperson Lynn Lunsford said gusty winds at the Nashville International Airport prompted the first pilot to perform a go around. He said both pilots followed the directions from the air traffic controller and their onboard collision avoidance systems to avoid running into each other.

“Southwest appreciates the professionalism of its pilots and flight crews in responding to the event. Nothing is more important to Southwest than the safety of our customers and employees,” Lunsford said in a statement.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% from its all-time high for just its second drop in 14 days after the United States seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 4 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed 5.6% to settle at $95.48 on worries that Iran could keep petroleum pent up in the Persian Gulf if it continues to block tankers from exiting the Strait of Hormuz.

It’s a turnaround from the prior trading day on Wall Street, when stocks soared and oil prices tumbled after Iran said Friday it was reopening the strait to commercial traffic. That enthusiasm vanished quickly after Iran closed the strait again Saturday following the U.S. decision to press ahead with its blockade of Iranian ports.

The next big deadline is looming on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Eastern time, which is early Wednesday Tehran time, when a ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran is scheduled to expire.

Still, oil prices remain well below the high points reached so far in the war. Brent crude’s price briefly got above $119 per barrel when fears were at their highest. And the S&P 500 is still above where it was before the war.

Monday’s relatively muted moves suggest investors still see a possibility of a U.S.-Iranian agreement that could get oil flowing again from the Middle East to customers worldwide. It would be in both countries’ economic interests to end the war.

Companies with big fuel bills fell to some of Wall Street’s larger losses following the rise in crude’s cost, as they have through much of the war.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings dropped 3.5%, and Royal Caribbean Group lost 1.1%.

United Airlines sank 2.8%, and American Airlines fell 4.2% after American said it’s not interested in a merger with United. Airline stocks had flown higher last week following a report saying United wanted to combine with its rival.

On the winning side of Wall Street was TopBuild, a distributor of insulation and building products, which jumped 19.4%. QXO is buying it in a deal valued at roughly $17 billion.

QXO said the deal would make it the continent’s second-largest publicly traded building products distributor, and its stock fell 3.1%.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 16.92 points to 7,109.14. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 4.87 to 49,442.56, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 64.09 to 24,404.39.

One big reason the U.S. stock market has been so strong recently is the big profits that U.S. companies have been reporting for the first three months of 2026, as well as expectations for continued growth.

While reporting stronger profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected, several of the biggest U.S. banks said last week that they see the U.S. economy remaining resilient, particularly because of solid spending by U.S. consumers.

“Despite geopolitical risks, the earnings recovery remains intact,” according to Morgan Stanley strategists led by Michael Wilson. It’s remained so solid that analysts have even raised their profit expectations since the war began for the spring of 2026.

Along with JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and other big banks, about 10% of companies in the S&P 500 have already reported their results for the start of 2026. Nearly nine out of 10 have delivered a bigger profit than analysts expected, according to FactSet.

If the rest of the companies in the index match analysts’ expectations, overall earnings per share for S&P 500 companies will end up 13% higher than a year earlier, according to FactSet.

That’s big because stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term. Other companies scheduled to report their results this week include UnitedHealth Group on Tuesday, Tesla on Wednesday and Procter & Gamble on Friday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following a better finish in Asia. Germany’s DAX lost 1.2%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.8% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

Talbi finished in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 45 seconds in the men's race. McClain finished in 2:20:49 in the women's competition. There were seven American men and 12 American women in the top 20, including four women in the top 10.

“I think we’re in an era in distance running, on the men and women’s sides, but especially the women’s side, where we’re all making each other so much better every time we line up with one another,” McClain said. “And I think it’s just going to get stronger and stronger.”

That's what's it's going to take, Talbi said, to take American distance running to the next level.

“We need to push each other, everyone needs to be in the pack,” said Talbi, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Morocco and became an American citizen last year.

Both were pleasantly surprised by their fast times. Talbi said he was more focused on trying to catch the runner ahead of him, which pushed him to run faster. McClain said she tries to ignore her watch during a race.

Talbi won the Houston Marathon in January in 2:05:45, a course record. He said he felt confident heading into Boston since he had achieved his personal best times at races this year.

“Everything was clicking, everything was good,” he said. “And I was like, this is the day.”

McClain finished seventh in her Boston debut last year and was the top American woman that time, too.

“Obviously I wanted to come in and defend the first American title, and to do that on a day like today with amazing conditions and to run the time that I knew was in me, at some point in the wheelhouse of what I can do, is really awesome,” she said.

Defending champion John Korir broke the Boston Marathon course record to win the men's race in 2:01:52 — the fifth-fastest marathon of all time. Sharon Lokedi joined her fellow Kenyan as a back-to-back champion, winning the women’s race in 2:18:51.

Last month at the U.S. half marathon championships in Atlanta, McClain was ahead by a wide margin with about 1.5 miles to go when she and three other runners followed the guide vehicle on a wrong turn. Track and field’s international governing body decided to allow seven Americans — instead of the usual four — to compete at the world championships in Denmark.

McClain said she made a far smaller U-turn on Monday, too. She dropped her bottle and went back to pick it up, then had to catch up with the lead pack.

“We all know what happened in Atlanta, I’ve been a half mile off course, so a few seconds is not going to throw me,” she said.

The previous records for American runners in Boston were set by Ryan Hall in 2011 and Shalane Flanagan in 2014.

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This story corrects that four American women finished in the top 10, not five.

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

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson all responded Sunday after the DOJ sent a letter to the Wayne County clerk.

In that letter, the DOJ demands all ballots, ballot receipts, and ballot envelopes from the 2024 election -- and it warns the county could face a court order if it doesn’t comply.

The Attorney General’s Office said the DOJ is pointing to three voter fraud cases from the 2020 election as the reason for the request, but the state calls it “baseless.”

Whitmer also pushed back, calling it an attempt to stir up doubt about Michigan elections and what she described as “federal interference.”

This came during the Michigan Democratic Party convention in Detroit, and less than 200 days out from the midterm election, when the state will pick a new governor and a new U.S. senator.

Here is a statement posted on X by Sen. Elissa Slotkin:

From the FBI raid in Fulton County, Georgia, to the federal intervention in Maricopa County, Arizona, the intimidation is always the point.

This request for 2024 ballots from Wayne County is based on discredited allegations from 2020, and it is just the latest attempt by President Trump to use federal law enforcement to cast doubt on our elections ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Our state has held free and fair elections for hundreds of years. We will not be intimidated.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin on X

Here is a statement from Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt:

For years, Democrat officials in Lansing have gaslit the public and fought tooth and nail against any basic measure of transparency in our elections.If Gretchen Whitmer and Dana Nessel truly believed the election processes in Wayne County were flawless, they would welcome this Justice Department review with open arms instead of hiding behind frantic legal threats. You don’t stonewall investigators and hide hundreds of thousands of ballots unless there is something you’re worried they will find.

This is exactly why I have continually urged the Department of Justice to establish full, rigorous federal oversight of Michigan’s 2026 elections. The people of Michigan deserve absolute, unshakable confidence that their votes are legally cast and accurately counted. The partisan machine running Detroit’s elections has shown it cannot be trusted to police itself. It’s time to pull back the curtain, secure the voter rolls, and ensure that the 2026 elections are free from the incompetence and shadowy practices that have plagued Wayne County for far too long.

Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt

In the article, posted on the magazine's website Friday, author Sarah Fitzpatrick said Patel is deeply concerned about losing his job and that “he has good reasons to think so — including some having to do with what witnesses described to me as bouts of excessive drinking.” Fitzpatrick was also named as a defendant.

His behavior, including “both conspicuous inebriation and unexplained absences,” has alarmed officials at the FBI and Department of Justice, leading one official speaking anonymously to say that worry about what would happen in the case of a terrorist attack in the U.S. “keeps me up at night,” the magazine said.

Patel still described as pivotal for Trump White House

The White House told The Atlantic that Patel remains a critical player on President Donald Trump's law and order team and credited him for decreases in the crime rate. Trump's team is also said to be pleased by Patel's willingness to go after the president's rivals.

Patel, in the lawsuit filed in district court in Washington, denied the allegations of his behavior and criticized the magazine for relying on anonymous sources. Fitzpatrick wrote that she interviewed more than two dozen people and granted them anonymity to “discuss sensitive information and private conversations.”

“Defendants cannot evade responsibility for their malicious lies by hiding behind sham sources,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said Patel's lawyers asked The Atlantic for more time to respond to accusations but the magazine did not reply. “It is among the strongest possible evidence of actual malice,” it said.

Atlantic outlines behavior it says witnesses saw

The Atlantic said Patel had been spotted drinking heavily at the private club Ned's in Washington and at the Poodle Room in Las Vegas, where he often spends time on the weekends. Six people told the magazine that briefings and meetings involving Patel had to be rescheduled for later in the day because of drinking the night before.

It said that on “multiple occasions” Patel's security team had difficulty waking him and at one point requested equipment designed to forcibly open a building when Patel was unreachable behind closed doors.

With his lawsuit, Patel is following a playbook used by his boss to fight back against damaging stories. Last week, a judge in Florida dismissed Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over its report about a risqué birthday greeting he had sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The judge said Trump had not plausibly alleged the story was published with actual malice, the standard for a libel finding.

Last September, another judge dismissed Trump's $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times and some reporters for a story critical of the president's business acumen. Trump was allowed to file an amended lawsuit, which he did.

Trump also sued CBS News and ABC News for stories he didn't like before taking office again for his second term. Both of those news organizations paid a settlement out of court to Trump before the cases could go to trial.

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David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

With the 14-day ceasefire set to expire Wednesday, Trump whipsawed in telephone interviews and social media posts between measured optimism that a deal could soon be reached and warning that “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there's no agreement before the ceasefire deadline.

Trump indicated that he still expects to dispatch his negotiating team, led by Vice President JD Vance, to Pakistan's capital of Islamabad for a second round of talks, even as Iran insisted it would not take part until Trump dialed back his demands. Trump insisted he feels no pressure to end the war until Iran agrees to his terms.

“I am under no pressure whatsoever,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, “although, it will all happen, relatively quickly!”

Pakistani officials moved ahead with preparations for a new round of talks between the U.S. and Iran as the tenuous ceasefire was further strained over the weekend by renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump told Bloomberg News he was “highly unlikely” to renew the ceasefire.

Iran holds out on resuming negotiations

Tensions flared after the U.S. Navy attacked and seized a ship Sunday that it said was trying to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. On Saturday, Iran fired at vessels and abruptly stopped traffic in the strait, abandoning its promise to allow some ships to pass and claiming the U.S. was not holding up its side of the ceasefire.

The U.S. actions are “incompatible with the claim of diplomacy,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday in a social media post.

He gave no indication what Iran will do after the ceasefire expires or whether Iran will return to a second round of negotiations with the U.S.

Over the weekend, Iran said it had received new proposals from the U.S. but suggested that a wide gap remained between the sides. Issues that derailed the last round of negotiations included Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the strait.

Iran throttled traffic through the strait, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open seas, shortly after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war. The U.S. has also instituted a blockade of Iranian ports. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes through the strait.

Trump swipes at war critics, seeks to calm investors

The U.S. president lashed out at war critics at home who are urging him to wrap up the conflict that began more than seven weeks ago.

“How bad is it that when you are in the middle of negotiations and you have got the Iranians in a perfect position, including being militarily defeated, and you have Democrats and some Republicans asking to settle it now?” Trump told the New York Post.

Even as Trump bristled at his detractors, he sought to soothe jittery investors as U.S. stocks fell Monday following the chaotic weekend in the Persian Gulf.

The president found himself remonstrating his energy secretary, Chris Wright, who on Sunday said American motorists might not see gas prices fall back into the $3 per gallon range until late this year or next year.

“I disagree with him totally. I think it’ll come roaring down if it ends,” Trump fumed to PBS. “If we end it, if Iran does what they should do, it will come roaring down.”

Israel-Lebanon talks to resume, official says

Meanwhile, historic diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to resume Thursday in Washington, officials from both countries and the U.S. said. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes negotiations.

The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met last week for the first direct diplomatic talks in decades. Israel says the talks are aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement with Lebanon.

A 10-day ceasefire began Friday in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants broke out two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran. Fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 2,290 people.

In two separate encounters on Monday, the Israeli air force struck and killed Hezbollah militants that the military said approached its troops in a threatening way. Israel has carried out several airstrikes since the ceasefire went into effect.

Hezbollah said it detonated explosives Sunday in an Israeli convoy inside Lebanon.

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

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

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

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

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

Oil prices were up again Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, at about $95 a barrel — up from about $70 a barrel before the war started.

Iran said it had reopened the strait to ships Friday, but traffic halted after Trump refused to lift the U.S. blockade, and Iran on Saturday fired at ships trying to transit the channel.

“The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” Mohammad Reza Aref, first vice president of Iran, said in a social media post.

The U.S. seizure of an Iranian cargo ship Sunday was the first interception under the blockade. Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation.

Trump said the blockade will remain “in full force” until Tehran agrees to a deal. The U.S. military said Monday that it has directed 27 ships to return to Iranian ports since the blockade began last week.

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Ahmed reported from Islamabad, and Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press journalists Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; David Rising in Bangkok; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; and Joshua Boak and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Amazon in San Francisco Superior Court in 2022 accusing the company of violating the state’s antitrust and unfair competition laws. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial next year but Bonta is asking the judge to order Amazon to cease its practices immediately.

According to the filing, the alleged price fixing scheme generally begins with the Seattle-based company demanding vendors to fix or look into prices of products on other websites and request that those prices be increased or else face penalties such as promotion restrictions or even removal of products from Amazon's site.

For example, the filing alleges that Amazon, apparel company Levi Strauss & Co. and Walmart agreed to fix prices on khaki pants. Amazon sent the denim retailer links to pants that were priced lower on Walmart.com, saying it “hop(ed) these can get resolved over the next few days.”

The next day, Levi Strauss reported having talked to Walmart to increase prices back to $29.99, according to the filing.

“This is about protecting Californians from paying more than they should for everyday products, especially at a time when affordability feels farther and farther out of reach,” Bonta, a Democrat, said Monday at a virtual news conference.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Amazon dismissed Bonta's motion as “a transparent attempt to distract from the weakness of its case” with “supposedly ‘new’” evidence.

“Amazon is consistently identified as America’s lowest-priced online retailer, and we’re proud of the low prices customers find when shopping in our store. Amazon looks forward to responding in court at the appropriate time,” the statement said.

A Walmart spokesperson said in an email that it does "not comment on litigation in which we are not a party. We will always work hard on behalf of our customers to keep our prices low.”

Levi Strauss did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bonta said that his office is focused on Amazon because “the unlawful conduct stems from and originates from Amazon” but reserved the right to go after other retailers and vendors in the future.

The alleged price fixing involves a wide assortment of goods, including home decor, garden products and pet care, according to the filing.

The hearing for the motion for a preliminary injunction is in July.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How the selection worked in 2016

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

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

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

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

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

How the four candidates were nominated

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bachelet, however, already faces US opposition

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

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

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

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

Launches of the huge New Glenn rocket are grounded until Blue Origin and the Federal Aviation Administration complete their investigation.

The rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday. The recycled first-stage booster performed well, landing on an ocean barge several minutes into the flight. But the upper stage was unable to put the satellite into a high enough orbit to begin operations.

Preliminary data indicate that one of the upper stage engines failed to produce enough thrust, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said Monday.

There was no immediate word on when or where the rocket's upper stage or the AST SpaceMobile satellite might plunge through the atmosphere. The satellite was supposed to join AST SpaceMobile's orbiting network of satellites designed to provide direct space-to-smart phone service.

It was only the third flight for New Glenn, Blue Origin's hulking rocket for delivering spacecraft to orbit. NASA is counting on New Glenn to launch Blue Moon lunar landers for the Artemis moon program. SpaceX's Starship is also in the running to land astronauts on the moon as early as 2028.

Towering more than 320 feet (98 meters), the rocket is named for John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth in 1962.

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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.

Medical tests in the next few days will determine whether Alcaraz will be able to play in the Grand Slam tournament in a month, he said on Monday.

“We’ll see,” he said when asked whether he'll play. The Spaniard was at the Laureus Awards in Madrid with his right wrist immobilized. He pulled out of the Madrid Open last week.

“The next (medical) test will be crucial,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion told Spanish television channel TVE.

“We’ve been trying to do everything we can do to make sure that this test goes well. I’m trying to be very patient. But we are good, we are just waiting a little bit. We have a few tests in the next few days and then we will see how the injury is, and what the next steps will be.”

No. 2-ranked Alcaraz withdrew in Barcelona a day after he had his wrist treated during his opening match, a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Otto Virtanen.

The next tournament after Madrid is the Italian Open, which he won last year.

“For now, I’ve been trying to stay positive, to stay upbeat, even though these days have become a bit too long," said the 22-year-old Alcaraz, who was awarded Laureus' world sportsman of the year on Monday.

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

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

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

Companies must submit declarations listing the goods on which they collectively put billions of dollars toward the import taxes the court struck down on Feb. 20. If CBP approves a claim, it will take 60-90 days for a refund to be issued, the agency said.

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

The co-owner of a clothing company based in Washington, D.C., said the system seemed buggy on Monday when she tried to create an account on the portal, which was required before companies could do anything else. A lawyer in Northern Virginia said his clients reported some system delays and lag time.

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

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

Not all taxed imports immediately eligible

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

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

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

System requires accuracy

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

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

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

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

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

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

Patience with the process

Small businesses have eagerly awaited the chance to apply for refunds. Rebecca Melsky, co-owner of the clothing brand and online store Princess Awesome, said she was unable to register for a portal account Monday despite trying to submit her CPB import code and company information using two different web browsers.

She said Princess Awesome would file for a refund eventually. The company imports some of its clothes from factories in Bangladesh, China, India and Peru. Melsky estimated it paid $32,000 in IEEPA tariffs.

“My expectations have been pretty low about whether we were actually going to see any money back to us,” she said. “I’m heartened by the fact that there’s any system at all, but I’m only slightly more optimistic than I was last week, which was not very."

Justin Angotti, an associate attorney in the international trade practice of global law firm Reed Smith, said his clients ultimately had their declarations accepted Monday, even if it might have taken a few attempts.

“So far, Customs has been very responsive in trying to troubleshoot the issue,” Angotti said.

Will consumers see refunds?

Tariffs are paid by importers, and some companies pass on the tax costs to consumers via higher prices.

The system starting up Monday will refund tariffs directly to the businesses that paid them, which are not obligated to share the proceeds with customers. However, class-action lawsuits that aim to force companies, ranging from Costco to Ray-Ban maker Essilor Luxottica, to reimburse shoppers are winding their way through the U.S. legal system.

Individuals may be more likely to receive refunds from delivery companies like FedEx and UPS, which collected tariffs on imports directly from consumers. FedEx has said it would return tariff refunds to customers when it receives them from the CPB.

“Supporting our customers as they navigate regulatory changes remains our top priority,” FedEx said in a statement. “We are working with our customers as CBP begins processing refunds and plan to begin filing claims on April 20.”

The defending champion rode a tailwind on Monday to the fastest finish in the race's 130-year history, winning in 2 hours, 1 minute, 52 seconds. That was 70 seconds faster than Geoffrey Mutai's then-world best in 2011, and the fifth-fastest marathon of all time.

Korir said he knew he was on a record pace at the 40-kilometer mark, but he didn't bother to check the clock as he crossed the finish line. He was informed of his accomplishment by Boston Athletic Association president Jack Fleming, and jumped for joy.

“When they told me I had run the course record, that’s when I started to be happy,” said the 29-year-old Kenyan, who last year joined his brother to become the first relatives to win the race. “I knew I would defend my title. But I didn’t know I could run that fast.”

Sharon Lokedi joined Korir as a back-to-back champion, winning the women's race in 2:18:51 — a year after she shattered the course record by more than 2 1/2 minutes. The winners receive $150,000 and a gilded olive wreath sent from the plains of Marathon, Greece; Korir will receive another $50,000 for the course record.

Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania, who was 55 seconds back, and 2021 champion Benson Kipruto, another 3 seconds behind him, also were fast enough to beat the previous record on the hilly course that typically rewards racing strategy more than footspeed.

Kelvin Kiptum holds the marathon world record, with a 2:00:35 on the flatter Chicago course in 2023.

"Boston is not (usually) about time," Kipruto said. “Today, it was about time.”

Zouhair Talbi and Jess McClain ran the fastest times ever in Boston for Americans — leading the seven U.S. men and 12 U.S. women who finished in the top 20.

Talbi, who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Morocco and became a U.S. citizen last year, was fifth in 2:03:45; McClain, who crossed in 2:20:49, also finished fifth.

“I think we’re in an era in distance running, on the men and women’s sides, but especially the women’s side, where we’re all making each other so much better every time we line up with one another,” McClain said. “And I think it’s just going to get stronger and stronger.”

Korir recovered after falling at the start last year to claim the title won by his brother Wesley in 2012.

This year, he broke away from the pack as it headed into the Newton hills and opened a 40-second lead. Korir peeked behind him as he went through Kenmore Square with a mile to go, sticking out his tongue and spreading his arms as he ran down Boylston Street.

Lokedi moved toward the front of the pack around Mile 17 and charged up Heartbreak Hill to pull ahead. On a day that started in the 30s but warmed to 45 degrees (7 degrees Celsius) by the start, Lokedi pulled off her gloves as she went through Coolidge Corner in Brookline and smiled her way down Boylston Street.

“I didn’t know how fast I was going. I just wanted to run as fast as I could,” said Lokedi, who realized on the bus to the start that she forgot her watch and had to borrow one. “I just wanted to get to the finish line as fast as possible.”

Loice Chemnung was second, 44 seconds back — a performance that would have been a course record before Lokedi's 2:17:22 last year. Mary Ngugi-Cooper was third, completing the Kenyan sweep of the women's podium.

Marcel Hug of Switzerland won his ninth wheelchair title in 1:16:06, a time second only to his 2024 course record. He is one shy of the all-category record of South African wheelchair athlete Ernst van Dyk's 10 Boston Marathon wins.

Two-time winner Daniel Romanchuk of Champaign, Illinois, was second behind Hug for the fourth straight time.

In the women's wheelchair race, Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Britain won her second Boston title, finishing in 1:30:51 to beat runner-up Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland by more than two minutes.

The athletes arrived in Hopkinton with frost on the ground and temperatures in the 30s. Although it warmed up through the day, it was the coldest starting temperature since 2018, when 38 degree temperatures combined with a headwind and driving rain that led to the slowest winning times in more than 40 years.

But the clear skies and a tailwind on Monday had the fastest field in the event's history expecting fast times for the second year in a row.

“Obviously the tailwind played into a lot of the approach,” McClain said. ”You don’t get these conditions every year, so if you’re going to go full send and ‘Carpe Diem,’ this is the year to do it. And that was kind of the mindset.”

Runners may have noticed some changes this year, with the race turning to a crowd scientist for help in spreading things out a little so they don’t face bottlenecks on the narrow streets of the eight cities and towns along the course. And at the start is a new statue of and by marathon pioneer Bobbi Gibb — the first statue on the course honoring a woman.

Jack Fultz, who was serving as grand marshal on the 50th anniversary of his “Run for the Hoses,” said the weather was the “polar opposite” from the day of his 1976 win in temperatures approaching 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius).

“I am just trying to soak it all in, to remember it all," he said in Hopkinton on Monday before the race. “There are almost are no words to fully describe the kind of experience. You have a dream of a lifetime and all of a sudden it comes true.”

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Associated Press Writer Jennifer McDermott contributed to this report.

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

Starmer said he would have withdrawn the appointment if he'd known Mandelson had failed security checks, as he tried to explain why Mandelson was given the U.K.'s most important diplomatic post. Starmer placed blame squarely on Foreign Office officials who he said failed to tell him about the security concerns and approved Mandelson's appointment despite them.

Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons that ”I would not have gone ahead with the appointment” had he known the truth. He called it “frankly staggering” that officials didn’t tell him about the failed vetting.

“At the heart of this, there is also a judgment I made that was wrong,” Starmer added. “I should not have appointed Peter Mandelson.

“I take responsibility for that decision, and I apologize again to the victims of the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who were clearly failed by my decision.”

Starmer fired Mandelson in September, nine months into the job, when new details emerged about his friendship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.

His explanation was greeted with jeers from opposition lawmakers, incredulous that the nation's leader hadn't known about the failed security vetting.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said Starmer's lack of curiosity was hard to believe.

“It doesn’t appear that he asked any questions at all. Why? Because he didn’t want to know," she said.

Starmer denies misleading Parliament

Starmer was attempting to set the record straight after repeatedly telling lawmakers that “due process” was followed when Mandelson was appointed.

Though he apologized for his error of judgment, he denied misleading Parliament, which is usually considered a resigning offense.

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

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

Badenoch noted that Robbins is the latest high-profile government departure linked to Mandelson. She said that instead of taking responsibility for his mistakes, Starmer "has thrown his staff and his officials under the bus.”

Ed Davey, leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, said Starmer “gives every impression of a prime minister in office but not in power.” Davey said appointing Mandelson was "a catastrophic error of judgment. And now that it’s blown up in his face, the only decent thing to do is to take responsibility."

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

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

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

Warnings about Epstein ties went unheeded

Critics say the Mandelson appointment is more evidence of bad judgment by a prime minister who has made repeated missteps since he led Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024.

Starmer has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and has been forced into repeated policy U-turns.

He picked Mandelson as ambassador despite being warned by his staff that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein exposed the government to “reputational risk.”

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

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

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

Starmer said he had ordered a review into any security concerns arising from Mandelson’s access to sensitive information while ambassador.

Many questions remain unanswered after Starmer's 2 1/2-hour question-and-answer session, including why Mandelson failed the vetting and whether officials felt political pressure to approve the appointment.

Several lawmakers asked why Starmer chose Mandelson for the job despite red flags.

“I’m interested in his judgment,” said Scottish National Party lawmaker Stephen Flynn. "Does he believe himself to be gullible, incompetent or both?”

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Sylvia Hui and Brian Melley in London contributed reporting.

The ruling by a divided seven-judge panel of the appellate-level Commonwealth Court is a major victory for Planned Parenthood and abortion clinic operators who first sued Pennsylvania over its Medicaid funding restrictions in 2019.

While the case initially centered over state Medicaid limitations, the stakes significantly expanded after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 ended nearly a half-century of federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade.

The court's finding on Monday marks the first time that the right to an abortion is protected by the Pennsylvania constitution, joining a handful of states where reproductive rights advocates have found success in protecting abortion access by pointing to state constitutions.

The case could still be appealed to Pennsylvania's Supreme Court.

“Today, our Commonwealth Court, looking at the Pennsylvania constitution, held that there is a right to reproductive autonomy, and it’s the highest possible level of a right,” said Susan Frietsche, executive director of the Women's Law Project, which helped represent the clinics.

A spokesperson for Attorney General David Sunday, a Republican, said the office was reviewing the decision and did not say whether it would appeal.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, praised the decision.

“I’ve long opposed this unconstitutional ban, and as Governor, I did not defend it — because a woman’s ability to access reproductive care should never be determined by her income,” Shapiro said in a statement.

In 2019, plaintiffs asked the court to order the state’s Medicaid program to begin covering abortions, without restriction, arguing that a 1982 Pennsylvania law restricting state Medicaid funding violated the constitutional equal protection rights of low-income women.

The case has since taken several turns, with a lower-court ruling in 2021 that the plaintiffs did not have standing and also saying that they were bound by a state Supreme Court 1985 decision upholding the 1982 law.

However, in 2024, the state Supreme Court overturned the lower court's ruling and also determined that previous court decisions did not fully consider the breadth of state constitutional protections against discrimination beyond those provided by the federal constitution.

The seven judges on the lower court who heard the case largely sided with the plaintiffs on Monday. The majority opinion said the state should invest in maternal and infant health care and other resources if it believes that women should carry a pregnancy to term.

The attorney general's office had argued that the state had an interest in “protecting fetal life” and that the Medicaid coverage exclusion helped support that goal.

“If the state believes certain medical procedures may psychologically harm women, the state can license, regulate, and educate around such care. That is less intrusive than taking an entire medical procedure off the table categorically for some women, some of whom may benefit from that procedure — a fact the Attorney General does not dispute," the majority opinion said.

Abortion opponents quickly criticized Monday's decision.

“By declaring a sweeping constitutional ‘right to reproductive autonomy’ and mandating taxpayer-funded abortion through Medicaid, the court has overstepped its authority, ignored the plain text of our state constitution, and forced millions of Pennsylvanians who believe life begins at conception to subsidize the killing of unborn children," said Michael Geer, president of Pennsylvania Family Institute, which opposes abortion rights.

In Pennsylvania, abortion is legal under state law through 23 weeks of pregnancy.

The reminder follows several damaging storms that swept through Michigan, prompting a state of emergency declaration and the activation of the State Emergency Operations Center statewide to monitor weather-related events.

---> Overnight storms leave behind path of damage in SE Michigan

Officials are encouraging those affected to use an online self-reporting tool to document damage sustained during the storms. The tool collects information such as contact and property details, insurance status and foundation type.

Users can select all applicable types of damage caused by the disaster. The survey can be completed and photos uploaded via desktop computer or mobile device, including smartphones and tablets.

The survey also allows reporting parties to indicate if additional assistance is needed. Individuals with unmet needs are encouraged to call 211 or text their ZIP code to 898-211 to connect with available resources.

Related: Damage left behind in Ann Arbor after overnight severe weather

Watch the video above for more information and to see a performance from one of the participating bands called “Ladyship Warship.”

A fitness expert appeared on “Live In The D” to share some tips and exercises to help prevent injuries. Watch the video above to see the segment.

Live in the D Reporter, April Morton, takes viewers on an adventure through Martin County Florida, including giving a glimpse of everything the resort has to offer. Please click the video above to see the entire story, and continue to watch Live in the D everyday April 20, through April 24, 2026, to see all of the amazing activities the area has to offer.

Viewers also have the chance to win a trip to Martin County Florida.

The approximate value of the prize is $6,125

The prize includes the following.

Vacation Package

• Four (4) consecutive night stay for four (4) at Marriott Hutchinson Island Resort & Beach Villas, Golf & Marina
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So what are you waiting for?! To enter this sweepstakes click here

The study published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health found that about 20 percent of Gen Z and Millennial parents admit they’ve spanked their child.

Watch the video above to see the conversation about this topic during the What’s The Buzz segment on “Live In The D.”

Pittsburgh general manager Omar Khan said Monday the team remains in regular communication with the four-time MVP, who guided the Steelers to the AFC North title in 2025.

“Nothing's changed,” Khan said. “It's all been positive and good. He knows how we feel about him and we know how he feels about us."

It just hasn't rendered any definitive answer from Rodgers, and none appears to be coming before the NFL draft descends on Pittsburgh on Thursday. The 42-year-old quarterback didn't sign with Pittsburgh until just before the start of mandatory minicamp last June. Rodgers' uncertain status, however, is unlikely to play a factor in what the Steelers plan to do with their 12 selections that begin with the 21st overall pick.

“That doesn’t change our evaluation process,” Khan said. “We’re still putting the guys up where they need to be and we’ll just see how it shakes out.”

What was once considered a quarterback-rich draft a year ago looks far different now, with no safe bets outside of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza of Indiana going No. 1 to Las Vegas.

The Steelers currently only have two quarterbacks under contract in last year's sixth-round pick Will Howard — whose rookie season a year ago was marred by a hand injury sustained early in training camp — and longtime backup Mason Rudolph.

Pittsburgh will almost certainly add to that depth in the draft. Penn State's Drew Allar, Miami's Carson Beck and North Dakota State's Cole Payton have all been in for pre-draft visits, though all figure to be later-round selections whenever they hear their name called.

Mike McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native hired to replace Mike Tomlin in January, has a lengthy resume as quarterback whisperer of sorts. The list of players McCarthy has worked with in the past include Rodgers, Dallas' Dak Prescott and former No. 1 overall pick Alex Smith, who spent a year with McCarthy in San Francisco in 2005.

“We speak on it as being the most important position in football,” McCarthy said. “And I think it’s important to always try to add to it if you can (but) it has to fit.”

The Steelers do have several needs outside of a young quarterback, including a versatile receiver to team with veterans DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr., and at offensive tackle, a position that's in a state of flux as left tackle Broderick Jones — their first-round pick in 2023 — recovers from a neck injury that forced him to miss the last seven games of 2025.

There is no timetable on when Jones might be ready, though he was with his teammates on Monday as part of the “medical group” as the Steelers held informal workouts.

Khan said Jones was still “early in the process” and the injury means Pittsburgh will almost certainly decline Jones' fifth-year option for 2027, meaning they might head into the draft eyeing a longer-term solution to protect whoever might end up being the franchise quarterback the club has been searching for since Ben Roethlisberger's retirement in early 2022.

Pittsburgh's dozen picks give Khan the option to use some of them as collateral if the team decides to trade up. There's also the chance he could trade down early in the draft to accumulate more capital.

McCarthy seems fine either way. While he called the current roster a “nice mix” of older and younger players, the chance to add quality depth is never a bad thing.

“Being above 10 (picks) I think would be awesome personally,” McCarthy said. “I’ve always felt that the more players you have to develop, I think it definitely is, for the long term, a good process.”

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

All day long, she'd labored to understand when to speak up or stay silent in meetings. She replayed conversations in her head, worrying she'd misunderstood or said the wrong thing. Noisy environments distressed her. She watched her peers receive promotions when she didn't.

“I would come home burnt-out, anxious," Pilatzke said of her days working as an insurance claim specialist. "That just kept going, week after week, day after day.”

Her communication difficulties, sensitivity to noise and other problems at work began to make sense following her diagnosis, she said.

Pilatzke, 36, now spends her days teaching employers how to make workplaces more accommodating for people on the autism spectrum. She works as an inclusion specialist at Specialisterne Canada, a nonprofit that helps organizations to better support employee neurodiversity.

She also reframed the way she thinks about traits often associated with autism, viewing her ability to focus intensely and provide honest, direct feedback as strengths.

Below are some ways to make meetings and other work rituals more accessible for autistic people, according to several adults with autism and neurodiversity experts.

It begins with understanding

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder that affects about 1 in 45 adults in the U.S., according to Autism Speaks, a nonprofit organization that supports autistic people and their families by funding research, providing resources and doing advocacy work.

It presents in a variety of ways but can create challenges with social skills, speech and nonverbal communication. Some common characteristics include repetitive behaviors and sensitivity to noise.

“Start by learning about different communication styles and being open-minded,” Subodh Garg, who appeared in the first season of the Netflix reality TV show “Love on the Spectrum,” said. “Inclusion begins with giving people a chance and making space for diverse ways of thinking and working. Employers can start with small intentional steps.”

Garg works part-time at a Southern California deli, where he handles invoices and restocks pastries. He also is studying to earn a bachelors degree and is a “champion of change” advocate at Autism Speaks.

Employers may have preconceived ideas about what autism means, when “the reality is, it is a massive spectrum,” said Rita Ramakrishnan, who is autistic and founded a consulting company that provides leadership coaching for neurodivergent executives. “There’s a community of people with much higher support needs, and then there are folks who are twice exceptional or otherwise extraordinarily high functioning. Their support needs are not as high, and their production capabilities are different. But they’re all valid autistic experiences.”

Organizations should consult autistic employees when crafting policies that are designed to make workplaces more inclusive, Ramakrishnan said.

“No one’s expecting you to be an expert in this, but we are expecting a level of curiosity, not judgment, and we would love the ability to have a conversation around our needs,” she said. “It doesn’t mean you have to accommodate all of them or redesign for all of them, but at least listening is the first step.”

Making meetings more accessible

Face-to-face communication can be difficult for some people with autism, so having the ability to participate in meetings online or through writing can be helpful, experts said.

“Changing the expectations for social engagement during a meeting is really important,” Ramakrishnan said. “In a neurotypical normative situation, things like eye contact are highly prized. I trust someone who makes eye contact with me. But for an autistic person, that is a scary thing.”

Making camera use optional during virtual meetings is a useful accommodation since said people with autism often feel pressure to “mask” their natural behaviors by mimicking the facial expressions of neurotypical colleagues, Pilatzke said.

“Things like that can actually cause a lot of anxiety for individuals that are neurodivergent,” she said. “So having that pressure removed can be helpful.”

Some people with autism find it’s easier to focus during virtual or in-person meetings when they’re doodling or walking around, said Natalie Longmire, a professor of organizational behavior at Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business. Managers can make it explicit that those behaviors are accepted, she said.

Employees also can seek and normalize these types of accommodations by saying something like, “Hey if I get up and walk around, I’m doing that so I can be more engaged in what you’re saying,” Longmire suggested.

Share agendas in advance

Keith Wargo, president & CEO of Autism Speaks, said his organization sends out meeting agendas in advance and sometimes shares additional details.

“That kind of clarity is really helpful, ... even sometimes sort of saying, ‘This is going to be a 45-minute meeting and we’re breaking it down into five parts,’” Wargo said. “We may deviate from that a little bit, but having that kind of structure is good practice.”

Allowing written input before and after meetings — and not prioritizing only what is spoken out loud during the allotted time — enables organizations to honor and take advantage of autistic individuals’ contributions, Ramakrishnan said.

“Be explicit about, for each agenda item, is this a discussion? Is this a brainstorm? Are we making a decision here?” Ramakrishnan added. “That gives an autistic person the chance to prepare what they need to."

“These are the folks that are going to come up with the ideas that nobody else thinks about,” she added.

Enable various modes of communication

Have multiple lanes available to participate in meetings, such as chat windows for attendees to type their contributions, said Abigayle Jayroe, senior vice president for strategic operations at NEXT for Autism. “There may be people who just don’t feel comfortable speaking,” Jayroe said. Turning on captions can help people who prefer to process information by reading, she added.

Normalizing the use of noise-canceling headphones and written communication can help, experts say. To reduce feelings of sensory overwhelm, an autistic participant could try saying, “I might ask a question over chat instead of raising my hand because it’s easier for me,” Longmire said.

Garg, who was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old, said he was non-verbal early on but learned over time how to communicate and connect with other people.

“One of the biggest challenges has been interviews because they focus a lot on social skills instead of the actual work,” he said. “Sometimes people misunderstand my communication style or underestimate what I can do. Even small things like clear instructions or written feedback really help me do my best.”

Encouraging naysayers

An issue some autistic people encounter at work or in social situations is having their tendency to speak in a forthright way misinterpreted as callousness, Ramakrishnan said. Colleagues can be explicit about whether it’s OK to be direct or whether they need to soften the language, she said.

In Pilatzke's view, many autistic people possess a strong sense of right and wrong, and feel a need to speak up when they perceive injustices. “I describe myself as a blunt person. I’m very honest. I’m going to say what I think,” she added.

Organizations can benefit from staffers' frankness by building a culture where everyone isn't expected to agree. Have a designated naysayer or devil’s advocate in brainstorming meetings, Jayroe suggested.

“The best ideas are built off of poking holes in what everyone agrees on. So it lays the groundwork longer term for a company to have their employees feel comfortable raising red flags or building on ideas," she said.

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Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well

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This story was first published on Apr. 16, 2026. It was updated on Apr. 20, 2026 to correct how the organization Autism Speaks structures its meetings.

Aubrey, a former professional soccer player whose NFL career started when he was 28, will get $20 million guaranteed while becoming the first kicker with a $7 million annual average, agent Todd France said.

The 31-year-old Aubrey's six field goals of at least 60 yards are the most in league history. He is also among the most accurate, with a career rate of 88.2% (112 of 127).

Aubrey, who was a restricted free agent, went to high school in the Dallas area and played soccer at Notre Dame before he was taken by Toronto FC in the MLS draft in 2017.

He was working as a software engineer in Arlington, where the Cowboys play at AT&T Stadium, when his wife encouraged him to pursue a kicking career. Aubrey spent two years in the USFL and signed with the Cowboys before training camp in 2023.

The first NFL record Aubrey set was the most made field goals without a miss to start a career at 35. He became the first with three field goals of at least 55 yards in the same game against Detroit last year, when he was also the first with three from at least 60 in the same season.

Aubrey set the franchise record with a 65-yarder against Cleveland in 2024. That's now 3 yards shy of the longest in NFL history, behind a 68-yard field goal from Jacksonville's Cam Little last season.

Houston's Ka'imi Fairbairn has an average annual value of $6.5 million in his contract, with Harrison Butker of Kansas City right behind him at $6.4 million.

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

Fernando Mendoza embraced it. He did the interviews, made the rounds and firmed up his draft night plans with his trademark smile and positive attitude. Now all he can do is wait to see what happens Thursday night.

The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and overwhelming favorite to be taken No. 1 overall said Monday he's enjoyed each step along the path as he anticipates starting the next chapter of his football journey — whether it's in Las Vegas backing up Kirk Cousins or going to some other team.

“ It's been long, but it's been great because a job interview usually is a couple of weeks or even a single day in the office, but this job interview has been a couple of months," Mendoza told The Associated Press. “The teams know everything about you, and that's been my favorite part. They can peel back the layers and see the true you. It's been great to test my football IQ, my football knowledge.”

The Raiders — or any of the three other teams he spoke to — likely found little to quibble with.

In fact, Mendoza and pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced Monday they had formed a new partnership with the quarterback becoming a spokesman urging people to get early cancer screenings. It seems a natural pairing given that he has watched someone close to him battle cancer, his mother is still battling multiple sclerosis and his father is a doctor.

Two commercials have been cut and are scheduled to air Thursday night, and Mendoza said he expects this campaign, Every Breakthrough Matters, to expand, potentially into other health battles.

Still, Mendoza's mind is mostly on football though he's not dropping any hints about whether he knows what the Raiders are thinking.

While he's met three times with Las Vegas officials since leading the Indiana Hoosiers to their first national title in mid-January, the Boston-born Mendoza also met his boyhood favorite, Raiders minority owner Tom Brady, who got an in-person look at Mendoza at the championship game.

He's also spoken with the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns, who hold the second, third and sixth overall picks and could be in the market for a new franchise quarterback.

But he also denied suggestions he's been studying a Las Vegas playbook, explaining the rumors started after he sought help from former NFL quarterback and quarterbacks coach Brian Griese to get a head start on some elements of what he expects to see wherever he lands. Mendoza and Griese attended the same Miami high school — Christopher Columbus — decades apart.

“We knew each other and I reached out to him and said ‘Hey, I’ve got to get ready for this. I don't care what my Pro Day looks like, I just want to help my guys on Pro Day and I want to be the best quarterback come September, can you help me with this?'” Mendoza said. “He (played) in the West Coast offense so we were able to install a lot of West Coast concepts, just general concepts and under center concepts every single team runs.”

But Mendoza also wants to keep Thursday night low key.

Instead of traveling to Pittsburgh where the draft will be held, he wants to spend some time completing this journey with those who helped him reach this point, including his younger brother, Alberto. They'll all be surrounding Fernando Mendoza in Miami on Thursday night.

“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.”

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

An HC-130 Hercules crew from the U.S. Air Force 31st Rescue Squadron confirmed Sunday night that the overturned ship spotted Saturday is the cargo ship Mariana, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release. The plane deployed divers and boats.

“If divers locate a viable access point, the team may employ an underwater remotely operated drone to further investigate the vessel,” the guard said.

Debris, including a partially submerged inflatable life raft, was spotted about 110 miles (177 kilometers) northeast of the overturned vessel, the guard said.

Guard air crews continued to search near the Northern Marianas for the missing crew members, whose nationalities weren't released. So far, the guard and partnering agencies from Guam, Japan and New Zealand have covered more than 99,000 square miles (256,000 square kilometers), the guard said.

The Mariana, a 145-foot (44-meter) dry cargo vessel registered in the U.S., suffered engine failure Wednesday as Typhoon Sinlaku bore down on the island chain, which is home to roughly 50,000 people.

After the crew reported that the ship had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance, the Coast Guard set up a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel, the guard said. But contact was lost Thursday. A HC-130 plane launched that morning to conduct a search, but it returned to Guam due to heavy winds.

The Mariana’s last known position was about 140 miles (225 kilometers) north-northwest of Saipan, which is the capital of the Northern Marianas and about 3,800 miles (6,115 kilometers) west of Hawaii.

Typhoon Sinlaku triggered floods, tore off roofs and overturned cars on Saipan. The islands endured roughly 48 hours of fierce winds, which delayed responders’ ability to assess damage and help communities, officials said.

The Northern Marianas' government on Sunday requested an expedited major disaster declaration. If approved, it would include assistance for survivors and public infrastructure as well as hazard mitigation funding, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday.

Mahomes tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee on Dec. 14 in the final minutes of a loss to the Chargers, which effectively eliminated the Chiefs from playoff contention. Mahomes soon had surgery in Dallas with noted orthopedist Dr. Dan Cooper, and the rehabilitation began almost immediately back in Kansas City, where he has been working all offseason.

“So he goes to the meetings. He can lift, do all that. Rehab. That's the phase he's in right now," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “We'll just see. Kind of play it by ear. See where he's at. He's doing great, but we've just got to be smart with this thing.”

Mahomes previously told local reporters that “that's the goal, to play Week 1 and have no restrictions.”

The first phase of the voluntary offseason program is limited to strength and conditioning, team meetings and rehab work, and it began Monday for a two-week period. The last few years, the Chiefs have allowed Mahomes to conduct players-only workouts at his home in Texas, but that changed this year since he stayed in Kansas City to work with the Chiefs' own training staff.

Then comes the second phase of the offseason program: three weeks of on-field work at a walk-through pace and with no live contact, which means Mahomes should be able to take part in some of the work without having to risk hurting his knee again.

The third phase is organized team activites, where the offense can face the defense but there is still no live contact. The Chiefs have scheduled six of those workouts from May 26-28 and June 1-3 ahead of their mandatory minicamp on June 9-11.

The schedule is a little different from other years because Arrowhead Stadium will be hosting World Cup matches in June.

The full NFL schedule is expected to be announced in mid-May. The opening game is expected to be Sept. 10, which means the Chiefs could play their opener a few days later — about nine months after Mahomes sustained his injury.

“Knowing me, I’m going to push it to the exact limit every single day,” Mahomes said of his rehabilitation effort. “There’s places you can’t go yet. You want to but you can’t go yet. And they’re doing it for a reason."

The Chiefs last month added some insurance should Mahomes need a couple of extra weeks, sending the New York Jets a sixth-round pick in next year's draft for Justin Fields. They also picked up $7 million of his guaranteed $10 million salary.

The 27-year-old Fields signed a two-year, $40 million deal — with $30 million guaranteed — with the Jets last March, and he was the starter for most of the season until getting benched in favor of Tyrod Taylor in Week 12. He didn’t play another game for the Jets, ending the season by being placed on injured reserve in late December with a knee injury.

Still, Fields is an experienced starter in the NFL, and he is expected to at least give the Chiefs a chance to win should he need to start any games.

“We've had this extended offseason and we've been able to really dive in there and really work with the plan for this coming season,” Reid said. “We think we've got good direction in which we're going, and we'll see how it all formulates by the time we get out of these OTAs and into camp, and then out of camp and into the season.”

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

With the growing season having begun in most areas, Freeze Warnings were issued into Monday morning advising the protection of outdoor plants. While it was cold, it’s not abnormal to have freezing temperatures in April. Our average last freeze is April 24.

Monday afternoon will feature plenty of blue skies, but a northwesterly breeze will help to keep highs mainly in the mid 40s.

Tonight will be another chilly one with temperatures dropping into the 30s.

You may want to cover your plants or bring them indoors again tonight.

We rebound nicely starting tomorrow.

Tuesday afternoon temperatures will be in the mid 60s to low 70s. We’ll see a mix of sun and clouds with the chance for sprinkles to spotty showers, especially closer to the Ohio state border.

Temperatures will stay warm for the rest of the week.

The next best chance for rain will be Friday and Saturday.

The new parking guidance system features colored lights above parking spaces to help drivers see what spots are available. A green light means there’s an open space, and a red light means there’s an occupied space.

Detroit Metro Airport officials said the testing is being done at the McNamara Terminal Garage and will be fully operational later this year.

According to DTW officials, the lights may not be accurate during the testing phase. Parking availability displays and directional arrows will not be operational.

After testing is complete, drivers entering the parking garage can see real-time availability by level, aisle and individual space. Once work is completed at the McNamara Terminal Garage, the system will be installed in the Big Blue Deck.

Residents lined the narrow streets as the rider passed, some lifting phones to record while others waved, clapped and called out, “Here he comes!” and “We love you, Paul!”

The ride cut through dense city blocks where everyday life continued alongside the spectacle — people walking dogs, jogging and moving through parks and apartment-lined streets, some pausing to watch, others carrying on.

Mary McCabe, who came from Lowell with her daughter Cecily, said it was interesting “just to see how different messages traveled back then.”

Cecily, who said she loves learning about the American Revolution, said seeing the reenactment in person made history feel more real.

“It’s really cool because I can actually see it with my own eyes,” she said.

More than a century-old tradition

Brig. Gen. Richard Reale Jr. of the National Lancers, part of the Massachusetts Organized Militia, portrayed Revere, riding from the North End through Charlestown, Somerville, Medford and Arlington on his way to Lexington. He said the act serves as an important tribute to “tradition and patriotism” as America marks 250 years since the nation’s founding.

“The unit’s been doing this for well over 100 years, and I believe the same thing: It’s important to remember our patriots on a day like today — those who helped found this country and those who continue to preserve it. We thank our armed forces.”

Clad in a Boston Bruins jacket, Arlington resident and onlooker Vernon Brown said the reenactment resonates deeply in a place tied to the Revolution’s earliest fighting.

“It’s Patriot’s Day — one of the great holidays of Massachusetts. We love it,” he said. “I think in Arlington here, where the Revolution really started — the first pitched battle was here — seeing Paul Revere just brings home how great America is and how everybody really does love this country.”

A Revolution turning point

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

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

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

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

The reenactor, dressed in Colonial costume and accompanied by another horseman, is tracing the route taken by Revere 251 years ago. The ride began in Boston’s North End and continues through Charlestown, Somerville, Medford and Arlington before finishing in Lexington — all communities where Revere alerted militias about British movements.

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

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

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

Then and Now

While Revere dodged patrols and contended with rutted and muddy roads, his 21st-century counterpart has it easier, traveling on pavement and passing through a world of stoplights, car dealerships and bustling downtowns that Revere never could have imagined. The 2026 Boston Marathon is taking place at the same time, though the routes do not overlap.

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

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

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AP journalist Leah Willingham contributed from Boston.

Last Spring Freeze Climatology (Metro Detroit)

• Earliest: March 23, 2017
• Average: April 22
• Latest: May 29, 1966
• 2025: April 12

This will be the coolest day of the week. Sunny and cool with highs in the upper 40s this afternoon. Temperatures climb back above average through the rest of the workweek (70s). Staying dry over the next few days as widespread rain chances increase again by late Friday. Temperatures this weekend are trending in the 60s.

Governing body the FIA said the changes were agreed in a meeting with the F1 teams, engine manufacturers and Formula One Management, after consulting drivers. They're subject to approval from the FIA's World Motor Sport Council, which is typically a formality when changes have broad support.

F1's greater emphasis on electrical hybrid power has prompted a backlash from some drivers that qualifying is too focused on strategic recharging of the battery and not enough of a test of driving skill.

One package of changes allows faster recharging at high speed and reduces the maximum amount that can be recharged per lap. A key aim is “reducing excessive harvesting (of energy) and encouraging more consistent flat-out driving,” the FIA said on Monday.

That largely matches recommendations last week by Mercedes' George Russell, who's started 2026 as a title contender.

After a dramatic crash at the Japanese Grand Prix where Oliver Bearman went off track to avoid Franco Colapinto's much slower car, the FIA said there's now a cap on the extra power from the overtake “boost” mode, and other limits to electrical power in certain areas.

“These measures are designed to reduce excessive closing speeds while maintaining overtaking opportunities and overall performance characteristics,” the FIA said.

Those measures, and safety changes for wet-weather driving, will be ready for the Miami GP on May 3. Other changes to reduce the risk of a crash on the starting grid will be trialed in Miami, including a boost for slow-starting cars and a visual warning.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

According to the Athens-Clarke County jail log, Branch was released Sunday on a combined $39 bail on the charges of obstructing public sidewalks/streets and the obstruction of a law enforcement officer.

The arrest, coming only four days before the NFL draft, was poor timing for Branch, who has been projected to be selected on the second day of the draft.

The Athens-Clarke County Police released a statement to The Associated Press that provided details of the incident. It says police were summoned at about 12:20 a.m. because a large crowd had gathered outside an Athens bar.

“The crowd was blocking the entrance, and individuals were attempting to enter the establishment despite it not being open for entry at that time,” according to the police statement.

“Officers issued multiple lawful commands directing the crowd to clear the sidewalk. Zachariah Branch was specifically given verbal commands to disperse but refused to comply. As a result, Mr. Branch was placed under arrest and charged with obstruction. He was also cited for obstructing a public sidewalk.”

Branch’s representatives with Excel Sports did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment.

On Saturday, Branch attended Georgia's G-Day spring football game at Sanford Stadium.

Branch boosted his draft stock by running the 40-yard dash in 4.35 seconds at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

He led Georgia with 81 receptions for 811 yards and six touchdowns as a junior in 2025 following his transfer from Southern California. Branch's brother, safety Zion Branch, also transferred to Georgia from USC.

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

Position overview

The Photographer will be an engaging visual storyteller, responsible for shooting and editing news content under tight deadlines for broadcast and digital platforms. This position demands an individual who can work independently as well as alongside reporters and other team members to create impactful stories that resonate with our audience. Our ideal candidate is a proactive, motivated professional with a knack for innovative storytelling and a dedication to excellence in news production.

This position is covered under a collective bargaining agreement and is represented by the International Cinematographers Guild, Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada (IATSE 600).

Responsibilities

• Operate cameras and editing equipment to produce high-quality video and audio for news broadcasts and digital platforms.
• Engage with the community to capture news stories, demonstrating a connection to the stories and the people they affect.
• Utilize creative editing and graphics to enhance storytelling, ensuring content is modern, clean, and distraction-free.
• Serve as a field producer & photographer on location, collaborating with the news team to plan and execute coverage.
• Identify opportunities for digital video content, including vertical video for social media, OTT, and website.
• Manage a complex shooting and editing schedule to meet deadlines ahead of time.
• Ensure brand consistency through the use of graphics, clean visuals, and on-screen text that align with our guidelines and storytelling needs.
• Act as a problem solver in the field, resolving technical issues under pressure and contributing to the team’s success under deadline constraints.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Key qualifications

• Prior years of professional news photography experience, showcasing exceptional non-linear editing, lighting, and production skills.
• Proficiency with ENG/SNG operations, familiar with [Edius editing v.7 (or newer systems)], and capable of operating microwave trucks. Satellite truck experience is a plus.
• A strong understanding of computer/IT workflows and File Transfer Protocols.
• Demonstrated capability in innovative storytelling, with a preference for NPPA-style reporting.
• Ability to work independently and make decisive judgments in the field.
• Strong news judgment and digital media savvy.
• Ability to lift and carry up to 50 lbs. of gear and shoulder an ENG camera for extended periods.
• Willingness to work evenings, weekends, and holidays as required, as well as be on-call for breaking news and travel for assignments.
• A collaborative attitude and excellent communication skills to work effectively with management, colleagues, and community members.
• A valid driver’s license and a clean driving record.

Preferred qualifications

• Broadcast Journalism/Production degree.
• Hold a Part 107 drone license and demonstrate proficiency with DSLR cameras and multi-camera shoots.
• Advanced proficiency with Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Cloud products, and creatively inclined to explore new technologies.
• Previous recognition for high performance in news gathering and news production.

Location:

WDIV

550 W Lafayette Blvd

Detroit, MI 48226

Contact Details: Please submit your updated resume and application to: Norman Fairhurst, Operations Manager, NFairhurst@wdiv.com.

Click HERE to download and complete employment application.

Additional information

Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening, investigative background check, employment/education verifications and reference checks.

No Phone Calls Please

WDIV is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, WDIV will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination.

Donors of all blood types are needed. The Red Cross said maintaining a reliable blood supply is essential for all patients, especially those with chronic and acute conditions such as sickle cell disease and cancer.

The blood drives will be held on April 21 and April 23.

Donors who give blood during these two days will receive a $50 coupon toward a Gardner White purchase of $399 or more and be entered to win a $500 Gardner White gift certificate. Donors who give by April 30 will receive a $15 e-gift card to a merchant of their choice.

Where to donate

The blood drives will be held at the following Gardner-White locations:

Tuesday, April 21, 11:30 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.

• Ann Arbor, 3725 Washtenaw, 48104
• Auburn Hills, 4445 N. Atlantic Blvd., 48326
• Cadillac, 2240 N. Mitchell, 49601
• Mt. Pleasant, 5260 E. Pickard Road, 48858
• Novi, 43825 West Oaks Drive, 48377
• Owosso, 1826 E M 21, 48867
• Taylor, 22035 Eureka Road, 48180

Thursday, April 23, 11:30 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.

• Canton, 41661 Ford Road, 48187
• Howell, 4101 E. Grand River, 48843
• Saginaw, 2660 Tittabawassee Road, 48604
• Shelby Township, 14055 Hall Road, 48315
• Warren, 6500 E. 14 Mile Road, 48092
• Waterford, 4945 Dixie Highway, 48329

How to make an appointment

You can make an appointment using the Red Cross Blood Donor app, visit RedCrossBlood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS -- using the code gardnerwhite.

Ackerman, 66, has served in that role since 2013, presiding over the rebirth of the conference following the decision a year earlier for the Big East to split. Ackerman led the negotiations that resulted in the return of UConn in 2020 from the American Athletic Conference.

“It’s been an extraordinary honor for me to serve as the Commissioner of one of the most prestigious and storied organizations in college sports,” Ackerman said in a statement. “I want to thank our Presidents for entrusting me with this one-of-a-kind leadership opportunity and for supporting the investments needed to maintain the Big East's stature and meet our schools’ high competitive and academic standards."

Big East men's basketball teams won four national championships during her tenure, with two by Villanova and two by UConn — more than any other Division I conference in that span. The UConn women's team won its 12th national title in 2025.

“Speaking on behalf of all the BIG EAST Presidents, we announce Commissioner Val Ackerman’s retirement with a tinge of sadness and deep gratitude,” said St. John’s president, the Rev. Brian J. Shanley, who is the chair of the conference's Board of Directors. “When we re-founded the BIG EAST in 2013 as a basketball-centric conference, our first task was to find a commissioner who could provide the strategic vision needed to position us as a basketball peer with the power football conferences and compete with the country’s best. We found that visionary leader in Val Ackerman."

She presided in the relocation of the conference headquarters to New York in 2014, and the Big East moved to the famed Empire State Building last year. Ackerman also ensured that the Big East men's basketball tournament will remain at Madison Square Garden until 2032, which would be the 50th anniversary of the event there. The women's tournament is set to be held at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut until 2029.

Before coming to the Big East, Ackerman was the first president of the WNBA when it was launched in 1997 and was in charge of the league for eight years. She also held positions including president at USA Basketball.

Ackerman played at Virginia and was a four-year starter, becoming the first 1,000-point scorer in program history.

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

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

Click the video above to get a first look at what guests can expect when they visit.

The testimony undercut a central allegation by prosecutors in the closely watched corruption trial of Nadiem Anwar Makarim, the co-founder of Gojek and the education minister at the time of the procurement. It took place during the transition to remote learning in schools when classrooms were forced to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Makarim, 41, was arrested in September following an investigation into the procurement of Chromebook laptops that prosecutors say caused $125 million in state losses.

Scott Beaumont, former president of Google Asia Pacific in 2019-2014, Caesar Sengupta, former general manager and vice president in 2018-2021, and William Florence, a former executive, testified at Jakarta’s Corruption Court on Monday via Zoom.

The case centers on the allegation that Makarim “enriched himself” in connection with the Chromebooks procurement in 2020-2021, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said he pressed Google to invest in PT Aplikasi Karya Anak Bangsa, known as PT AKAB, the parent company of Gojek.

Makarim, who was education minister in 2019-2024, allegedly favored Google’s Chromebook despite a ministry research team refusing to recommend the laptop model due to ineffectiveness in regions lacking internet access.

The purchase of more than 1.2 million Chromebooks was designed to strengthen Google’s dominance in Indonesia’s educational sector. The program was linked to Google's investments of about $787 million in PT AKAB through Google Asia Pacific, lead prosecutor Muhammad Fadli Paramajeng said.

Makarim received about 809 billion rupiah ($48.2 million) in connection with the program, prosecutors alleged.

Beaumont denied the allegation. “There was no connection at all between Google's investment in GoTo and any of the conversations with the Ministry of Education,” he told the panel of three judges. Makarim's Gojek merged with the country’s biggest e-commerce firm Tokopedia to form the GoTo Group in 2021.

Sengupta also denied the charges.

Google has previously stated that Chromebooks are designed for the realities of the classroom, including those in remote areas. While optimized for the cloud, they are offline-capable even without connectivity. It also said that Google licenses software and does not dictate Chromebooks’ pricing.

Makarim, a Harvard University graduate, co-founded Gojek in 2009, and remained until 2019, when the company was valued at over $10 billion. He stepped down to join the cabinet of former Indonesia President Joko Widodo.

Prosecutors allege his resignation from PT AKAB and Gojek was a “strategic concealment” to mask conflicts of interest while Makarim appointed close associates as directors and “beneficial owners,” allowing him to maintain indirect control over company decisions.

He faces a possible sentence of life imprisonment if found guilty.

Makarim has previously denied any wrongdoing, saying he did not personally receive funds from Chromebook procurement or related services. His defense argued that he divested from PT AKAB upon taking office, his wealth fell by more than 50% during his term and procurement decisions were made by technical teams and officials, not the minister.

The verdict could come as soon as this month. Two former Education Ministry officials and a former tech consultant also were charged in the case, while another staff member remains at large.

It happened at about 5 a.m. Monday, April 20. According to authorities, a Michigan State Police trooper attempted to pull over a stolen truck near the intersection of Outer Drive and Schoolcraft, but the truck sped off.

Police said the truck hit another vehicle and burst into flames. The trooper pulled the teen from the burning truck and rendered aid before the boy was transported to a hospital with a minor head injury.

The boy was taken into custody for possession of a stolen car and failing to stop for police. He was released to his mother as charges are pending.

In the latest religious rights case for the conservative-majority court, the justices will hear from Colorado's St. Mary Catholic Parish and the Archdiocese of Denver, which are supported by the Republican Trump administration.

The schools argue that Colorado is violating their religious rights by barring them from the taxpayer-funded universal preschool program over their faith-based admission policies. They say the state has allowed other preschools to prioritize children with disabilities or those from low-income families, so admission based on religious beliefs about gender and same-sex marriage should be allowed, too.

The state said that religious schools are welcome to participate but are required to follow nondiscrimination laws. Income and disability decisions are in line with those rules, Colorado said. The program was created by a 2020 ballot measure and provides public funding for preschool at schools selected by parents.

The plaintiffs are represented by the group Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which applauded the high court’s decision to take up the case.

“The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that states cannot exclude families from government benefits because of their faith. We’re confident the Court will say the same thing here and put a stop to Colorado’s no-Catholics-need-apply rules,” said Nicholas Reaves, a senior counsel at Becket.

As part of the case, which will be heard in the fall, the court will consider narrowing a landmark 1990 decision over the spiritual use of peyote, a cactus that contains a hallucinogen called mescaline. That opinion, written by conservative icon Justice Antonin Scalia, found religious practices don’t create exemptions from broadly applicable laws.

The justices declined a push from the schools, along with a Catholic family in Colorado, to overturn the ruling.

The high court recently has backed other claims of religious discrimination while taking a more skeptical view of LGBTQ+ rights.

The justices last month ruled against another law in Colorado that banned “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids after the measure was challenged by a Christian counselor.

Last year, the justices found that parents who have religious objections can pull their children from Maryland public school lessons that use LGBTQ+ storybooks. In 2022, the court found a high school football coach who knelt and prayed on the field after games was protected by the Constitution.

The court deadlocked, though, over a plan to establish a publicly funded Catholic charter school after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself.

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Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

Hundreds of outfits across the world are offering multiday trips where attendees pay for drug-assisted experiences claiming to promote psychological healing, personal growth and other benefits.

Many have safety procedures in place, but they still carry “potential for physical, psychological, and interpersonal harms,” researchers who surveyed dozens of retreats wrote in a recent paper in JAMA Network Open.

Currently no psychedelics have been federally approved in the U.S., although that may soon change. On Saturday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the Food and Drug Administration to accelerate reviews of psychedelics that show potential for conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder. The order also directs law enforcement agencies to quickly lower restrictions on any psychedelic approved by the FDA.

The only drug to come before the FDA thus far, MDMA, was rejected as a PTSD treatment in 2024 due to concerns about its safety and effectiveness.

Dr. John Krystal, a Yale School of Medicine psychiatrist who has followed the field, says psychedelics should be approached as “a serious medical procedure that carries risks that must be carefully managed.”

People who work in the field say today's retreats are far safer than those of prior decades, when psychedelic experiences were almost always conducted underground with few safety precautions.

“The sheer visibility of psychedelics has led to more demand for these retreats,” said Brad Burge, who has worked with psychedelic nonprofits, drugmakers and retreat operators for nearly 20 years. “That growing market has allowed retreats to expand their services, hire more medical and coaching staff and take safety more seriously than we've ever seen in the past.”

Here's what to know about the trend:

Psychedelic retreats are currently illegal in the US

Virtually all the drugs offered at retreats are illegal under U.S. federal law, including magic mushrooms, ayahuasca, MDMA and LSD.

Retreat companies will not always make that explicit or sometimes claim that they are protected by a rare legal exemption for religious organizations that traditionally use psychedelics.

But only a handful of groups have formally obtained that legal status, including the Native American Church, which uses peyote in its ceremonies.

Some retreats are held in countries that don’t restrict psychedelics, including Peru and Brazil, where ayahuasca — a psychedelic brew of Amazonian plants — has been used for centuries by Indigenous cultures.

No matter where they operate, experts say there are no industrywide standards or regulations for how participants are screened, prepared or monitored afterward.

“If there is no regulation, what does that mean about the quality of care you’re going to have?” said Joshua White, founder of the Fireside Project, which runs a hotline for people experiencing distress during psychedelic trips. ”I certainly fear that there could be a race to the bottom where there is no liability or accountability."

Safety procedures and staffing credentials vary

With essentially no oversight, potential attendees are on their own when vetting different options.

“It’s really important that somebody interested in a psychedelic retreat do their research, talk to the organizers or facilitators to get more information about what is being offered and how,” said Amy McGuire, a biomedical ethicist at Baylor College of Medicine and co-author of the JAMA Network Open study.

McGuire and her colleagues documented a wide range of practices, including some companies offering multiple psychedelic drugs over the course of their retreats.

Many retreats have health professionals on site, but their roles and responsibilities are often vague. In some cases, they take psychedelics alongside participants, which could impair their ability to respond in an emergency.

Important questions when evaluating retreats include:

— Do retreat staff have training and equipment to handle a medical emergency?

— Is there a hospital nearby and transportation to get there?

— Do staffers spend significant time helping participants prepare and process the experience?

Websites that compile user reviews, such as Retreat.guru, are one source for this information.

Screening for risky medical conditions is not rigorous

One of the most important safety steps happens before any retreat begins: screening out people with serious medical conditions who shouldn't take psychedelics.

More than half the retreats surveyed for the study excluded participants with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

“Psychedelic drugs may worsen symptoms of psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia,” noted Krystal, who was not involved in the research. “It is important that patients are carefully screened to ensure that appropriate patients enter treatment.”

Significantly, all the retreats said they rely on potential customers to truthfully disclose their medical history and health conditions.

That approach carries risks, the authors noted, since people suffering from severe afflictions may withhold information if they think it could stop them from attending.

"When you’re really desperate and hoping to access something that you think could help you, there’s an incentive not to be truthful,” McGuire said.

Discontinuing medications is common

Another potentially risky practice: Nearly 90% of the surveyed retreats require or recommend that attendees stop taking certain medications, including antidepressants, before using psychedelics. These so-called “washout periods" ranged from one day to six weeks before the psychedelic experience.

Medical experts say safely tapering off antidepressants like Prozac can take six to 12 weeks and requires professional supervision.

"The patient needs to realize that by going off their medicine they’re at greater risk of recurrence or exacerbation of their symptoms,” said Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, a Columbia University psychiatrist. “They should be monitored regularly to make sure nothing bad happens.”

The rationale for halting antidepressants comes from research that combining those drugs with psychedelics may cause excess levels of serotonin, a brain chemical that influences mood, sleep and other functions.

But retreat operators may also be trying to make sure the medications don’t dull the intensity of the psychedelic experience, according to McGuire.

“There’s a business rationale for wanting people to have the maximum experience when they show up and they’re paying for these retreats,” she said.

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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.

Hug's fourth consecutive win in Boston puts him into second place all-time in Boston men’s wheelchair history, behind only South African great Ernst van Dyk’s record 10 titles between 2001 and 2014. American racer Daniel Romanchuk was second in 1:22:44, followed by Jetze Plat of the Netherlands in 1:24:13.

In the women’s race, Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Britain earned her second win in Boston, crossing the finish line in 1:30:51. Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland was second in 1:32:59 and Tatyana McFadden of the United States was third in 1:36:43.

American racer Susannah Scaroni, the 2023 and 2025 champion, did not defend her title. She is expecting her first child.

Hug jumped in front of the field quickly, building a 13-second advantage over David Weir of Britain three miles into the race. That lead grew to 55 seconds by the halfway point.

Since winning the Berlin Marathon in 2022, Hug has lost only one of the seven world major titles, when he finished second at the New York Marathon in 2024.

The race came on a clear morning with starting temperatures in the low 40s.

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

The 47-year-old Muskegon County man, who decided to stay anonymous, won the $1 million Millionaire Raffle top prize in the March 26 drawing, according to Michigan Lottery officials.

This comes after the lucky player won half of a $733,968 jackpot ($366,984) in February 2025.

He bought both tickets on the Michigan Lottery’s website.

“I really liked the odds of the Millionaire Raffle game, so I bought several tickets,” the player told Michigan Lottery officials. “I won a $366,984 Fantasy 5 jackpot prize just over a year ago, so when I logged into my Lottery account and saw a notification that I’d won the $1 million Millionaire Raffle prize, I was in total disbelief that I’d won big again!

At first, he thought the message might be a mistake.

“I honestly thought it was some sort of technical error where an incorrect prize notification was sent, so I decided to check back in the morning,” the lucky player said. “I logged in the next day, and to my surprise, the $1 million prize was still pending in my account. I’m still trying to process that I’m here again claiming another huge prize!”

The Muskegon County man said he plans to invest his winnings.

Lottery officials said that the Millionaire Raffle game has since ended. A total of 100,000 tickets were sold, and the drawing took place after all tickets were purchased.

The game featured one $1 million top prize and 100 prizes of $1,000.

More than 60 nations sent representatives to Brussels for talks with Palestinian representatives on stability, security and long-term peace.

The European Union has largely been on the sidelines in the Middle East despite being the biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and backing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A majority of EU member countries now recognize an independent Palestinian state after many expressed outrage over Israeli actions in Gaza. The 27-nation bloc is also Israel’s top trading partner and a major buyer of Israeli weapons.

But the EU had no role in negotiating the October ceasefire in Gaza that took effect after two years of war. And European moves to condemn or sanction some Israeli actions frequently had been vetoed by Orbán.

Now Hungary's next leader, Péter Magyar, is indicating he will act differently from Orbán on Israel. And some leaders critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, like Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, are pushing for decisive action.

Challenging Europe's agreement with Israel

Magyar has said he would seek “pragmatic relations” with Israel but also rejoin the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over Gaza. Orbán defied that warrant while hosting Netanyahu in 2025, then started the process of Hungary leaving the world’s only court for war crimes and genocide.

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

After the Brussels meeting, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that without Orbán's veto action could be coming soon, such as imposing sanctions on violent Israeli settlers.

“We have 27 countries and 26 countries want to put violent settlers sanctions in place,” she said. “The one who doesn’t want the sanctions on violent settlers has gotten their upper hand. Now, this country had elections, and we’ll have a new government.”

The Spanish prime minister wants the EU to suspend its long-standing Association Agreement with Israel and has said Spain will make a formal proposal at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting on Tuesday.

However, a suspension seems unlikely because countries such as Austria and Germany tend to back Israel.

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

Other action, such as targeted sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank, could be approved if a “qualified majority” — 15 of the 27 nations representing at least 65% of the EU's population — agree.

Ongoing attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and continued devastation in Gaza, have dimmed the prospect for a two-state solution, said Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot ahead of Monday's meeting.

“The two-state solution is being made more difficult by the day,” Prévot said. “But Belgium and many European and Arab partners continue to believe that this remains the only realistic path to a lasting peace, for Israelis, for Palestinians and for the stability of the entire region.”

Palestinian prime minister calls for unity

Gaza requires “one state, one government, one law and one goal,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa said in Brussels.

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

He also called for “the gradual and responsible collection of arms from all armed groups and also the full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.” The disarmament of Hamas is a major challenge in next steps for the ceasefire in Gaza.

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

The EU has avoided directly joining the Board of Peace created by the Trump administration to tackle Gaza, preferring the multilateralism of the United Nations and global legal norms. But the bloc is eager to not be sidelined in diplomacy in the Middle East, just across the Mediterranean.

During the Brussels meeting, Mustafa said he had met for the first time Nikolay Mladenov in the Bulgarian diplomat's role as the Trump-appointed director of Board of Peace. He said he pressed Mladenov on ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza, increasing humanitarian assistance and security in the coastal enclave. “We see eye to eye on many things, and I think that we will be meeting again in the near future,” Mustafa said.

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

Williams' agency, Elite Loyalty Sports, announced the deal that includes $37 million of fully guaranteed money and a $22 million signing bonus. Williams had been owed about $33 million this season in the final year of a three-year, $82.3 million deal he had signed before the 2024 season before agreeing to the new contract.

The 49ers got the deal done on the first day of their offseason program and three days before the start of the draft. San Francisco has the 27th pick in the first round and had been linked to some tackles but that could be less of a priority now that Williams is under contract for two more seasons.

Williams turns 38 in July but is still playing at a high level after making the Pro Bowl and earning second-team All-Pro honors.

San Francisco originally acquired Williams from Washington for a third and fifth-round pick during the 2020 draft and re-signed him to a six-year, $138.1 million contract the following offseason. The sides did a reworked three-year deal just before the start of the 2024 season after Williams held out of training camp.

There was much less drama this time around as the two sides came to the agreement before the start of the offseason program.

Williams is coming off his 12th Pro Bowl season — the most for any offensive tackle — and is two shy of tying Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews’ record for any offensive lineman.

Williams made three straight All-Pro teams from 2021-23 before being hampered by injuries in 2024. He was healthy for most of last season, playing 16 games for the first time since 2013.

Williams’ 40 pressures allowed last season were his most since his rookie season with Washington in 2010, according to Pro Football Focus, but he still remained one of the top left tackles in the game in both run and pass blocking.

The 49ers have not drafted a tackle with a Day 1 or Day 2 draft pick since acquiring Williams from Washington during the 2020 draft, leaving the team with no obvious succession plan for when Williams’ tenure in San Francisco is finished.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Women advance innovation and creativity in whiskey

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The large-scale drills will expand this year to include new full-time participants including Japan and Canada, which have signed visiting forces agreements with Manila, the Philippine military said.

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

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

Nearly 10,000 U.S. military personnel will take part in the drills, a major deployment that U.S. military officials said underscores Washington’s commitment to Asia.

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

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

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

In Beijing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun warned, without mentioning the United States, that bringing foreign forces with a record of impunity to the region could spark confrontation.

“Unilateralism and military bullying have already brought profound disasters to the world,” he said. “What the Asia-Pacific region needs most is peace and stability, and what it least needs is the introduction of external forces to create division and confrontation.”

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

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

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

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

Japan is deploying a 1,400-member contingent to the Balikatan this year, its biggest since joining in the past as an observer nation, Japanese and Philippine military officials said.

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

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

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AP journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila, Philippines and Huizhong Wu in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Clad only in her signature corsetry that binds the flesh, Stark stood in the midst of a circle as the cameras captured all angles of her body, simultaneously — part of an intricate process known as photogrammetry. The goal: to scan her body and build a mannequin — three, actually — for display in one of the world’s top museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And at the Met Gala, no less.

“It was definitely a bit nerve-wracking,” recalls Stark of the “intimate and vulnerable” experience. But, she quips, “something about being naked on a 40-degree (Celsius) day in a corset that isn’t hiding anything kind of takes the awkwardness away from the situation, actually.”

The mannequins, and others based on real-life models like Stark, will be featured in “Costume Art,” the upcoming spring exhibit at the museum’s Costume Institute that's launched by the starry May 4 gala. It’s part of an effort to add an element of body positivity to a show that examines the dressed body in art over the centuries, says curator Andrew Bolton.

Making room for body types that art has ignored

Bolton notes that the classic fashion mannequin is usually around a women’s size 2. The idea of these new mannequins, which will accompany the more traditional ones, is to stress that in the history of art, certain body types have been ignored or excluded — the corpulent body, the disabled body or the aging body, for example. But they, too, are part of the story. (The show comprises about 400 items — half art objects, and half garments from the museum’s collection, displayed in pairs.)

The aim was “to challenge a history of museum mannequin display that’s very much characterized by thin, abled and standardized bodies,” Bolton says. Rather than simply adapt existing mannequins, curators wanted to base the new mannequins “on a diverse range of real bodies with real, lived experiences.”

So, along with Stark, Bolton recruited models like Sinéad Burke, the Irish disability activist who was born with dwarfism; Aimee Mullins, the athlete, actor, model and activist who wears prosthetic lower legs; and Aariana Rose Philip, a musician and model who uses a wheelchair, among others. Nine real-life models were used to create 18 new mannequins. Seven additional mannequins represent shapes like the pregnant body and the thin male body but aren’t based on real people.

And these 25 new mannequins will not be consigned — as some are — to retirement after the show, which opens to the public May 10. When “Costume Art” ends in January 2027, they'll join the museum’s permanent collection, for future use.

This element of permanence is exciting to Stark, who has created looks for Beyoncé and has her own, body-positive line of lingerie called Panty. Her three mannequins will be wearing her own designs, and will appear in the Reclaimed Body and Corpulent Body sections.

Stark has long used corsetry techniques in unconventional ways. While corsets have traditionally been used to mold the body to classic ideas of beauty, Stark uses the same techniques “to actually emphasize those parts of the body that we’ve been conditioned to hide. It’s using the corsets to bring back power to the female form.”

Highlighting body positivity while the fashion industry is turning away

The designer feels her participation in the Met’s exhibit could not come at a more crucial moment — a time when the industry’s commitment to body positivity appears to be fading.

“It’s a really interesting moment in time for the Met to be doing this show because obviously we’ve seen the complete rapid decline of the body positivity industry,” she says. “Designers left, right, and center are just starting more and more to refuse to work with plus-size models.” Her own experience is backed up by a recent Vogue Business Size Inclusivity Report, which cited a decline in plus sizes on the runways of four major Fashion Week cities for the Fall/Winter 2026 season.

Burke concurs, calling that decline “shameful and embarrassing.”

Her organization, Tilting the Lens, aims to place disabled people in positions of power and leadership across the industry — “whether they are creative directors and designers, whether they’re CEOs, whether they are chief marketing officers,” she says.

Burke, who will attend the Met Gala as a member of the host committee, modeled for two mannequins, both to be shown in the Disabled Body section — one in a Burberry trench coat made for her, and the other in a dress by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren.

“You stood in this cage of cameras,” she said of the modeling experience. “It’s deeply uncomfortable and really vulnerable in the sense that you are in your skin and in very little else ... your body is photographed, observed, recorded from every angle, angles which you yourself may not even be familiar with.”

Nonetheless, she welcomes participation in the show, and especially the opportunity to consult with the museum on ways to present disabled people. That includes the language used. “There’s so many ways in which we could have called the disabled body something else, using euphemisms that create a distance from being disabled,” she said.

Burke is also involved in training the guides and volunteers at the museum, who can help to “make people feel seen, challenge people gently, and have a broader conversation about the connection between embodiment, fashion and art.”

Visitors can see themselves in the mannequins

The scanning process for models like Stark and Burke, at a Brooklyn company called New York Capture, was just the beginning. Artist Frank Benson then used the scans to create a sort of digital clay, molded to better display the garments. Then, the digital information went to a company in Italy, Bonaveri, to create the actual mannequins.

And there's another unique aspect to all the mannequins — just over 200 — in “Costume Art”: They've been fitted with a polished steel surface akin to a mirror, in which visitors can see themselves.

The idea, Bolton says, is that you’re looking not only at the person the mannequin is meant to embody, but also yourself.

In addition, about a third of the mannequins are placed on pedestals, with the others at ground level. Burke’s mannequin is one of those placed on a pedestal, and Bolton says that’s intentional.

“Andrew, my entire life, I’ve been looked down on, both literally and metaphorically,” he says the activist told him. She was, he said, very humbled at the idea that people would now — literally — look up to her.

The exhibit will include plenty of classical body shapes, of course, and Bolton stresses that the idea “is not to reject what came before.”

“We’re using it as an opportunity to add new voices and new silhouettes and new presences,” he says. “The figures don’t deny the past, but in a way, I suppose they complete the picture.”

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For more coverage of the 2026 Met Gala, visit https://apnews.com/hub/met-gala.

Dwayne Darrell Proctor, who was going 105 mph when he ran a red light and slammed into a vehicle at Grand River Avenue and Telegraph Road, entered his guilty plea on April 17 in Wayne County Circuit Court, according to court records.

He pleaded guilty to reckless driving causing death and reckless driving causing serious impairment of a body function. Three other charges, including second-degree murder and two counts of operating under the influence, were dismissed as part of the disposition.

Proctor is scheduled to be sentenced on May 8, 2026, before Judge Nicholas Hathaway.

Previous coverage --> Driver charged in fatal 105 MPH crash on Detroit’s west side

Background

The collision killed a 68-year-old woman and critically injured a 44-year-old woman, who were both inside the vehicle Proctor struck.

Witness video captured the scene as first responders worked to free both victims from the wreckage. Surveillance footage from a nearby business recorded the moment of impact, showing smoke billowing from both vehicles.

A 4-year-old child was in the car with Proctor at the time of the crash and did not suffer serious injuries, according to court records.

Officers reported smelling alcohol on Proctor. Proctor himself suffered significant injuries in the crash, including multiple spinal fractures and a collapsed lung.

Court records show Proctor had a history of traffic violations before the deadly crash. In February 2025, he was charged with reckless driving and pleaded down to drag racing. In April 2025, he was charged with driving with a suspended license, and in May 2025, the month before the fatal crash, he was charged with careless driving.

At his arraignment, Judge Hathaway cited Proctor’s record when denying him a personal bond.

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There is a case to be made that Pope Leo XIV, the careful, reserved, Midwestern Augustinian, found his voice on his epic trip through Africa, blasting the “handful of tyrants” and “chains of corruption” that have held parts of the continent hostage for centuries.

But the fact is, Leo has been preaching this kind of message for a while now, including in the context of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. It just took U.S. President Donald Trump’s unprecedented broadside and Vice President JD Vance's claims of theological superiority for many people to pay attention, especially American Catholics.

“Yes, Pope Leo might give the impression that he is engaging, in his quiet way and with authority, and this is how it looks to the world press and social media,” Cardinal Michael Czerny, a top Vatican official and aide to Leo, told The Associated Press.

“But in fact the Holy Father’s homilies and talks in Africa have been prepared, well in advance, in terms of the local African reality and the church," Czerny said. "So, if they seem relevant to the current wars, controversy, this reminds us of Jesus saying, ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear!’”

Leo tried to make that point when he came to the back of Air Pope One on April 18, en route from Cameroon to Angola, and complained that “a certain narrative” had taken hold suggesting he was in a feud with Trump over the Iran war and his peace messages in Africa were directed at the president.

Leo insisted his words about tyrants and the religious justification for war had been wrongly interpreted and he was referring only to the African context, and to a separatist conflict in western Cameroon, in particular.

The thin line of the pope's explanation

But Leo also was trying to have it both ways. Yes, he was talking about the separatist conflict at a peace meeting in Bamenda. Yes, he was preaching the Gospel message of peace and fraternity. But he also has been talking about Trump, a lot.

“That distancing of Pope Leo from some interpretations was really a move to de-escalate a very dangerous situation,” said Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology at Trinity College Dublin. “Because the Vatican needs the United States to restore some kind of peaceful — not order — but a horizon of peace, a hope of peace.”

Leo criticized Trump, directly, before he got to Africa. And in one remarkable comment two weeks ago, he encouraged the faithful to contact their congressional representatives to demand an end to the war.

The headline from the April 7 encounter outside Leo's country house in Castel Gandolfo was that Leo had called Trump’s threat to annihilate Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable.”

But the more significant message followed. “I would invite the citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war,” Leo said.

Faggioli termed the comment “the Vatican’s nuclear option,” making a direct appeal to U.S. voters to take a stand, because it genuinely feared Trump was about to take the Iran war in a vastly more catastrophic direction.

What came before Leo's unprecedented appeal

The Holy See had never resorted to such a directly political message from a pope even at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when a Catholic president — John F. Kennedy — was on the verge of a nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union, Faggioli said.

At that moment, Pope John XXIII did make a public appeal — his famous Oct. 25, 1962, radio address — with a strong, direct plea for peace including to “those who have the responsibility of power” to “do everything in their power to save the peace.”

The pope also sent private letters to Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and worked behind the scenes through diplomatic channels to de-escalate the situation. But he didn't urge U.S. voters to essentially choose which Catholic to listen to: their president or their pope.

“What is at stake now is that at a time of war, loyalties of Catholics are tested in a particular way,” Faggioli said. He added that however the situation ultimately resolves itself, the tension will complicate any future political aspirations of Catholics seeking high office, whether Vance on the Republican side or California Gov. Gavin Newsom on the Democratic side, as long as a U.S.-born pope is still in Rome.

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the Global Catholic Research Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, said Leo has consistently operated “on a higher plane” but American Catholics are used to church discussion of morality in the context of sexuality, gender and abortion, and it's jarring to process foreign policy through a moral lens.

“So JD Vance can say the pope should stick to morality," she said, “but war and peace are ancient moral issues.”

The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, the under-secretary in the Vatican’s culture department, said Leo is continuing in the tradition of popes past to preach the Gospel message of peace. What has changed, he said, was how Trump reacted.

“The strong reaction arrived from America," he said. "It was America that reacted to Leo’s words, and not vice versa.”

Even with his direct comments about Trump, Leo was not engaging in an attack, Spadaro said.

“It’s very dangerous to imagine that the pope is fighting with Trump, because it means demeaning the pope to a level of contrast, one against the other, which Trump may want but that the pope has no intention of doing," he said.

New role, same Leo, Vatican official says

Spadaro added that from his perch, Leo hasn't changed at all from when he was known as Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary priest.

“I see the Prevost I’ve always seen,” Spadaro said. “Let’s say it’s the backdrop that has changed, so his calm yet very direct style stands in stark contrast to a chaotic scenario, and that’s why it’s striking.”

For better or worse, the incredible saga of Trump, the war and geopolitics seems far removed from Leo’s day-to-day ministering to his flock in Africa, who have turned out in droves to welcome the American pope in each stop on his four-nation tour.

The polyglot pope has made it easy for them to hear his words, delivering speeches, homilies and prayers in the languages of the faithful: French in Algeria, English and French in Cameroon, Portuguese in Angola and, starting Tuesday, Spanish in Equatorial Guinea.

Lucineia Francisco left her family behind on Sunday so she could see Leo at the Shrine of Mama Muxima, Angola’s most popular pilgrimage destination. Some 30,000 people turned out for Leo’s rosary prayer.

“My kids were crying to come, but I said no,” Francisco said. “This is a spiritual journey that I’m really going to face on my own.”

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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.

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This version corrects the title for Rev. Antonio Spadaro, the under-secretary in the Vatican’s culture department

Puts into perspective the kind of roll Tyler Reddick is on right now.

The driver for the 23XI Racing team co-owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan picked up his fifth win of the season on Sunday, when he made a last-lap pass of reigning series champ and defending race winner Kyle Larson to win at Kansas Speedway.

It wasn't just Reddick's fifth win of the season. It was his fifth through nine races, a pace matched only four times in NASCAR's top series, and not since Dale Earnhardt started off the 1987 season that way. Earnhardt went on to win six more times while claiming the third of his seven championships, and there's little to make it seem that Reddick can't do the same thing.

“I mean, it's early,” Reddick said after joining Jordan in a post-race celebration. “Certainly over these next 17 races (before the playoffs), the ones that are missing it a little bit here and there are going to start hitting. I think the competition will certainly continue to tighten up as we get through this year. We've done a really good job of making the most of our days."

Scoring a lot of points, too. The revamped postseason structure means that whomever is leading before the Chase begins gets a huge advantage, and Reddick already has a big lead over Hamlin and the rest of the field in that regard.

“We’ll just try and get as comfortable a lead as possible,” he said. “If we can maintain a gap like this as we get further into the season, hopefully it puts us in position to try and steal some more wins if it’s split-strategy calls middle of the race or late in the race.”

It's not just Reddick that is running on all cylinders, though. His entire team is on a roll.

Bubba Wallace ran near the front most of Sunday and finished fifth. Riley Herbst was 14th, one spot ahead of Corey Heim, who made a spot start in the No. 67 car for the first time since the season-opening Daytona 500 yet was every bit as quick.

That's pretty strong stuff for a race team that is in just its sixth season.

“I think the missing part has been really executing across the board,” 23XI president Steve Lauletta said. "Our pit crews have taken a big step forward. Everybody worked really hard in the offseason to refine our processes and our communication.

“We're only what, nine races into our sixth season? Still a lot of work to do be done.”

Yet the work is clearly paying off.

After winning three times in 2024, Reddick was shut out entirely last year. Wallace won the team's only race at the Brickyard 400, and an organization that seemed to be ascending suddenly appeared to have leveled off a bit.

Now, 23XI is on an entirely different level. One that nobody else seems to be matching.

“I mean, again, super gratifying,” Lauletta said. “It wasn't just (Reddick) not winning, right? Just as an organization, we only won one race. It was the Brickyard, which was great. There was no heads being hung. It was just more the attitude of, ‘We’ve got to get to work,' and that was across the board. ... A lot of really good things are happening overall that started with the work that we needed to do in the offseason to kind of make sure we would be where we wanted to be as an organization this year.”

Where they wanted to be was up front. Reddick is putting them there every week.

It's not just the five wins, either. He was in contention to win a couple of weeks ago at Bristol before finishing fourth, had another top-10 run at Phoenix, and has finished in the top 15 and on the lead lap in each of the first nine races this season.

Next up is Talladega, too, where Reddick won just a couple of years ago.

“When you win,” Jordan said Sunday, “it's always fun. Right now it's fun for everybody at 23XI. Me being here (in Kansas) and being able to see all the wins, I'm so happy for the team. I just think we need to continually build on this, without a doubt.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

With all the ballots counted on Monday, results showed the Progressive Bulgaria coalition receiving 44.6% of the vote, some 30 percentage points ahead of the center-right GERB party of veteran leader Boyko Borissov and the pro-Western reformist bloc led by the We Continue the Change party. Those parties ran almost neck and neck, scoring 13.4% and 12.6% respectively. Borissov conceded defeat and congratulated Radev.

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

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Monday congratulated Radev on his election victory.

“Bulgaria is a proud member of the European family and plays an important role in tackling our common challenges. I look forward to working together, for the prosperity and security of Bulgaria and Europe,” she posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Radev promises a “European path” but with conditions

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

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

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

Maria Simeonova, head of the Sofia Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that although as president Radev often expressed pro-Russian statements, prompting comparisons to a “new Orbán,” given his landslide victory at home, he is likely to now seek external legitimacy through building relationships with other European leaders.

"Radev is unlikely to openly adopt an Orbán-style rhetoric, at least in his engagement with European counterparts. His criticism — particularly regarding financial and military support for Ukraine or sanctions against Russia — will be aimed primarily at the domestic audience,” said Simeonova.

Radev left the presidency to bid to be prime minister

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

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

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

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

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

Vessela Tcherneva, Deputy Director of the Berlin-based European Council on Foreign Relations, said that the most important task for Radev’s government will not be foreign policy but rather freeing Bulgarian institutions from the control of Borissov and the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Delyan Peevski, an oligarch sanctioned for corruption by the US and Britain.

“For that he would get support from the reformist pro-European coalition We Continue the Change in parliament,” Tcherneva added.

Maybe this means an end to years of fragmented parliaments

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

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

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

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

Over the weekend, evacuation orders were lifted, and people were able to return home.

With a bit of a dry spell on the way, most waters should be going down, but there are still flood risks in the area.

Lt. Ashley Miller, the Public Information Officer for the 7th District of the Michigan State Police, joined Local 4 Live to talk about the latest update on the water levels.

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

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

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

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

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

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

An indefinite deployment drags on

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Guard presence absent from public discourse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With DC's limited autonomy, pushback is a challenge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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This story has been corrected to show the spelling of the Free DC co-founder’s surname is Chatterjee, not Chatterjay.

For the first time since Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades engulfed his apartment building in November, Mak stepped into his former home again Monday. His social worker had previously shown him a photo of the devastation.

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

After the return visit to his charred home on the first floor with his family, the 78-year-old was left disappointed.

“All things were burned and turned into ashes,” Mak said.

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

Hong Kong Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk said over 1,400 people registered for the return are 65 or older, public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong reported. He said over 260 people returned to the complex Monday and police received some requests for help from residents who suspected their assets had been lost.

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

Loss of valuables in the ruins

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

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

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

There were many items in Mak’s apartment that the family cherished and longed to retrieve: a fishing rod Mak’s son bought him as a gift, wedding photos from half a century ago, letters from their son. All of them were destroyed. They were able to retrieve some charred photo albums with pages stuck together and faces damaged beyond recognition.

Mak's wife, Kit Chan, 74, likened their home to ruins. A box that stored her jewelry including two diamond rings was empty and she suspected theft. The family reported their losses to the authorities.

“My mood is not so good because when I think of valuable, worth remembering items, they are all lost,” she said, pointing to a red cloth with guest signatures from her wedding.

Other residents found items including a painting, wedding rings and a damaged jewelry box.

Former residents have complex feelings

Steven Chung said the staircases were blackened when he climbed several flights and found some valuable belongings he wanted to retrieve. But he had concerns beyond his possessions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mixed responses to resettlement offers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams announced the deal Sunday after agreeing to it Saturday night pending a physical.

Cincinnati then signed Lawrence to an extension that pays him an average of $28 million through the 2028 NFL season, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Giants now have the fifth and 10th picks for the draft that begins Thursday night. They’re heading into their first draft under coach John Harbaugh after finishing 4-13 last season.

The Bengals paid a hefty price for the 28-year-old Lawrence, who asked for a trade because he wanted a new contract. He was set to make roughly $20 million each of the next two seasons and is now under contract for three more.

“I know they gave up a lot for me, and I appreciate that. I don’t take that for granted. I have a fire in me,” Lawrence said Sunday at Paycor Stadium, according to the Bengals' website.

Barring a trade, it’ll be the first time Cincinnati doesn’t have a first-round pick since 1989, when the Bengals traded the next-to-last pick in the draft (No. 27) to Atlanta for a second-round pick (No. 35), a fourth (No. 89) and a 10th (No. 256).

The 6-foot-4, 340-pound Lawrence had a career-high nine sacks in 2024 but only registered a half-sack last season. He made the Pro Bowl in 2022-24 and was a second-team Associated Press All-Pro in 2022 and 2023.

The Bengals ranked near the bottom in several defensive categories last season. They were 31st in yards allowed, 30th in points allowed and 30th against the run.

With Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins leading a dynamic offense, improving the defense was a must this offseason. Lawrence gives Cincinnati a proven star in the middle of the defensive line, though the cost was steep.

The Giants will be the 22nd team in the common draft era (since 1967) to have two top-10 picks and the fifth in the last five years. They did it in 2022 with Kayvon Thibodeaux (fifth) and Evan Neal (seventh). The Bears took Caleb Williams first and Rome Odunze ninth in 2024. The Texans selected C.J. Stroud second and Will Anderson Jr. third in 2023. The Jets got Sauce Gardner fourth and Garrett Wilson 10th in 2022.

On Tuesday, Giants general manager Joe Schoen said the team was having productive talks with Lawrence’s camp.

“We’d like for Dexter to be here, and at some point we’ll come to a resolution here, whatever that may be,” Schoen said. “We’ll see. But conversations have been really good, they’ve been productive and we’ll see what happens here down the road.”

But owning two top-10 picks was too good to pass up.

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AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow and AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy contributed to this report.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The finalists

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MVP

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

Coach of the Year

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

Rookie of the Year

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

Defensive Player of the Year

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

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

Clutch Player

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

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

Sixth Man of the Year

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

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

Most Improved Player

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

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

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

The ALA on Monday issued its annual list of the books most challenged at the country's libraries, part of the association's State of America's Libraries Report. Patricia McCormick's “Sold,” a 2006 novel about sex trafficking in India, topped the list for 2025. Others targeted include Stephen Chbosky's high school novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Maia Kobabe's graphic memoir “Gender Queer” and Sarah J. Maas' romantasy favorite “Empire of Storms.”

The ALA usually features 10 books, but this year has 11, with four tied for eighth place: Anthony Burgess' dystopian classic “A Clockwork Orange,” Ellen Hopkins' sibling drama “Identical,” John Green's boarding school narrative “Looking for Alaska” and Jennifer L. Armentrout's paranormal romance “Storm and Fury.”

Objections include LGBTQ+ themes (“Gender Queer,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”), sexual violence (“Sold” and “A Clockwork Orange”) and use of alcohol and cigarettes (“Looking for Alaska”). Overall, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom recorded challenges to 4,235 different works, topped only by 4,240 in 2023 since the association began keeping track more than 30 years ago.

The association defines a challenge as “an attempt to have a library resource removed, or access to it restricted, based on the objections of a person or group.” Monday's list arrives during National Library Week, which runs through April 25.

“Libraries exist to make space for every story and every lived experience,” ALA President Sam Helmick said in a statement. “As we celebrate National Library Week, we reaffirm that libraries are places for knowledge, for access, and for all.”

The ALA compiles its survey through media accounts and submissions from libraries. The actual numbers are likely much higher because many incidents are never reported, the association acknowledges.

For decades, challenges to a given book came from a parent or another member of a local community. But in recent years, the ALA has found, the trend has shifted sharply to government officials and such conservative activists as Moms for Liberty, who advocate “parental choice” in deciding what schools and libraries should make available.

Florida, Texas and Utah are among the many states that have called for books to be banned or passed restrictive legislation. In Iowa, an appellate court ruled earlier this month that the state can enforce a law that limits teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ topics with students in kindergarten through the sixth grade and bans some books.

Last year, more than 90% of challenges arose from activists and government officials, according to the ALA, compared to 72% in 2024.

“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” Sarah Lamdan, executive director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a statement. “They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign.”

Lamdan told The Associated Press that activists circulate lists of targeted books nationwide. Echoing a report last year from PEN America that tallied multiple bannings of “Sold,” “A Clockwork Orange” and other books, the ALA found that actual removals — more than 5,600 — well exceeded the number of books challenged.

“I think this reflects the reality that these lists are getting disseminated widely,” Lamdan said. “You can see video footage from various library board meetings where the same books are singled out over and over again.”

The ALA's list of the most challenged books of 2025

1. “Sold” by Patricia McCormick

2. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky

3. “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe

4. “Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas

5. (tie) “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo

5. (tie) “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins

7. “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas

8. (tie) “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess

8. (tie) “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins

8. (tie) “Looking for Alaska” by John Green

8. (tie) “Storm and Fury” by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Mitch Winehouse, who was administrator of this daughter's estate, sued Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay in the High Court over the $1.2 million (890,000 pounds) they earned at auction in the U.S. from items he claimed they did not have the right to sell.

Amy Winehouse was 27 when she died from alcohol poisoning in her London house in 2011.

Parry, who was also Winehouse's stylist, and Gourlay said they either owned or were given the 150 items that included dresses, shoes, scarves, earrings and purses.

Parry earned $878,000 — including $243,200 from the silk minidress Winehouse wore at her final performance in Belgrade, Serbia — for the 56 items she sold at Julien's Auctions in Los Angeles in 2021, the court said. Gourley earned $344,000 for 85 items.

Parry applauded the decision by Deputy Judge Sarah Clarke to dismiss Mitch Winehouse's claim that the two were not entitled to sell the items and did so without his knowledge.

“The High Court has cleared my name, unequivocally and in full, after years of deeply damaging and unfounded allegations brought by Mitch Winehouse,” Parry said in a statement. “This was not a partial outcome or a matter of nuance. The claim has failed entirely. It should never have been brought.”

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

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

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

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

Counterterrorism police are investigating the series of incidents, which began on March 23 when an arson attack destroyed four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity that serves people of all faiths in north London. No one has been injured in the incidents.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said he “shares the country’s shock at the recent antisemitic attacks.”

“He stands with the Jewish community and he is determined to do more to give them the security they deserve," his spokesman, Dave Pares, said Monday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Austria 's health minister told parents, kindergartens and day care centers to use utmost caution when feeding young children HiPP. The company recalled some of its baby food jars because samples there as well as in Slovakia and the Czech Republic tested positive for rat poison.

Authorities believe tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-old children that were sold at SPAR supermarkets in Austria. The first sample tested positive on Saturday.

On Monday, Austrian authorities said they were searching for a second jar of baby food that may have poison. It may have been sold at a Spar supermarket in the eastern town of Eisenstadt, Austrian news agency APA reported.

“It is deeply disturbing that someone is apparently willing to endanger the health of babies for criminal motives,” Health Minister Korinna Schumann told APA.

Slovakia and Czech Republic take action

In the Czech Republic, two jars of HiPP baby food that tested positive for the poison were found in a store in the city of Brno. The state prosecution in Brno confirmed the find but did not give further details, citing a police investigation.

The Germany-based HiPP said that besides Czechia, contaminated jars were discovered in Slovakia. The company said that “retail partners in both countries have already removed all jars of HiPP baby food from sale as a precaution.”

Slovak police said they were investigating suspicious jars from a store in the city of Dunajska Streda.

Slovenia began preemptively withdrawing all HiPP products from shelves of Spar and other supermarkets, its health inspectorate said.

Austrian authorities also reached out to Hungarian officials, saying a poisoned jar may have been purchased by people living in the border region near Eisenstadt.

Poisoned jars likely have white sticker with a red circle

Burgenland Police in Austria said the suspicious products likely have a white sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar. Other warning signs include a damaged or opened lid and an unusual or spoiled smell. There might not be a popping noise when the jar is first opened.

The Burgenland public prosecutor’s office was investigating the case as “intentional endangerment of the public.”

HiPP last week said the recall “is not due to any product or quality defect on our part. The jars left our HiPP facility in perfect condition.”

HiPP said it was recalling all of its baby food jars sold at Austria's SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution.

Rat poison typically includes bromadiolone, which prevents blood from clotting, according to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety. Ingesting rat poison could lead to bleeding gums and nosebleeds as well as bruising and blood in the stool.

Symptoms could appear two to five days after ingestion, the agency said.

In Prague, Ester Svetlik Danelova, who is currently on maternity leave, told The Associated Press that “the situation is worrying,” for her family.

“I have three kids, and we definitely use this (baby food) throughout their lives,” she said, adding that “on the bright side, it means I cook more at home now.”

———

Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Associated Press journalist Stanislav Hodina contributed from Prague.

Antisemitic symbols spray-painted in several spots across Sterling Heights, 2 arrested

Two 19-year-olds were arrested on Sunday after allegedly spray-painting swastikas on a fence near a Sterling Heights home and several other areas.

Police said the “bias-motivated vandalism incident” in the 11000 block of Shetland Court on April 19, where city officials found spray-painted swastikas and other symbols.

Read more here.

Man kills 8 children and shoots his wife and another woman in Shreveport, Louisiana

A man killed eight children, including seven of his own, and shot two women in an attack in a Shreveport, Louisiana, neighborhood that was the nation’s deadliest shooting in more than two years, authorities said.

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

Read more here.

IKEA pop-up store to open in Oakland County this summer -- What to know

IKEA is set to open a pop-up shop in Oakland County this summer, its second location in Michigan.

An official opening date has not yet been released, but IKEA officials said the pop-up shop will open early this summer at the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills.

Read more here.

Driver killed, passenger critical after high-speed crash on Lodge Freeway near Wyoming

A 23-year-old driver is dead and a 30-year-old passenger is in critical condition after a crash Sunday morning on the southbound Lodge Freeway near Wyoming in Detroit.

Michigan State Police are investigating a crash that happened just before 8 a.m. Investigators say a car traveling at a high rate of speed failed to move over and crashed into a construction vehicle on the Lodge Freeway near Wyoming.

Read more here.

Weather: Brief dip below freezing as temperatures rebound the remainder of the week

It’s so cold in the D... Temperatures have fallen below freezing this morning. A Freeze Warning remains in effect until 11AM for most of Southeast Michigan.

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Amanda Escalante-Lopez, 28, from Pontiac, allegedly made verbal agreements with prospective home buyers for land contracts and title to homes in Pontiac that she did not own.

The victims gave her money, and she, in return, was to give the property to them. However, victims reported they did not receive keys, access or titles to the homes after putting down payments on the homes as agreed upon.

Escalante-Lopez was charged in October with three counts of false pretenses $20,000-$50,000, three counts of false pretenses $1,000-$20,000, one count of larceny by conversion $20,000 or more and three counts of larceny by conversion $1,000-$20,000.

According to court documents, Escalante-Lopez pleaded no contest to nine charges on April 16. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 11 at 8:30 a.m.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Compensation has become crucial to rebuilding

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

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

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

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

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

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

A bipartisan bill would extend tax relief

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Survivors in Colorado, Hawaii and Oregon would also be impacted

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An official opening date has not yet been released, but IKEA officials said the pop-up shop will open early this summer at the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills.

According to the furniture company, the 4,500‑square‑foot IKEA pop-up shop will be different from its traditional large-format stores. It will offer “customers the opportunity to meet with IKEA co‑workers to plan and order home furnishing solutions that may require additional support, such as kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms."

The store will feature more than 500 products, with online pick-up options.

“We’re thrilled to welcome customers to IKEA Auburn Hills early this summer,” said Heather Spatz, Market Manager. “This pop‑up store with pick‑up is a different format than our traditional IKEA stores, designed specifically to bring our signature style closer to the community. By adding this location to the market, we’re making IKEA more accessible, more convenient, and always affordable for the many.”

The only other IKEA location in Michigan is in Canton Township.

Police said the “bias-motivated vandalism incident” in the 11000 block of Shetland Court on April 19, where city officials found spray-painted swastikas and other symbols.

“I was sleeping,” Dan, who owns the home nearby, said. “I woke up, I didn’t even know what happened, and the city actually knew before I did.”

Just feet away from Dan’s bed, the spray-painting was unfolding on his Sterling Heights fence.

Police say they got the call around 12:45 Sunday morning.

“I turned the corner, and everyone was stopping and taking photos,” Dan said. “It was not a good deal. Not a good thing to see. A lot of hateful stuff.”

Local 4 got to the fence today just as John Bommarito, the owner of Delta Pressure Washing, was scrubbing and stripping the spray paint away.

The city calls him for graffiti cleanup fairly often, but he says this was different.

“It was an easy Sunday morning,” he said. “The city called and said we need you out here right away.”

Local 4 spoke with half a dozen neighbors and people in the area today and went site-to-site. At some spots, the symbols were still there.

“We are going over it for a second cleaning right now,” Bommarito said. “I think we will probably come back for a third cleaning just to make sure everything looks good, maybe tomorrow.”

Police found the two men in a nearby parking lot and took them into custody. They found spray paint, knives and marijuana.

One suspect is from Idaho, and one is from South Carolina. They were both booked at the Macomb County Jail, and the prosecutor will review the case for possible charges.

“As someone who is sometimes politically active, I don’t like that,” Dan said. “My wife doesn’t like it, so I am hoping it was just random and it wasn’t anything like that, but the messages on it, and supposedly, there’s a death threat they covered up, and that was the only one they left, so I don’t know. It’s a crazy situation, and I am not thrilled about it.”

Police say acts like these have no place in the Sterling Heights community.

🍇 Grapevine

🌅 Good morning! On this day in 2008, 26-year-old Danica Patrick won the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan, making her the first female winner in IndyCar racing history.

Here are a few things to know about for Monday, April 20, 2026:

⛅ 4Warn Weather: Today is the coolest day of the week. Sunny and cool with highs in the upper 40s this afternoon. Temperatures climb back above average through the rest of the workweek. Check the 10-day forecast.

🚓 ‘It’s unsettling’: Two teens were arrested early yesterday morning in Sterling Heights in connection with what police call a “bias-motivated vandalism incident.” Read more.

🏀 Pistons lose: The Detroit Pistons opened the NBA playoffs with a flop. Read more.

🚨 Middle East Latest: The U.S. Navy’s forcible seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship threw doubt on an announcement from President Trump that U.S. negotiators will head to Pakistan today for another round of talks with Iran. Read more.

🏊 Morning Dive

Good morning ☀️

For decades, parents were told to keep peanuts and other common allergens away from babies. Now, the science says the opposite — and it’s making a measurable difference. Dr. Frank McGeorge reporting:

A Henry Ford Health allergist-immunologist says the old approach of restricting allergenic foods early in a baby’s life was unknowingly making the problem worse. Between 2005 and 2015, the prevalence of peanut allergies doubled.

The turning point came in 2015, when the LEAP study (Learning Early About Peanut Allergy) was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

“The LEAP study showed that early introduction decreases the chance of peanut allergy by 80%,” said Dr. Amy Eapen, an allergist-immunologist at Henry Ford Health.

The guidelines changed after that.

The current recommendation calls for introducing peanuts and other allergens earlier than most parents might expect.

“Around 4 to 6 months of age, after infants have started solids, they should introduce peanut and other food allergens and keep it in their diet at least 3 times a week,” Eapen said.

And it’s not just peanuts. Parents are encouraged to introduce a wide range of common allergens early, including:

• Eggs
• Fish
• Milk
• Shellfish
• Soy
• Tree nuts
• Wheat

The newest research shows the approach is working.

“The rates of peanut allergy and other food allergies are about 30% lower after the introduction of these new guidelines compared to prior,” Eapen said. “It’s working.”

Early introduction hasn’t eliminated food allergies entirely; some children will still develop them. The goal is to reduce the chances, not guarantee immunity.

Parents of children at higher risk, including those with a family history of allergies or with eczema, should talk with their pediatrician about when and how to introduce these foods.

🗞️ Other headlines to know today

• Man kills 8 children and shoots his wife and another woman in Shreveport, Louisiana
• Driver killed, passenger critical after high-speed crash on Lodge Freeway near Wyoming
• Oil prices jump and stocks are mixed as the US-Iran standoff keeps the Strait of Hormuz in limbo
• ‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ is no match for ‘Super Mario’ or ‘Hail Mary’ at the box office
• WCC closes Free College Week with community celebration on campus
• 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:

The historic midnight ride of Paul Revere is set to be reenacted Monday but with some modern-day tweaks: It will be run in the middle of the day, and the horse and rider will get a police escort.

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

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

----

Three people in California have been sentenced for insurance fraud in a bizarre scam that involved someone dressed in a bear costume damaging luxury cars.

The California Insurance Department said the three used a person in a bear suit to stage fake attacks inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes in 2024, then submitted fraudulent claims seeking nearly $142,000 in payouts from insurance companies. The department called it “Operation Bear Claw.”

Two Los Angeles-area men and a woman pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud and were sentenced to a weekend jail program, followed by probation, the department said in a news release Thursday. Two of them were ordered to pay over $50,000 in restitution. (Read more)

----

Charlie Price says he didn’t learn much about the American Revolution in school. He knew about George Washington, the Battle of Bunker Hill and that the patriots won. It wasn’t until he joined the Lexington Minutemen — a group of Revolutionary War reenactors — that he realized there’s so much more to the story.

The Lexington Minutemen are marking the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington in Massachusetts on Saturday, as they do every year. Thousands of people — some in colonial costumes, gathered on the Lexington Green to witness the historic clash, many booing the British troops and cheering on the patriots. The battle, which marked the start of the American Revolution 251 years ago, ended with eight Americans killed and 10 wounded — the dead scattered on the grounds as the British marched off.

Among the soldiers represented there was Prince Estabrook, an enslaved man who joined his white neighbors on Lexington Green in April 19, 1775, as British troops approached. He was wounded that day but went on to serve in multiple deployments throughout the war. (Read more)

---> Find more headlines from around the world right here <---

📝 Word Up

Today’s Word Up is: Rehash /rēˈhaSH/ (noun) -- defined as “a reuse of old ideas or material without significant change or improvement.”

Example: “The spring show was a rehash of the summer show from the previous year.”

🧹 Housekeeping

Hey, if you like this newsletter, let us know. We’d love your feedback. We also offer several other newsletters, including Live in the D, All 4 Pets and more. Hopefully, we have one that caters to your interests -- unless you’re only interested in wedding drama. We don’t have one for that, sorry.

✍🏽 Written and curated by: Samantha Sayles (Have something to say? Feel free to send an email here.)

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

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

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

The reason for summoning Musk

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

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

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

What is being investigated

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

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

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

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

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

French prosecutors alert U.S. authorities

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

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

Justice Department brushes off French call

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

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

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

Investigations launched into several internet platforms

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

Turns out, they needed just over 52 minutes of game time to get the hang of it.

Drawing upon the never-quit identity the team forged in vaulting from last place in the Eastern Conference standings in early December to winning its first Atlantic Division title, the Sabres marked their return to the playoffs after a NHL-record 14-season drought with a big bang.

Thompson scored twice as part of Buffalo’s four-goal surge over the final 7:58 of regulation in rallying the Sabres to a 4-3 victory in Game 1 on Sunday night.

“I think eight years of adversity is enough experience to get you ready for something like this,” said Thompson, referring to the frustrations of spending his first seven seasons in Buffalo without a playoff berth.

“There’s just a heightened feeling of hunger. You don’t want to let this opportunity slip,” added Thompson, who led the team with 40 goals. “I thought tonight was really important to make a statement and set our standard.”

Game 2 is at Buffalo on Tuesday night.

Sabres finally wear down Bruins

It took two-plus periods for the Sabres to finally wear down the Bruins in an outing Buffalo dominated the offensive attack but had nothing tangible to show for it in trailing 2-0 after Elias Lindholm converted a rebound 68 seconds into the third period.

The script finally flipped with Buffalo’s forecheck causing two turnovers in Boston’s zone to set up Thompson’s two goals, scored 3:42 apart to tie the game at 2 with 4:16 left in regulation.

Mattias Samuelsson scored 52 seconds later, and Alex Tuch sealed the victory with an empty-net goal, before Boston’s David Pastrnak scored with seven seconds left.

“I told them right after the game, ‘You want experience? You got it now,’” said Lindy Ruff in the second year of his second stint coaching the Sabres. “I mean, what an experience. If you’re going to say this was my first playoff game, you’ve got a great story to tell.”

The Sabres went 5,473 days between playoff games since losing Game 7 of a 2011 first-round series to Philadelphia.

In their first game back, the Sabres became the NHL’s eighth team to rally from a two-or-more goal deficit in the final 10 minutes and win in regulation. And it marked just the second time Buffalo won a playoff game when trailing by two in the third period.

The other time was also against Boston, on Brad May’s first-round series-clinching overtime goal in a 6-5 win in 1993. The outing is celebrated in Buffalo as the “May Day!” game in clinching the Sabres' first playoff series win in a decade, and coined by late Hall of Fame broadcaster Rick Jeanneret.

Sabres honor late broadcaster

Chillingly, the Sabres honored Jeanneret, who died in 2023, by having his wife Sandra bang the drum and lead the pregame “Let’s go, Buffalo!” chants. And his family was in the press box, where Jeanneret was honored by having a large frame, featuring his familiar sweater, hung next to the broadcast booth.

Some of the loudest pregame cheers came when fans were shown on the Jumbotron holding up signs honoring the broadcaster nicknamed “RJ.”

The festively charged atmosphere, however, turned to grumbles midway through the third period before Thompson scored. The crowd didn’t let up until well after the game ended.

“It was probably the loudest I’ve ever heard in my life,” goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen said. “The fans are the ones who have waited so long. And so I’m really happy that we grinded out a win tonight.”

Bruins coach Marco Sturm wasn’t sure what happened.

“I thought we were in the perfect spot,” Sturm said. “Obviously, with the crowd behind them, they got some life and the game is done. Very unfortunate because my guys played really well. Really well. But that’s playoffs.”

Sturm caused a stir Friday by suggesting the Bruins were bigger and stronger than Buffalo.

What he didn’t count on was the Sabres having the energy to out-last his team.

“I think as a group, we thought we could crack them and roll from there,” Samuelsson said, before noting how it took 31 shots to finally getting one past goalie Jeremy Swayman.

“It’s just death by 1,000 cuts,” Samuelsson said. “You just keep wearing on him, wearing on him until you finally crack him. And we did.”

___

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

It's the remaining months that have been the problem of late.

Now 34, Trout is six seasons removed from his most recent MVP in 2019. His last truly excellent year was in 2022, when he hit 40 home runs. Last season was only the second time since 2019 that he played more than 82 games, but he batted just .232 with an OPS below .800.

The batting average is about this same this season, but with seven home runs in 22 games, Trout looks like an offensive force again — albeit without the contribution on the basepaths he made earlier in his career. He went deep five times as the Los Angeles Angels split a four-game series with the Yankees.

The problem is this has happened before. Last year he hit nine homers in April before going on the injured list in early May with a knee injury. In 2024, he hit nine home runs in April but tore his meniscus before the end of the month and didn't play again. In 2023, his April OPS was over 1.000. He ended up playing barely half the season.

Trout arrived at spring training this year hoping to return to center field after playing most of last season in right or at designated hitter. He said playing center would actually be easier on his body.

So far, he's started 20 of his 22 games in center under new manager Kurt Suzuki. Trout's theory is being put to the test. If he's still healthy and hitting well at this time next month, then the Angels can start to wonder if Trout is about to enjoy a late-career renaissance.

Trivia time

Trout is one of four players to win three MVPs before turning 30. Who are the others?

(Hint: One of them has been a teammate of Trout's.)

Five above .500

All five teams in the NL Central have winning records. The Chicago Cubs have the third-best run differential in baseball, and Pittsburgh is fifth. Meanwhile, Cincinnati and St. Louis have been winning the close ones. The Reds are 6-0 in one-run games. The Cardinals are 5-0 — and also 5-0 in extra innings.

Both the Cubs and Cardinals are on five-game winning streaks.

Meanwhile, every team in the AL West is at or below .500.

Performance of the week

Byron Buxton went 4 for 5 with two home runs and four runs scored to help the Minnesota Twins to a 6-0 win over Boston on Tuesday night.

Buxton is not off to a great start at the plate this year. Half his RBIs for the season came Tuesday. The Twins, however, are at .500 after losing 92 games a year ago.

Comeback of the week

Down by four in the bottom of the ninth Wednesday night, the San Diego Padres scored five times to beat Seattle 7-6.

It was still 6-3 with two outs, but Luis Campusano and Ramón Laureano hit RBI singles, then Jackson Merrill drove in two runs with a double to win it. It was the first time since 2019 the Padres won after entering the ninth trailing by at least four. Seattle's win probability peaked at 98.7% in the ninth, according to Baseball Savant.

That was San Diego's seventh straight win. The streak eventually reached eight, and the Padres are now a half-game behind the first-place Dodgers in the NL West.

Trivia answer

Stan Musial, Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols.

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

The Michigan Softball Academy is the perfect place to fine tune all your softball skills.

The 17th annual event sponsored by the University of Michigan women’s softball team is scheduled for Thursday, April 23, on Alumni Field at Carol Hutchins Stadium (The Hutch). The fundraiser benefits the American Cancer Society (ACS), and funds breast cancer treatments and research in Ann Arbor and throughout Southeast Michigan.

Click here to learn more about the event, to sign up, and/or to donate.

In 2024, the Softball Academy raised more than $235,000 under the leadership of legendary Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins aka Hutch to surpass $2 million raised since the event began in 2010. It’s the largest amount raised by an NCAA Division I program for ACS.

In 2018, the Wolverines became the first NCAA women’s team, in any sport, to raise $1 million for the American Cancer Society.

The academy, going virtual in 2020 and 2021 amid the pandemic, raised a combined $200,000.

During the event, volunteer team captains and their registered team members will participate in a fantasy camp of sorts on Alumni Field. Participants will spend the evening interacting with Wolverines softball student athletes, who will teach them the tips and tricks on how to successfully throw, hit, pitch, catch, run the bases, and slide.

The evening will conclude with a social mixer inside the Jack Roth Stadium Club located atop Michigan Stadium. The event will feature food, drinks, and a guest panel moderated by Ira Weintraub, co-host of “The Michigan Insider” on “The Ticket.”

The spirit of the academy is led yearly by the volunteer team captains, many of whom have been involved since the first event in 2010. They make it their goal each year to energize their teams to fundraise to help the American Cancer Society achieve its goal of defeating breast cancer.

This year, for the sixth time in the event’s 17-year history, a home run derby will be held at the conclusion of the on-field portion of the event. It will feature local celebrities and anyone who raises $5,000 on their individual fundraising page.

In 2025, Michigan Wolverines head basketball coach Dusty May highlighted the event. Back in 2023 Local 4 morning news anchor & FlashPoint host Jason Colthorp was one of the celebrity sluggers and in 2016 former Michigan player and Michigan Head Football Coach Jim Harbaugh squared off with former Wolverine Rick Leach. Harbaugh failed to hit a home run during 15 attempts, while Leach -- who played 10 seasons of Major League Baseball -- hit one home run to claim victory.

Each year, the event is spearheaded by an honorary chairwoman -- and this year, Hutch and the academy committee selected:

Bev Plocki retired in 2025 after 36 seasons as head coach of Michigan women’s gymnastics, completing one of the most successful tenures in collegiate athletics. She built the Wolverines into a national powerhouse, highlighted by the programs first NCAA championship in 2021, while capturing a record 26 Big Ten titles and leading 26 NCAA Championship appearances and 10 Super Six berths. An 11-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and two-time National Coach of the Year, she developed generations of All-Americans and champions while elevating both competitive and academic standards. She is honored to serve as honorary co-chair, a role that holds deep personal meaning as cancer has touched her family.

Dr. Susan Hull Grasso an environmental engineer and University of Michigan alumna, holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the University of Delaware and has built a career spanning private practice, government, and nonprofit advocacy. As the wife of University of Michigan President Domenico Grasso, she maintains a strong connection to the university community. She is honored to serve as honorary co-chair of the 2026 Michigan Softball Academy event supporting the American Cancer Society, a cause close to her heart due to the impact of cancer on her family and loved ones.

Past chairwomen include Local 4 4Warn Meteorologist Ashlee Baracy, Emmy Award-winning TV personality and NBC TODAY contributor Jill Martin, Lorraine Wangler the wife of former Michigan Football player John Wangler and founder of Sol Stitch Designs, Holly Rowe (sideline reporter for ESPN), Chrislan Manuel (wife of University of Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel), Kelli Moore (wife of former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore), Wendy Yip (wife of former University of Michigan President Santa Ono), Sarah Harbaugh (wife of former University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh), University of Michigan women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico, Kathleen Beilein (wife of former University of Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein), Sue Snyder (wife of former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder), Jennie Ritter (former Wolverines softball player, 2005 National Champion, 2005 Player of the Year, and 2-time All-American) and University of Michigan athletics beat writer Angelique Chengelis of “The Detroit News”.

So far, 19 teams and more than 158 participants have registered for this year’s event -- and right now the fundraising total is $76,000 which is $124,000 shy of this year’s $200,000 fundraising goal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So is Wembanyama.

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

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

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Barbashev closed the scoring with an empty-netter.

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

He said a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom” and that U.S. Marines had custody of the vessel, named Touska, and were “seeing what’s on board!”

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

The news threw into question Trump’s earlier announcement that U.S. negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran. That had raised hopes of extending a fragile ceasefire set to expire by Wednesday, but Iran has not confirmed it would attend.

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

Here is the latest:

Iran says it hangs 2 convicts claimed by opposition group

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hezbollah claims attack destroyed Israeli tanks

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

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

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

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

Tehran says restrictions on Iranian oil come with a price

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

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

Iran’s foreign minister says US is showing ‘bad intentions and lack of seriousness in diplomacy’

Iran’s top diplomat has told his Pakistani counterpart that Washington’s demands in negotiations and its threats to Iranian ships and ports mark “clear signs” of America’s disingenuousness.

Abbas Aragchi made the remarks in a phone call to Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, according to Iranian state media.

It’s another indication of how the Washington-Tehran standoff is sharpening as the ceasefire is to expire on Wednesday. It could also shake up plans for a new U.S.-Iran round of talks in Islamabad this week.

Iran’s military vows swift response to US seizure of Iranian-flagged tanker

The Iranian military headquarters said the attack and subsequent boarding of the Iranian vessel by U.S. forces was a violation of the ceasefire and an act of “maritime piracy,” according to Iran’s state-run broadcaster.

The United States says it fired on the ship and seized it because it had crossed the blockade line after ignoring multiple warnings.

Iranian state media suggest new talks won’t take place

There has been no comment from Iranian officials on Trump’s announcement of new talks in Pakistan this week.

But Iranian state media, without citing anyone beyond unnamed sources, issued brief reports on Sunday suggesting the talks would not happen. The reports came before the U.S. announcement of its seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM releases video of US firing on Iranian-flagged vessel Touska

U.S. Central Command released a message sent by a U.S. Mariner to the Iranian-flagged tanker in a video posted on X, saying it shows the moments before the U.S. seized Touska for crossing the U.S.-imposed blockade line in the Gulf of Oman.

“Motor vessel Touska, Motor vessel Touska. Vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We are about to subject you to disabling fire,” can be heard in the video. Later, three rounds are fired, leaving smoke in their wake.

CENTCOM said its fire targeted the vessel’s engine room before forces seized the ship. It said Touska was headed to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and ignored multiple U.S. warnings over six hours to evacuate the engine room. The USS Spruance then fired, after which Marines boarded and took hold of the ship.

“American forces acted in a deliberate, professional, and proportional manner to ensure compliance,” it wrote on X.

Iran’s president calls US blockade actions provocative and illegal

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency has reported on President Masoud Pezeshkian’s phone conversation with Pakistan’s prime minister earlier today. The report says Pezeshkian alleged bullying and unreasonable behavior by the United States during negotiations and the ceasefire.

The report says Pezeshkian warned that the U.S. actions and threatening rhetoric have led to increased suspicion among Iranian officials about the seriousness of the United States and the possibility that it will repeat previous patterns and “betray diplomacy.”

The report did not say whether Iran’s president commented on a second round of talks in Pakistan, or on Trump’s announcement that U.S. forces had seized an Iranian-flagged ship.

French shipping company says one of its ships was targeted

CMA CGM said Sunday that one of its vessels was the target of warning shots. Trump said Iran had fired on French and British ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The International Maritime Organization confirmed that a French-flagged vessel was involved. The IMO, which regulates international shipping, said there have been 24 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and across the Middle East since March 1. The latest, on April 18, involved the CMA CGM Everglade, a container ship sailing under French flag. The IMO said it was damaged north of Kumzar, Oman, though no pollution or injuries were reported.

Trump said Sunday on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Iran had “fired bullets” in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that “many of them were aimed at a French ship and a freighter from the United Kingdom.”

Trump said the US forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship Sunday that tried to get around its naval blockade

Trump, in a post on social media, said the ship was warned by a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman to stop but it did not.

“Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room,” Trump wrote.

He said U.S. Marines had custody of the cargo ship, named Touska, and were “seeing what’s on board!”

The seizure escalates a back-and-forth with Iran over traffic in the strait and comes as the U.S. was preparing for a second round of in-person talks with Iran as a fragile ceasefire runs out in days.

US energy secretary describes extending waiver on Russian oil sanctions as ‘pragmatic’

The decision announced Friday at the Treasury Department came days after Secretary Scott Bessent had ruled out such a move, and Senate Democrats led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York called it “shameful.”

“Putin has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of President Trump’s war against Iran, as Russia saw oil revenues nearly double in March,” the Democrats’ statement said. “Enough is enough.”

But Chris Wright said the Trump administration’s reasoning was to ensure that India and other Asian countries receive oil that would have otherwise gone to China. He noted that India exports gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to Europe, where people are also concerned about fuel prices.

“These are short term, pragmatic decisions to allow oil that was already flowing to flow a different direction, and they’re temporary,” Wright said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Pakistan and Iran aren’t confirming Round 2 of US-Iran talks

Six hours have passed since U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for more talks with Iran, but neither Iran nor host Pakistan have confirmed it.

Pakistan has kept up the diplomacy today, with its prime minister holding a 45-minute call with Iran’s president and Pakistan’s foreign minister speaking with his Iranian counterpart.

But while authorities have begun tightening security in Islamabad, the only player that has openly committed to another round of talks is the Trump administration.

British military says situation in Hormuz ‘critical’

The British military has declared the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf to be “critical,” its highest risk level.

The military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, UKMTO, cited “a high level of activity by naval forces in the region.”

It said there is a “risk of attack or miscalculation” in the waterway.

The Iranian navy reimposed tight restrictions on transit through the strait as the U.S. military implements a blockade on Iranian ports and waters. The UKMTO also cited multiple attacks on Saturday by Iranian forces on vessels passing through the strait.

Israel reveals new ‘forward defense line’ in southern Lebanon after ceasefire

The Israeli military says it has established the line and released a map showing troops operating south of it.

The deployment has been described elsewhere as a “Yellow Line.” It says five divisions are working to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure. The line was not mentioned in ceasefire terms published by the United States.

The map shows dozens of villages inside the zone, stretching several kilometers into Lebanon, whose residents would likely be prevented from returning.

There was no immediate comment from Lebanese officials, but the move is likely to raise concerns in Lebanon about the scope and duration of Israel’s presence.

Pope Leo XIV sees a ‘sign of hope’ for peace in the Middle East

Celebrating Mass before an estimated 100,000 people outside the capital of Angola on Sunday, Leo praised the cease-fire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah as a “sign of hope” that he prayed would bring peace permanently to the Middle East.

Leo mentioned the conflict as he called on Angolans to denounce the exploitation of their mineral-rich land and people, who still bear the scars of a brutal, post-independence civil war. “We wish to build a country where old divisions are overcome once and for all, where hatred and violence disappear, and where the scourge of corruption is healed by a new culture of justice and sharing,” Leo said.

The American pope is on an African odyssey that will take him to an epicenter of the African slave trade with a history emblematic of the Catholic Church’s role in forcing human bondage, and what some scholars say is the Holy See’s continued refusal to fully acknowledge it and atone for it.

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Israeli fire kills 1 Palestinian in central Gaza, health official says

The strike on a group of people in central Gaza also wounded three others, according to a health official at Awda hospital, where the casualties arrived.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.

Palestinians in Gaza have reported that Israeli strikes have intensified over the past few days across the enclave. Since a fragile ceasefire deal was reached in October, deadly Israeli strikes have been a near-daily threat in Gaza, and more than 775 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

UK police investigating if Iranian proxies are responsible for arson attacks on Jewish sites

The Metropolitan Police force says counterterror officers are probing fires at synagogues and other Jewish targets, as well as an attack on a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government. No one has been injured in the blazes, the latest of which caused minor damage to a north London synagogue on Saturday night.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said Sunday that the attacks had been claimed online by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.

Israel’s government has described the group, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as recently founded with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

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What’s happening with ships in the Persian Gulf

Vessels trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz have reversed course, according to the MarineTraffic shipping tracker.

The Iranian navy has reimposed tight restrictions on transit through the strait while the U.S. blockades Iran’s ports and waters. The standoff has left hundreds of vessels waiting in both directions for clearance through the waterway where a fifth of the world’s oil supplies normally passes.

Kpler, a maritime data firm, said 19 vessels had passed through the strait on Friday after Iran and the U.S. announced the reopening of the strait late last week as part of understanding between the two governments.

But on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said it had sent 23 ships back to Iran since its blockade began, and at least three vessels were attacked by Iran Saturday while attempting to cross the strait, bringing shipping to a standstill again and further straining the global energy market.

US energy secretary says talks with Iranians over Strait of Hormuz are ‘going well’

Chris Wright said the United States “is not too far away from a deal.”

“There are negotiations with the Iranians going on, despite what you hear in the chatter in public, I think those are actually going well,” Wright said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Wright said Trump is “a creative negotiator” who uses “pressure in different ways, uses uncertainty in different ways.”

“I think we’ll have a nice end of this conflict,” Wright predicted, adding that restarting shipping “will take time but probably not too much time” once the strait is reopened.

Waltz calls potential strikes on power plants and bridges ‘an escalatory ladder’

Trump is renewing his threat to “knock out” every Iranian power plant and bridge if Tehran doesn’t agree to U.S. terms for ending the war.

Some experts in military law have said targeting civilian infrastructure can be a war crime, an issue that could turn on whether the power plants are legitimate military targets, whether the attacks are proportional compared with what Iran has done and whether civilian casualties are minimized.

When the war crimes question was posed to Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz said “that would be an escalatory ladder.”

Iran and its proxies “have a long history of actually deliberately hiding military infrastructure in hospitals, schools, neighborhoods and … and other civilian assets. … They have no ground to stand on,” Waltz told ABC’s “This Week.”

“It’s perfectly acceptable in the rules of land warfare,” Waltz added, noting that Iran has used drones and missiles to strike hotels, resorts and homes across the Gulf.

“So this is just a ridiculous argument,” he said.

Iranian official says US blockade amounts to war crime

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Sunday that the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports and coastline is an act of aggression that violates the shaky Pakistani-mediated ceasefire between the two countries.

By “deliberately inflicting collective punishment on the Iranian population, it amounts to war crime and crimes against humanity,” Baghaei said on social media.

Baghaei’s comments came after Iran’s renewed threats on shipping, in response to the U.S. blockade, fully reclosed the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Bahrain to review citizenship for those deemed threat to its security

Bahrain’s king has ordered a review of citizenship of those deemed a threat to the island kingdom.

The decision has come amid an intensified crackdown on dissent during the war in the Middle East.

According to the state-run Bahrain News Agency, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa ordered the government to immediately take measures against “those who have betrayed the nation or undermined its security and stability,” including stripping Bahraini citizenship from those “who don’t deserve it.”

“The situation is still delicate,” the king was quoted as saying.

Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, has been one of the hardest hit by Iranian missile and drone attacks during the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Authorities in the small Shiite-majority island, which is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, have detained many people over the course of the war.

Spain’s leader wants the EU to end agreement with Israel

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wants the 27-nation European Union to tear up its long-standing Association Agreement with Israel.

The agreement, in force since 2000, sets out the legal and institutional framework within which the bloc and Israel conduct trade and cooperation.

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

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

Sánchez has been a vocal critic of the decision by the U.S. and Israel to attack Iran, drawing sharp public criticism from Trump.

Residents of hard-hit Israeli border town protest ceasefire outside US Embassy

About 150 residents from Kiryat Shmona, located near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, traveled to Jerusalem on Sunday to demonstrate against the ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The 10-day ceasefire announced by Trump began Friday. It is meant to shore up a broader ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

Residents of northern Israel, whose communities were subject to round-the-clock barrages of Hezbollah rockets, have reacted angrily to the truce. They say Hezbollah remains a threat and has not been disarmed.

“It’s time to remove this threat from over the heads of the northern residents,” said Kiryat Shmona’s mayor, Avichai Stern.

One of the protesters, Einat Dardari, said she’s “very disappointed” that the Israeli military was forced to halt its offensive against Hezbollah. “We want security, I want security at home, I want security for my children,” she said.

Iran rebuilds its stockpile of missiles and drones, commander says

A senior Iranian military official said Sunday that Iran has begun rebuilding its stockpile of weapons and munitions as the two-week ceasefire nears to expire, state media reported.

Brig. Gen. Seyed Majid Mousavi, commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Aerospace Force, said they have repaired missiles and drone launchers during the ceasefire which started on April 8, according to Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

“Our speed in updating and refilling missile and drone launch platforms is even greater than before the war,” he said.

The broadcaster aired a two-minute video paired with uplifting music, showing missiles and drones in warehouses as well as mobile launches of missiles.

The United States and Israel say they have degraded Iran’s military capabilities over the course of the nearly six-week war.

Turkish foreign minister says Israel’s ‘fundamentalist government’ is a global problem

Hakan Fidan was asked whether Turkey could replace Iran as Israel’s main adversary, a question raised in both Turkish and Israeli media in recent weeks.

“This is a fundamentalist government. They are a problem for the whole world. This is not just a problem for Turkey,” Fidan told a news conference at the close of a three-day diplomacy forum in southern Turkey.

Turkish officials have described Israel’s military operations in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and Syria as an “expansionist” threat to global stability. Fidan said stopping this threat is clearly on the international community’s agenda. He also described the defense agreements signed between Israel, Greece and Cyprus in December last year as a “military alliance against the Muslim countries in the region.”

Trump said US negotiators will be in Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran

Vice President JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be traveling to Islamabad for the second round of in-person talks, according to the White House.

Trump in his social media post Sunday accused Iran of violating the ceasefire agreement by firing bullets Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz, and threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure in Iran if it does not take the deal the U.S. is offering.

“If they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei is in Israel

The far-right South American leader landed on Sunday for a three-day visit, meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visiting the Western Wall of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

Milei is scheduled to sign new binational accords with Israel and receive a Presidential Medal from Israeli President Isaac Herzog celebrating his commitment to fighting anti-semitism, Herzog’s office said. It is at least Milei’s third visit to the Western Wall.

He has backed the United States and Israel’s decision to launch a war on Iran. Earlier this month Argentina expelled Iran’s ambassador from Buenos Aires.

Milei is among a small cohort of right-leaning leaders who have deepened ties with Netanyahu’s government even as Israel faces diplomatic isolation over wartime conduct, including in Gaza and Lebanon. Some of Argentina’s South American neighbors have cut diplomatic ties or withdrawn their ambassadors,

Preparations pick up in Islamabad ahead of possible ceasefire talks

Pakistani authorities have begun tightening security in the capital, Islamabad, ahead of a possible second round of ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Authorities on Sunday deployed troops at roadside checkpoints, closed tourist sites and ordered major hotels to cancel bookings and keep facilities available.

Islamabad’s streets are largely deserted, as residents stayed home to avoid road closures seen earlier this month during the first round of talks.

While there were no formal announcements, Pakistani officials said arrangements are in place for talks in the coming days.

A regional official involved in the mediation efforts said mediators were finalizing the preparations. He said U.S. advance security teams are already on the ground. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the preparations.

Pakistan has led mediation efforts to end the war. Its military chief visited Tehran last week, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with regional leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

Israel says it killed Hezbollah commander just before ceasefire

The Israeli army says it carried out a series of strikes that killed more than 150 Hezbollah fighters.

Among those killed was Ali Rida Abbas, which it said was Hezbollah’s commander in Bint Jbeil. The southern Lebanese town and its surroundings were the site of intense clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants in the days leading up to the ceasefire.

Israel gave no evidence to support its claims, and Hezbollah didn't immediately confirm the death of its commander.

The ceasefire took effect early Friday.

Iran wants ‘lasting peace,’ chief negotiator says

Iran’s chief negotiator says his country wants “a lasting peace so that war is not repeated again.”

Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comments in a televised interview late Saturday, a few days before a ceasefire deadline is set to expire, according to Iranian state media.

“What is fundamental for us is distrust of the United States,” he said. “At the same time, we have good intentions and seek a lasting peace — one that prevents the recurrence of war.”

He said that the Islamabad negotiations didn’t address the mistrust, but that the U.S. and Iranian negotiators “reached a more realistic understanding of one another.”

He said that the two sides achieved progress in the Islamabad talks, but disagreement remained on some key issues, including the nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz.

“The gaps remain wide and some fundamental issues are still unresolved,” he said.

He didn’t elaborate with further details.

Lebanon's army reopens some roads in the south

The Lebanese army said in a statement Sunday that it reopened the Khardali road that links the southern city of Nabatiyeh with the town of Marjayoun.

The army said that it also reopened the road that links the port city of Tyre with the village of Bourj Rahhal. The army is also working on reopening other roads, including a bridge on the Litani River in the village of Tayr Filsay.

During Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon over the past several weeks, Israel’s air force has destroyed several bridges on the river.

After a 10-day ceasefire was declared as of midnight Thursday, the Lebanese army and the Litani Authority have been working on putting up temporary bridges to replace the destroyed ones.

Iran negotiator says strait will remain closed

Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as long as the U.S. imposes a naval blockade on Iran.

“It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” he said in televised comments aired by Iranian semiofficial media late Saturday.

Qalibaf, who is Iran’s chief negotiator with the United States, said that the strait is now under Iran’s control, linking the choke point’s reopening to the U.S. lifting of its blockade.

“If the U.S. does not lift the blockade, traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be restricted,” he said.

He said that the ceasefire was on verge of collapse when the U.S. attempted to mine-clear the strait.

He said Iran viewed the U.S. attempt as a violation of the ceasefire.

“The situation escalated to the point of conflict but the enemy retreated,” he said.

Another Israeli soldier dies in combat

Israel’s military says another soldier died in combat in southern Lebanon, the second death announced in under 12 hours.

It brought the total number of soldiers killed in Lebanon to 15, and was the second soldier killed in combat since the ceasefire.

The military said that another soldier was badly wounded, along with four moderately wounded and four slightly injured.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Two women, including the gunman's wife who was the mother of their children, were also shot and critically wounded, according to Shreveport Police Department spokesperson Chris Bordelon. Officials said the children — who were all killed in the same house — ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Family member says suspect was separating from his wife

The victims were three boys and five girls, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s office.

Shamar Elkins and his wife were in the middle of separating and were due in court Monday, said Crystal Brown, who is a cousin of one of the wounded women. Brown said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.

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

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

Brown described all the children as “happy kids, very friendly, very sweet.”

A neighbor wakes up to a mass shooting

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

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

Demming later went outside and saw the covered body of a child on the home’s roof.

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

“What began as a domestic dispute has ended in irreversible harm,” the parish's district attorney’s office said in a statement.

Shreveport is overwhelmed by grief

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

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

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

Hours after the shooting, mourners gathered outside the single-story house on 79th Street and laid flowers. One door appeared stained with blood. Later that evening at a nearby prayer vigil, Kimberlin Jackson joined other members of the community who lit candles for the victims in a parking lot.

“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them,” she said.

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This story has been corrected to attribute the statements about the shooting to police spokesperson Chris Bordelon, not Police Chief Wayne Smith, and corrects the ages of the children killed based on updates by officials.

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

The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21-kilometer (13-mile) race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, according to a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race kicked off.

That was faster than the human world record holder, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race.

The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward from last year's inaugural race, during which the winning robot finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.

But the competition, which was held alongside a race for humans, wasn’t without hiccups — one robot fell flat at the start line, another bumped into a barrier.

Du Xiaodi, Honor's test development engineer, said his team was happy with the results. Du said its robot design was modeled on outstanding human athletes, with long legs of about 95 cm (around 37 inches), and was equipped with what he called a powerful liquid-cooling system, which was largely developed in-house.

“Looking ahead, some of these technologies might be transferred to other areas. For example, structural reliability and liquid-cooling technology could be applied in future industrial scenarios,” he said.

While it will still take time to achieve widespread commercialization of humanoid robots, spectators were already impressed by the robots. Sun Zhigang, who had been in the audience last year, watched Sunday's race with his son.

“I feel enormous changes this year,” Sun said. “It’s the first time robots have surpassed humans, and that’s something I never imagined.”

Wang Wen, who came with his family, said robots seemed to have stolen much of the spotlight from human runners in the event.

“The robots' speed far exceeds that of humans,” he said. “This may signal the arrival of sort of a new era.”

Beijing E-Town said about 40% of the robots navigated the course autonomously, while the others were remotely controlled.

State media outlet Global Times reported that a separate, remotely-controlled robot from Honor was the first to cross the finish line in 48 minutes and 19 seconds. But it said the winning one used autonomous navigation and received the championship under the event’s weighted scoring rules.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that the runners-up, which were also from Honor and used autonomous navigation, finished the race in about 51 minutes and 53 minutes respectively. A robot served as a traffic officer to direct the participants with its arm gestures and voice, CCTV added.

In China, technology has evolved into an area of competition with the U.S. with national security implications. Beijing’s latest five-year plan vows to “target the frontiers of science and technology.” Speeding up the development of products like humanoid robots and their applications is part of the 2026-2030 plan for the world’s second-largest economy.

London-based technology research and advisory group Omdia recently ranked three Chinese companies — AGIBOT, Unitree Robotics and UBTech Robotics Corp. — as the only first-tier vendors in its global assessment for shipment numbers for general-purpose embodied intelligent robots.

They all shipped more than 1,000 units of the robots last year, with the first two companies shipping more than 5,000 units, the report said.

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Associated Press video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was great theater, but only at the end.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Charlize Theron expanding her already robust action movie resume with “Apex,” Kate Hudson’s “Running Point” returning for Season 2 and a Netflix documentary on country star Lainey Wilson.

New movies to stream from April 20-26

— After nine Oscar nominations, $179 million in ticket sales and a few dings for opera and ballet along the way, “Marty Supreme” begins streaming Friday, April 24, on HBO Max. A24’s biggest box-office hit ever stars Timothée Chalamet as a ping-pong striver in 1950s New York doing whatever it takes to reach greatness. Josh Safdie directs a cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion and Kevin O’Leary. In her review, AP’s Jocelyn Noveck called it a “nerve-busting adrenaline jolt of a movie.”

— Another highlight of 2025, the darkly comic Korean thriller “No Other Choice,” lands on Hulu on Friday, April 24. Park Chan-wook’s satire stars Lee Byung-hun as a family man laid off from a paper plant. After analyzing his prospects, he decides to murder his closest competition for a new job. In my review of the Golden Globe-nominated film, I praised Park, the masterful filmmaker of “Oldboy” and “Decision to Leave,” for “archly and elegantly spinning a yarn about a murderous rampage that accumulates wider and wider reverberations.”

— The latest Colleen Hoover hit adaptation, “Regretting You,” arrives Friday, April 24, on Prime Video. In it, Allison Williams stars as a single mother moving on after the death of her husband (Scott Eastwood). Dave Franco co-stars as her new love interest. In her review, Noveck wrote that “the strange way the tears give way to smiles, quips and then full-on rom-com corniness feels a little awkward — and then just weird and annoying.”

— Charlize Theron expands her already robust action movie resume in “Apex,” a survivalist thriller about a grieving woman who heads into the Australian wilderness for outdoor adventure. But when a sadistic local (Taron Egerton) begins terrorizing her, a frantic chase ensues. Catch it on Netflix on Friday, April 24.

— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

New music to stream from April 20-26

— Laundry started it all. OK, not really, but Kehlani’s first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “Folded,” marked a new peak for the singer’s sultry, matured R&B. The AP even deemed it one of 2025’s best of the year. Now, Kehlani’s talents have only grown in a new, self-titled, full-length release, out this Friday, April 24.

— Noah Kahan’s 2022 single “Stick Season” turned the Vermont singer-songwriter into a household name; now, he’s at “The Great Divide.” That’s the title of his fourth studio album, out Friday, April 24. Come for folky ruminations on fame (“Porch Light”), stay for the plucky title track and what exists in between.

— In the decade following her debut album, Meghan Trainor’s bright, cheery pop music has kept one central message: Stay true to who you are and ignore the haters. That continues on her single “Still Don’t Care,” the first tease of her seventh full-length album. And it is found on the whole of the release, titled “Toy with Me,” out Friday, April 24. In December, she told the AP to expect a few self-love bops, songs to anger through and lots of familial love. The singer-songwriter recently canceled a summer tour following the birth of her daughter, Mikey Moon.

— Musician documentaries are a dime a dozen these days; often, they function as promotional material with little editorial value. That is not the case with “Lainey Wilson: Keepin’ Country Cool,” available to stream Wednesday on Netflix. The country superstar keeps her cool … and gets candid in this feature, which spans her personal and professional lives.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

New series to stream from April 20-26

— A new Netflix competition show called “Funny AF with Kevin Hart” premieres Monday and features Hart traveling to different comedy clubs in the U.S. in search of the next great stand-up sensation. Hart is joined by Keegan-Michael Key, Tom Segura, Kumail Nanjiani, Chelsea Handler and Nikki Glaser, who serve as judges. The semifinal and final episodes will stream live on Netflix and the audience can vote in real-time. The winner will get their own Netflix stand-up special.

— Prime Video has a new series about a different Kevin that also premieres Monday. “Kevin” is an animated series about a cat who moves into a local pet rescue after his owners split up. Jason Schwartzman voices Kevin and Aubrey Plaza, who co-created and co-wrote the series, also voices a character.

— A new “Stranger Things” animated spinoff harks back to the Saturday morning cartoons of the 1980s, with stand-alone adventures each episode. “Stranger Things: Tales from ’85" takes place during Seasons 2 and 3 of the original show and follows its core gang encountering mysteries and monsters from the Upside Down. They’re voiced by new actors, not the live-action cast. It debuts Thursday, April 23, on Netflix.

— Kate Hudson’s “Running Point” returns for Season 2 on Netflix on Thursday, April 23. Hudson plays Isla Gordon, whose family has owned the fictional Los Angeles Waves for years. Hudson takes over as the team's president when her older brother (Justin Theroux) steps down. Her character is based on Jeanie Buss, the governor and former controlling owner (now minority owner) of the Los Angeles Lakers.

— Richard Gadd, whose “Baby Reindeer” drew acclaim and a defamation lawsuit from the real-life woman it depicted, has created and written a new dark drama called “Half Man” where he co-stars with Jamie Bell. Gadd told the AP that he turned down numerous Hollywood offers after “Baby Reindeer” in favor of making “Half Man.” It premieres Thursday, April 23.

— Alicia Rancilio

New video games to play from April 20-26

— At first glance, Kiln gives off a mellow vibe, inviting you to sit at a pottery wheel and craft a ceramic masterpiece. Don’t get too relaxed: The next step is to send your creation into battle. You’ll need to team up with three friends for “Quench mode,” a 4-vs.-4 melee in which the goal is to douse the flames of your rivals’ kiln. Expect plenty of flying shards and other obstacles to make the free-for-all more frenetic. Kiln comes from Double Fine Productions, which gave us last year’s trippy Keeper, and project lead Derek Brand is a veteran of the studio’s 2021 landmark Psychonauts 2. Start spinning Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

— Italian developer Luca Galante unleashed a surprise smash back in 2022 with his low-res indie shoot-'em-up Vampire Survivors. Fans have since gobbled up a half-dozen expansions, and now it’s time for a full-fledged spinoff, Vampire Crawlers. It’s a “casual, turn-based deck builder” in which you explore dungeons and fight monsters by flinging playing cards at them. Think something like Slay the Spire with, well, vampires — then throw in “turboturn,” which lets you pile up damage by slinging cards more quickly. It looks every bit as hectic and silly as the original, and you can take a bite Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

— Lou Kesten

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

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 17 shots.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Detroit never had the lead.

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

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

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

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

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

Leo traveled to the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, nestled in the Angolan savanas of baobab trees at the edge of the Kwanza River. It became a major pilgrimage destination after believers reported an appearance by the Virgin Mary around 1833.

But the Church of Our Lady of Muxima was originally built by Portuguese colonizers at the end of the 16th century as part of a fortress complex and it became a hub in the slave trade. It was where enslaved Africans were gathered to be baptized by Portuguese priests before being forced to walk to the port of Luanda, over 110 kilometers (70 miles) to the north, to be put on ships to the Americas.

Leo, whose own ancestors include enslaved people and slave owners, prayed the Rosary at the sanctuary, a simple whitewashed church with blue trim and a statue of the Madonna inside. Speaking in Portuguese, he recalled it was here “where, for centuries, many men and women have prayed in times of joy and also in moments of sorrow and great suffering in the history of this country.”

He didn’t refer specifically to slavery. After viewing plans to build a basilica at the site, Leo urged the estimated 30,000 people gathered outside to also build “a better, more welcoming world, where there are no more wars, no injustices, no poverty, no dishonesty."

Muxima’s history is emblematic of the Catholic Church’s role in the slave trade, the forced baptisms of enslaved people and what some scholars say is the Holy See’s continued refusal to fully acknowledge it and atone for it.

“For Black Catholics, Pope Leo’s visit to the Muxima shrine is an important moment of healing,” said Anthea Butler, senior fellow at the Koch Center, Oxford University.

She noted that many Black Catholics are Catholic because of slavery and the “Code Noir,” which she said required slaves purchased by Catholic owners to be baptized in the church.

“Others were already Catholic when they were trafficked from Angola to slave-holding colonies,” said Butler, a Black Catholic scholar whose maternal family hails from Louisiana, where the pope’s ancestors also had their roots.

The role of papal bulls in the slave trade

Angola’s Portuguese colonizers were emboldened by 15th-century directives from the Vatican that authorized them to enslave non-Christians.

In 1452, for example, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which gave the Portuguese king and his successors the right “to invade, conquer, fight and subjugate” and take all possessions — including land — of “Saracens, and pagans, and other infidels, and enemies of the name of Christ” anywhere, said the Rev. Christopher J. Kellerman, a Jesuit priest and author of “All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church.”

The bull also gave the Portuguese permission “to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”

That bull and another issued three years later, Romanus Pontifex, formed the basis of the Doctrine of Discovery, the theory that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of land in Africa and the Americas.

The Vatican in 2023 formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, but it never formally rescinded, abrogated or rejected the bulls themselves. The Vatican insists that a later bull, Sublimis Deus in 1537, reaffirmed that Indigenous peoples shouldn’t be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, and were not to be enslaved.

Ultimately, more than 5 million people left from Angola on the trans-Atlantic slave route, more than any other country and nearly half of the roughly 12.5 million African slaves sent across the ocean.

Kellerman recalled that most of these direct victims were sold into slavery by other Africans and were not captured by Europeans.

“That being said, at the time of the building of Muxima, the Portuguese were doing both — buying enslaved people and colonizing/slave raiding. So they were fully using their papal permissions during this time,” Kellerman said in emailed comments to The Associated Press.

He said the first pope to condemn slavery itself was Pope Leo XIII, the current pope’s namesake, in two encyclicals in 1888 and 1890, after most countries had already abolished slavery. But Kellerman said that pope and others since have continued to perpetuate the “false narrative” that the Holy See always opposed slavery, when the historical record says otherwise.

While Leo's visit to Muxima was to commemorate its role as a shrine, Kellerman said he hoped Leo had also learned about its role in the slave trade.

“The popes repeatedly authorized Portugal’s colonization efforts in Africa and Portuguese participation in the slave trade, but the Vatican has never fully admitted this,” he said. “It would be so powerful if at some point Pope Leo were to apologize for the popes’ role in the trade.”

During a 1985 visit to Cameroon, St. John Paul II asked forgiveness of Africans for the slave trade on behalf of Christians who participated in it, but not for the popes' own role in it. In a 1992 visit to Goree Island, Senegal, the largest slave-trading center in West Africa, he denounced the injustice of slavery and called it a “tragedy of a civilization that called itself Christian.”

Leo’s own personal history a point of reflection

According to genealogical research published by Henry Louis Gates Jr., 17 of Leo's American ancestors were Black, listed in census records as mulatto, Black, Creole or a free person of color. His family tree includes slaveholders and enslaved people, Gates wrote in the New York Times.

Gates, a Harvard University professor who hosts the PBS documentary series “Finding Your Roots,” presented his research to Leo during a July 5 audience at the Vatican. According to a report of their meeting in The Harvard Gazette, “The pope asked about ancestors, both Black and white, who were enslavers.”

Leo has not spoken publicly about his family heritage or the genealogical research, and some Black Catholic scholars were hesitant to impose on him a narrative about his identity that he himself has not yet addressed.

“It’s important that we tell our own stories,” said Tia Noelle Pratt, a sociologist of religion and professor at Villanova University, the pope’s alma mater.

“We haven’t heard anything from him about what he thinks about it, and so to impose anything on him, I think would be completely inappropriate,” said Pratt, author of “Faithful and Devoted: Racism and Identity in the African American Catholic Experience.”

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the retired archbishop of Washington and the first African American cardinal, said he had facilitated the Gates-Leo encounter and was “delighted” to have done so.

“It’s one of the things that I think for many African Americans and people of color, they identify with great pride that the pope has roots in our own heritage,” Gregory told AP. “And I think he’s happy about that too, because it’s another link to the people that he tries to serve and is called to serve.”

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Gerald Imray contributed from Cape Town, South Africa.

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

The Metropolitan Police force says counterterror officers are probing fires at synagogues and other sites linked to the Jewish community, as well as an attack on a Persian-language media company.

No one has been injured in the blazes, the latest of which caused minor damage to a north London synagogue on Saturday night.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said the attacks had been claimed online by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.

“We are aware of public reporting that suggests this group may have links to Iran. As you would expect, we will continue to explore that question as our investigation evolves," she said.

“I’ve spoken previously about the Iranian regime’s use of criminal proxies, and we’re considering whether this tactic is being used here in London," she added.

Israel’s government has described Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The police force has deployed extra uniformed and plainclothes officers to northwest London after attacks in the past month on synagogues, Jewish charity ambulances and a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government.

In the most serious incident, four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were torched on March 23 in the Golders Green neighborhood,

No one has been injured in any of the incidents, which all happened within a few miles of each other. Several people, ranging in age from teens to people in their 40s, have been arrested and charged.

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

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

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attacks, and pledged that "those responsible will be found and brought to justice.

"This is abhorrent and it will not be tolerated. Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain," Starmer said.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia also posted a video claiming Israel’s London embassy was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances. Police said the embassy was not attacked, but the force shut the nearby Kensington Gardens park on Friday as officers examined discarded items including two jars containing powder. Police said nothing harmful was found.

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

Some security experts say Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia is likely a flag of convenience rather than a coherent group, and its claims should be treated with caution.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes said any “thugs for hire” who carried out such attacks would face justice.

“Let’s be really clear — it’s a mug’s game,” he said. “That’s what people who are now serving long prison sentences have found out, and the same fate awaits those responsible for these recent crimes.”