The newest lawsuit comes from the city’s former administrator, who alleges he was fired in retaliation for speaking out about claims that Mayor Matthew Dantzer assaulted and sexually harassed City Secretary Christian Gable during a work trip.

The filing accuses city leadership of punishing him for raising concerns tied to the same allegations that are now at the center of both criminal charges and multiple civil cases.

RELATED: Magnolia city secretary breaks silence after mayor’s assault, official oppression indictment

With three federal lawsuits now filed, a criminal case underway, and a new mayor preparing to take office, Magnolia faces a complex and uncertain path forward.

A growing list of allegations

This latest case marks the third federal lawsuit connected to Dantzer in just over a month.

Gable and former Human Resources Director Kristy Powell previously filed federal lawsuits alleging sexual harassment, retaliation, and failures by the city to properly investigate claims.

Both women say they faced consequences after reporting alleged misconduct.

MORE INFO: Magnolia mayor arrested, charged with felony assault of pregnant woman following Texas Rangers investigation

Gable has publicly described what she says was a pattern of inappropriate and escalating behavior that began after she started working at City Hall.

She alleges repeated sexualized comments, including being referred to as the mayor’s “sexitary,” and claims the situation escalated during an October work conference in Fort Worth.

According to Gable, the mayor allegedly attempted to pull down her pants in public and later grabbed her by the throat, pinning her against a structure outside a hotel while she was five months pregnant.

She says surveillance video reviewed later by investigators captured the incident.

The allegations prompted an investigation by the Texas Rangers, which ultimately led to Dantzer’s indictment on charges including aggravated assault of a pregnant person and official oppression.

He was arrested on a Tarrant County warrant and later released on bond.

Dantzer has denied all allegations through his attorney, stating he maintains his innocence and intends to defend himself through the legal process.

Leadership change amid ongoing legal battles

The legal developments come as Magnolia voters have elected a new mayor, signaling a shift in leadership.

However, the transition does not immediately resolve the ongoing cases.

Dantzer remains under criminal indictment and continues to face multiple federal lawsuits, even as his time in office comes to an end.

City officials have previously indicated that removal from office would require either resignation, a court petition, or a criminal conviction.

The overlap between a leadership transition and active legal proceedings leaves several unanswered questions for the city, including how incoming leadership will address the allegations, potential policy failures, and the impact of ongoing litigation.

Two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited” through the critical waterway, the U.S. military said. Separately, the U.S. military denied Iran’s claims that it struck an American Navy vessel southeast of the strait.

Iran handed over its latest proposal for negotiations with the U.S. to mediators in Pakistan, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday. Trump subsequently said he’s “not satisfied” with it, but did not elaborate on the proposal’s apparent shortcomings. The shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has lasted for three weeks.

Here's the latest:

UAE issues another missile alert as tensions rise over the Strait of Hormuz

The United Arab Emirates issued the alert without saying what prompted it.

It was the second such alert Monday, after there had been none in recent weeks following the Iran ceasefire.

Authorities haven’t provided further details on either alert. An all-clear signal was issued minutes after the first alert. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

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Judge in dispute over Washington golf course tells Trump officials not to cut trees without notice

The federal judge told the U.S. government Monday not to cut down more than 10 trees without first providing notice amid a legal dispute at a historic Washington golf course President Trump plans to renovate.

U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes said during a remote hearing that she wasn’t going to issue a temporary restraining order just yet in the case brought by the DC Preservation League. She also told the National Park Service that it should first discuss any plans with government lawyers if it was going to cut down more than 10 trees.

Monday’s hearing came after the plaintiff’s emergency petition seeking to stop work at the course, citing news reports that major renovations were to begin Monday.

Kevin Griess, the superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks for the Park Service, said during the hearing there was no plan to begin such work Monday but added that a safety assessment was underway.

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Supreme Court restores access to the abortion pill mifepristone

The Supreme Court’s order Monday blocks a ruling that had threatened to upend one of the main ways abortion is provided across the nation.

The order signed by Justice Samuel Alito temporarily allows women seeking abortions to obtain the pill at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor.

Those rules had been in effect for several years until a federal appeals court imposed new restrictions last week.

The majority of abortions in the U.S. are obtained through medications, usually a combination of mifepristone and a second drug, misoprostol. Their availability has blunted the impact of abortion bans that most Republican-led states have started enforcing since a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed for state bans.

Louisiana sued to restrict access to mifepristone, asserting that its availability undermined the ban there.

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Sen. Steve Daines travels to China, ahead of planned state visit by Trump

He announced Monday that he’ll lead a bipartisan congressional delegation on a visit to China this week, when the group of five senators will be visiting tech businesses in Shanghai and Beijing and meeting Chinese officials.

The trip will come just about a week before President Trump is scheduled to visit China for the first time since he took office. It also will be the first state visit by a U.S. president since 2017.

Traveling with Daines are fellow Republican Sens. Deb Fischer, Mike Lee and Jerry Moran as well as Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell.

Trump’s vision: DIY defense in Europe

As part of its National Defense Strategy announced in January — a sweeping document laying out a vision on everything from deterring China to defending against cyberattacks to disrupting Iran’s nuclear ambitions — the Trump administration said Europe must do more for its own defense.

While “we are and will remain engaged in Europe, we must — and will — prioritize defending the U.S. Homeland and deterring China,” it said.

Among other things, the document noted that Europe’s economic power, while shrinking in relative terms globally, remains significant, and said Germany’s economy alone “dwarfs that of Russia.”

“Fortunately, our NATO allies are substantially more powerful than Russia — it is not even close,” it said, noting a recent commitment among NATO allies to raise national defense spending to 5% of GDP in total, a push led by Trump.

What to know about the US defense posture in Europe

The U.S. European Command, created in 1947 and known as EUCOM, is one of 11 combat commands within the Defense Department, and covers some 50 countries and territories.

In addition to more than 36,000 troops in Germany, Italy hosts more than 12,000 and there’s another 10,000 in the United Kingdom, according to Pentagon numbers from December.

The Pentagon has offered few details about which troops or operations would be affected in the drawdown announced Friday.

The U.S. increased its European deployment after Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine four years ago. NATO allies like Germany have expected for over a year that these troops would be the first to leave.

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White House to hold a summit for small businesses

The event in the East Room will bring together more than 130 small business owners as the president highlights his administration’s policies benefiting them.

“Our nation’s 36 million small businesses now have the confidence to hire, reinvest and expand, unleashing an historic era of sustained growth,” Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler said ahead of the event. “America is open for business again.”

The gathering is meant to mark this year’s National Small Business Week and the owners represent manufacturing, food production, defense, energy and retail businesses, among other areas, according to the White House.

European leaders see Trump’s troop drawdown from Germany as new proof they must go it alone

European leaders on Monday said President Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security.

The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.”

He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger over European allies’ reluctance to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.

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Wall Street hesitates and oil prices climb with uncertainty about the Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. stock market is holding tentatively near its record heights Monday, while oil prices climb with uncertainty about when oil tankers can resume crossing the Strait of Hormuz and restore the world’s flow of crude. Dueling claims about a possible Iranian strike on a U.S. Navy vessel in the strait heightened the tensions.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 216 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%.

The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 2% to $110.37 and briefly topped $114 during the morning. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its war with the United States has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide. That in turn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly $70 per barrel before the war.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to visit the Vatican this week as Trump-Pope tensions rise

Rubio will travel to Rome and Vatican City this week in a bid to ease rising tensions between the Trump administration and Pope Leo over U.S. policies, particularly with Iran.

The State Department said Monday that Rubio, a devout Catholic who’s visited Rome and the Vatican at least three times since becoming Trump’s top diplomat, would be in Italy on Thursday and Friday.

“Secretary Rubio will meet with Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere” the department said. “Meetings with Italian counterparts will be focused on shared security interests and strategic alignment.”

The trip comes as Trump has criticized Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, for his stances on the Middle East and elsewhere and posting social media images likening Trump to Jesus Christ.

Iran stands firm on its grip of the strait

The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.

Trump has promised to bring down gas prices as he faces midterm elections this year.

The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran for transit of the strait. It has enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling 49 commercial ships to turn back, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.

U.S. officials have expressed hope the blockade forces Iran back to the negotiation table.

US claims progress in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, saying two merchant ships have transited

The U.S. military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz and Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf were helping to restore shipping traffic. It separately denied Iran’s claims to have struck an American Navy vessel.

The announcement came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new initiative to help guide ships through the critical waterway for global energy. Iran has effectively closed the strait since the U.S. and Israel started the war Feb. 28, rattling the global economy.

The U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center has advised ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.” U.S. Central Command didn’t say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.

It was unclear whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so.

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Breaking Iran’s chokehold over the strait would ease global economic concerns and deny Tehran a major source of leverage in talks aimed at ending the war. But U.S. President Donald Trump's latest effort also risks reigniting full-scale fighting, as the U.S. and Iran steadily ramp up pressure.

The United Arab Emirates issued its first two missile alerts since a ceasefire reached in early April and accused Iran of targeting an oil tanker. After the second alert, Emirati officials said that “air defense are now dealing with a missile threat,” without elaborating.

An explosion and fire meanwhile broke out aboard a South Korean-operated ship anchored in the strait, though its cause was unknown, the South Korean government said. In another sign of possible escalation, Iran claimed to have struck a U.S. Navy vessel near the strait. The U.S. denied the claim.

Iran's effective closure of the strait, which runs between Iran and Oman, has caused a spike in worldwide fuel prices and rattled the global economy. The U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center is now advising ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.”

It was unclear whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so. Hundreds of ships have been bottled up in the Persian Gulf for weeks.

Iran has said the new U.S. effort is a violation of the fragile ceasefire that has held for more than three weeks.

Trump warns of ‘forceful’ response if Iran interferes

The U.S. military’s Central Command said the two American-flagged merchant ships were “safely headed on their journey” after transiting the Strait of Hormuz. It said Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf were helping to restore traffic.

Its statement on X said that U.S. destroyers had also transited the strait. It did not say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.

Trump's announcement Sunday that the U.S. would “guide” ships out of the strait warned that Iranian efforts to block them “will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”

He described “Project Freedom” in humanitarian terms, designed to aid stranded seafarers who have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began. Crews have described to The Associated Press seeing drones and missiles explode over the waters earlier in the war as their vessels run low on drinking water, food and other supplies.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency called the effort part of Trump's “delirium.”

Iran stands firm on its grip of the strait

Iran’s military command on Monday said ships passing through the strait must coordinate with them.

“We warn that any foreign military force — especially the aggressive U.S. military — that intends to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz will be targeted,” Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi told state broadcaster IRIB.

The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.

The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran for transit of the strait.

The Joint Maritime Information Center urged mariners to coordinate closely with authorities in Oman “due to anticipated high traffic volume.” It warned that passing close to usual routes “should be considered extremely hazardous due to the presence of mines that have not been fully surveyed and mitigated.”

The head of security for the Baltic and International Maritime Council, a leading shipping trade group, said no formal guidance or details about the U.S. effort had been issued to the industry. Jakob Larsen questioned whether the effort was sustainable and said it carries a “risk of hostilities breaking out again.”

The United Arab Emirates accused Iran of targeting a tanker linked to its main oil company with two drones as it navigated the strait. It did not say when the attack occurred. No injuries were reported. ADNOC Logistics & Services, an affiliate of the oil company, said on X that the ship held no cargo when it was hit off the coast of Oman.

U.S. military denies that Iran struck one of its ships

Iranian news agencies, including the semiofficial Fars and ILNA, reported Monday that Iran struck a U.S. vessel near an Iranian port southeast of the strait, accusing it of “violating maritime security and navigation norms.” The reports said the vessel was forced to turn back.

U.S. Central Command said on X that “no U.S. Navy ships have been struck.”

The U.S. has enforced a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling at least 49 commercial ships to turn back, according to Central Command.

The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy. U.S. officials have expressed hope that the blockade forces Iran to make concessions in talks on its disputed nuclear program and other longstanding issues.

Little progress seen in negotiations

Iran’s latest proposal for ending the war calls for the U.S. lifting sanctions, ending the blockade, withdrawing forces from the region and ceasing all hostilities, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon, according to the semiofficial Nour News and Tasnim agencies, which have close ties to Iran’s security apparatus.

Iranian officials said they were reviewing the U.S. response, though Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters Monday that changing demands made diplomacy difficult. He did not give details.

Iran has claimed its proposal does not include issues related to its nuclear program and enriched uranium — long a driving force in tensions with the U.S. and Israel.

Iran wants other issues resolved within 30 days and aims to end the war rather than extend the ceasefire. Trump expressed doubt over the weekend that the proposal would lead to a deal.

Iranian crew was taken off seized tanker

Pakistan said Monday it has facilitated the transfer of 22 crew members from an Iranian vessel seized earlier by the U.S., describing the move as a confidence-building measure as Islamabad attempts to revive talks. Pakistan hosted face-to-face talks last month.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the crew members from the container ship MV Touska were flown to Pakistan overnight. They were expected to be handed over to Iranian authorities.

The vessel will be brought into Pakistani waters for necessary repairs before being returned to its original owners, the ministry said, adding that the process is being coordinated with the support of Iran and the U.S.

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Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press journalists Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan; Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.

Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey called legislators back to Montgomery starting Monday to approve contingency plans for special primary elections in hopes the Supreme Court will let the state switch congressional maps ahead of the November midterms. It's a move that Republican legislative leaders said would “give our state a fighting chance to send seven Republican members to Congress.” The seven-member delegation currently has two Democrats.

In Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Lee also announced a special session starting Tuesday for the GOP-controlled Legislature to break up the state’s one Democratic-held House district, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis.

Last week's Supreme Court decision striking down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana said the drawing of the map relied too heavily on race. The ruling began reverberating through statehouses across the South as Republicans eyed the possibility of getting new voting district lines in place for the 2026 midterm elections, or at least for 2028.

President Donald Trump on Sunday encouraged more states to join in redistricting in a social media post, saying his party could gain 20 House seats.

“We should demand that State Legislatures do what the Supreme Court says must be done,” Trump said. “That is more important than administrative convenience.”

A national redistricting battle is expanding

Legislative voting districts typically are redrawn only once a decade, after a census, to account for population changes. But Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to redraw U.S. House districts to give the party an advantage. Democrats in California responded by doing the same, and then other states joined in.

Lawmakers, commissions or courts already have adopted new House districts in eight states ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans think they could gain as many as 13 seats from new congressional districts in five states, while Democrats think they could pick up as many as 10 seats from new districts adopted in three states.

Florida became the latest to approve new districts the day of the Supreme Court ruling. Louisiana moved quickly to delay its May 16 congressional primary to allow time for lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts. Democrats and civil rights groups are challenging that election suspension in court. South Carolina’s governor suggested his state might also reconsider its congressional map.

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, described the court decision and redistricting scramble as an attempt to roll back the Civil Rights Movement.

“They said we’re going to allow partisan politicians to gerrymander you, so that even when you show up, your voice won’t have as much impact because we’ll play with the lines,” he said Sunday from the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. once served as pastor. “That isn’t a new method. That’s an old method. That’s a Jim Crow method.”

Alabama and Tennessee push for new House maps

Federal judges previously ordered Alabama to use a court-selected map with a second district with a substantial number of Black voters. The judges also ordered Alabama to use the new map until after the 2030 Census. Alabama is appealing that decision and is hoping the court, in light of the Louisiana ruling, will let Alabama revert to a 2023 map drawn by state lawmakers.

“As I continue saying, Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best,” Ivey said.

But Democrats sharply criticized any attempt to change the House districts ahead of the looming elections.

“This special session is a blatant power grab by Republican leadership in Montgomery to eliminate seats held by Black Democrats,” said former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, a Democratic candidate for Alabama governor.

Tennessee's move comes after a pressure campaign by Trump and other Republicans to reconfigure the state’s 9th Congressional District. Republicans had been prevented by previous precedent in Voting Rights Act cases from spreading the district’s Democratic voters among neighboring conservative districts and making it winnable. But the law may no longer be an impediment.

“We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters,” Lee, the governor, said.

The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6. Democrats noted that in 2022, the state Supreme Court checked additional redistricting because it was too close to an election. They argued that the court is their best hope this time around, too.

“We cannot keep doing things like this and calling ourselves a democracy,” Democratic state Sen. Raumesh Akbari said at a news conference outside the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

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Associated Press writers Jeff Amy, Bill Barrow, Jack Brook, Nicholas Riccardi and David A. Lieb contributed to this report.

Welcome to Round 2 of the NBA playoffs — which isn't lacking for star power.

Perennial All-Stars, Olympic gold medalists, past, present and likely future MVPs, they're all in the conference semifinal round that starts Monday with two games: Philadelphia at New York and Minnesota at San Antonio.

The other pair of Game 1s will be played on Tuesday: Cleveland at Detroit, and the Los Angeles Lakers at Oklahoma City.

Monday's schedule

— Game 1, Philadelphia at New York, 8 p.m. EDT (NBC/Peacock)

Odds: New York by 7.5 points.

It's the fifth time (including the Syracuse era for the 76ers) that the teams have met in a conference semifinal series. Philadelphia won each of the previous four, going a combined 14-2 in those games.

— Game 1, Minnesota at San Antonio, 9:30 p.m. EDT (Peacock/NBCSN)

Odds: San Antonio by 12.5.

The Spurs beat the Timberwolves 3-1 in the first round of the 1999 and 2001 playoffs. The teams haven't had a playoff series since, until now.

Tuesday's schedule

— Game 1, Cleveland at Detroit, 7 p.m. EDT (Peacock/NBCSN)

Odds: Detroit by 3.5.

Both teams are coming off seven-game grinds in Round 1, and will have to refocus quickly. At least it won't be a long trip for the Cavaliers; by air, their flight to Detroit is just 96 miles.

— Game 1, LA Lakers at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m. EDT (NBC/Peacock)

Odds: Oklahoma City by 15.5.

A team with LeBron James, as a 15.5-point underdog, in a playoff game? The only thing that has come close to that in the last 15 years is when James and Cleveland were 12.5-point underdogs to Golden State in an NBA Finals game in 2018.

Sunday recap

— Pistons 116, Magic 94 to win series 4-3. Orlando fired Jamahl Mosley.

— Cavaliers 114, Raptors 102 to win series 4-3. A tough end for Toronto,

Awards watch

A breakdown of this season's NBA awards:

— Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year: DeAndre Jordan, New Orleans.

— Hustle Award: Moussa Diabaté, Charlotte.

— Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio.

— Clutch Player of the Year: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City.

— Sixth Man of the Year: Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.

— Sportsmanship Award: Derrick White, Boston.

— Most Improved Player: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta.

— Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, Dallas.

— Executive of the Year: Brad Stevens, Boston.

Among the announcements still to come:

— Most Valuable Player: Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver's Nikola Jokic.

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

Betting odds

Defending champion Oklahoma City (-140) is favored to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.

The Thunder were followed by San Antonio (+350), New York (+900), Detroit (+1700), Cleveland (+2000) and the Los Angeles Lakers (+2500). Philadelphia (+3500) is next, followed by Minnesota (+10000).

Some neighborly rivalries await

Expect plenty of fans of visiting teams in the stands around the NBA during Round 2, especially in the Eastern Conference.

By car, it's only 100 miles between the arenas in Philadelphia and New York and only 168 miles between the arenas in Detroit and Cleveland. That means it'll be relatively easy for fans who want to hit the road to do some cheering.

The West series, they're not exactly drive-able. It's 1,248 miles between arenas in San Antonio and Minneapolis, and 1,330 miles between the ones in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City — but Lakers fans are everywhere, so it surely won't be all Thunder fans in OKC.

Key dates

— Monday and Tuesday: Conference semifinals begin.

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.

— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.

— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft

Quote of the day

“It's frustrating, being in the same spot three years in a row and getting the same result.” — Orlando's Paolo Banchero, after the Magic were ousted in Round 1 for the third consecutive season.

Stats of the day

— It took 48 games to complete Round 1 of the playoffs, third-most in league history. The first round in 2014 lasted for 50 games and the opening round in 2003 lasted for 49 games.

— The league has had seven different champions in the last seven seasons, and of those franchises, only two are in Round 2 this year — the Lakers and Thunder, who will meet in a West semifinal.

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

It’s been getting worse. Over the past 12 months, missed garbage complaints climbed from 35,675 to 39,146. Missed heavy trash pickup nearly doubled the past 12 weeks alone, jumping from 2,916 to 5,440 complaints.

Steven David, Deputy Chief of Staff for Mayor John Whitmire, says the reasons go back years, and they start with a piece of infrastructure most Houstonians have never heard of.

Transfer Stations

Most people assume a garbage truck drives straight from their curb to a landfill. It doesn’t.

“Trucks, goes to the transfer station, which is close,” David explained to KPRC 2 News. “We have geographically dispersed ones. Dumps the trash haul, goes back into the neighborhood. Transfer station people bundle it up, put it on an 18-Wheeler, 18-Wheeler [takes it] to the landfill.”

The transfer station is the hub. It keeps neighborhood trucks on short routes and lets larger vehicles make the long haul to the landfill efficiently. Houston has five of them, positioned across the city to serve different areas.

Two are currently functioning, one in southeast Houston, and one in the southwest. The three others tell a more complicated story. The northeast station on Neches Street is under construction. The northwest station on Sommermeyer has been closed and has a demolition scheduled for June. The fifth, on Central Street, is among those David describes as effectively abandoned.

“The three that are not functioning [have] like giant holes in the roof, flocks of birds have moved in. There was a story about a couple of wild hogs that like ran off a couple folks in one of the other non-functioning ones,” David said.

Compounded decisions

David traced the deterioration to a policy decision made by a previous administration. The Solid Waste Department was allowed to stop contributing to what the city calls the Maintenance and Renewal Fund. It’s a general fund mechanism that pays for facility upkeep across departments.

He says the department took over its own maintenance.

RELATED: Houston mayor proposes new $5 monthly ‘administrative fee’ tied to trash service starting next year

“And the previous administration said, okay, that’s fine,” David adds. “What do you think the first thing was that they cut whenever they said you got to reduce your budget? Maintenance of the facilities.”

With three stations offline, trucks that would normally drop off nearby are rerouting to the two remaining facilities. Routes get longer. Shifts run over. Drivers collect overtime. Fewer pickups happen per day.

“We can’t improve these transfer stations, which creates longer route times, which creates longer work hours, which creates overtime for the department,” David said. “We can’t fix those because we can’t afford the capex, because it’s a general fund department. And it’s not fee-supported.”

The revenue sitting in rubble

The broken stations aren’t just costing the city money but they’re also preventing potential revenue.

“Transfer stations are really interesting,” said David. “They are like cash cow opportunities for a municipality.”

Right now, Houston contracts with a third-party vendor to operate its transfer stations who consolidates Houston’s trash and takes it out to the landfill at no charge to the city.

Because of the cuts to the department, David says all the city can do is support its drivers.

“They get to charge all the third-party companies, so the Texas Pride Disposals, BFIs, Waste Management’s, and they charge them $75 a ton,” he said. “We’ve done financial modeling. If we had all five transfer stations in our portfolio and we were running them, we’d make anywhere between $20 and $25 million dollars.”

The proposed fix

The Whitmire administration’s Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget proposes converting Solid Waste into a municipal utility. The same model Houston uses for water and wastewater. That designation would come with a monthly fee charged to households, starting at $5 per month in FY27, and rising by $5 every year until it reaches $25 per month in Fiscal Year 2032.

The fee would allow the city to borrow against projected revenue.

“Whenever we bring in new revenue, we can issue debt against it,” David said. “So, we can immediately start to purchase more vehicles and fix those facilities and begin making money on those facilities.”

Houston would essentially charge less than cities around it. Documents he showed KPRC 2 News state Pasadena charges roughly $34 per month. Pearland charges $23. League City charges around $22. San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, El Paso, and Arlington all fund solid waste through dedicated monthly fees. Houston according to the proposed budget we saw shows it’s the outlier among major Texas cities.

What’s at stake

The city’s five-year general fund outlook, shown to KPRC 2 News, shows a fund balance turning negative by FY27 without structural changes. The solid waste fee is one of two major reforms proposed. The other is a right-of-way rental fee charged to utilities that occupy public streets. That together are projected to bring roughly $200 million in new revenue, allowing the city to stay in positive until Fiscal Year 2030.

Without the fee, David believes the city has no path to fixing the transfer stations. Without fixed transfer stations, the routes stay long, overtime remains high, and the 311 queue keeps growing.

The construction activity at the northwest station and the pending demolition of the northwest facility suggests the city has already begun moving on some of its infrastructure. If the budget is approved, it would determine how quickly the three transfer stations come online.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 76 points, or 0.2%, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.1% higher.

The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 1.7% to $110.01 and briefly topped $114 during the morning. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its war with the United States has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide. That in turn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly $70 per barrel before the war.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States would guide ships through the strait, which could get oil flowing again and bring down its price. But prices instead climbed after Iranian news agencies claimed Monday that Iran had struck a U.S. Navy vessel southeast of the Strait of Hormuz, accusing it of “violating maritime security and navigation norms.”

The U.S. military rejected the claim and later said that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz.

Even with all the uncertainty about how long the war with Iran will last, the U.S. stock market has managed to power to record after record. Hope is still high on Wall Street that the global economy can avoid a worst-case scenario because of the war. And in the meantime, companies continue to deliver big growth in profits. That's key because stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.

Tyson Foods joined the list Monday of those topping analysts’ expectations for both profit and revenue during the latest quarter.

It sold less beef than it did a year ago, but it did so at prices that were 11.5% higher, so its total beef revenue edged up. It also sold more chicken and pork than a year earlier, at slightly higher prices. Its stock rose 1.7% after swinging between gains and losses earlier in the morning.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings likewise delivered a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But it’s feeling the effects of the war, which has not only raised pressure on fuel prices but also pushed some customers to think twice about travel plans, particularly to Europe.

The cruise operator said some “execution missteps” also have bookings below where it would like, and its stock fell 8.5%.

On the winning side of Wall Street was eBay, which climbed 4.7% after GameStop said it wanted to buy its much bigger rival for $125 per share in cash and stock. Coming into the day, eBay had a total market value that was nearly quadruple GameStop’s.

GameStop said it has already built a 5% stake in eBay and sees opportunities to cut $2 billion in annual costs quickly. GameStop, whose stock briefly soared to market-shaking heights during the meme stock craze of 2021, fell 5.2%.

Berkshire Hathaway climbed 1.2% following the conglomerate's first annual meeting with CEO Greg Abel at the helm instead of famed investor Warren Buffett.

Several big tech stocks were also strong, continuing a big run for companies involved in artificial-intelligence technology. Micron Technology gained 7.3% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. Oracle rallied 5.7%, Sandisk climbed 4.4% and Super Micro Computer added 4.5%.

In stock markets abroad, gains for tech stocks helped indexes jump 5.1% in South Korea and 1.2% in Hong Kong, while markets were closed in mainland China and Japan for holidays.

European indexes fared worse, and France’s CAC 40 fell 1.1%.

In the bond market, Treasury yield edged up as oil prices climbed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.41% from 4.39% late Friday.

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

Michigan Democrats won a state government trifecta in 2022 — control of the governorship and both chambers of the state Legislature — but lost the state House in 2024 and cling to a 19-18 state Senate majority. A Republican victory on Tuesday would deadlock the body at 19 senators each.

While the state constitution allows Democratic Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II to break ties, Republicans could still block measures by withholding votes and preventing Democrats from reaching the 20-vote threshold required to pass legislation.

The nominees for the seat are Democrat Chedrick Greene, Republican Jason Tunney and Libertarian Ali Sledz.

Greene, a firefighter and former state Senate aide to McDonald Rivet, received 60% of the vote in the Feb. 3 Democratic special primary against five others. Tunney, an attorney and former executive at his family’s roofing company, won the GOP special primary with 51% of the vote against three opponents. Sledz, a graduate student and Army spouse, received the Libertarian Party nomination at a local party convention in January.

State Senate District 35 includes parts of Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties and borders Lake Huron. Although Republican Donald Trump carried all three counties in the 2024 presidential race, the portions of the counties that fall within District 35 are more competitive. McDonald Rivet won the seat in 2022 with 53% of the vote. Democrat Kamala Harris barely edged Trump in the district in 2024, 49.7% to 48.9%, on the strength of her 17-percentage-point lead in the Saginaw portion of the district. Trump posted smaller leads in the parts of the district in Bay and Midland counties. District voters also preferred Democrat Joe Biden over Trump in the 2020 presidential race by a slightly larger margin.

McDonald Rivet vacated the seat in January 2025 following her election to Congress. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced in August 2025 that the special primary would be held Feb. 3 and the special election on Tuesday.

The winner will complete the remaining eight months of the term. Both Greene and Tunney have filed to run in the Aug. 4 primaries for nomination to a full term.

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

Michigan’s mandatory recount law does not apply to state Senate races. Instead, candidates may request and pay for a recount, with the payment refunded if the recount changes the outcome. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to 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 in Senate District 35 close at 8 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The AP will provide vote results and declare a winner in the state Senate special election. Three candidates are on the ballot. Write-in votes are not permitted for this election, since no write-in candidates filed the necessary paperwork with election officials.

Who gets to vote?

Any voter registered in state Senate District 35 may participate in the special election. Voters may register on Election Day.

How many people actually vote?

Nearly 46,000 voters cast ballots in the Feb. 3 special primary in District 35. There were slightly more than 17,000 votes from Saginaw County, just shy of 17,000 from Bay County and about 11,000 from Midland County.

In the regularly scheduled 2022 general election, about 116,000 ballots were cast in the district, with the share of votes from each county about the same as in the special primary.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

In the Feb. 3 special primaries, early and absentee votes made up about 43% of the total Democratic primary vote and about 29% of the Republican vote.

By comparison, about 60% of the vote in the 2024 presidential general election was cast before Election Day.

As of Friday, about 32,000 ballots had already been cast in the special election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties tend to release a relatively small amount of the vote in their first vote update, both in terms of advance votes and in-person Election Day votes. Bay County tends to release results from pre-Election Day voting at the end of the vote tabulation process, while Midland and Saginaw counties release them throughout the night along with results from in-person Election Day voting.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

The last time this seat was up, in 2022, the AP first reported results in state Senate District 35 at 8:53 p.m. ET, or 53 minutes after polls closed. About 89% of the vote had been tallied by 2:23 a.m. ET, with the last vote update of the night at 5:33 a.m. ET, with about 99.9% of total votes counted.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the Aug. 4 state primary and 182 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/.

The four-time Pro Bowl wideout pleaded not guilty in February to a felony strangulation charge and a misdemeanor assault and battery charge stemming from the alleged dispute with his former private chef.

Diggs declined to speak to reporters as he arrived at Norfolk County District Court in Dedham, a Boston suburb.

According to court records, the chef told officers that she and Diggs had argued about money he owed her for work. During the Dec. 2 encounter at his home in Dedham, Massachusetts, she said, he “smacked her across the face” and then “tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow around her neck,” leaving her feeling short of breath. She told officers she had trouble breathing and felt she could have blacked out.

Diggs’ attorney has said he “categorically denies these allegations,” calling them unsubstantiated and motivated by a financial dispute. Diggs did not speak to reporters outside court in February.

Diggs signed a three-year, $69 million contract with New England last year and was a key target for quarterback Drake Maye during the Patriots’ AFC East title run. Before joining the Patriots, Diggs was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 2015 and played for the Buffalo Bills before a brief stint with the Houston Texans in 2024.

Diggs’ 1,000-yard season with the Patriots marked the seventh of his career. It helped complete a successful career revival after a season-ending knee injury derailed what turned out to be a one-year stay with the Houston Texans in 2024.

Diggs, who led the team with 85 receptions and 1,013 yards receiving with four touchdowns in his only season with the Patriots, was released by the team in March. Diggs posted a goodbye on social media, thanking the Patriots for the season and saying: “We family forever.”

Diggs has yet to sign with another team.

It was Orlando’s third consecutive first-round playoff exit, and easily the most disappointing. Not only did the eighth-seeded Magic lose all three chances to upset the top-seeded Pistons, but one of those games saw Orlando have a 24-point second-half lead at home and still lose. Orlando missed 23 consecutive shots in that Game 6 loss on Friday, getting booed by fans when it was over.

That loss probably was the one that sealed Mosley’s fate, even though the loss in Game 7 at Detroit on Sunday was the one that ended the season.

“We’re grateful to Jamahl for all he’s done for the Orlando Magic,” Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said. “We appreciate his leadership and the positive contributions he made as head coach. While this was a difficult decision, we feel it’s time for a new voice and fresh perspective. We wish Jamahl and his family nothing but the best.”

Mosley is the third-winningest coach in Magic history, his 189 wins behind only Brian Hill (267) and Stan Van Gundy (259). He inherited a team that was in the early stages of a rebuild, with Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs entering the league as rookies in his first season and then the Magic winning the lottery to draft Paolo Banchero No. 1 overall before Mosley’s second season.

Orlando won 22 games in Mosley’s first season, improved to 34-48 in Year 2 and has been .500 or better in all three seasons since — 47-35 in 2023-24, 41-41 last season and 45-37 this season.

That makes the Magic one of 10 teams — Boston, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma City are the others — to have not finished below .500 in any of the last three seasons.

It wasn’t enough. And with much of the team’s core — Banchero, Wagner, Suggs, Desmond Bane and more — under contract for the foreseeable future, the Magic clearly felt the best way to shake things up was to bring in a new coach.

“It’s been absolutely amazing journey with these guys,” Mosley said. “Their ability to grow, communicate ... we’re going to fight until the final horn goes off. And that’s what you’ve seen for a majority of the five years.”

It is a roster in need of upgrading in some ways, shooting perhaps foremost among them after Orlando was only 27th in the 30-team league in 3-point percentage this season. Injuries have also been a major issue for the Magic, including in the playoffs — with Wagner unable to play in the final three games, all losses, against Detroit.

Mosley’s job security was a talking point for much of the season, especially amid reports that he and Banchero were not on the same page. In March, Banchero acknowledged that were some moments of conflict — but thought Orlando was better for going through that.

“We’re both competitors,” Banchero said when asked then about his relationship with Mosley. “There were times where I was frustrated and I wasn’t playing as well as I think I should be. But it never became me pointing the finger at him or being disrespectful. It was all constructive; he’s talking to me, I’m talking to him. And winning, it cures everything.”

Evidently, there wasn’t enough winning.

Mosley had two seasons left on an extension that he and the Magic agreed on in March 2024. The team lauded his “preparation, work ethic, ability to connect with the players and passion he brings to the job every day brings positive results, both on the court and off” when announcing that deal.

Barely two years later, he and the Magic were parting ways.

Only seven coaches have been in their current jobs longer than Mosley was with Orlando — Miami’s Erik Spoelstra (hired in 2008), Golden State’s Steve Kerr (2014), the Clippers’ Tyronn Lue (2020), Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault (2020), Minnesota’s Chris Finch (2021), Indiana’s Rick Carlisle (2021) and Dallas’ Jason Kidd (2021).

Mosley spent 15 years as an assistant in Denver, Cleveland and Dallas — and was often mentioned as a candidate for head-coaching jobs around the league over that span — before Orlando hired him. He had a long relationship with Weltman, who first took note of Mosley when they worked together with the Nuggets.

Mosley was the 14th coach in Magic history, the 15th if counting Billy Donovan — who accepted the job in 2007, then had second thoughts and returned to the University of Florida. Donovan just left the Chicago Bulls after six seasons as their coach, which sparked speculation that he could be the frontrunner in Orlando if the Magic indeed would be moving on from Mosley.

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

Police said no arrests had been made as of late Sunday.

The shooting broke out Sunday night during a gathering of young people near Arcadia Lake, a popular swimming and boating spot in Edmond, just outside Oklahoma City, said Edmond police spokesperson Emily Ward.

“This is obviously a very terrifying situation and we understand the concern from the public and those involved and we are working extremely hard to find the suspects,” she said.

Ten people were transported to hospitals and others drove themselves. She said victims were in “various conditions.”

Police did not immediately respond to a message seeking more information Monday.

Ten people were at Integris Health Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City and three were at Integris Health Edmond Hospital as of Monday morning, according to a hospital system spokesperson.

While police did not provide details about the party, a flyer circulated on social media after the shooting suggested that an event called Sunday Funday was scheduled at a pavilion near the lake until midnight.

It advertised food, drinks, music and “good vibes, good people.”

Arcadia Lake sits just north of Oklahoma City and is dotted with picnic pavilions, campgrounds, a fishing pier, and swimming beaches.

It was built in the 1980s for outdoor recreation and flood control and also provides water to the city of Edmond, a suburb with about with about 100,000 residents.

Forty years ago, Edmond was the site of one of the deadliest workplace shootings in U.S. history. On Aug. 20, 1986, postal worker Patrick Sherrill shot 20 co-workers, killing 14 of them. He then killed himself.

Over the weekend, another shooting at a party in the Texas Panhandle left two people teenagers dead and 10 others wounded. Police in Amarillo said two people opened fire at an apartment complex early Saturday.

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Stengle reported from Dallas.

The garage officially closed, and drivers should expect significant traffic changes as demolition gets underway.

According to officials, Avenida de las Americas between McKinney and Lamar streets will be restricted to valet access for guests of the Hilton Americas-Houston.

In addition, Polk Street between Chartres and Jackson streets will be completely closed to all traffic.

Visitors staying at the Hilton Americas are encouraged to use valet services, while others heading downtown have several alternative parking options.

Drivers can park at the nearby Toyota Center via the Tundra Garage or at the Norton Rose Fulbright Tower garage.

For those visiting the convention center or Discovery Green, officials recommend using the Avenida North Garage, which remains open and is accessible from Capitol and Rusk streets.

Meanwhile, construction is already underway on a new parking facility that will replace the demolished structure. The new garage, located at Bell and Chenevert streets, will include about 1,000 parking spaces and is expected to be completed in early fall.

Officials urge drivers to plan ahead, allow extra travel time, and be mindful of detours as work continues in the busy downtown corridor.

The MV Hondius, which was on a weekslong polar cruise from Argentina to Antarctica and then several isolated islands in the South Atlantic, had requested help from local health authorities on Sunday after making its way to the island of Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa, but no one has yet been allowed to disembark, the company operating the cruise said.

There are 88 passengers — including one who has died — and 61 crew members, two of whom are sick, onboard, the operator said Monday. The passengers include 17 Americans, 19 from the U.K. and 13 from Spain, among other nationalities.

The three passengers to die were from the Netherlands and Germany. The German remains on board. A British man is in intensive care in South Africa.

A 70-year-old Dutch man who presented with fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea was the first victim and died onboard on April 11, the ship's Netherlands-based operator Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement giving new details. His body was taken off the vessel nearly two weeks later on the British territory of Saint Helena, some 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) off the African coast, and was awaiting repatriation.

His 69-year-old wife was transferred to South Africa at the same time but collapsed at a Johannesburg airport and died at a nearby hospital, the South African Department of Health said.

The ship then sailed on to Ascension Island, another isolated Atlantic outpost about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the north, where a sick British man was taken off the ship and evacuated to South Africa on April 27. He later tested positive for hantavirus, a rare infection spread by rodents that can cause serious respiratory illness or hemorrhagic fever, the South African health department said.

He is in a critical condition and is now in intensive care in a South African hospital, where he is being kept isolated, authorities said.

A third passenger died onboard on Saturday and was identified as a German national. The body is still on the ship, the cruise operator said. It specified that the three deaths are not yet confirmed to be hantavirus as the only person confirmed to have the virus is the man in intensive care in South Africa.

WHO said that while only one hantavirus case was confirmed through tests, the other five cases were suspected to be hantavirus.

The cruise ship is asking Cape Verde for help

Two crew members still onboard the Hondius — one British, one Dutch — need urgent medical care, Oceanwide said, adding it was still awaiting permission from local authorities in Cape Verde on Monday to evacuate passengers and crew members. The company said it was considering moving to one of the Spanish islands of Las Palmas or Tenerife if it couldn't get people off the ship in Cape Verde.

The World Health Organization had said Sunday that it was working with local authorities and the ship's operators to conduct a “full public health risk assessment” and was trying to coordinate the evacuation of the two sick people from the ship.

“Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, and epidemiological investigations,” WHO said. “Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing.”

The Dutch Foreign Ministry said it was also exploring the possibilities of evacuating some people from the ship.

A Dutch organization called On Behalf of the Family issued a comment from relatives of a Dutch couple who they said were on the cruise and had died in April.

“The beautiful journey they experienced together has been abruptly and definitively cut short. ... We wish to bring them home and commemorate them in peace and privacy,” the statement said, without identifying the family.

Hantavirus is rare and not often spread person to person

Hantaviruses, which are found throughout the world, are a family of viruses spread mainly by contact with the urine or feces of infected rodents like rats and mice. They gained attention after actor Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from hantavirus infection in New Mexico last year. She was not immediately found and her ailing husband died around a week later from heart disease.

In rare cases, hantavirus infections can be spread between people, WHO said. There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival.

Hantaviruses cause two serious syndromes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, affecting the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, affecting the kidneys.

“While severe in some cases, it is not easily transmitted between people,” Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said in a statement Monday. “The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”

The weekslong cruise started in Argentina

South Africa's Department of Health said the ship had left Ushuaia in southern Argentina for a cruise that included visits to Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and other isolated islands in the South Atlantic.

While Oceanwide Expeditions didn't say exactly which cruise the ship was on, it advertises 33-night or 43-night “Atlantic Odyssey” cruises on the 107-meter (351-foot) -long Hondius on its website that follow that route.

The Hondius has 80 cabins and a capacity of 170 passengers, the company said. It typically travels with around 70 crew members, including a doctor, it said.

Though there was no information from authorities on the possible source of the suspected outbreak, a previous hantavirus outbreak in southern Argentina in 2019 killed at least nine people. It prompted a judge to order dozens of residents of a remote town to stay in their homes for 30 days to halt the spread.

South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases, meanwhile, was conducting contact tracing in the Johannesburg region to identify if other people in South Africa were exposed to the infected cruise ship passengers. The 69-year-old woman who died was trying to catch a flight back home to the Netherlands at Johannesburg's main international airport, regarded as the busiest in Africa, when she collapsed.

“There is no need for (the) public to panic,” South Africa's health department said, adding WHO was “coordinating a multicountry response with all affected islands and countries to contain further spread of the disease.”

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AP writer Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed.

One of dozens of AI cameras installed for the utility Arizona Public Service had spotted early signs of what came to be known as the Diamond Fire. Firefighters raced to the scene and contained the blaze before it grew past 7 acres (2.8 hectares).

As record-breaking heat and an abysmal snowpack raise concerns about severe wildfires, states across the fire-prone West are adding AI to their wildfire detection toolbox, banking on the technology to help save lives and property.

Arizona Public Service has nearly 40 active AI smoke-detection cameras and plans to have 71 by summer's end, and the state’s fire agency has deployed seven of its own. Another utility, Xcel Energy in Colorado, has installed 126 and aims to have cameras in seven of the eight states it serves by year's end.

“Earlier detection means we can launch aircraft and personnel to it and keep those fires as small as we can,” said John Truett, fire management officer for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

Where there are fewer eyes, AI looks for fires

ALERTCalifornia is a network of some 1,240 AI-enabled cameras across the Golden State that work similar to the system in Arizona.

Human intervention keeps the risk of false positives low and trains the technology to become more accurate, said Neal Driscoll, geology and geophysics professor at the University of California, San Diego, and founder of ALERTCalifornia.

“The AI that’s being run on the cameras is actually beating 911 calls,” he said.

In Arizona, California and beyond, the technology is mostly used in high-risk areas that are sparsely populated, rural or remote, where a blaze might not be quickly spotted by human eyes.

“It’s just the ones where we won’t get a 911 call for a long time, it is extremely helpful to have that AI always monitoring that camera,” said Brent Pascua, battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. “In many cases, we’ve started a response before 911 was even called, and in a few cases, we’ve actually started a response, went there, put the fire out, and never received a 911 call.”

A technology driven by worsening blazes

Pano AI, whose technology combines high-definition camera feeds, satellite data and AI monitoring, has seen a growing interest in its cameras since launching in 2020. They've been deployed in Australia, Canada and 17 U.S. states, including Oregon, Washington and Texas. Its customers include forestry operations, government agencies and utilities, including Arizona Public Service.

Last year, its technology detected 725 wildfires in the U.S., the company said.

“In many of these situations, we hear from stakeholders that the visual intelligence, the time, really, really gives them a head start and some of these could have taken off into hundreds if not thousands of acres,” said Arvind Satyam, the company’s co-founder and chief commercial officer.

Cindy Kobold, an Arizona Public Service meteorologist, said the technology notifies them about 45 minutes faster on average than the first 911 call.

Satyam said development of the technology was driven by the lack of hardened solutions to combat worsening wildfires. Climate change — caused by burning oil, gas and coal — is warming the planet and fueling dry conditions that supercharge infernos, making them burn hotter, faster and more frequently. The technology helps firefighters to safely and effectively respond while protecting communities and infrastructure, he said.

Challenges and limitations

One of the biggest obstacles to implementation is the price tag; Pano AI, for instance, charges around $50,000 annually per camera. The cost also includes fire risk analysis and 24/7 intelligence center.

False alarms present a challenge, which can be costly in terms of time and attention, said Patrick Roberts, a senior researcher with the nonprofit research group RAND who recently finished a project on accelerating innovation in wildfire management.

And when the AI accurately detects a fire, it doesn’t tell stakeholders the best course of action.

“Do you send help right away? Do you monitor? Should you worry about it? Where do you send help? Do you think about evacuation? All this still requires people and decision support systems,” said Roberts.

In highly populated areas, people tend to spot and call in fires pretty quickly, and the tech is not so useful when extreme weather events, such as hurricane-force winds, intensify and rapidly shift the flames, as happened in Los Angeles last year.

Pascua says the technology complements Cal Fire’s work.

“As the fire moves and shifts around, that’s where the human factor comes in and decides which tactics are best in fighting the fire. AI can only do so much,” he said. “It just provides that real time information where we can make better decisions on the fire ground.”

AI firefighting assistance is not limited to detection

AI can also be employed to identify the best places to thin vegetation and burn cool fires, and even to monitor air quality for signs of smoke, just like your home's carbon monoxide sensor, said Roberts, but “1,000 times more sensitive.”

At George Mason University in Virginia, professor Chaowei “Phil” Yang is working with researchers from California State University of Los Angeles, the city of LA and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to create a system that forecasts where a fire will burn and which communities will be hardest hit by smoke pollution.

The idea is to give agencies real-time maps so they can make quick, life-saving decisions about evacuations, school and road closures, and send out early air quality warnings. Yang said they hope the technology will be operational in three years.

“AI in wildfires, it’s no longer just speculative. It’s really being used,” said Roberts, and it's use will only continue to grow.

“The future is AI everywhere,” he said, “and the lines will blur between AI wildfire detection and just wildfire detection as the lines will blur in other areas of our life.”

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Dozens of dancers in vivid oranges, greens and blues stomped, leaped and collapsed into the sand of the sun-baked village of Toubab Dialao, an hour from the capital Dakar.

Founded in 1997, the African Dance Biennial has spent nearly three decades rotating across African cities — most recently Maputo, Mozambique, in 2023 — with the aim of raising the visibility of choreographic work on the continent.

The three-day event, which closed late Sunday, was held at the École des Sables, or School of Sands, in Toubab Dialao.

The school has become the continent’s most prominent professional dance training institution in recent years. It was founded in 1998 by Germaine Acogny, who is widely regarded as the mother of African contemporary dance.

Its open-air sand studio, a hallmark of Acogny’s nature-rooted teaching philosophy, has drawn dancers from dozens of countries for intensive courses blending her original contemporary technique with traditional West African and Black modern dance styles.

The École des Sables gained international attention in recent years as the home of the first African production of Pina Bausch’s “The Rite of Spring,” which toured globally from 2021 to 2025.

The biennial comes as the school faces an uncertain future. A billion-dollar deep water port project overseen by Dubai Ports World, under construction just south of the fishing village, threatens to expropriate surrounding land, including property the school acquired to protect its natural ecosystem.

Arts institutions in the area have formed an association to resist the development.

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This version corrects the company name to Dubai Ports World.

The national gaming retailer said that its approximately 1,600 U.S. stores could become drop-off and shipping locations. One proposal includes live sales broadcasts from GameStop locations featuring eBay products.

“EBay has the second largest commerce franchise and there’s a big opportunity to do something much larger,” Cohen said in a CNBC interview Monday.

GameStop's bid is $125 per share in cash and stock. The equity value of the proposed deal is $55 billion on paper.

EBay confirmed the huge bid on Monday and said that it has had no talks with GameStop or received any outreach from the company before it received the proposal.

The company's board, along with financial and legal advisors, will review the offer and determine what course of action to take, eBay said.

GameStop said that it started accumulating shares in eBay beginning in February and currently has a 5% stake.

The company is looking to lower costs at eBay, saying that the online seller spent $2.4 billion on sales and marketing in fiscal 2025 while only adding 1 million net active buyers. GameStop says it will achieve $2 billion in annualized cost cuts within a year of the proposed transaction's closing.

Cohen, who owns about 9% of GameStop, would serve as CEO of the combined company. He would only be compensated based on the combined company's performance.

Cohen became CEO of GameStop in 2023. At the time the position had become a rotating door with the company trying to survive as streaming upended the gaming industry. GameStop became one of the most well-known meme stocks to create a frenzy among retail traders on Wall Street. The company’s shares took off in 2021 after a band of smaller-pocketed investors helped boost its stock by 1,000% in two weeks.

GameStop shares have fallen since then, but are still up more than 30% this year.

Shares of eBay jumped more than 7% in premarket trading, while GameStop's stock declined nearly 3%.

For 15 years, Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun worked in Saudi Arabia, sending money home to his family in one of the poorest areas of Bangladesh. This year, he had planned to return, build a larger house with his savings and spend time with the child he barely knew.

Then, on March 8, a missile struck his workers’ camp. He suffered severe burns and later died. He was among more than two dozen foreign workers killed across the Mideast after the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February.

Tens of millions of foreign workers have helped build the Gulf Arab states' modern, oil-fueled economies — with many not fully sharing in their prosperity. Now they face an even sharper dilemma: Keep working in the Mideast, where wages are far higher, hoping that a shaky ceasefire endures; or return to already poor countries where prices have soared because of the conflict.

Mamun's choice was made for him. He arrived home in a coffin earlier this month.

“We don’t know what we will do next,” said his widow, Sadia Islam Sarmin.

Millions work with little protection

Migrant workers make up a majority of the population in many Gulf Arab states. Westerners, Arabs and Indians dominate business and finance, while laborers from poor countries in Asia and Africa toil for long hours in scorching temperatures at oil facilities and construction sites — often with few protections.

The Coalition for Labour Justice for Migrants in the Gulf, an advocacy group, says few had access to bomb shelters and many were stranded by the conflict. It says attacks killed at least 24 foreign workers in the Gulf and four in Israel as Iran and allied armed groups launched waves of missile and drones strikes. Their count includes eight mariners killed at sea.

“It’s a very precarious situation for migrant workers,” said Udaya Wagle, who studies labor and migration at the Northern Arizona University.

A ceasefire was announced in early April, but negotiations to end the war have repeatedly stalled. Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil and gas, and says it will only reopen it if the war ends and the U.S. lifts its blockade.

The resulting spike in the price of gas, fertilizer and other goods has hit Asian countries particularly hard.

Remittances from the Gulf make up about 1% of the gross domestic product of India, 3% to 5% of the GDP in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; and nearly 10% in Nepal. Now they are more vital than ever, as household incomes are strained and governments seek foreign currency to buy oil and gas.

The Gulf economies also face a bleak outlook, with exports bottled up and key energy facilities in need of repair after missile strikes. The fighting could resume, as Iran rejects U.S. President Donald Trump 's demands.

Low-wage laborers are the most vulnerable

Mamun's family awoke on March 9 to phone calls saying the 35-year-old had been hurt. Video footage shot by another worker showed him sitting in the open, badly burned and bleeding, crying out for help.

“He never imagined he would be hurt. That a missile would fall on him,” said Maruf Hasain, his younger brother.

Workers like Mamun are the most vulnerable since they do the “most dirty, dangerous and difficult” jobs, said Shariful Islam Hasan of the Bangladeshi development organization BRAC.

In Qatar, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi factory worker labored through 12-hour shifts as missiles flew overhead. Shrapnel from one strike fell near his living quarters. When alarms sounded, he said, workers went to a designated room.

He earns less than $400 monthly and sends two-thirds home. “We have no choice but to keep working,” he said on condition of anonymity for fear of angering the authorities.

Qatar enacted several reforms in the run-up to hosting the 2022 World Cup, including the partial dismantling of a system that tied workers to their employers. But activists say abuses are still widespread and that workers have few avenues to pursue justice.

Ahmed al-Aliyli, a taxi driver in Qatar, has not sent money home to his family in Egypt for two months. He once earned as much as $3,000 a month but his income has plunged to a third of that as the war has disrupted travel. “We are the collateral damage of this war,” he said.

A slowdown in key sectors like real estate and construction will hit migrant workers directly, said Hasan of BRAC. Workers from Bangladesh and Pakistan are especially vulnerable, as they are often employed informally and without fixed contracts, he said.

Despite reforms in some countries, work permits are also often tied to a single employer and, in some cases, workers are effectively stranded, according to the labor coalition. It warned that some employers may use the conflict to withhold wages, deny leave or carry out arbitrary dismissals.

For many, going home isn't an option

When the war began, Mamun’s mother, Shahida Khatun, urged him to come home.

He had been saving up since November. In his last call home, he promised his younger brother and sisters he would pay for their studies, that he would build a larger house for his parents and return for good this spring.

Now, his family is struggling to recover his wages and piece together a life without him.

“The pain of losing a child. There are no words to describe the agony,” Khatun said.

For many workers, going home would mean giving up a steady income and much higher wages.

Marlene Flores, a Filipina worker in Qatar, said she felt the shudder each time a missile was intercepted. But the tax-free pay and health insurance made it feel safer — in a way — than the Philippines, which has declared a ″ national energy emergency.”

“It’s not easy for me to say,” she admitted, “But I would really stay here.”

Israel also has a large population of foreign workers. Filipino caregiver Jeremiah Supan continued caring for his two elderly charges despite near-daily missile alerts, sometimes dashing out for food or medicine despite the danger. He questions whether his own family could survive if he returns to the Philippines.

“I know that in the blink of an eye, one can die,” he said. “But what life shall we return to?”

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Shahida Khatun's last name on second reference.

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Gomez reported from Manila, Philippines. Associated Press writers Al Emrun Garjon in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sam Magdy in Cairo, and Eileen Ng from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.

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

Ohio is expected to play a high-profile role in the midterm elections, with a prominent ally of President Donald Trump vying for an open seat for governor and competitive races for the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House that could decide control of both chambers for the final two years of the Republican's presidency.

In the race to replace outgoing GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, tech entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy faces auto racing engineer and internet personality Casey Putsch for the Republican nomination.

Ramaswamy has endorsements from Trump and the Ohio Republican Party and entered the final stretch of the primary campaign with a $31 million war chest, including $25 million from his personal funds. Putsch raised about $123,000 and had about $8,700 in his campaign account as of the most recent filing in April.

A third candidate, Heather Hill, was disqualified from the race after her running mate withdrew from the ticket in an acrimonious split. Their names will still appear on the ballot, but votes cast for them will not be counted.

The winner will face Dr. Amy Acton, who is unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Acton was director of the Ohio Department of Health during the early days of the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response until her resignation in June 2020.

In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown is running to reclaim his old job in Washington. A Brown victory in November is again pivotal to Democratic hopes of winning control of the Senate, as was the case in 2024, when his loss to Republican Bernie Moreno helped secure a GOP majority.

Brown faces Ron Kincaid for the Democratic nomination. Brown had an enormous fundraising advantage over Kincaid as of mid-April.

The Republican nominee will be Sen. Jon Husted, who faces no primary challengers. Husted was lieutenant governor when he was appointed to fill the Senate seat JD Vance vacated to become vice president. The seat will be up again for a full term in 2028.

Among the notable U.S. House races, a crowded Republican field is competing to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the 9th Congressional District. The 22-term incumbent narrowly won reelection in 2024 over Republican Derek Merrin in one of the final races to be called that cycle.

Merrin is again running for the GOP nomination against a field that includes former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan, state Rep. Josh Williams and two others.

Lucas County, home to Toledo, is by far the most influential in the 9th Congressional District primaries. It contributed more than one-third of the total vote in the 2024 Republican U.S. House primary. Merrin and Williams are from Lucas County, while Sheahan’s home base is Ottawa County.

Franklin and Cuyahoga counties, home to Columbus and Cleveland, respectively, are the state’s most populous and play big roles in both Democratic and Republican statewide primaries, as do Hamilton, Montgomery and Summit counties.

Trump’s endorsement should be a boost to Ramaswamy. Trump carried every county in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

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

Recounts in Ohio are automatic if the margin is less than 0.25% of the total vote in statewide races or 0.5% in congressional district races. 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 7:30 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, the state Supreme Court, the state Senate and the state House.

Who gets to vote?

Any registered voter in Ohio may participate in any party’s primary. Ohio does not register voters by party, but voters who participate in a party’s primary will be considered affiliated with that party.

How many voters are there?

As of Friday, there were about 7.9 million registered voters in Ohio.

How many people actually vote?

The 2022 Republican primaries for the U.S. Senate and governor each had about 1.1 million total votes cast, which was roughly 14% of registered voters at the time. The Democratic U.S. Senate primary had about 518,000 total votes cast, and the Democratic gubernatorial primary had about 509,000 votes cast.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 17% of the vote in the 2022 primaries was cast before primary day. About 25% of the vote was cast before primary day in the 2024 presidential primary.

As of Friday, more than 153,000 Democratic primary ballots and about 122,000 Republican primary ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

All 88 counties in Ohio tend to release all or almost all of their early and absentee voting results in the first vote update of the night, in most cases before any in-person Election Day results are released.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2024 Ohio presidential primary, the AP first reported results at 7:36 p.m. ET, or six minutes after polls closed. About 90% of the vote had been counted by 10:19 p.m. ET, and the last vote update of the night was at 1:28 a.m. ET, with more than 99% of total votes counted.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 182 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/.

The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters on Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.”

He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger over European allies’ reluctance to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.

Asked about the American decision, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said: “I wouldn’t exaggerate that because I think we are expecting that Europe is taking more charge of its own security.

“I do not see those figures as dramatic, but I think they should be handled in a harmonious way inside the framework of NATO,” he told reporters in Yerevan, Armenia, where European leaders held a summit.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that “there needs to be a stronger European element in NATO, I have no doubt, about that.” He told his European partners that there is ”more tension" in some of their international alliances "than there should be, and it is very important that we therefore face up to this.”

Taken by surprise

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said “there has been a talk about withdrawal of U.S. troops for a long time from Europe. But of course, the timing of this announcement comes as a surprise.”

“I think it shows that we have to really strengthen the European pillar in NATO,” she said.

Asked whether she believes that Trump is trying to punish Merz, who said that the U.S. has been humiliated by Iran in talks to end the war, Kallas said: “I don’t see into the head of President Trump, so he has to explain it himself.”

Merz did not attend the European Political Community summit of around 30 European leaders, plus Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in Armenia. But his spokesman Stefan Kornelius, asked in Berlin whether the U.S. can still be relied on as a military partner, replied: “Absolutely.”

He said that the trans-Atlantic alliance has grown over decades and argued that “we have a very resilient and broad relationship.” But on what Trump meant when he said the troop cuts would exceed 5,000, Kornelius said: “You’d have to ask the American government.”

In response to Trump's threats over the last year, European countries and Canada have increased defense spending and military recruitment efforts.

NATO seeks clarity

Over the weekend, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said officials at the 32-nation military alliance “are working with the U.S. to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany.”

European allies and Canada have known since just after he came to office again last year that Trump would pull troops out of Europe, some already left Romania in October, but U.S. officials had pledged to coordinate any moves with their NATO allies to avoid creating a security vacuum.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down the move, saying that “there has been at this point disappointment on the U.S. side” about European support for the war on Iran.

Notably, France, Spain and the U.K. have declined to give U.S. forces free rein to use bases on their territory to attack Iran. Spain has denied them the use of its airspace and bases for the war.

But Rutte, who has championed Trump’s leadership at NATO despite the U.S. president's criticism of the majority of the allies, said: “I would say the Europeans have heard a message. They are now making sure that all the bilateral basing agreements are being implemented.”

Iran and trade trouble

Rutte added that European nations “have decided to pre-position assets, key assets, close to the theater for the next phase.”

He provided no details, but the Europeans have insisted they would not help police the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy trade route, until the war is over.

French President Emmanuel Macron said: “If the United States is ready to reopen Hormuz, that’s great. That’s what we’ve been asking for since the beginning.” But he underlined that Europeans are not ready to get involved in any operation “that does not seem clear.”

In another sign of friction with Merz, Trump has accused the EU of not complying with its U.S. trade deal and announced plans to increase tariffs next week on cars and trucks produced in the bloc to 25%, a move that would be particularly damaging to Germany, a major automobile manufacturer.

Without mentioning Trump or the United States, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen listed recent trade deals that the bloc has sealed with Australia and India, and is now working on with Mexico.

“With like-minded friends, you have stable, reliable supply chains and Europe has the biggest network of free trade agreements,” von der Leyen, who is from Germany, told reporters.

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Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Fifteen people were killed when two gunmen opened fire at the celebration on Bondi Beach in December. Father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram are accused of carrying out the massacre with guns they owned legally, in a country with tight controls on firearms. The attack, which followed a wave of separate antisemitic crimes in Australia, was inspired by the Islamic State group, authorities said.

The mass shooting prompted a Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, the highest form of inquiry in Australia, that began public hearings in Sydney on Monday. The two-week sitting is due to scrutinize the nature and prevalence of antisemitism in Australia’s institutions and society.

Further hearings this year will examine other topics before the commission publishes its final report in December.

“The sharp spike in antisemitism that we’ve witnessed in Australia has been mirrored in other Western countries and seems clearly linked to events in the Middle East,” said Commissioner Virginia Bell. “It’s important that people understand how quickly those events can prompt ugly displays of hostility toward Jewish Australians simply because they’re Jews.”

Bondi attack followed a surge in hate crimes

All witnesses called to give evidence Monday were Jewish Australians who recounted their experiences of hatred, some speaking under pseudonyms out of fear for their safety. The daughter of one of those killed in the Bondi attacks said that a year earlier she was verbally abused while carrying her baby in a Sydney shopping mall by a man who spotted her Star of David necklace.

“I felt shocked, exposed and unsafe,” said Sheina Gutnick. “There were many people around me but no one intervened.”

Her father Reuven Morrison, 62, hurled a brick at one of the gunmen who attacked the gathering at the popular Sydney beach in December, before Morrison was shot and killed. Gutnick said she was cautious of attending events with her family in public places or traveling to certain parts of Sydney.

Australian Jews told the hearing Monday that the Bondi attacks followed a surge in antisemitic incidents since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, 2023. In the following year, more than 2,000 episodes were reported to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which tracks such figures, compared to a previous record of just under 500 the year before.

Jewish Australians recount assaults and abuse

Such escalation has also been reported in Britain and elsewhere. But Australia's small Jewish population was particularly shocked because its members had not registered such a volume of serious threats before, witnesses said Monday.

“Now everyone is scared all the time,” said Toby Raphael, vice president of Sydney’s Newtown Synagogue, which was daubed with swastikas during a wave of antisemitic crimes in the city in 2025.

Raphael said he had once told congregants there was no need for security at the synagogue, but the ramp-up in hate-fueled attacks had changed that. He added that he was part of a parent security group at his son’s Jewish school, which is also protected by professional guards carrying guns.

“Why do kids have to go to school like that?” Raphael said. “This is the world that the Jews of Australia live in now and it needs to change.”

Antisemitism in Australia was growing in profile before the Bondi shooting because of a spate of attacks on Jewish schools, businesses and places of worship. Australia’s government in August said Iran had orchestrated at least two of the crimes and cut diplomatic ties with Tehran.

Some of those giving evidence to the inquiry on Monday cited these episodes when they said they were considering leaving Australia or already planned to move abroad.

Others spoke of being verbally or physically attacked or having crowds of pro-Palestinian protesters arrive at their synagogues. Alex Ryvchin, a Jewish group leader whose house was targeted by arson in 2025, said he believed Australia was “on a path to catastrophe,” after the crime at his home and he warned reporters that someone would die.

“This was January, and by December there was a horrific massacre which has transformed us permanently,” he told Monday’s hearing.

The hearings follow a report urging gun reform

The massacre roiled Australia, where serious gun crime has been rare since controls were tightened after a mass shooting in Tasmania 30 years ago. Australia’s federal and state governments are now considering further reforms.

An interim report from the Royal Commission released in April, which examined the capacity of Australian law enforcement and the security services to respond to antisemitic crimes, recommended that Australia’s leaders prioritize enacting nationally consistent gun laws and a weapons buyback.

Sajid Akram was shot dead by police at the crime scene. He was a licensed shooter who legally owned the guns used.

His son was wounded but survived. Naveed Akram has been charged with committing a terrorist act, 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of attempted murder. He has entered no pleas.

The incident happened around 9:10 p.m. Sunday near a mobile home on Libby Lane, according to the Pearland Fire Department.

Neighbors say they heard a loud boom before emergency crews rushed to the scene.

When firefighters arrived, they found seven people suffering from burn injuries near a fire pit outside the home. One person was listed in critical condition, while two others suffered major burns.

Video from the scene shows the aftermath of the explosion, including burnt clothing, shoes, a belt, and what appears to be a melted gas can near the fire pit.

Investigators are still working to determine the exact cause of the explosion.

However, neighbors told KPRC 2 that a father and several children were involved, and claimed the explosion may have happened after a can of gasoline was thrown into the bonfire.

Authorities have not confirmed that information.

Emergency radio traffic indicated that Life Flight was requested, though it’s unclear how many people were transported by helicopter.

The Pearland Fire Department has not said whether any charges or citations are expected.

Officials say the investigation remains ongoing as they work to learn more about what led to the explosion and the current conditions of those injured.

Republican Donald Trump may have won the state by double digits in the last presidential election, but growing dissatisfaction with his leadership and rising costs from the Iran war could help set the stage for Democrats to make previously unattainable gains.

Iowa Democrats plan to have 60 field organizers on the ground by June, nearly double from eight years ago during the midterm elections of Trump's first term. Another two dozen people will staff a coordinated campaign that's intended to support candidates for governor, U.S. House and U.S. Senate, among others.

“Iowa is still, in my view, a purple state," state party chair Rita Hart said in an interview. "We just haven’t given them an opportunity to show that lately.”

Republicans insist that Iowa will remain red, but White House travel plans suggest there may be some concern. Vice President JD Vance is visiting on Tuesday to support Rep. Zach Nunn, who represents Des Moines, its suburbs and the state's rural center. Trump also chose Iowa as his first stop when he began his midterm campaigning earlier this year.

Iowa has an unusual number of competitive races for open seats this year, with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst both opting out of reelection bids.

Leading what Hart called “the best statewide ticket we’ve had for a generation" is Rob Sand, the state auditor running for governor. He ended last year with $13 million in his campaign account, and he often highlights his rural roots, Christian faith and bowhunting prowess, as well as a disdain for partisan politics, to try to appeal to Iowans of all backgrounds.

Josh Turek and Zach Wahls, both state lawmakers, are seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the June 2 primary. The party is also targeting three of the four Republican-held U.S. House seats.

Democrats focus on cost of living

Democrats believe a populist economic message could resonate in Iowa when farmers are squeezed by tariffs and face higher prices for fertilizer and diesel fuel. In addition, hundreds of people have lost jobs as factories and meat processors shut down, and rural residents are driving further to see doctors as healthcare clinics close.

This year's candidates are also willing to take swings at their own party, even though they will likely benefit from campaign spending by national organizations.

Turek and Wahls say Democrats have abandoned the rural and small-town voters who placed hope in Trump to change the status quo. Turek, who calls himself a “prairie populist,” says there are too many millionaires in Congress who don’t know what it is to live paycheck to paycheck. Wahls, endorsed by several labor unions, says corruption in politics benefits corporate interests over working people.

Christina Bohannan, who is running for a third time to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in a southeast Iowa district, said both major political parties “have failed to really fight for working people.”

“Everybody’s talking about affordability,” she said. “I don’t want it just to become a catchphrase that people can kind of just brush aside as political rhetoric. This is real.”

Sand targets the entire political system, which he said "helps incumbents get reelected, rather than actually forcing them to solve our problems.” He recently introduced policy proposals, including term limits, bans on stock trading while in office, and open primaries.

Republicans say Democrats remain out of touch

Before Trump’s dominance in the region, it wasn’t uncommon to find Democrats representing the Midwest and Plains states in governors’ mansions or in Congress. Trump’s promises to resurrect American manufacturing jobs and “drain the swamp” won over voters who traditionally supported populist Democrats, said Iowa Democratic strategist Jeff Link.

“Because the knee-jerk reaction to Trump is to be the opposite of Trump, we went away from economic populism to our detriment,” Link said. “By just being anti-Trump, it is being condescending towards people that chose him three times.”

Tom Harkin, a former Democratic senator from Iowa, said Trump’s stumbles have created an opportunity for change.

“I think a lot of people wanted to get things shaken up a little bit," he said. "But I don’t think they wanted them shaken up like this."

Harkin said his party has an opportunity to rebrand itself.

“I think Democrats in the Midwest especially got painted with this broad brush, and we didn’t fight back well enough," he said. "We became more defensive.”

Republicans argue that Democrats' left-wing positions remain out of touch with Iowans' values.

“You can’t have political born-again experiences,” said Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. He said tweaking the message and running away from the national party is not going to “erase your history in one election cycle."

Kaufmann acknowledged that the cycle wouldn’t be easy but said Iowans trust Trump’s long game, knowing that he intends for tariffs to protect Iowa farmers and war with Iran to eliminate the country’s nuclear threat. But, he said, it took years for Democrats to lose the Iowa communities that flipped from supporting Barack Obama to backing Trump.

“It’s going to take a long time for them to build it back up again,” Kaufmann said.

Democrats try to rebuild

The political environment for Democrats has been bleak since Obama won the state in 2008 and 2012. Republicans have had total control in the Iowa state government for nearly a decade. All six members of the federal delegation are Republicans.

Democrats also lag Republicans by roughly 200,000 registered voters statewide and run at a deficit in each of the four congressional districts.

Iowa Democrats said 7,000 people have signed up over the past year to volunteer for Democratic candidates, and the state party will hold volunteer training sessions. The party has signed leases on eight field offices with plans to open at least seven more, including in blue-collar areas in eastern Iowa along the Mississippi River that supported Obama before pivoting to Trump.

“We’re investing so much in these organizers and in our county parties and supporting and training our volunteers,” Hart said. “It’s through these kinds of conversations where we build trust with voters.”

Senior leaders expect their spending this cycle to be on par with presidential years, reaching the high seven figures. They’re also pivoting from text messages and digital advertising to face-to-face conversations.

“Since the pandemic, we’ve really struggled with getting back to the basics with person-to-person communication," Hart said, adding, “We’ve got to get back to that.”

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

“If you scripted that one," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said, “I don’t know how you do. I can't explain it."

Cale Makar scored twice in the third period after returning from an earlier injury and the Avalanche overcame blowing a three-goal lead to beat the Minnesota Wild 9-6 on Sunday night in a wacky Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.

Makar, who left in the first period with an undisclosed ailment, scored his second goal of the game with 2:54 remaining to make it 8-6. Nathan MacKinnon added an empty-net goal with 2:08 remaining to seal it.

This was the 10th playoff game ever with at least 15 combined goals and just the second since 1994. There were five goals in each period.

“Just a weird game,” Makar said. “I don’t think we’re going to see that again. It’s probably a one-off, but glad we were able to stick with it and find a way to win.”

Who figured this? A high-scoring affair between two of the stingiest teams in the league with two elite goaltenders. There were 14 different players who notched a goal in a game that turned into a track meet. It's tied for the second-most in a playoff game.

“It’s nice to be able to win games like this,” captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “Not necessarily a coach’s dream or a player’s dream — we don’t want to give up six goals. It’s good to win this one but we’ve got lots of things to clean up.”

The Avalanche improved to 72-1 since moving to Colorado in 1995-96 when leading a playoff game by three or more goals. The lone loss was Game 5 against St. Louis in a season they went on to win the Stanley Cup.

A well-rested Colorado team led 3-0 with 6:47 left in the first period. But the Wild steadily climbed back and took a 5-4 lead on a short-handed goal from Marcus Foligno late in the second.

Devon Toews tied at 5-apiece in the second period. It was just the fourth Game 1 in playoff history with both teams scoring five or more goals through two periods.

“Listen, the game was helter-skelter,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “We lost the game. There are certain areas we've got to clean up and be ready to clean up. If you lose a game, you’ve got to take the lessons out of it, move on.”

Both goalies struggled, but made some timely saves, too. Scott Wedgewood, who had the league's best goals-against average this season, allowed one more goal than he did in the entire sweep of the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1.

He made 30 saves while Jesper Wallstedt stopped 34 shots.

“He’s great. He’s going to bounce back,” Marcus Foligno said of Wallstedt. “He’ll be fine next game. He’s a beast. This wasn’t on him. I mean, there’s a lot of things, (but) we got to play a little bit faster for him.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Denver.

The Wild were without forward Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin. They've been ruled out of Tuesday's game as well.

Makar took a scary hit along the boards from Foligno early in the first period. The Avalanche defenseman's right leg flew into the air before falling to the ice. Makar tested out his skating with some twirls at the end of the first and returned for the second. He had an assist on Nick Blankenburg's goal.

“I was just trying to get back and feel good,” Makar said. "It’s not fun when you kind of tweak something, but it happens. Got to be ready for it. Had to check a couple things out, make sure it was good to go.”

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AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow contributed.

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

Surrey, one of the most successful teams in England, is encouraging hybrid workers to come and do their jobs at The Kia Oval, the 180-year-old ground just south of the River Thames.

Over the winter, it upgraded the Wi-Fi and set aside work areas with desks, access to power and clear views of the game. “Work From Oval,” it's been dubbed.

It pondered whether it is the “best home office in the country” and crucially assured would-be-workers that “we won’t tell your boss.”

Over the three home four-day County Championship matches it has hosted this season, hundreds have taken up the chance to work at the Oval.

England's premier competition has been mocked for decades for its relatively low attendances — one man and his dog is a regularly voiced description, however unfair.

That certainly wasn't the case at The Kia Oval on Friday when Surrey hosted Sussex on the first day of their match. Over 6,000 attended, the crowd swelled by the glorious weather and the prospect of a full-day — more than seven hours — of cricket ahead.

Though the ground has a capacity of around 27,500, that's really not a bad crowd during a work day. The Oval does sell out for England test matches against other nations and for Surrey's short-format games.

Harry Ashton, director of Elite Finance Solutions, usually works from a coworking space in nearby Wimbledon. He jumped at the chance of working at the Oval for just 15 pounds ($20).

“It’s not quite as good as Lytham Cricket Club,” he quipped, referencing his local club in the northwest of England.

Ashton was joined later by some friends, and after a few hours of work, they enjoyed a beer or two. It was Friday, after all, and the start of a three-day weekend as Monday is a public holiday in the U.K.

In recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, it's been evident that many people at the Oval have their laptops to hand. Arguably, the shift toward hybrid work has become the main legacy of the pandemic.

Though more and more firms are forcing their staff to come into the office, more than a quarter of working adults in the U.K. work remotely part of the time, according to the Office for National Statistics. Critics argue that hybrid working is negatively impacting productivity, an individual's work ethic and the wider economy as a whole.

All the evidence on this particular Friday was that the dozens or so working at the ground were doing just that. Numbers were crunched and Zoom calls were held.

“I have great belief in life generally, if you treat someone like an adult, they will behave like an adult,” said Neil Munro, owner of Munron Consulting Ltd. “I don’t see any downside provided everyone treats it with respect.”

Matthew Balch, a keen club cricketer himself, agrees.

“I think all of the counties should lean into the remote worker-freelancer market to grow attendances,” he said.

Some workers were a bit more coy.

One 46-year-old woman working for a global company insisted on maintaining her anonymity, voicing concerns about how she would be perceived.

There's still a stigma.

Monday, southeast Texas waking up cool, in the mid to upper 50s. This will be the last morning with morning lows below 60. Houston’s pattern is changing as a southeasterly wind returns; heat and humidity will rise.

Monday afternoon, we are seasonably warm with highs in the low 80s.

Mid-Week Cold Front:

A mid-week cold front will bring another chance for rain Wednesday through Thursday. Depending on how fast or slow the front moves, we determine how much rain Houston can pick up.

There is now a risk of strong to severe thunderstorms developing on Wednesday as the front moves into southeast Texas. We are still several days out, so stay connected for an updated timeline and impacts.

Heat Returns Swiftly:

A heads up, we’re tracking the chance for rain as we head into the weekend. Keep an eye on future updates from the KPRC 2 Weather Team.

Have you captured a dramatic rain photo or video? Share your weather moments with the KPRC 2 community through Click2Pins at Click2Houston.com/pins.

The runoff pits the Texas delegation’s newest member, Menefee, 38, against one of its longest-tenured — the 78-year-old Green. With the two candidates largely aligned on policy, the race has turned on each of their fighting styles and whether voters prefer Green’s congressional experience and protests against Donald Trump or Menefee’s millennial energy and history of waging legal battles with Texas Republicans.

The two do have differing stances on cryptocurrency, with Green a skeptic and Menefee more willing to embrace the industry as it spends lavishly in support of his candidacy.

Texas’ 18th Congressional District has a majority Black voter population and is one of the deepest blue seats in Texas. Long a bastion of Black political power — past representatives include Barbara Jordan, Craig Washington and Sheila Jackson Lee — it was left without representation for nearly a year after Rep. Sylvester Turner died in office in March 2025. Menefee led the November special election and won the January runoff to finish out Turner’s term.

The new district encompasses the majority of Green’s old 9th Congressional District, as well as key areas of Menefee’s.

• Population race/ethnicity: 44.8% Black, 35.5% Hispanic, 12.8% white, 7.5% Asian

• 2024 presidential results in district: Harris +55 (Harris 76.7%, Trump 21.8%)

• Counties in district: Harris, Fort Bend

• Cities in district: Houston, Missouri City, Fresno

Campaign site

Al Green

Democrat, incumbent in 9th District

💰 Campaign finance:

• Total raised: $1.2 million
• Total spent: $1.1 million
• Cash on hand: $265,000
• Outside spending: $0

💰 Notable donors and outside spending support this cycle:

• Former Houston Metro chair Carrin Patman
• HillCo lobbying firm cofounder Bill Miller
• Healthcare executive Tahir Javed
• Houston trial attorney Benjamin Hall III
• Former Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco
• PAC to the Future, Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s leadership PAC

Experience:

• U.S. representative for Texas’ 9th Congressional District since 2005
• Senior member of the House Financial Services Committee and ranking member of its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
• Served as Harris County justice of the peace for over 25 years
• Former Houston NAACP president

Endorsements: 

• U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio
• Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo
• Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis
• State Reps. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, and Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston
• Houston City Council member Carolyn Evans-Shabazz
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Texas
• Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 6

Policy stances:

• Opposes cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; has vowed to vote against such reductions and interrupted Trump’s address to Congress last year, shouting that the president “had no mandate to cut Medicaid.”
• Supports immigration reforms to speed up processing backlogs and “protect those who come to this great nation for a better life.”
• Opposes efforts to undermine civil liberties of the LGBTQ+ community, saying “the protection of their rights and existence is of the utmost importance.”

In the news:

• After two Houston congressmembers died in office, Al Green defends his seniority to voters
• Al Green switches congressional districts in reelection bid
• House censures Rep. Al Green for disrupting speech

How to contact or learn more:

info@algreen.org
Keep Al Green in Congress
P.O. Box 56761
Houston, TX 77256
Link to campaign site

Campaign site

Christian Menefee

Democrat, incumbent

💰 Campaign finance:

• Total raised: $3.2 million
• Total spent: $3 million
• Cash on hand: $256,000
• Outside spending: $2.05 million

💰 Notable donors and outside spending support this cycle:

• Protect Progress, a super PAC affiliated with the crypto industry : $1.66 million
• Leaders We Deserve : $287,000
• Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC: $100,000
• Texas trial lawyer and megadonor Amber Mostyn
• Houston billionaire philanthropist John Arnold

Experience:

• U.S. representative for Texas’ 18th Congressional District since 2026
• Served as Harris County attorney from 2021 to 2026, becoming the youngest person and first African American to hold the office
• In the county attorney’s office, brought numerous lawsuits against Republican state officials and corporations over voting rights, public health and the environment

Endorsements: 

• Former U.S. Rep. Erica Lee Carter
• State Reps. Ana Hernandez and Lauren Ashley Simmons
• Houston City Council members Sallie Alcorn, Mario Castillo, Joaquin Martinez, Ed Pollard and Tiffany Thomas
• Houston Black American Democrats
• Houston Federation of Teachers

Policy stances:

• Supports Medicare for All, the framework for a single-payer healthcare system
• Supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour
• Wants to harness blockchain and AI to both strengthen the economy and protect workers and consumers, through legislation that promotes practical blockchain uses like combating deed fraud

In the news:

• Green, Menefee are headed for runoff in Houston clash of Democratic incumbents
• How the politics of age are playing out in Houston
• Menefee defeats Edwards in special election for Congress

How to contact or learn more:

Menefee for Congress
P.O. Box 667204
Houston, TX 77266
team@christianmenefee.com

Link to campaign site

Latino advocacy groups sued under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the cornerstone provision of the law that prevents government bodies from diluting the voting power of specific groups. The Supreme Court found Texas lawmakers had taken away Latino voting power “because they were about to exercise it.”

“Latino voters were poised to elect their candidate of choice,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority. “The State not only made fruitless the Latinos’ mobilization efforts but also acted against those Latinos who were becoming most politically active.”

Bonilla’s 23rd Congressional District was redrawn, and he lost to a Democrat. Just five years later, Latino voters flipped it back to Republican control; the seat was held most recently by GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales, who resigned last month.

Nina Perales, who argued that case at the Supreme Court, sees that district as an enduring testament to the power of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

“A lot of the districts that we see in the map today were created to make sure that minority communities were not accidentally chopped up, and that minority communities could have a voice in some parts of the state,” Perales said. “In CD-23, when a majority of Latino voters support Gonzales, they get to elect Gonzales, and it’s irrelevant what Gonzales’ political party is.”

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court gutted Section 2, raising the bar for voter dilution claims so high as to make the statute a “dead letter,” as Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent. Partisan gerrymandering, like the type used to try to keep Bonilla in power, is a defense against allegations of vote dilution, the conservative majority ruled. Under the new standard, plaintiffs will have to prove mapmakers intentionally set out to discriminate against voters on the basis of their race.

Even as it diminishes in power, the legacy of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is deeply woven into Texas’ political maps, reflected in districts carefully drawn to ensure voters of color could have a say. The landmark 1965 law also gave rise to a new generation of leaders, elected from Black, Hispanic and Asian communities. From that point on, both parties would have to look out for voters of color when drawing their maps — and if they didn’t, voters would have legal recourse.

Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, said his career has been “defined” by the Voting Rights Act. As a young Black state representative, he was elected in 2012 to a congressional district drawn to right what a court found to be a legislative wrong: Texas had divided communities of color in North Texas across multiple majority-white seats designed to elect Republicans. Fourteen years later, Veasey is now departing Congress after GOP lawmakers redrew the district out from under him last summer.

With Section 2 of the VRA now significantly weakened, it will be harder to make the legal case that this redraw had an improper racial, rather than partisan, intent.

The recent hollowing out of the Voting Rights Act created a disconcerting full circle moment for Veasey, who recalled that his district was originally drawn for Willow Park GOP Rep. Roger Williams. Under the new lines, Veasey noted, Williams “will end up representing my neighborhood after all.”

How Section 2 remade Texas’ maps

In 1965, when Texas’ favorite son, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed the Voting Rights Act into law, he said the vote “is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice.”

The law included two pillars with significant implications for Texas — Section 2, which prohibits voter discrimination based on race, and Section 5, which requires jurisdictions with histories of racial discrimination to get preapproval from the Department of Justice for any voting changes, including new electoral maps.

Before the law went into effect, Texas had just two people of color in its congressional delegation — Reps. Henry Gonzalez of San Antonio and Kika De La Garza from the Rio Grande Valley, both of whom were Mexican-American. They each voted for the Voting Rights Act that would enable the ranks of Hispanic lawmakers to swell significantly.

In the 1970s, Barbara Jordan became the first Black member of Congress from Texas. As a state senator, Jordan helped draw the district she would soon be elected to, a seat that provides Black Houstonians the opportunity to elect their candidate of choice to this day. Three new representatives of color joined Texas’ congressional delegation in the 1980s. By the 1990s, there were 13 members of color who served at any point during the decade.

With two more election cycles to go, the 2020s have already reached a peak of 22 members of color, some of whom have represented white-majority districts.

During her sophomore term, in 1975, Jordan got Texas added to the list of states that needed preclearance for its maps. In 1982, Congress reinforced the law with an amendment that said maps ran afoul of the law if they had the effect of diluting racial or ethnic groups’ vote, even if that wasn’t the intent. These new provisions, the second of which overruled a Supreme Court decision to the contrary, opened the floodgates to litigation against Texas’ maps, at every level of government.

In each decade since the law’s passage, at least one of Texas’ maps has been found to have violated the law, and courts have ordered at least one new district to be drawn. The maps drawn in 2021 and 2025 are still under active litigation.

In the 1980s, plaintiffs successfully sued over the state Senate and state House maps under the Voting Rights Act, compelling redraws of legislative seats that were found to have diluted Black and Hispanic voting strength by packing them into just a few districts in the state’s urban counties. Through preclearance, the Department of Justice also got the courts to redraw districts that diluted Black and Hispanic voters’ strength, including two congressional seats in South Texas.

The effects of those redraws can still be seen in today’s maps.

“You had charges and claims against the South Texas district[s], because they were packed down against the border,” said Matt Angle, a Democratic strategist and founder of the Lone Star Project who has been involved in Texas redistricting cases for decades. “That’s why now, you see South Texas districts running north and south instead of along the bottom. It’s because [of] the court rulings under the Voting Rights Act, that you couldn’t pack those districts down against the border.”

More subtle, but just as important, was the way the Voting Rights Act pushed Texas lawmakers to proactively consider voters of color when drawing their electoral maps, Perales said. In the 1990s, for example, the majority-Hispanic 28th and 29th Congressional Districts “were born out of an understanding that the state needed to comply with Section 2,” she said.

Having grasped that it would be better to comply on the front end than be hauled into court later, the Legislature used to bring MALDEF and other groups in around the decennial census to train legislators on how to draw maps that met the law’s requirements.

“Part of that legal training was always on the obligation to avoid discriminating against minority voters under Section 2 the Voting Rights Act,” she said. “The guidance was, don’t inadvertently chop up minority communities when you’re drawing lines, because even if it’s inadvertent, it could be a legal problem.”

In 2013, the Supreme Court eliminated preclearance for most jurisdictions, including Texas. The state immediately reinstated a voter ID law that had been caught up under Section 5. The decision also freed Texas’ 2011 electoral maps from preclearance, though some parts of the map were later redrawn over Section 2 violations.

“A pre-1965 posture”

When the courts redrew the 2011 map, their centerpiece was the new 33rd Congressional District, crafted to allow voters of color to elect their preferred candidate in fast-growing Dallas and Tarrant counties. The court’s new lines were later upheld after a trial, in which the judges concluded that lawmakers had “acted at least in part with a racially discriminatory motive … with regard to the districts in DFW in particular.”

Veasey was a state representative planning to run for reelection — and on his way to see a pre-Thanksgiving movie with his family — when he got a call that changed his career.

“I heard, hey, they’re gonna draw a new map, and there’s probably going to be an opportunity for you to run,” Veasey said. “You’ve got to make up your mind quick over whether you’re going to do it.”

He ran, and won, giving him a chance to represent a district that was as diverse as the state of Texas — one that would last about a decade and a half before falling victim to the GOP’s mid-decade redistricting.

Several other congressional districts that were shaped by the Voting Rights Act were subsequently dismantled by Republicans last summer. Among them are Hispanic-opportunity districts in South Texas, such as the 28th District represented by Cuellar, who rebounded from his loss to Bonilla to become one of Texas’ longest-tenured members of Congress.

The VRA also helped create Houston’s 9th Congressional District, where more than four in five residents are Black or Hispanic. Last summer, lawmakers redrew it to a “bare majority” — 50.3% Hispanic — as they did several other districts.

Early last week, the Supreme Court allowed that map to go into effect while a trial proceeds. Just two days later, the court ruled in Louisiana v. Callais that the results-based test that had been used for decades should be replaced with a new, higher bar that allows for an easier partisan defense.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said lower courts had applied Section 2 “in a way that forces States to engage in the very race-based discrimination that the Constitution forbids.” Under the new framework Alito laid out in the decision, a Section 2 claim must prove that the state “intentionally drew its districts to afford minority voters less opportunity because of their race.”

Angle said Texas’ most recent rounds of redistricting demonstrate what a post-Section 2 future may look like.

“You’ve got a situation in which a state that’s over 60% people of color is only going to have somewhere between 20% and 30% of the districts where voters of color’s vote matters at all,” Angle said.

State Rep. Matt Shaheen, a Republican from Plano, said the U.S. had a long history of vote suppression that made the Voting Rights Act necessary.

“But we’ve moved on from that, clearly, and I think people recognize minority voters are entitled to equal representation but not certain election outcomes,” Shaheen said. “It really is more of a colorblind society, and elections are very much driven now by principles and policies, and not so much on skin color.”

Shaheen is among several GOP lawmakers who say they hope Texas takes up redistricting anew during the 2027 legislative session, this time with a focus on the state House and Senate lines.

Perales agrees that the Voting Rights Act is not about specific electoral outcomes. But she disagrees that the country is ready to move on from ensuring racial and ethnic voters have the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice, regardless of political party or the ethnicity of the candidate.

“As much as Justice Alito wanted to make it seem like a case about partisanship, it isn’t,” she said. “It’s about dismantling something much more historic and much more deeply needed in our country, which is equal opportunity for everybody.”

For Veasey, the ruling was not a surprise. But now that his district has been chopped up and the VRA’s core provision has been kneecapped, the retiring congressman sees a bleak future for the representation of Black and brown voters.

“It’s going to go back to a pre-1965 posture,” he said. “We just won’t have nearly as many voices pushing. It’ll just be [like] when we had one or two voices that were pushing back before the VRA was passed — that’s what it’s going to be like now.

Disclosure: Cine El Rey has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Josh, 25, saw officers in South Padre Island drag Ruben out of his car that night in March 2025. They dumped Ruben’s body onto the roadway where they handcuffed him while he appeared unconscious, according to body camera footage. Law enforcement forced Josh into a police car, where he remained for more than four hours before officers moved him to a windowless interrogation room at around 5 a.m. 

Ruben, police told Josh, was dead. 

Three hours later and about 300 miles away, a state trooper pounded on the door of Ruben’s San Antonio home. His mother, Rachel Reyes, a 48-year-old nurse and health insurance administrator, heard the officer’s words: “On behalf of the State of Texas, we regret to inform you that your son, Ruben Martinez, passed away last night.” 

There had been an accident in the Rio Grande Valley. Ruben, who had never left San Antonio on his own before, wasn’t involved in the crash. He came upon it by chance then went down a lane that he “wasn’t supposed to” and “tapped” an officer with his car, the trooper told Reyes. Another officer shot Ruben. 

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” exclaimed the mother, who in her shock defaulted to an apology. “Is the officer hurt?” she recalled asking. No, the trooper said, the cop was fine. 

It would be almost a year later when Reyes and Josh would finally learn that the man who shot Ruben was a federal immigration officer — a revelation that stoked their grief and ignited fresh anger at the government after months of unanswered questions. 

That finding, exposed by a national watchdog group’s unrelated lawsuit in February, so shocked and enraged Josh that his family believes it may have contributed to his death hours later in an alcohol-fueled car crash. For Ruben’s mother, a former Trump voter, the government’s obfuscation regarding the details of the night destroyed her trust in institutions she previously respected. 

They didn’t realize it, but Ruben’s death would be the first known killing by immigration agents of an American under Trump’s second administration. By comparison, the Minneapolis slayings in January by immigration agents of Renée Good, a mother of three, and Alex Pretti, an armed nurse with a gun permit, roiled the nation. Both were white, middle-class and protesting immigration enforcement, and their killings were broadcast in almost real time to the world. Ruben, a Hispanic man born and raised in San Antonio, had never protested and few civilians have come forward about their footage of his death. 

Whereas local prosecutors in Minneapolis charged at least one immigration agent there with assault for their alleged actions during that crackdown, a Cameron County grand jury declined this spring to indict officers in Ruben’s slaying.

Reyes said that the apparent reluctance of authorities to provide details and accountability for what happened has her believing that the government is trying to “cover up” its mistakes in her son’s death. She now views that as a “pattern” by the Trump administration in attempting to evade responsibility for suspected failures.

“This is a young, sweet, funny, silly boy who spent his first night outside of his home,” Reyes said in her first public interview from her home. “He did not deserve this.”

Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to detailed questions. Neither did the South Padre Police Department, Cameron County District Attorney, nor the Texas Department of Public Safety overseeing the Texas Rangers investigating the shooting.

Acting ICE director Todd Lyons responded in an email that his agency stands by the grand jury’s finding that the federal agent should not be criminally charged.

“This incident was investigated from every possible angle by an independent body, and it cleared our officer,” said Lyons, declining to answer other questions, including about the involved officers’ training, history or experience.

Josh’s mother Virginia Mandujano, who has never before spoken publicly, also called for accountability, saying she believes her son perhaps wouldn’t have died in that manner if he had not been so tormented by witnessing the death of his friend. Immigration agents are there for “one purpose only and that’s to deport. Not to play cop,” said the 46-year-old home health aid in an interview.

When Josh finally made it home to San Antonio from South Padre, he was exhausted. As the eldest boy, he was not one to cry, but he was sobbing, alarming his family who had never seen him in such a state. 

“They shot my best friend Ruben, like they just shot him,” his brother recalled Josh telling him. “I legit watched my friend die right in front of me.”

Later that evening, Josh posted a story of him and Ruben on Instagram: “Lost my bf last night my head fuked up but we gone meet again.”

Conflicting accounts

Josh and Ruben met in kindergarten, their families said, and instantly became friends. Neither were close to their biological fathers, who had separated from their mothers when the boys were young. As Catholics growing up in San Antonio’s largely Hispanic South Side, both knew to respect law enforcement. Their mothers had instilled that in them, a belief in part bolstered by their proximity to Lackland’s U.S. Air Force Base. 

The boys shared a passion for basketball, both playing it and rooting for the city’s beloved Spurs. The two spent hours every week shooting hoops at their neighborhood Catholic church’s court. Otherwise, they were typically at Josh’s house playing video games or battling over beer pong and pool. 

When Ruben suggested that they go to South Padre to belatedly celebrate his 23rd birthday, Josh agreed. They arrived late Friday afternoon and spent the evening drinking with friends, Josh later told police. Shortly before midnight, they stopped at a Whataburger. On their way back to the apartment where they were staying, they encountered a car accident that blocked the busy spring break destination’s main thoroughfare, drawing law enforcement from across the region who were attempting to redirect traffic. Footage shows several drivers confused about where to go or what to do.

Ruben slowed his blue Ford Fusion to a crawl as he tried to navigate away. He was unfamiliar with the island’s streets. At first, officers waved Ruben forward, footage shows. But then one officer spotted a bottle of Crown Royal whiskey, according to the footage. 

“Pull over right there,” the officer shouted. “Open container!” 

Josh, who was in the passenger seat, told investigators that he heard the commands and believed Ruben continued because he feared being arrested for driving drunk. 

Compounding the chaos, at least one officer yelled instead at Ruben to “keep going,” according to the footage.

Ruben stopped at a pedestrian crosswalk to allow people to walk past, then slowly turned onto a side street. Footage shows his brake light on. 

What happened next isn’t clear from the available video because neither of the federal officers had on body cameras and those by local law enforcement, who were further away from the shooting, did not entirely capture the seconds in question. 

The ICE agents, Jack C. Stevens and Hector Sosa, told the Texas Rangers that Ruben didn’t heed instructions, so a few officers surrounded his car. Ruben “accelerated forward” and “drove so close” to Sosa that he “bumped his legs with the front bumper after telling him to stop.” Ruben swerved, causing Sosa to “fall onto the hood” of the car, the agents maintained. 

Sosa’s colleague Stevens, assigned to the maritime unit with Homeland Security Investigations, claimed that he could smell marijuana from the car. Ruben’s eyes, the agent wrote, were “open widely, fist clenched to the steering wheel.” 

“This is a behavior I have observed in my training and experience as a pre attack indicator and sign of noncompliance as the suspect is looking in the path of their intended movement and is not indicative of compliance,” Stevens wrote. “This path of movement, if left unmitigated, would, using the vehicle as a weapon, have resulted in numerous casualties.”

Stevens alleged Ruben’s car hit him slightly, causing the youth’s car mirror to break off. He wrote in a statement that he “feared for the safety and life” of himself, Sosa, other officers and pedestrians. Recent attacks in which drivers used their vehicles, including one in New Orleans three months before when a man rammed a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street, remained “fresh on my mind,” Stevens wrote. 

Ruben’s attorneys, however, said updated footage later released by the state police shows that at the time gunshots were fired, the car was stopped. That, attorney Alex Stamm argued, shows Ruben “didn’t place anyone in danger of death or serious injury, and that it wasn’t legally or morally justifiable to kill Ruben in these circumstances.”

Josh in his videotaped interview with officers also questioned law enforcement’s account. Ruben “panicked,” Josh acknowledged. As Ruben slowly turned, Josh saw an officer “on the hood” of the car. But Ruben didn’t hit the officer, Josh told police, rather he “caught his feet.”

Months later, in a statement to Ruben’s lawyers, Josh told them that the officer “seemed to be trying to get in front of the car, like he wasn’t moving out of the way when we tried to turn around and leave like the police officer told us to do.” 

Ruben, Josh said then, “never hit the gas. The troopers were never in danger from Ruben and could have easily stepped aside while we tried to turn around and leave.”

A DHS spokesperson said that its agents are trained to use “the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritize the safety of the public and our officers.”

Officers, the spokesperson added, are “highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training.” 

The local medical examiner found that Ruben, who according to his lawyers had no previous criminal record, had a blood alcohol content of 0.12 – above the state’s limit of 0.08 – and traces of marijuana and Xanax, a painkiller.

An ambulance transported Ruben to the local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Sosa, the federal agent, also was rushed there for a knee injury. After a few hours, hospital staff discharged him. 

Reyes grows restless

Days later, Ruben’s mother and sister, Cassandra, drove to South Padre to pick up his car. Local police had impounded it so the mother had to pay more than $600 for its release. His sister drove the Fusion back to San Antonio,the bullet casings that had killed her only biological brother still strewn about the car. 

At Ruben’s funeral, his uncle read from Corinthians, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” Ruben’s last communication with his beloved nephew and niece were “I love y’all, I’ll see y’all later.”

“Those words are still true,” the uncle, John Trevino, told the nearly 200 people gathered in Ruben’s honor at Mission Park Funerals, a mainstay of the city’s Catholic South Side. “It’s just going to take a little longer than expected.”

As the weeks drew on, Reyes replayed in her mind the few details officers had so far shared. It didn’t make sense. She scoured the news, finding only a brief mention days after Ruben’s death that an “officer-involved shooting” including a federal agency had occurred in South Padre. 

At times, Reyes asked her husband if she should go to the media. Given the lack of documentation provided to her, she was having a hard time convincing lawyers to take on Ruben’s case. Her husband urged her to trust the process, have faith. Surely the Texas Rangers, one of the most highly regarded institutions in the land, would deliver justice. 

Five months after Ruben’s death, his mother in late July received a startling letter from Amazon, where her son had worked for five years. Reyes had requested his life insurance payout, but an agent with Amazon’s insurance company wrote that the entity understood that had Ruben survived, he would have been charged with a felony, limiting her claim. 

Reyes was stunned. While police had told her that her son “tapped” an officer, this was the most expansive information she had so far received alleging that Ruben was posthumously accused of a serious crime. 

In her grief and confusion, she increasingly relied on Josh. He maintained that Ruben had done nothing wrong, a conviction that strengthened as time passed.

In August, Ruben’s mother found a Texas law firm willing to take on the case. Josh agreed to provide her lawyers a sworn declaration denying the government’s version of events. They wanted answers. But they hoped for justice. 

“These claims are not true. I was there,” Josh wrote of the federal agents’ account. “Ruben was driving cautiously in traffic in his proper lane and certainly did not strike anyone with his vehicle.”

Josh added that Ruben’s family, particularly his mother, had been “left with no answers and no accountability. They have been denied transparency, and the official narrative conflicts sharply with the facts as I experienced them firsthand. Ruben did not deserve to die.”  

“Survivor’s guilt” 

Josh, like Ruben’s mother, struggled with the death. His family would often catch him lost in thought and knew that was when he was reliving his friend’s final moments.

“He couldn’t understand what happened,” said Josh’s mother. “He carried that weight with him.” He had “survivor’s guilt.” 

Josh became more religious and began getting tattoos — Catholic imagery and “Ace,” a nickname for Ruben. Josh started drinking more, not every day, but more compared to before, his friends and family said. Josh abandoned his once obsessive weekly ritual of cleaning his prized Infiniti.

Josh’s family worried. His stepsister, Starleen Arriaga, who was close to him because they were the same age and had grown up together, urged, “suicide is not the way,” adding, “you will never see Ruben again if you go that route.”

He assured her, “don’t gotta worry.”

But his recurring nightmares often bolted him awake in a sweat. He told his girlfriend, 22-year-old Michaela Benavides, that he had the growing sense that he would die young. 

“I could be, you know, gone too,” he reflected to his siblings. “Life is not promised.” 

Last fall, Josh moved into a two bedroom rental house with Benavides, who he told family was “the one.” Meeting her lightened some of Josh’s darkness. He adored her, she said, sometimes bordering on excess, like when he offered her $1,000 to spend at the mall for her birthday present. 

“Let’s pay the car note first,” she joked. 

Often she awoke to his sobs. 

“I just don’t understand,” he would tell Benavides, she said. “Why did they have to shoot him? Why not me? Like, he was a good person.”

“Goodbye, one last time”

In late February, a friend texted Josh a news story declaring that ICE was responsible for Ruben’s death. The information was not revealed by the government but obtained in an unrelated public records lawsuit by American Oversight, a national watchdog nonprofit.  

Josh, his friends and family said, was infuriated.

It had been weeks since ICE officials had killed Pretti and Good in Minnesota, spurring nationwide protests. But Ruben’s death had made no such stir. 

“ICE is crazy,” Josh responded.

Hours later, he tried to conceal his anger during the birthday celebration for his 25-year-old step sister and his 19-year-old sister. It was in the family’s backyard and they decorated it with red balloons. Josh wanted the night to be memorable so as the gathering wound down, he suggested some go to a bar.

While he waited for Arriaga to change, he sat outside with his girlfriend. As they gazed at the stars, Josh told her “life is unfair. I wish Ace was here,”Josh said, referring to Ruben by his nickname.

Josh had been drinking — “he kept doing shots, and he was like, ‘here’s to life,’” Arriaga, his stepsister, said. 

“I really feel like that party wasn’t even meant for us,” she added. “I feel like it was meant for him to say goodbye, one last time.” 

At about 12:40 a.m. that Saturday, roughly the same time that Ruben was killed nearly a year before, Josh barrelled down Interstate 35 near downtown San Antonio with his girlfriend in the front and his stepsister and friend in the back of Josh’s Infiniti. Another car suddenly swerved in front, they said, forcing Josh into the exit lane. His stepsister and friends said Josh wasn’t able to slow down quickly enough, hitting a utility pole that forced the car to spin before ramming into a concrete barrier.

Josh’s stepsister, Arriaga, regained consciousness as one explosion hit. She and 22-year-old Gerardo Lopez scrambled out of the back as the car partially burst into flames. They tried to break the windows to help Josh and his girlfriend, but the pressure inside prevented them. 

Benavides bolted awake. Turning to Josh, she saw blood trickling out of his mouth. He was slumped over and unconscious. Arriaga and Lopez knew there were at best a few minutes before another explosion would cause the car to ignite. They tried to wake Josh, but he didn’t respond. Get out, the friends yelled at Benavides. 

She tugged at Josh. “Please baby,” she recalled. “I don’t want to leave you here. Wake up.” But he didn’t move. 

Finally she crawled over Josh to climb out of the driver’s window. As soon as she exited, the car exploded, the force throwing back her and Josh’s friend. They begged the arriving emergency responders to save Josh. It was too late, they said.

ICE’s first victim

For the second time in less than a year, Ruben and Josh’s mothers convened for a funeral. Despite knowing each other’s boys for years, they had first met at Ruben’s service. Now they were at the burial for Josh before the first anniversary of Ruben’s death.

That Ruben and by extension Josh, in their view, were victims of ICE didn’t immediately register for either family. When their relatives heard about Pretti and Good, they had no idea that their sons, brothers, and loved ones could also be part of such an incendiary political narrative. They were not protesters. In fact, both families largely described themselves as apolitical. 

Josh had been so badly burned that officials with the local medical examiner’s office requested his dental records to confirm his identity. His mother begged to see him but an official told her, “I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

At Josh’s funeral this March, his brother played a 30-minute slideshow he had meticulously worked on, adding Josh’s favorite rap artists to the soundtrack and featuring dozens of photos of Josh and Ruben throughout the years. Here they are playing beer pong. There, laughing and shooting hoops. Here being silly at a bar.

In his prepared remarks to the congregation, Paul Mandujano said Josh “wasn’t just my big brother. He was my best friend.” He recalled how generous Josh was, offering advice and helping to pay the family’s bills when his relatives fell short. Before Josh died, he promised his brother that for his 21st birthday this April he would help him to buy a car.

“There have been moments where this pain feels so heavy it’s hard to even keep going,” Mandujano told the crowd. “What put me at peace is when Josh lost his best friend Ruben he was heartbroken and in pain and came to my room and leaned on me so I know my bro is finally up there with him.”

About a month later, Josh’s family attended a vigil for Ruben outside of San Antonio’s city hall. Josh’s brother spoke on behalf of the family, saying, “We refuse to let them use my brother’s death in vain to justify their actions. Justice will be served for Ruben and my brother.”

Everyone now knew that an immigration agent was responsible for Ruben’s death. His mother started giving a few national media interviews. The statement Josh had provided her lawyers, which he wasn’t able to sign before his death, also made headlines. So did Ruben’s mother’s revelation that she had voted for Trump in 2024, mostly worrying about the economy, she later explained. This is what you deserve for being part of a cult, some commentators declared. You are an awful mother, they told her. 

Josh’s mother said that although she hasn’t voted in any recent elections since choosing Barack Obama in 2008, she now feels that immigration agents should be “reined in” and focus on Trump’s deportation mandate rather than “killing Americans.” In this case, the mother argued, two U. S. citizens are dead because of the federal government’s mistakes.

Butch Hayes, one of Ruben’s family’s attorneys, said that when history revisits this moment in which he accused ICE of playing “gangster in our streets instead of protecting our communities,” Ruben will be remembered as the agency’s “first victim.” 

“ICE ended Ruben’s life for no good reason, and Joshua’s death eleven months later is a further manifestation of the injustice wrought by ICE,” the lawyer said. “No amount of spin from DHS will change the reality that two decent American families have been shattered by their lawlessness.”

Ruben and Josh’s mothers often find themselves speaking aloud to their sons. Josh’s mother, at his gravesite at a South Side Catholic cemetery. Ruben’s mother, in his room, which looks mostly how he left it, except for a blanket emblazoned with his image Reyes tossed over his unmade bed.

For a while, she kept Ruben’s ashes there, too, but then it dawned on her that it might make him feel lonely so she moved the urn to a prominent living room mantle “so he could be close.”

Two teams which produced a 5-4 instant classic last week will take center stage on Wednesday for the second act of their Champions League semifinal.

The return game in Munich surely cannot reach the same height of drama as the waves of finessed attacks — and overwhelmed defenses — reached in Paris.

Still, coaches Luis Enrique and Vincent Kompany will aim for the stars.

“More, even more,” Kompany said in Paris, when asked about his main message to Bayern's players for the decisive second leg.

Arsenal hosts Atletico Madrid on Tuesday with the score 1-1.

The rewards for a semifinal victory are a place in the final on May 30 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.

Stellar semifinals

Champions League semifinals are often more memorable than the title matches.

One year ago, an exciting Inter Milan-Barcelona contest was widely praised like the PSG-Bayern opener has been. A 3-3 first leg in Barcelona was just an appetizer for Inter’s roller coaster 4-3 win in extra time at San Siro.

In 2022, Real Madrid somehow rallied in stoppage time of the second leg to deny Manchester City victory. Two Rodrygo goals forced extra time that was settled by Karim Benzema’s penalty for a 3-1 win. The wild first leg had finished 4-3 to City in Manchester.

A vintage knockout phase in 2019 was capped by astonishing comebacks on back-to-back nights in the semifinal second legs by Liverpool against Barcelona and Tottenham at Ajax.

It is perhaps eight years since a truly compelling back-and-forth final, when substitute Gareth Bale’s goals — the first an iconic bicycle kick — lifted Madrid to a 3-1 win over Liverpool in Kyiv.

While PSG excelled in the final last year, the 5-0 rout of Inter was never competitive.

Arena of entertainers

Munich was the scene of PSG's finest game last season against Inter to fulfill its Qatari owners' quest to become European champion for the first time.

The Allianz Arena is also where six-time champion Bayern won all six home games in the Champions League this season, scoring 20 goals including four past Real Madrid in a quarterfinals, second-leg thriller three weeks ago.

Munich is the only candidate to host the Champions League final again in 2028. UEFA should confirm that decision in September.

Atletico in England

Coach Diego Simeone takes his Atletico team to north London for a third game this season. Third time lucky?

Atletico lost 4-0 at Arsenal in a league-phase game in October and survived a 3-2 loss at Tottenham in the second leg of the round of 16 that easily could have been a bigger margin. Atletico also started this Champions League campaign in England in September — and lost, 3-2 at Liverpool.

It all adds up to five games lost by Atletico in its 15-game Champions League campaign so far, while Arsenal has the last remaining unbeaten record.

Neither team has been European champion. It's 10 years since Atletico played in the last of its three finals, losing to Real Madrid, and 20 years since Arsenal lost its only final, against Barcelona.

Penalty debates

All four semifinalists were awarded, and scored, a penalty kick last week. A fifth was awarded to Arsenal but then overturned after the referee was sent to his pitchside monitor to review replays.

Since the Video Assistant Referee system made its World Cup debut in 2018, the trend in top-tier games has been to award ever more spot-kicks.

None of the five decisions last week was universally praised, and the two handball incidents showed how UEFA’s view differs to many coaches, players and fans.

UEFA’s director of refereeing Roberto Rosetti has previously said “we don’t like soft penalties” and cautioned against “microscopic VAR interventions” — which seemed to be happening last week.

For each handball, the ball first deflected from the body of, respectively, Bayern’s Alphonso Davies and Arsenal’s Ben White before contacting an arm which was not held tight to the side of their bodies. That is typically not a penalty in the English Premier League but almost certainly is in UEFA competitions.

Rosetti plans to meet soon with refereeing officials from Europe’s main leagues to seek more clarity and consistency next season.

___

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

Watching 14-year-old Adrian Peterson Jr., excel as a versatile football player and record-setting track and field sprinter, is reminiscent of his father: retired NFL Most Valuable player and Hall of Fame candidate Adrian Peterson, one of the greatest running backs in pro football history.

Peterson Jr. is already paving his own unique pathway as a precocious and humble Billy Baines Middle School student-athlete with rare speed and emerging moves.

His next stop: Ridge Point High School as a freshman next fall. He is already earning football scholarship offers from Baylor and Missouri State and shapes up as a future blue-chip recruit with the fast track that he’s establishing.

“I train hard, I’ve always worked hard, I got that from my dad,” Peterson Jr. told KPRC 2. “The work ethic I’ve put in, everything that I’ve done overall my whole life, I’ve always known what to do, just pushing through. I feel like that’s mindset towards a sport I love. That’s really helped me a lot throughout this journey.

“I’ve just stayed and strong and believed in God. The best advice my dad has ever gave me is just to stay focused. Don’t let any distraction throw you off track and just stay focused on the goal, work hard every day to get better. Just work super hard.”

Adrian Peterson Jr. @adrianpetersonj a 14-year-old 6-1, 170-pound star athlete at Billy Baines Middle School, is the son of retired #Vikings All-Pro and #NFL Offensive Player of the Year runner Adrian Peterson @AdrianPeterson@KPRC2
#texashsfootball https://t.co/jHdHhcijs9 pic.twitter.com/7x1ch03CbG

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) May 4, 2026

A 6-foot-1, 170-pound wide receiver, running back and defensive back, Peterson Jr. is impressive in all facets of football. His routes are pinpoint and explosive. His acceleration is unique. His ability to track the football is uncommon. He’s an elusive touchdown machine with great vision for the end zone.

Of course, it helps to have incredible bloodlines.

Adrian Peterson ranks fifth all-time in NFL history with 14,918 rushing yards. Only Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Frank Gore and Barry Sanders rushed for more yards than Peterson.

Yes, Peterson Jr. studies old videos of his famous dad’s football exploits.

“i definitely like to see how he moves,” Peterson Jr. said. “He just ran so aggressive and just ran over defenders all the time. I really look at it and just try to make it into my own game and just play like how he plays.

Up next, and right now: Adrian Peterson Jr. @adrianpetersonj a record-smashing middle school phenom in football, track and field and baseball, a 4.0 grade point average scholar-athlete and incoming Ridge Point player who excels at receiver, running back and in the secondary and… pic.twitter.com/VAvrFqqCiT

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) May 4, 2026

“I definitely just take away like the way he plays, his mindset towards the game. I really just want to be able to use everything that I’ve learned from him and learned by myself and just put it all together to be the best possible player I can be.”

Now, Adrian Peterson Jr. is up next and making his own way as an young athlete with vast potential.

“He’s really good when it comes to running his routes,” Peterson said. “I was full-speed, so I always tell him and I’m not the receiver, but the people he works with in training to come to that position and be fast and be aggressive.”

The extremely proud parents of @adrianpetersonj Adrian Peterson @AdrianPeterson and Ashley Peterson @KPRC2 @RPHS_FB @Vikings @NFL https://t.co/g7jJEDpYDl pic.twitter.com/As01pbL6NE

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) May 4, 2026

Oklahoma, his father’s alma mater, Texas, Texas A&M, LSU and several other top programs are all expected to pursue Peterson Jr. Of course, there’s plenty of time for these pivotal decisions. After all, Peterson Jr is in the Class of 2030.

“I told him, ‘Man, I wasn’t getting scholarship offers in eighth grade and I didn’t get my first one until my sophomore year,’” said Peterson, who played at Palestine High School where he was the U.S. Army National Player of the Year and rushed for 2,960 yards and and 32 touchdowns as a senior and chose Oklahoma over Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, Arkansas and Miami. “I told him, ‘You’ve got a lot of time ahead, so just enjoy the process and embrace it. God has blessed you, but just continue to remember you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you. So, continue to improve and enjoy it all.’”

Former #Vikings RB Adrian Peterson’s son, Adrian Jr, is going to be a PROBLEM in the future. Class of 2030 👀

🎥: shotsbytaileevia IG, @adrianpetersonj pic.twitter.com/QUtrS3zYom

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) March 23, 2026

When it comes to recruiting, the family will have a process for handling the attention and processing all of the information and suitors.

Yes, the Sooners will have a great shot at landing Peterson Jr.

“Yes sir, Oklahoma is definitely one of my favorite colleges,” Peterson Jr. said. “For sure.”

Is his father pushing for the Sooners?

“Not really,” Peterson Jr. said. “He doesn’t really care. It’s mostly about where I want to go and where I feel like the coaching staff is the best and who I have a relationship with the most. Things can change from now until then anyway.”

First, Peterson had to choose a high school football program.

He isn’t going far. He’ll be in Missouri City.

“I’ll be going to Ridge Point for high school,” Peterson Jr. said. “Just all the good coaches, I know they really make me a better player. I know they really care about academics over there, so it’s gonna really help me overall. I know a lot of the coaches, we’ve talked about it, and just the way they developed the players was really big in my decision.

“I’m really just super happy that my work is all paying off. I work super hard. Just to know that the colleges believe in me, all the coaches, I’m just super happy that they believe in me and think I can make it to the next level.”

In track and field, Peterson Jr. broke the Baines school record with a 10.7 time in the 100 meters and the school record in the 200 meters with 22.07 clocking. And he was part of a 100-meter relay team that broke the district record with a cumulative time of 43.82 seconds for gold medals in all three events.

“I take track really serious,” Peterson Jr. said. “That’s why I’ve been running with it. It just really helps you with everything and it translates to football, so I’m definitely going to be doing track in high school. That’s definitely the route I’m going to take.

“I definitely like football more, but I also like track because of the benefits that come with it. Even though I like football, I still take track just as serious because of what comes with it. And I’m good at it, so that’s why I take it so serious.”

Adrian Peterson Jr. can now beat his famous father in a race.

“It’s actually really cool knowing because I remember when I was younger I used to think about beating my dad in a race and I can now, so it’s actually really cool,” Peterson Jr. said. “I’ve trained super hard to get to where I am. I just believe in the journey and I believe in God.”

Peterson Jr. also has a perfect report card with a 4.0 grade point average.

Academics are constantly stressed as taking precedence over sports by his parents: Adrian and Ashley Peterson.

“I’m really happy that he’s been watching us and looking at the work ethic of myself and his father and taking that and running with it,” said Ashley Peterson, a successful realtor. “I know he’s learned so much and I just feel like he’ll be 10 times better than either one of us ever were.

“I appreciate that he’s paying attention and really picking up on the nuggets along the way. I’m just so happy to see who he’s grown into and I’m happy to see that everything that we’re trying to put into him is paying off and it’s sticking.”

Studying and homework comes first in the Peterson household.

“I really take grades serious now that I understand the importance of grades and sports and how that really contributes to the colleges looking at you,” Peterson Jr. said. “The coaches want to know they have a student-athlete, so I take it serious.”

In finals today I was able to break the School record in the 100 with a 10.7 and also break the school record in the 200 with a 22.07 . Me and my 4x1 team also broke the district record with a 43.82 came home with all gold ! @RPHS_FB @CoachSethHarris @Coach_LaFavers pic.twitter.com/KtXdCpVieO

— Adrian peterson jr (@adrianpetersonj) March 13, 2026

Peterson was an NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, an NFL Offensive Player of the Year, a four-time first-team All-Pro and three-time second-team All-Pro, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and three-time NFL rushing champion. He is eligible for a first-ballot induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year.

Peterson Jr. has been playing a lot of wide receiver, though, in addition to running the football out of the backfield.

“I like wide receiver a lot because I like to run routes, get open and I like catching the ball,” Peterson Jr. said. “I also like running back because you don’t really have to so much depend on a quarterback. You can really just make your own plays. You don’t have to worry about getting the route, getting the ball. You just get the ball and you just go.

“Defensive-wise, I like defensive back. I work on it a lot. I feel like if you are a wide receiver and you also play defensive back, it really helps a lot with both positions. Playing both, you get an understanding of both positions so you know what to do.”

Peterson Jr. loves watching Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson and Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.

“I watch them and I see what they do and then I come out here and practice as well,” Peterson Jr. said. “A lot of what I do is look at film from different NFL players. I look at Justin Jefferson’s routes, Davante Adams’ releases are really good.”

Peterson has several hobbies he enjoys when he’s not playing sports or doing his homework.

There are game nights with the family. He loves to go fishing and ride his scooter.

He has a green thumb in the family garden, growing everything from tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and watermelons. And the seeds that he’s planting and their growth runs akin to the way he’s sprouting into an accomplished young athlete, and the deep football roots of his father.

“I know how to do it,” Peterson Jr. said. “I get it from my mom.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com

The South’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said in a statement Monday that the Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women’s FC is expected to face Suwon FC Women on May 20 in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Champions League in Suwon, south of Seoul.

The Korea Football Association, South Korea’s soccer body, said the AFC notified it that the North Korean team submitted a list of players and staff set to come to Suwon. The KFA said North Korea would be fined by the AFC if the team failed to compete in the semifinals.

North Korea’s state media has not reported on the soccer club’s expected trip.

North Korea last sent athletes to South Korea in December 2018 for a table tennis event, continuing a period of diplomatic engagement highlighted by the participation of North Korean athletes alongside a high-level delegation at the Winter Olympics in the South earlier that year. North Korea also sent its national women’s soccer team to the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, which was the last time its female soccer players competed in the South.

North Korea's women's teams have had recent success in international youth competitions, and are the defending Under-17 and Under-20 World Cup champions.

In the continental club tournament, Naegohyang Women’s FC defeated Suwon FC Women 3-0 in the group stage in Myanmar last November, before beating a Vietnamese club in the quarterfinals in March. The winners of the May 20 semifinals will meet in the final three days later in Suwon, with Melbourne City FC and Tokyo Verdy Beleza facing off in the other semifinal.

While athletes from North and South Korea have previously competed on combined teams and marched together in Olympic ceremonies during periods of warmer relations, sports exchanges have since faded as relations deteriorated, with no inter-Korean activities for years.

North Korea has shunned talks with South Korea and the U.S. since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's broader nuclear diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019 over disagreements on U.S.-led sanctions on the North.

Tensions have been rising lately as Kim ramps up his nuclear and missile program targeting Asian U.S. allies and the U.S. mainland and hardens his stance toward South Korea. Kim has labeled South Korea as his most hostile adversary and has shown sensitivity to South Korean soft power, pushing aggressively to block the influence of South Korean culture and language among his population.

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 22 points and James Harden added 18 in a series in which the home team won all seven games.

Cleveland, the No. 4 seed, will visit top-seeded Detroit on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the second round. The Central Division rivals split their four regular-season meetings.

“I think we’ve already moved on (to focusing on Detroit),” Mitchell said on the court immediately after the final buzzer. “We understand we won this game, but we play in a couple days.,”

Scottie Barnes had 24 points and nine rebounds and RJ Barrett scored 23 for the Raptors, who were in the playoffs for the first time since 2022.

All-Star forward Brandon Ingram missed his second straight game with a bruised right heel.

“We gave it all, everything we had today," Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. "Our guys were awesome. We made it hard on them.”

Allen had 14 points and 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, as Cleveland went on a 49-21 run during a 15-minute span over the second and third quarters where it turned a nine-point deficit into an 19-point advantage.

One of Allen's baskets during the third quarter was a fast-break dunk after Max Strus stole the ball from Barnes to make it 74-59.

Cleveland was 17 of 33 from the field, including five 3-pointers, during the run while converting seven of Toronto's turnovers into 14 points. The Raptors shot 6 of 23 and were 1 of 8 behind the arc.

The Cavaliers also had a 25-8 rebounding advantage during the spurt, and converted 10 offensive boards into 14 points.

“They were scoring in transition, getting some offensive rebounds," Barnes said. “The offensive rebounds were giving them extra possessions. That really hurt us, giving them momentum.”

Toronto led for most of the first half and had a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter before Cleveland began its comeback.

The Cavaliers were down 47-38 with 2:58 remaining before going on a 11-2 run to close the half and tie it at 49. The Cavs were 4 of 17 on 3-pointers before Harden, Strus and Jaylon Tyson connected from beyond the arc.

“Sam (Merrill) said this whole series, we haven’t closed out the second quarter. We all took that to heart. We all looked at ourselves and decided that now was the time to do it,” said Allen, who had his 11th double-double in a playoff game. “I think the defensive stops, rebounds and the offense is still shaky in some areas, but I think when we rebound the ball and get stops, that just translates to the offense so much better and transition and open shots for everybody.”

Cleveland took the lead with nine straight points to open the third quarter as Mitchell scored five and Mobley added four.

“In the first half, we were forcing it too much, driving down tunnels and forcing it to the basket," coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Sometimes you have to move the defense. We just kept hammering that message.”

The Cavaliers are 6-5 in Game 7s, including unbeaten in five home games. Toronto fell to 3-4 in Game 7 and 0-2 on the road.

___

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

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Sam Raimi’s movie “Send Help” starring Rachel McAdams, a TV series based on the unassuming, oft-forgotten Jane Austen sister Mary leads “The Other Bennet Sister” and country star Ashley McBryde heading into the “Wild” on her latest album.

New movies to stream from May 4-10

— “The Drama,” starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, arrives Tuesday on premium on demand after a much-talked-about run in theaters. The film, written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, recently became the fifth A24 release to clear $100 million at the box office. Pattinson and Zendaya play a couple whose wedding engagement is derailed after a disquieting revelation. In his review, AP’s Mark Kennedy wrote that the film “wastes two of the planet’s most gorgeous people and will surely get everyone involved in trouble for using a current American tragedy as a plot point.”

— In Sam Raimi’s “Send Help,” a woman (Rachel McAdams) and her overbearing boss (Dylan O’Brien) are stranded on an deserted island after a plane crash. Raimi’s comic survivalist thriller grows increasingly unhinged as their roles reverse. After a theatrical run earlier this year, it debuts Thursday on Hulu.

— The Netflix adaptation “Remarkably Bright Creatures” (streaming Friday, May 8) turns Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling novel into a film starring Sally Field as a widow working at an aquarium. There, she develops a healing bond with a giant Pacific octopus. Lewis Pullman co-stars.

— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

New music to stream from May 4-10

— The synth-pop group MUNA will release their fourth studio album on Friday, May 8. “Dancing on the Wall” arrives just in time for the approaching warmth — and hedonistic decision-making — of summer. It’s tank top party-pop for the once-heartbroken, now-victorious crowd (like what is found on “So What” and the familiar sounds of the title track) and whoever is the object of affection on the too-fun “Wannabeher.”

— Also on Friday: Country star Ashley McBryde heads into the “Wild” on her latest album. It is her most personal and most rock ‘n’ roll collection yet, embodying McBryde’s fiery spirit found on “Lines in the Carpet,” a cutting treatise on domesticity, the heartfelt mission statement of the title track and everywhere in-between. The record opens with four barnburners fans will recognize as staples of her live show — “Rattlesnake Preacher,” “Arkansas Mud,” “Water in the River” and “Creosote” — and diversifies from there. Expect big feelings and a playful, wizened heart.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

New series to stream from May 4-10

— If you're a Jane Austen devotee who loved “Pride and Prejudice,” you'll recall that Elizabeth and Jane aren't the only two daughters in the Bennet family. A new series called “The Other Bennet Sister” follows the introspective and awkward but adorable Mary, played by Ella Bruccoleri. Mary steps out of the shadows of her other siblings and finds romance and independence. The show is already a hit in the UK and on social media. Mary gets her time to shine beginning Wednesday on BritBox.

— From the backwoods lakes of the Ozarks to the turquoise waters of the Florida Keys, Bill Dubuque, a co-creator of “Ozark,” has created a new series set against the drug world called “M.I.A.” In this crime drama, a daughter who wants nothing more than to separate herself from her family's drug-running business is pulled into a quest for vengeance after it's destroyed. All nine episodes drop Thursday on Peacock.

— Dan Stevens is wrongfully committed to a mental hospital where he must battle both supernatural and psychological demons in “The Terror: Devil in Silver.” This “Terror” is the third season of a horror anthology. Besides Stevens, the series features an impressive cast including CCH Pounder, Judith Light and John Benjamin Hickey. It premieres Thursday on both Shudder and AMC+.

— Another classic gets reimagined in the new “Amadeus” limited-series starring Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany. Sharpe plays superstar composer Amadeus Mozart and Bettany is Antonio Salieri, also a successful composer of the time whom history has cast as the lesser talent. Salieri becomes increasingly obsessed with achieving the respect and acclaim that Mozart enjoys. It premieres on Starz on Friday, May 8.

— Alicia Rancilio

New video games to play from May 4-10

— Annapurna Interactive’s Mixtape includes tunes by Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Roxy Music and Devo — the kind of alt-rock you might expect in a movie like “Sixteen Candles” or “Dazed and Confused.” So, yes, we’re back in the 1990s, with three teenagers seeking adventure on their last night of high school. That means skateboarding, sneaking beers, making out, looking for trouble, running from trouble and, to judge from the trailer, floating through space. You can press play Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch 2 or PC.

— The soundtrack to Wax Heads is more diverse, but all the bands are completely made up. You’ve landed a job at a gnarly store called Repeater Records, and you get to deal with an assortment of eccentric customers who may or may not know what they want. The result is a kind of puzzle game in which you have to sort through their suggestions to track down the perfect vinyl. Patattie Games, the two-person U.K. studio behind Wax Heads, calls it “cozy-punk.” Drop the needle Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch or PC.

— Lou Kesten

Trump gave few details about what could be a sweeping attempt to help hundreds of vessels and some 20,000 seafarers. Iran quickly denounced the move as a ceasefire violation.

Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that “neutral and innocent” countries have been affected by the Iran war, and “we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.”

“Project Freedom” would begin on Monday morning in the Middle East, Trump said, adding that his representatives are having discussions with Iran that could lead to something “very positive for all.”

U.S. Central Command said the initiative would involve guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 service members. The Pentagon did not immediately answer questions about how they would be deployed.

Iran’s effective closure of the strait, imposed after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, has shaken global markets.

Ships and seafarers, many on oil and gas tankers and cargo ships, have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began. Crew members have described to The Associated Press seeing intercepted drones and missiles explode over the waters as their vessels run low on drinking water, food and other supplies. Many sailors come from India and other countries in South and Southeast Asia.

“They are victims of circumstance,” Trump wrote, and described the effort as a humanitarian gesture “on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran.” But he sounded a warning: “If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency called Trump's announcement part of his “delirium,” and Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission of Iran's parliament, said on X that any interference in the strait would be seen as a ceasefire violation.

Trump spoke hours after Iran said it was reviewing the U.S. response to its latest proposal to end the war and made clear these are not nuclear negotiations. The fragile three-week ceasefire appears to be holding.

Cargo ships attacked near the strait

Earlier Sunday, a cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz said it was attacked by multiple small craft, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported, while another ship was hit by “unknown projectiles.” They were the latest in at least two dozen attacks in and around the strait since the Iran war began, and a reminder of the risks if the new U.S. effort goes forward.

No injuries were reported.

They were the first reported attacks in the area since April 22. Tehran has effectively closed the strait by attacking and threatening ships, and the threat level in the area remains critical.

The first ship was an unidentified cargo ship traveling north near Sirik, Iran, east of the strait, the British monitor said. Iranian officials have asserted that they control the strait and that ships not affiliated with the United States or Israel can pass if they pay a toll, challenging the freedom of navigation guaranteed by international law.

Iran denied an attack, the semiofficial Iranian outlets Fars and Tabnak reported, and said a passing ship had been stopped for a documents check as part of monitoring.

Iranian patrol boats, some powered only by twin outboard motors, are small, nimble and hard to detect. Trump last month ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the strait.

The second ship was a tanker that reported being struck around 11:40 p.m. Sunday while off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

The British military monitor also said Sunday that ships near Ras al-Khaimah, the northernmost emirate in the United Arab Emirates and close to the strait, reported receiving radio warnings to move from anchorages. It was not clear who sent the VHF messages.

Iran reviews US response to its latest proposal

Tehran is reviewing the U.S. response to its latest proposal to end the war, Iran’s judiciary Mizan news agency cited Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying.

But “at this stage, we have no nuclear negotiations,” Baghaei said. Iran’s nuclear program and enriched uranium have long been the central issue in tensions with the U.S., but Tehran would rather address it later.

Iran’s proposal wants other issues resolved within 30 days and aims to end the war rather than extend the ceasefire, according to Iran’s state-linked media. Trump on Saturday said he was reviewing the proposal but expressed doubt it would lead to a deal.

Iran’s 14-point proposal calls for the U.S. lifting sanctions on Iran, ending the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdrawing forces from the region and ceasing all hostilities, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon, according to the semiofficial Nour News and Tasnim agencies, which have close ties to Iran's security organizations.

Pakistan's prime minister, foreign minister and army chief continue to encourage the U.S. and Iran to speak directly, according to two officials in Pakistan who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Pakistan hosted face-to-face talks last month and has passed messages between the two sides.

Iran stands firm on Strait of Hormuz

Trump has offered a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes, along with fertilizer badly needed by farmers around the world and other petroleum-derived products.

Tehran “will not back down from our position on the Strait of Hormuz, and it will not return to its prewar conditions,” Iran’s deputy parliament speaker, Ali Nikzad, said earlier Sunday.

The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran in any form, including digital assets, to transit the strait safely.

Meanwhile, the U.S. naval blockade since April 13 is depriving Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy. The U.S. Central Command on Sunday said 49 commercial ships have been told to turn back.

“We think that they’ve gotten less than $1.3 million in tolls, which is a pittance on their previous daily oil revenues,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Sunday. He said Iran's oil storage is rapidly filling up and "they’re going to have to start shutting in wells, which we think could be in the next week.”

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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Anna from Lowville, New York. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

The spokesperson, Ted Goodman, didn't say what sent Giuliani, 81, to the hospital, how long he's been there or what his prognosis is.

“Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak,” Goodman said in a statement. He said that Giuliani “remains in critical but stable condition."

Giuliani’s eight-year tenure as the mayor of the nation's largest city was punctuated by the 9/11 attack in his final months in office, and he became celebrated as “America’s mayor” for his leadership after the 2001 al-Qaida terrorist attack that felled the World Trade Center twin towers.

Giuliani later made an unsuccessful run for president and was an adviser to President Donald Trump, spearheading his efforts to stay in office after his 2020 election loss.

Last year, Trump said he was awarding Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Giuliani coughed as he began his nightly online show "America’s Mayor Live” on Friday. As he spoke, he sounded more raspy than usual. Before launching into a commentary on the Iran war, he remarked: “My voice is a little under the weather, so I won’t be able to speak as loudly as I usually do, but I’ll get closer to the microphone.”

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Giuliani “a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR.”

“What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL — AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!" Trump wrote. "They cheated on the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!”

As Trump’s personal attorney and adviser, Giuliani became a vocal proponent of the president's allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits claiming fraud, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error.

Two former Georgia elections workers later won a $148 million defamation judgment against Giuliani. As they sought to collect the judgment, the former federal prosecutor was found in contempt of court and faced a trial this winter over the ownership of some of his assets.

Giuliani ultimately struck a deal that let him keep his homes and various belongings, including prized World Series rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of the ex-election workers.

Giuliani was previously hospitalized last September after suffering a fractured vertebra and other injuries in a car crash in New Hampshire.

A native New Yorker, Giuliani was elected mayor in 1993 after serving as one of the nation’s highest-profile federal prosecutors, taking on mobsters and crooked Wall Street traders.

He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000 but abandoned his race against Hillary Rodham Clinton after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

In 2007, Giuliani ran for president. Buoyed by his post-9/11 popularity, he started as the front-runner for the Republican nomination. But that was short-lived. He withdrew from the race after struggling in the primaries amid GOP concerns about his past support for abortion rights, gay rights and gun control, and questions about his personal life and business ties to the Middle East.

He toyed with running for other offices before pivoting to political commentary.

In 2016, Trump leaned on Giuliani’s political acumen and loyalty and put him to work as a surrogate leading attacks on Clinton, his Democratic rival. After Trump won, Giuliani continued as his attack dog, even traveling to Ukraine to seek damaging information about Biden’s son, Hunter.

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Weber reported from Los Angeles.

The airline said none of the passengers or 10 crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 169 were injured.

The New Jersey State Police said a landing tire and the underside of the plane also hit a truck, and the light pole then struck a Jeep that was on the highway. The driver of the truck was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and was released, said the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Boeing 767 aircraft landed safely after it “came into contact with a light pole” on its final approach to Newark.

Aircraft landing on one of the main runways at Newark come sailing in, low, over multiple lanes of traffic on the Turnpike, which is one of the most congested parts of Interstate 95. The runway begins a stone’s throw from the edge of the highway.

Officials with the port authority confirmed that an object was struck and that a delivery truck on the turnpike at the time also was damaged. Minor damage to the aircraft was observed, airport staff inspected the runway for debris and normal operations were quickly resumed, according to the port authority.

United said its maintenance team was evaluating damage to the aircraft and that the crew was removed from service while it conducts a “rigorous” flight safety investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board said an NTSB investigator would arrive in Newark on Monday and that it had directed United to provide the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder for the investigation.

A preliminary report was expected within 30 days, the NTSB said.

Alex Newhook broke a tie with 8:53 left and Montreal — with only nine shots on goal — outlasted the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 7 on Sunday night to end the thrilling first-round series.

The Canadiens will face the Buffalo Sabres in the second round after finishing off their first series victory since losing the Stanley Cup Final to Tampa Bay in 2021. Game 1 is Wednesday night in Buffalo.

Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes made 28 saves and Nick Suzuki got his first goal of the series for Montreal. The Canadiens are the first team to win a playoff game with fewer than 10 shots on goal since shots were first tracked in the 1959-60 season.

“Sometimes you win the game and not the score,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “When it's Game 7, there's no moral victory.”

Each game of the series was decided by one goal and four went to overtime. The score was tied or within one goal for all but six minutes in the seven games.

“It's a tough building to play in, it's a chaotic environment out there,” Suzuki said. “We've been a good road team all season. We knew we had to come in here and anything can happen in a Game 7.”

The Lightning were eliminated in the first round for the fourth straight season after falling two wins short of a Stanley Cup three-peat in 2022.

Tampa Bay’s tough defense held the Canadiens without a shot for nearly 27 minutes from the first period into the third and just four through two periods. Brandon Hagel made an outstanding, sliding stick save with an open net in the final minute but the Lightning couldn't get the tying goal during a 6-on-5 and 6-on-4 for the final six seconds.

Montreal got a couple lucky bounces to score twice on its first eight shots on goal.

After Lane Hutson fired a slap shot that went wide and bounced back out, Newhook backhanded the puck out of the air and in off Andrei Vasilevskiy’s pad and his backside.

“Great hand-eye coordination by Newy,” Suzuki said. “He's been a big-game player. I'm definitely happy for him.”

Playing in front of their 461st consecutive sellout crowd and hundreds more fans watching from Thunder Alley outside Benchmark International Arena, the Lightning lost for the 11th time in their last 13 playoff games at home, including three times in this series.

“You can't lose three at home,” Hagel said.

The Canadiens didn’t have a shot on net in the second period despite two power-play chances. They became the first team to have zero shots in a playoff period since Pittsburgh in Game 1 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals against Nashville.

Dominic James tipped in Charle-Edouard D’Astous’ one-timer from just inside the blue line to tie it at 1 on a power play in the second period.

Suzuki opened the scoring 1:21 left in the first. After scoring 29 goals in the regular season, Suzuki needed a lucky bounce to get one. His redirection of Kaiden Guhle’s slap shot was heading wide but the puck hit Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser and went in.

Montreal’s Martin St. Louis, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose No. 26 is retired by the Lightning, became the fifth player to appear in a Game 7 for a team and coach against them in another.

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

Cunningham averaged 32.4 points for Detroit, which last won a postseason series by beating Orlando in the second round in 2008. The Pistons advance to play the winner of Sunday night's Game 7 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors. Game 1 will be Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena.

“We were pushed to the limit," Cunningham said. "And it made us really reflect on how we were playing, what got us to this position and what made us win as many games as we won in the regular season. And it got us back to playing the basketball that we knew we were capable of.”

The Pistons became the 15th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit and the second in the last two nights, after the Philadelphia 76ers came back to eliminate Boston.

“I mean, it's expected,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of his team's resiliency. “And that's the amount of belief that we have in this group. This is a special group. And you can't count us out. No matter the circumstances, no matter the situation, I like our chances to fight our way back.”

They trailed by 24 points in Game 6 in Orlando before rallying to take the series at home. Orlando only scored 113 points in the final six quarters of the series — an average of 18.8 per period.

Cunningham and Harris became the first Pistons teammates to score 30 points in a playoff game since Bob Lanier (33) and Howard Porter (30) against the Golden State Warriors on April 17, 1977.

“We really bonded this season," Cunningham said. "This group is super tight. We think we can do anything. We've had our backs against the wall at times in the regular season, but we stuck together and we found our way out of it.”

Paolo Banchero scored 38 for the Magic.

Each team needed a second scoring option in Game 7. Cunningham had carried the Pistons while Banchero was Orlando's only weapon after Franz Wagner was injured in Game 4.

Harris filled that role for Detroit, but Orlando only had one other player reach double figures in the first three quarters, as Desmond Bane had 10.

“We just couldn’t find the basket,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We were playing well on defense, but we couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”

The Pistons also got a big game from All-Star center Jalen Duren. He was outplayed by Wendell Carter Jr. in the first six games, but put up his first double-double of the series with 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Harris scored 17 points in the second quarter as the Pistons finished the half on a 9-2 run to take a 60-49 lead.

The Pistons' surge continued into the second half, as they opened the third quarter with a 11-2 run to go up 71-51. Nine of the points came from Cunningham and Harris.

The Magic finished the third quarter with 15 points — the third time in their last five periods they couldn't reach 20 points.

Daniss Jenkins hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Detroit a 83-64 lead going into the fourth, and the Magic never threatened down the stretch.

“They fought and battled the whole way," Mosley said. "We just didn’t get the job done.”

___

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

In a statement to The Associated Press, WHO said an investigation was underway but that at least one case of hantavirus had been confirmed. One of the patients was in intensive care in a South African hospital, the U.N. health agency said, and it was working with authorities to evacuate two others with symptoms from the ship.

The Dutch company that operates the cruise said the ship was now sitting off the coast of Cape Verde, an island nation off Africa's west coast, and local authorities were assisting but had not allowed anyone to disembark. It said the two sick people onboard requiring urgent medical care were crew members.

Hantavirus infections are spread mainly by rodents

Hantaviruses, which are found throughout the world, are a family of viruses spread mainly by contact with the urine or feces of infected rodents like rats and mice. They gained attention after the late actor Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from hantavirus infection in New Mexico last year.

Hackman died around a week later at their home from heart disease.

Hantaviruses cause two serious syndromes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a severe disease that effects the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, a severe disease that affects the kidneys.

While rare, WHO said hantavirus infections can be spread between people. There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival.

“WHO is aware of and supporting a public health event involving a cruise vessel sailing in the Atlantic Ocean," the organization said. "Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, and epidemiological investigations. Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing.”

The weekslong cruise started in Argentina

South Africa's Department of Health said the ship, the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, had left Argentina around three weeks ago for a cruise that included visits to Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and other stops. It was due to ultimately head to Spain's Canary Islands on the other side of the Atlantic.

The first victim was a 70-year-old man who died on the ship and whose body was removed in the British territory of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, the South African health department said in a statement. The man's wife collapsed at an airport in South Africa trying to take a flight to her home country of the Netherlands, the department said. She died at a nearby hospital.

The department identified the patient in intensive care in a hospital in Johannesburg as a British national. It said that person fell ill near Ascension Island, another remote island in the Atlantic, after the ship left Saint Helena and was transferred from there to South Africa.

Around 150 passengers were onboard

Around 150 tourists were onboard at the time of the outbreak, South Africa's health department said. Several online tour operators said the Hondius, which is described as a specialist polar cruise ship, usually travels with around 70 crew members.

Oceanwide Expeditions, the company that runs the cruise, said the third victim's body was still onboard the ship in Cape Verde and its priority was to ensure the two crew members who were ill received medical care.

“Local health authorities have visited the vessel to assess the condition of the two symptomatic individuals,” the company said. “They are yet to make a decision regarding the transfer of these individuals into medical care in Cape Verde.”

WHO said it was working with national authorities and the ship's operators to conduct a “full public health risk assessment” and provide support for those still onboard.

South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases, meanwhile, was conducting contact tracing in the Johannesburg region to identify if other people were exposed to the infected passengers in South Africa.

Elliott stayed ahead of Denny Hamlin for the closing four laps after a final restart at Texas on Sunday for his second victory this year. He finished just ahead of Hamlin in both of those wins.

On that final restart at the 1 1/2-mile Texas track, Elliott took the bottom line and had teammate Alex Bowman behind him. He cleared Hamlin going onto the backstretch and remained in front to the checkered flag.

“I just felt like, man, if I didn’t get clear off of (Turn) 2, I was going to be in a lot trouble,” Elliott said. “So fortunately Alex gave me a great push. I was able to execute Turns 1 and 2, get clear, and then just kind of manage the last few laps.”

Elliott, voted NASCAR's most popular driver each of the past eight seasons, got his 23rd career win and his second at Texas, where two years ago he ended a 42-race winless streak. He led five times Sunday for a race-high 87 laps, finishing 0.407 seconds ahead of Hamlin, closer than the 0.565-second margin when they finished 1-2 at Martinsville in late March.

Bowman, whose spin brought out a caution on lap 93, finished third. Tyler Reddick was fourth after winning five of the first 10 races this season for Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing.

Hamlin said the late push Elliott got from his teammate was the difference in Texas.

“It was just enough to slow my momentum and pick his momentum up,” Hamlin said. “Good, decent day, just one (spot) short.”

Elliott, who started 14th, had already taken the white flag when John Hunter Nemechek wrecked in the back of the field after contact with Kyle Busch. The caution flag never came out since Nemechek was able to get his car to the apron.

Chris Buescher was fifth, his first top-10 finish in 17 starts at track less than an hour from his hometown of Prosper.

Carson Hocevar, the polesitter at Texas for the second year in a row, finished seventh, a week after his breakthrough win at Talladega. He also won the Truck Series race in the Lone Star State on Friday night. He finished a spot behind Daniel Suarez, his Spire Motorsports teammate.

Hocevar led the first 22 laps last year, three more than he did at the start of this 267-lap race, though he did get back in front for 18 more laps later Sunday.

Corey Heim, in only his third start this year for 23XI Racing, led 69 laps, but with 11 laps left brought out the final caution of the day, the fourth because of a single-car spinout. The 23-year-old Heim was the Truck Series champion last year.

Bell rung out of the race

Christopher Bell, an Oklahoma native who considers Texas his home track, led 22 laps and was still near the front on lap 69 when he got clipped by Todd Gilliland, who spun ahead of him.

Bell bobbled and then slammed hard into the outside wall along the frontstretch, doing significant damage to the front right of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He finished last in the 38-car field.

“I thought that I could shoot the gap on the bottom,” said Bell, who had led only six laps total his first seven starts in Texas. “I thought I did shoot the gap on the bottom but I got clipped.”

Pit road crashes

Joey Logano, who won at Texas last year, was going about 180 mph when he just avoided hitting the spinning car of Byron on lap 93.

Going much slower on the ensuing yellow-flag stop, the front left of Logano’s car was crushed when he was unable to avoid contact when Cole Custer stopped on pit lane with Ty Gibbs pulling out ahead of him. That knocked out Logano, whose winless streak is now 36 races.

During that same round of stops, Chase Briscoe got damage to his front right when pulling out of his box and getting hit by Kyle Larson. Hamlin was pulling out when he had a close call with Connor Zilisch.

Up next

The 2.45-mile road course at Watkins Glen in upstate New York, where last year Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing became only the third driver to win four consecutive Cup races on road or street courses. In the first road race this year, Reddick held off van Gisbergen to win at the 2.4-mile Circuit of the Americas on March 1.

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

Crews finished tearing down the portion of the bridge over the northbound mainlanes earlier Sunday, marking a key milestone in the ongoing reconstruction project tied to Houston’s larger highway overhaul.

PREVIOUS: Alabama Street bridge to close for nearly 10 months as part of I-45 project

That project aims to improve safety, reduce congestion, and modernize one of Houston’s most heavily traveled corridors.

Attention now shifts to the second phase of demolition, which is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. on Friday, May 8, and continue through 5 a.m. Monday, May 11.

During that time, drivers should expect significant closures, including:

• Southbound I-69 mainlanes under Alabama Street
• The connector ramp from southbound SH 288 to southbound I-69

These closures are expected to impact traffic through a busy stretch connecting Midtown and the Third Ward, particularly for weekend travel.

The Alabama Street bridge has already been shut down long-term since April 30 and is not expected to reopen until February 2027.

Officials say the extended closure is necessary to fully demolish and rebuild the structure as part of the broader I-45 North Houston Highway Improvement Project.

TxDOT is urging drivers to plan ahead, review detour routes, and expect delays throughout the weekend closure. Updated maps and traffic guidance are available on the agency’s construction updates page.

Authorities have identified the victim as Yanira Nafin.

Investigators say she was allegedly shot by her common-law husband, Jose Arquimides Romero, 43, during a dispute inside the home.

Arrest update:

The deceased victim has been identified as Yanira Nafin (39). Yanira was allegedly shot by her common-law husband, Jose Arquimides Romero (1-8-83). Romero was reportedly upset because Yanira was not taking his back pain serious enough. Three children were in the… https://t.co/D82cGlwCnA pic.twitter.com/QRSvtK71i0

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) May 3, 2026

According to investigators, Romero was reportedly upset because Nafin was not taking his back pain seriously enough.

The shooting happened shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday on Texarkana Street.

Three children were inside the home at the time. Officials say they were able to hide when the gunfire began and were not injured.

Romero remained at the residence following the shooting and was taken into custody without incident.

Court records show he has been charged with murder. He was booked into the Harris County Jail and will appear in court Tuesday.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Monday’s Forecast:

Monday, southeast Texas waking up cool, in the mid to upper 50s. This will be the last morning with morning lows below 60. Houston’s pattern is changing as a southeasterly wind returns; heat and humidity will rise.

Monday afternoon, we are seasonably warm with highs in the low 80s.

Mid-Week Cold Front:

A mid-week cold front will bring another chance for rain Wednesday through Thursday. Depending on how fast or slow the front moves, we determine how much rain Houston can pick up.

There is now a risk of strong to severe thunderstorms developing on Wednesday as the front moves into southeast Texas. We are still several days out, so stay connected for an updated timeline and impacts.

Heat Returns Swiftly:

A heads up, we’re tracking the chance for rain as we head into the weekend. Keep an eye on future updates from the KPRC 2 Weather Team.

Have you captured a dramatic rain photo or video? Share your weather moments with the KPRC 2 community through Click2Pins at Click2Houston.com/pins.

The two players who have been at the heart of Inter Milan's success in recent seasons carried the club to the Italian league soccer title with a 2-0 victory over visiting Parma on Sunday.

Inter, which needed only a draw to secure the trophy, moved an unassailable 12 points clear of 2025 champion Napoli with three rounds remaining.

It’s Inter’s 21st Serie A title, trailing only the record 36 held by Juventus, and third in six years. But Inter hadn’t sealed the title before its home fans at the San Siro since the 1989 title — nearly four decades ago.

When the game was over, there were fireworks, dancing and plenty of celebrations.

Thuram scored just before the break with an angled shot placed just beyond the reach of Parma goalkeeper Zion Suzuki. Then 37-year-old Henrikh Mkhitaryan added another in the 80th after taking a pass from Serie A scoring leader Lautaro, who came off the bench to mark his return from an injury layoff.

Thuram was born in Parma while his father, Lilian Thuram, played there.

“Since I arrived at Inter, it’s been a team that loves to stay together — on and off the field — and that’s our strength,” Thuram said.

For Cristian Chivu, Inter’s first-year coach, the trophy was secured against the club he coached last season — having helped Parma avoid relegation.

Chivu, who was hired to replace the departed Simone Inzaghi nearly a year ago, played on the Inter team that won a treble under José Mourinho in 2010.

In the running for two trophies this season, Inter will face Lazio in the Italian Cup final in 10 days.

The domestic success has come in sharp contrast to Inter’s ouster from this season’s Champions League playoffs by tiny Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt. Last season, Inter was routed 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.

Still, it’s an improvement from last season’s Serie A when Inter finished one point behind Napoli.

"(Chivu) did so well bringing fresh energy, enthusiasm," Lautaro said. “After four great years with Simone, perhaps we needed a change of scenery after that Champions League final. Chivu made sure everyone felt involved and could even train with a smile. That really helped.”

Inter midfielder Nicolò Barella was reminded how he was a leader on the Italy team that failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.

“That’s football and life. There are difficult moments,” Barella said. “For example, last season we came so close to everything and won nothing. In life you’ve always got to get back up on your feet.”

AC Milan and Juventus at risk

While Inter was celebrating, AC Milan and Juventus were at risk of losing their Champions League places.

Milan was reduced to 10 men and beaten 2-0 at Sassuolo for its fourth loss in seven matches. Then Juventus drew 1-1 with relegated Hellas Verona.

Third-placed Milan was left only two points ahead of fourth-placed Juventus, which is just three points ahead of fifth-placed Como, which is trying to get into the top four and secure a Champions League spot.

Three rounds remain in the Italian league.

Domenico Berardi scored early on for Sassuolo for his 12th career goal against Milan and Fikayo Tomori was sent off before Armand Lauriente doubled the advantage after the break.

Milan has scored only one goal in its last five matches.

Christian Pulisic, who came on in the second half, extended his goalless streak to a career-high 17 league matches.

Vlahovic equalizes for Juventus

Juventus also dropped points at home against Verona but extended its unbeaten run to nine matches.

Kieron Bowie put Verona ahead after intercepting a pass from Juventus defender Gleison Bremer then Dusan Vlahovic equalized for Juventus with a free kick around Verona’s wall for his first goal since October.

Also, Bologna was held 0-0 by Cagliari in a regional derby.

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

“They started within an hour or so coming up to us, wanting attention. Some crawled in people’s laps. Every single one of them are super sweet,” Lauree Simmons, president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, said Sunday. “I think they are loving the attention. I just know they know they’re safe.”

Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy negotiated a confidential agreement to purchase the 1,500 dogs for an undisclosed price from Ridglan Farms, where police used tear gas and pepper spray to repel activists trying to take beagles from the facility last month. Protesters also broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Sixty-three people were referred by the sheriff’s department to the district attorney for potential charges related to that break-in.

Talks to purchase the animals began months before the April disturbance, and Simmons said her group wasn't connected to the protests. Now, Big Dog Ranch Rescue is working with partners all over the country to find homes for 1,000 of the dogs, while the Center for a Humane Economy is taking the rest.

Simmons said her group has received over 700 adoption applications, but it might take some time before the hounds are ready for their new homes as the organization screens potential dog parents, moves the animals to shelters around the country and ensures the beagles are housebroken.

The first 300 dogs were taken from Ridglan on Friday, with more scheduled for removal over the next week. The animal groups have set up a staging area with play yards in Wisconsin, where the dogs are being vaccinated, microchipped, spayed or neutered and prepared for transport, Simmons said. Big Dog Ranch Rescue has already started moving dogs to its location in western Palm Beach County, Florida.

“The younger dogs will adjust quicker, and the older dogs will take time,” Simmons said. “A lot of them are more willing to accept love and want to be with people.”

Ridglan Farms didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Beagles are the most common breed of dog used for animal testing, primarily because of their smaller size and gentle temperament, Simmons said.

“A Belgian Malinois is not going to put up with being tested on, being confined in a kennel their whole life,” Simmons said of the athletic shepherd dogs commonly used by police and the military. “Beagles are just so trusting and docile and calm and forgiving, so they are the most chosen dogs for animal testing. And so we’re going to take one of the sweetest, kindest, most trusting breeds and abuse them? This is wrong. This needs to stop.”

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

About 1,000 activists from across the country came to Ridglan Farms in the rural village of Blue Mounds, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Madison, on April 18 in an attempt to take the beagles. They were met by police who used tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The Dane County Sheriff’s Department said 29 people were arrested and five face felony burglary charges.

Activists have filed a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin alleging that police used unnecessary force. Ridglan has said those who tried to break in were a “violent mob” who launched “an assault on a federally licensed research facility.”

He called a one-stroke penalty on himself while playing the par-4 second hole, after he caused his ball to move in the fairway. And then he made par anyway.

It was that sort of week: Young was unflappable and unbeatable. He went wire-to-wire alone on the lead at the Cadillac Championship, a final round of 4-under 68 getting him to 19 under for the week and six shots clear of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (68).

“When the golf course is difficult, when the conditions are difficult, that tends to make it easier for me mentally,” Young said.

With President Donald Trump in place to watch most of the round at Trump National Doral, Young picked up $3.6 million for the second-biggest payday of his career. He made $4.5 million earlier this year for winning The Players Championship.

Trump arrived with several members of his family — including granddaughter Kai Trump, who plans to play at the University of Miami when she enrolls later this year — shortly after noon and remained until the tournament was over. He stood for the ovation as Young walked up the 18th hole, as a number of fans in attendance were allowed to move into the fairway for a look at the final putts of the week.

And when it was over, Young got a thumbs-up from Trump, followed later by a quick handshake.

“It’s very unique. He’s nothing if not a very, very interesting man,” Young said. "He’s very powerful and it’s an honor to get to play in front of him.”

A bit more than an inch of rain fell on the course in the early morning hours Sunday, delaying a planned 7:30 a.m. start (which had already been rescheduled Saturday in anticipation of bad weather) to the final round by two hours. And the Blue Monster was no longer a monster, not with everything softened by the rain.

The average scores in the first three rounds were between 71 and 71.6. The average score Sunday, with preferred lies, was 69. There were nine birdies — total — on the par 18th in the first three rounds and 12 at the finishing hole on Sunday alone.

Scheffler finished second for the third consecutive start, after finishing a shot behind Rory McIlroy at the Masters and losing a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick at Hilton Head. Those were near-misses; this one wasn't.

That's how good Young was. Even the best player in the world never had a real chance on Sunday.

“Some good takeaways from this week,” Scheffler said. “Cam played fantastic golf all week. I played with him three out of the four days and he was hitting a lot of quality shots and making putts from anywhere. He was going to be to be a tough man to beat this week.”

Young called the violation on himself with his ball in the middle of the fairway on the second hole — it moved at address, something he said has happened to him before — and said he didn't hesitate to do the right thing.

“Your heart sinks when you see it move,” Young said. “But it moved. That's part of what's golf about. There's no one who's going to give me a penalty there but myself.”

Ben Griffin (68) was third at 12 under, while Si Woo Kim (70), Sepp Straka (66) and Adam Scott (64) tied for fourth at 11 under.

Scott likely clinched a spot in the U.S. Open — which would be his 100th consecutive major start, assuming he starts in the PGA Championship later this month — after shooting 66-64 on the weekend. Scott finished at 11 under, meaning he should remain comfortably inside the top 60 in the world ranking and qualify for the U.S. Open.

“To win a major I’m going to need to put four days together, not just a weekend coming from behind,” said Scott, who was the winner of the World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship — until this week, the most recent PGA Tour event at Doral — in 2016. “I feel like my game is there. I’m doing all the things that I think I need to do to be in that kind of contention.”

Young can say the same. The world's No. 4 player was 67th in those rankings at this time last year, and is already over the $11 million mark in earnings in 2026.

“I think the self-belief just continues to build,” Young said.

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

Good luck with that. One way or another, the Knicks know the New Yorkers are coming.

The 76ers and Knicks begin the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday at Madison Square Garden, which is expected to be packed with Knicks fans, from the celebrities in the front row all the way to the die-hards way up top.

Both teams already are looking ahead to what happens when the series moves to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4.

When they met two years ago in the first round, Knicks fans swarmed Philadelphia and Embiid pleaded with fans not to let it happen again.

“Last time we played the Knicks it felt like this was Madison Square Garden East. So we’re going to need the support,” Embiid said. “Don’t sell your tickets. This is bigger than you. We need you guys. The atmosphere we’ve had the last couple games in Philly, especially the last one pushing it to Game 7, I mean, we need all of it."

The 76ers are trying to do their part. A message on their website reads: “Xfinity Mobile Arena is located in Philadelphia, PA. Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of Greater Philadelphia area. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside Greater Philadelphia area will be canceled without notice and refunds given.”

Even if that works, there's nothing that can prevent big-spending backers of the Knicks from buying from Philadelphia fans who choose to sell.

“Good thing about New Yorkers, man, they’re persistent. They don’t care, bro. They're going to do it, man,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said. “And for a lot of people, everything revolves around money. So, you know, if they get a good price for those tickets, they’re going to sell them.”

Hart, who played in college at Villanova, noted that it's less than a two-hour drive from New York to Philadelphia — even quicker by train — and that it's likely far cheaper to buy tickets for the road games.

Embiid was disappointed in 76ers fans during the 2024 series, when Jalen Brunson received raucous “MVP! MVP!” chants while scoring 47 points as the Knicks won Game 4 in Philadelphia. Embiid said afterward that: "I don’t think that should happen. It’s not OK.”

Sixers owners then bought and gave away more than 2,000 tickets to people who serve the Philadelphia community when the Knicks returned for Game 6.

If any Philadelphians are looking to sell, Embiid is ready to buy.

“Knicks fans, they travel," he said. "There’s going to be some people that need the money and probably going to sell tickets, but don’t do it. We need you guys. We’ve got a pretty good chance. We’re going to need our support. We’re going to need them to be extremely loud and if you need money, I got you.”

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

Sinner beat the third-ranked Zverev 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday for his 23rd straight win. He had already won Master 1000 tournaments in Monte Carlo, Miami and Indian Wells this year, and in Paris last year.

“I think there is a lot of work behind it,” Sinner said. “A lot of dedication and sacrifice I put in every day. Obviously, it means a lot to me, seeing these results."

Zverev lost to Sinner in the semifinals of each of those tournaments. He won in Madrid in 2018 and 2021, and was runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz in 2022.

“He’s very good, of course. But I think today I would have lost to anybody, to be very fair. I think today I played an awful tennis match,” Zverev said.

Sinner converted all four break points he earned and did not face any break points himself in a comfortable win over Zverev at the Caja Magica tennis complex in Madrid. Sinner had not been past the quarterfinals in three previous appearances in Madrid.

“I’m very happy that I’ve continued to believe in myself," Sinner said. "I’m showing up every day, at every practice session, trying to put in the right work with the right discipline. To do so, you need to have the right team behind you, which I have. I’m very happy about me, but also the team, and this means a lot to all of us.”

Sinner next plays in Rome with a chance to lift the trophy in the only Masters 1000 tournament he is yet to win. The 24-year-old Italian is looking to join Novak Djokovic as the only man to complete the Career Golden Masters. The Serbian won all nine tournaments twice.

“It’s quite simple," Zverev said. "I think there’s a big gap between Sinner and everybody else.”

In the women's final on Saturday, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine beat Mirra Andreeva of Russia 7-5, 6-3.

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

A 3-2 win against Liverpool on Sunday confirmed United's return to European club soccer's top competition after a two-year absence.

Kobbie Mainoo settled a thrilling Premier League clash at Old Trafford with his first-time strike from the edge of the area after defending champion Liverpool had fought back from two goals down.

The victory saw head coach Michael Carrick achieve the target he was set in January when he was handed the job until the end of the season. Rescuing United's season from freefall, he has led the club to third in the standings and produced statement wins against Arsenal, Manchester City and now Liverpool.

Victory will strengthen calls for Carrick to be given the role on a permanent basis.

“When Michael comes, he came with magic. Alex Ferguson vibes," United forward Matheus Cunha said with reference to the club's iconic former manager. "At the end of the day, this is just the start of the journey. It’s the beginning, a beautiful beginning.”

Ferguson had planned to watch the match at Old Trafford but left the stadium and went to the hospital as a precaution when feeling unwell before kick off.

The fact United secured a Champions League return against its fiercest rival Liverpool only added to the scenes of celebration after the final whistle. It was the first time United has completed a league double of home-and-away wins against the Merseyside club since the 2015-16 campaign.

United is six points ahead of fourth-placed Liverpool with three rounds of the season to go. It marks a significant improvement on last term when it was 42 points behind Arne Slot's title-winning team.

‘A good run’

Since Carrick was hired on Jan. 13, United has picked up 32 points from 14 games - more than any other team in the top flight.

“It’s been a good run. We’ve beaten some very, very good teams and it’s been challenging,” he said. “I love doing what I’m doing. It’s a great position for me to be in and it feels pretty natural if I’m totally honest.”

United gave Carrick the job until the end of the season in order to allow the club time to weigh up coaching candidates after Ruben Amorim was fired in January. The 20-time English champion has not won the title since Ferguson retired in 2013 and has had six permanent managers or head coaches since then.

Carrick has repeatedly shied away from discussing his future beyond the end of the campaign.

His team is doing the talking for him on and off the field.

“You want to follow him, you want to fight for him, you want to die for him on the pitch," Mainoo told Sky Sports.

United's latest win came after a flying start - Cunha opening the scoring after six minutes with a left-footed strike from inside the box. Benjamin Sesko doubled the lead in the 14th when bundling in from close range.

United's dominance should have produced more goals with Bruno Fernandes wasting a good chance to add a third.

But the game was turned on its head after the break as Dominik Szoboszlai pulled one back for Liverpool two minutes into the second half and then a mix-up in United's defense allowed Cody Gakpo to equalize in the 56th.

United regained its composure and Mainoo's strike saw Old Trafford erupt in celebration.

Defeat means Liverpool is still not guaranteed a place in the Champions League next season with three rounds to go.

“The reality at this point is that it’s been a very disappointing season, below the standards of Liverpool," captain Virgil van Dijk said. "We shouldn’t accept it, but it is the reality. We have to get Champions League football for next year. After the World Cup we have to build to a much better - a much better - season than we’re having.”

Crucial win for Tottenham

Tottenham climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.

It's back-to-back league wins for Spurs for the first time since the opening two games of the season. The latest victory saw Roberto Di Zerbi's team move a point above relegation rival West Ham and out of the drop zone.

Conor Gallagher and Richarlison scored both of Spurs' goals in the first half to continue De Zerbi's positive impact on the club since he was hired in March. Substitute Emiliano Buendia pulled a goal back for Villa in stoppage time.

Having failed to win a league game in 2026 before De Zerbi's arrival, Tottenham has picked up seven points from a possible nine.

Bournemouth's Champions League bid

Bournemouth earlier strengthened its unlikely push for Champions League qualification with a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace.

Bournemouth is sixth in the standings, with the top five guaranteed to qualify for the Champions League. That could be extended to the top six if Villa wins the Europa League and finishes fifth.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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

In a post on X, Lai said he arrived in Eswatini — Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Africa — to “affirm our longstanding friendship.” He said that Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy that China considers part of its territory, “will never be deterred by external pressures.”

Lai was originally scheduled to visit the southern African country from April 22, but Taiwanese officials said that flight permits were revoked by Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar over “strong pressure from the Chinese authorities, including economic coercion.”

In a separate Facebook post on Saturday, Lai wrote that the visit was made possible following careful arrangements by his diplomatic and national security teams. He said the trip will further deepen the friendship between Taiwan and Eswatini through closer economic, agricultural, cultural and educational ties.

“Our resolve & commitment are underpinned by the understanding that Taiwan will continue to engage with the world — no matter the challenges faced,” Lai wrote on X. Taiwan did not announce latest plans of Lai's Eswatini visit prior to his arrival.

A spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement shortly after Lai posted on social media about his visit that he was “performing a laughable stunt in front of the world,” and referred to him being “smuggled” out of Taiwan.

Lai's “undignified act” and visit “will always be a losing cause and nothing will ever change the fact that Taiwan is part of China,” the ministry said. “We urge Eswatini and some other individual countries to see where the arc of history bends and stop serving as the prop of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists.”

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry hit back, saying Lai's trip was conducted “in accordance with international law, international norms, diplomatic practices” and Taiwan’s regulations.

Lai's arrival in Eswatini was only announced after he landed safely, the ministry said in a written statement, a precaution which it said had numerous international precedents.

China has not ruled out using force to take control of Taiwan and has sought to block other countries from maintaining formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.

In 2023, Tsai Ing-wen was the most recent previous Taiwanese president to visit Eswatini, the small, landlocked nation with a population of around 1.2 million. Eswatini became the only African country excluded from tariff-free access to China's market because of its ties to Taiwan.

On Friday, Taiwan’s government expressed concern after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call that Taiwan is the “biggest risk” when it comes to relations between Beijing and Washington.

About the elected seat: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is perhaps best known for its decisions on death penalty cases, such as blocking Robert Roberson’s execution and most recently overturning Clarence Curtis Jordan’s sentence after he had spent 47 years on death row. In addition, it reviews criminal appeals from lower courts as well as petitions from anyone convicted of a state felony who wants to challenge their detention’s legality.

The panel includes one presiding judge and eight other judges. They are all elected statewide for staggered six-year terms.

What’s at stake: The May 26 Republican primary runoff election for a seat on Texas’ highest criminal court will be a showdown between a candidate with extensive experience working for the panel and a candidate with significant political backing. 

Alison Fox and Thomas Smith are running head to head to be the Republican nominee for Place 3, after coming out on top of a four-way race in March. Fox, who has garnered several high-profile endorsements for her experience as an attorney at the high court, led the pack with 31.3% of the vote in round one. Smith — who works in Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office and has his endorsement, on top of support from several state lawmakers — was right behind at 30.7%. 

The court has drawn attention in recent years over its rulings that Paxton’s office can’t unilaterally prosecute election cases, which prompted the attorney general to successfully push out three Republican judges who disagreed with him when they ran for reelection in 2024. The panel then decided the following year to rehear an election wrongdoing case that it had previously thrown out. 

Two more Republican judges who sided against Paxton — David Newell and Bert Richardson — were up for reelection this year, but they opted not to seek another term. The Re-Elect David Newell for Judge Campaign donated $4,000 to Fox in October, records show.

On May 3, Fox confirmed to the Tribune that she had returned this donation and that it would be reflected in her next campaign finance report. The move came after Texas Scorecard reported that Newell’s contribution violates Texas law restricting judicial officerholders from using campaign funds to donate more than $100 a year to a political candidate. Fox told the outlet that she wasn’t previously aware of this rule. 

The winner of the runoff election will face Democrat Okey Anyiam, a private criminal defense attorney, in November. The eventual GOP nominee will be favored to win, as the court has long been filled by Republicans and there are currently no Democratic judges.

Campaign site

Alison Fox

Republican

💰 Campaign finance as of Feb. 21, 2026:

• $9,602 cash on hand

💰 Major donors this cycle:

• Patty Fox, retired
• Susan Dahlberg, not employed
• The Re-Elect David Newell for Judge Campaign

Experience: 

• Staff attorney at the Courts of Criminal Appeals, including previous role in the court’s writs of habeas corpus division  
• Former prosecutor and director of the conviction integrity unit in the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office
• Former criminal appeals attorney in private practice

Political Ideology:

Fox says she’s running to defend the Constitution and protect the rule of law. An active member of the Catholic Church, she also says that “faith and justice go hand in hand — that our legal system is strongest when it reflects the moral truths rooted in Scripture.”

Endorsements: 

• Texas Right to Life PAC 
• Austin Police Association and Houston Police Officers’ Union
• Editorial boards of The Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News

How to contact or learn more: 

• https://foxforjudge.com

Campaign site

Thomas Smith

Republican

💰 Campaign finance as of Feb. 21, 2026:

• $2,305 cash on hand

💰 Major donors this cycle:

• David Gabbay, real estate
• Maya Gabbay, real estate
• Kenneth Clark, banking

Experience: 

• Assistant attorney general in the Texas Attorney General’s Office
• Former counsel for Ken Paxton when he was a state senator
• Former counsel in private practice 

Political Ideology:

Smith says he’s running to keep “women and children safe in an increasingly dangerous culture.” He has particularly emphasized his work with Paxton’s office and state lawmakers, including on issues such as human trafficking and Texas’ ban on sanctuary cities.

Endorsements: 

• Attorney General Ken Paxton
• State Sen. Angela Paxton and several other Republican state lawmakers
• True Texas Project

How to contact or learn more:

• https://smithfortexas.org

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said last week there was no evidence the agent was hit by friendly fire during the incident at a Washington hotel on April 25, but she went beyond that Sunday in saying a shot from one of Cole Tomas Allen's weapons hit the officer's bullet-resistant vest.

“We now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant’s Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the fiber of the vest of the Secret Service officer,” she told CNN's “State of the Union.” “It is definitively his bullet."

Allen, who remains behind bars for now pending his trial, was injured during the attack but was not shot. The officer survived.

His attorneys on Sunday filed a document with the court saying they learned he was no longer on suicide watch and sought to withdraw a motion formally seeking to remove him from such supervision.

On Thursday, Pirro posted a video on social media showing the moment that authorities say a man with guns and knives attempted to storm the media gala. Questions have lingered about whose bullet struck the officer as the suspect ran through security with a long gun toward the ballroom packed with journalists, administration officials and others.

A phone call to lawyers representing Allen went unanswered on Sunday.

Allen has been charged with attempted assassination of the president, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone.

Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California. He worked as a part-time tutor for a test preparation company and is an amateur video game developer.

It was the third consecutive victory for Antonelli, the current points leader who is proving early this season to be a legitimate championship contender.

“It is just the beginning, the road is still long, but we're working super hard,” Antonelli said. “The team is doing an incredible job and without them I wouldn't be here. I'm going to enjoy this one and then get back to work.”

The Italian and teammate George Russell have won the first four races of this season for Mercedes and all four poles to date. They were blocked from the podium in Saturday's sprint race, which was a 1-2 finish for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of McLaren in the only thing the Mercedes drivers have not won this season.

“Kimi, that was very, very impressive. You know I like to complain, but there was nothing to complain about today,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told his young driver. “Very good."

Antonelli holds a 20-point lead over Russell in the championship standings.

Antonelli started from the pole but had a slick start on a damp surface at the Miami International Autodrome. Threats of heavy rain led F1 to move up the start of the race by three hours, and there was an early morning thunderstorm with lightning strikes directly over the Hard Rock Stadium, but it cleared by the time the event began.

Still, the first 25 laps were attacked by the drivers as if the rain could return at any moment, and that led to early chaos, even for Antonelli.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari had a spectacular start from third and surged to the lead when Antonelli went wide off course trying to defend. A split-second later, Max Verstappen spun trying to hold off Leclerc when the two cars made contact.

The contact caused Verstappen, who started a season-best second, to plummet to ninth after the spin.

Antonelli recovered and reclaimed the lead on the fifth lap, and the leaders briefly swapped positions as Leclerc moved back to the front before reigning world champion Norris took over on Lap 14.

Verstappen worked his way through the field and briefly took the lead as others pitted, but Antonelli beat Norris off pit lane and reclaimed the lead for good once everything cycled out.

Norris finished second, 3.2 seconds behind Antonelli.

“A mixed bag, really. We just got undercut (in the pits). There's no excuses other than that,” Norris said. “We should have boxxed first. Kimi did a good job. Hats off to Merc and Kimi. They drove a good race.”

Leclerc was poised to finish third until Oscar Piastri of McLaren passed him on the final lap. Leclerc spun and settled for sixth.

Russell was fourth and Verstappen finished a season-best fifth for Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari was seventh.

Cadillac, in its first race in the United States, had an unimpressive weekend on the track even as it splashed its way through Miami with appearances and events. Sergio Perez finished 16th and Valtteri Bottas was 18th — the last car to finish in the 22-driver field.

Messy start

Isack Hadjar had been disqualified after qualifying and started last, but his race lasted five laps before he drove his Red Bull into the wall. Hadjar was openly angry at the result as he pounded his helmet before climbing from his car and angrily stomping away.

Seconds later, Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson made contact that caused Gasly's car to do a full rollover. The Frenchman's car ended stuck with its rear tires atop a barrier and he climbed from the half-suspended BMW on his own.

Up next

The Canadian Grand Prix is next for F1 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on May 24. That date was traditionally held by the Monaco Grand Prix but a tweak to the schedule shifted it to Canada, and F1 will no longer be the opener for what had traditionally been the most prolific day in motorsports.

The F1 race typically opened the morning ahead of the Indianapolis 500 and then NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600. Because the race is in Canada and not Monaco, it has a late afternoon start time and will follow the Indy 500 and end during the NASCAR race.

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AP Auto Racing: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one

The shelves once laden with goods during his childhood sat nearly empty in late April, with barely anything to offer the 5,000 clients who depend on the state-run store for subsidized food.

Government ration books that once provided for a healthy diet and kept families fully fed for a month are now shrinking.

As the economy collapses and prices soar, a growing number of Cubans find themselves unable to afford alternatives to state-run stores and struggle to subsist on meager salaries in a socialist country of nearly 10 million where basic goods increasingly are sold in U.S. dollars.

“No Cuban can truly survive on the products from the ration book anymore,” Amate López said.

‘Living

off air’

Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro established the ration book — “la libreta”— in the early 1960s. It offered heavily subsidized goods ranging from milk to fish and even cigarettes. Cubans knew their assigned bodega would be stocked with everything they needed by the first of the month.

The ration book shrank during the “Special Period,” when Soviet aid plummeted in the 1990s and deprivation hit Cuba. During that time, Cubans lost an average of 5% to 25% of their body weight, according to one study published in a medical journal, with goods including bread, milk, eggs and chicken in scarce quantities.

Even so, many Cubans who lived through that period say the current situation is worse.

Amate López recalled that his assigned bodega was so full decades ago “you could barely walk.”

It’s now an empty room with dusty old posters detailing the prices and amounts of nearly two dozen goods no longer available, including yogurt, pasta and bars of soap. Two industrial freezers once packed with meat and chicken serve only to keep Amate López’s water bottle cold. In April, the only items he had available to sell were rice, sugar and split chickpeas.

Cuban teens turning 15, a landmark birthday in Latin America, used to receive cake and several cases of beer. Now they only get 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of ground beef. The government recently opted to celebrate those turning 65 by awarding them sardines, a bar of soap and a package of toilet paper. But Amate López said he doesn't have those items.

Havana resident Ana Enamorado, 68, said she only was able to buy split chickpeas and 2 pounds (1 kilogram) of sugar at her assigned bodega in April.

She struggles to buy the remaining basic goods at small, privately owned stores known as “mipymes” with her salary and pension totaling some 8,000 Cuban pesos ($16) a month.

A carton of 30 eggs costs roughly 3,000 pesos ($6), 2 pounds of meat hash are nearly 900 pesos ($2) and 1 pound of cornmeal is roughly 200 pesos (50 cents).

“There’s hardly anything in the ration book,” she said. “We’re practically living off air.”

Her lunches and dinners are a rotation of rice, seasoned ground meat and cornmeal, or sometimes nothing at all. She recalled once upon a time being able to eat pork, lamb, fricassee, fried plantain slices and red beans and rice.

“Now we have to cut back, have one meal a day and live on memories,” Enamorado said.

Subsidizing people in need instead of goods

Cuba imports up to 80% of the food it consumes, including goods offered at state stores that are increasingly unavailable given a lack of government resources.

“They just don’t have the money to do it anymore,” William LeoGrande, a professor at American University who has tracked Cuba for years, said about the government running out of funds. “Things come in an ad hoc way.”

LeoGrande said the government “bungled” the 2021 merging of two Cuban currencies and the resulting inflation has persisted because the state spends far more money than it takes in.

The government has to stop printing money and balance its budget without drastically cutting social services, a challenge since the bulk of state funds is spent on health, education, social welfare and food imports, he said.

“Any major cuts in state spending are going to have a profound social impact, which is why they haven’t done it,” LeoGrande said, adding that the government’s investment in tourism is “way higher” than the demand for tourism, which has plummeted.

In recent years, Cuba’s government has talked about subsidizing people in need instead of goods. That would free up money to import fuel, medicine and other items, LeoGrande said.

But many Cubans still depend on their ration books while the island's crises deepen as severe power outages, petroleum shortages and a U.S. energy blockade persist.

Cuban comedians have spoofed the ration book, creating a character named “Pánfilo" who sings a rhyming chorus in a recent video posted online: “Place the notebook in a cemetery, because it's ready to be buried.”

Struggling to buy basic goods

On a recent sunny afternoon, Lázaro Cuesta, 56, stood in line to receive a daily allowance of two small bread rolls for him and his wife.

“Before it was 80 grams and cost 5 (Cuban) cents. Now it’s 40 grams and costs 75 cents,'' he said. “And the quality is worse.”

Cuesta works in food preparation and earns 6,000 Cuban pesos ($12) a month. His wife, a retired nurse, receives 4,800 pesos ($10) in monthly pension. They also receive $200 a month from her brother and daughter who live abroad.

The remittances allow them to eat avocados, eggs and red beans and rice, Cuesta said.

“If not for the remittances,” he said as he grabbed his neck with his right hand, “hang yourself.”

Roughly 60% of Cubans on the island receive remittances, but Rosa Rodríguez, 54, of Havana is not one of them.

“Everything is scarce here — everything — even that wretched bread they give us,” Rodríguez said. She earns 4,000 Cuban pesos ($8) a month, which she said isn’t a bad salary for Cuba, but “no matter how hard you work, it’s simply not enough.”

Rodríguez said the only product she obtained at her assigned bodega in April was a donation of 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms) of rice, while she struggles to buy other basic goods.

“If you buy beans, then you can’t buy sugar,” she said, noting that most of her salary is spent on a large carton of eggs. “If I retire, I die.”

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

Patrol officers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport responded around 1:30 a.m. this morning to a call about a pedestrian in the roadway near 6500 Will Clayton Parkway. When they arrived, officers found a major crash involving an adult female pedestrian.

The Houston Police Department said the case is being investigated as a failure to stop and render aid. Investigators believe the first vehicle, described by a witness as a white vehicle, struck the pedestrian and fled the scene.

• MORE NEWS: HPD creates first tactical unit built to support patrol using drones, tools, specialized backup

A second driver then hit the pedestrian and drove over her, police said. That driver later returned, realized it was a person, stopped, turned on hazard lights and waited for officers. Police said there were no signs of intoxication.

The pedestrian was described as white or Hispanic woman and has not been identified. She was pronounced dead at the scene by the Houston Fire Department. Investigators said it’s not clear whether she was a tourist or traveling through the area.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the HPD Vehicular Crimes Division at (713) 247-4072 or Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-TIPS.

The iconic former United manager was at Old Trafford for the match, but left before kickoff.

A person with knowledge of the situation said the 84-year-old Ferguson was taken to the hospital as a precaution and was “OK.” The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

United coach Michael Carrick was unable to offer updates after the match, which his team won 3-2.

“I did hear about it before the game,” Carrick said. “I was very affected by it, the news. I just don’t know the latest, but we hope for him to be in good shape and we wish him all the best and certainly hope the result, when he hears about it, can give him a good boost.”

In 2018 Ferguson suffered a brain hemorrhage and underwent emergency surgery, before making a recovery.

Ferguson frequently attends home matches and was pictured on social media at the stadium earlier in the day.

Ferguson won 13 Premier League titles with United and two Champions Leagues during a trophy-laden 26-and-a-half years at the club. In total he won 28 major titles with United.

He retired in 2013 having won the last of his 13 league titles.

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

Sheriff’s office officials said Jarrod Holt, 51, was arrested by the La Marque Police Department at 4:49 a.m. this morning on a felony parole board warrant.

Police then transported Holt to the Galveston County Jail, arriving at about 5:39 a.m., the sheriff’s office said. After he arrived, Holt was seen by UTMB medical staff as part of an intake evaluation.

• MORE NEWS: Woman killed in Cloverleaf shooting identified; husband charged, sheriff says

During that assessment, Holt told medical personnel he had ingested cocaine, according to the sheriff’s office.

Not long after, Holt’s condition worsened quickly. Officials said he began vomiting and sweating heavily. UTMB staff started emergency care, including CPR, and Holt was taken to UTMB Galveston, where he was pronounced dead at 6:44 a.m., the sheriff’s office said.

As required under Texas Jail Standards, the sheriff’s office said it notified the Texas Rangers and the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office, which are conducting an independent review. Both agencies responded to the scene and are reviewing the incident.

The Walt Disney Co.’s 20th Century Studios opened “The Devil Wears Prada 2” in 4,150 locations in North America. Women made up about 76% of the ticket buyers, according to PostTrak exit polls; 74% said they would “definitely recommend” the movie to friends. Critics were a bit mixed on the sequel, which finds Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs working once more for Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly at the fictional “Runway” magazine in a much-depleted media landscape.

The movie cost a reported $100 million to produce — a significant boost from the first movie’s $35 million production budget. But as filmmaker David Frankel told The Associated Press recently, “As it turns out, you know, by the time you finish paying all the biggest movie stars in the world, you still end up with basically the same budget for making the movie as we did the first one.”

Stars Streep, Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci have been on a fashion-forward global publicity blitz for weeks, with glamorous stops in Tokyo, London and New York. Even Anna Wintour, the inspiration for the Prada-clad devil, has been involved this time, appearing with Hathaway on the Oscars stage and with Streep on the cover of “Vogue.”

The first movie opened in June 2006 and would go on to earn over $326 million worldwide, not adjusted for inflation. And perhaps more importantly, it firmly became part of the culture thanks in part to its ever-quotable likes (“gird your loins,” “groundbreaking,” “that’s all”). Legacy sequels are never a sure thing, but this time anticipation was high: According to Nielsen, streaming viewership for “The Devil Wears Prada” was up 428% from March 2026 to April 2026.

Second place went to Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic “Michael,” which made $54 million in its second weekend in North America, where it’s playing on 3,955 screens. Its running worldwide total is already $423.9 million. Universal Pictures is handling the international release.

“This is on the great end of what we had speculated might happen, but we were very confident that we were going to have a great hold even with the assumption that ‘Prada’ would do a lot of business,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chairman Adam Fogelson. “The conventional wisdom that a new giant movie can knock out a movie that has planted itself is constantly proven inaccurate.”

This weekend marks the start of Hollywood’s summer movie season, a crucial 18-week corridor that runs through Labor Day and often accounts for around 40% of the annual box office. There are often Marvel blockbusters programmed as the season's kickoff, but the combined power of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” and “Michael” wasn't a shabby substitute.

“This is a really solid weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore. “It’s this irresistible combination that more than makes up for the fact that there’s not a Marvel movie to kick off the summer movie season.”

“Prada” alone actually did better business than last year’s summer kickoff Marvel movie, “Thunderbolts.” There were several other new films in theaters this weekend as well, including the Adam Scott-led horror movie “Hokum,” Andy Serkis’s animated adaptation of “Animal Farm” and the Aaron Eckhart- and Ben Kingsley-led survival movie “Deep Water.”

They all opened behind “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which made $12.1 million in its fifth weekend, and “Project Hail Mary,” which made $8.6 million in its seventh weekend. Neon's “Hokum” led the newcomers with $6.4 million, rounding out the top five, followed by the very poorly reviewed “Animal Farm” with $3.4 million. “Deep Water” opened to $2.2 million.

In the top four movies, Dergarabedian has noticed a trend: “Over the past couple of months, moviegoers have really embraced pure, escapist entertainment,” he said.

The annual box office is currently running about 14% up from last year, with about $2.8 billion in domestic ticket sales to date.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” $77 million.

2. “Michael,” $54 million.

3. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $12.1 million.

4. “Project Hail Mary,” $8.6 million.

5. “Hokum,” $6.4 million.

6. “Animal Farm,” $3.4 million.

7. “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,” $2.2 million.

8. “Deep Water,” $2.2 million.

9. “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea,” $1 million.

10. “The Drama,” $908,303.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the man’s wife was in labor at a local hospital when she was informed of his death.

The Red Crescent said five people were hit by gunfire during an Israeli military operation. Nayef Firas Ziad Samaro, 26, was killed, according to the Health Ministry, and his body was brought to the hospital where his wife was giving birth. Additionally, a 12-year-old was shot in the shoulder, according to the Red Crescent.

The raid took place as schools were letting out for the day, in an area crowded with civilians, witnesses said.

Israel's military in a statement said it responded to a confrontation in the Nablus area in which several “terrorists” threw rocks toward soldiers. Soldiers fired and “several hits were identified.”

Palestinians, rights groups and international observers are warning about the worsening violence, where young Palestinian men are being killed with increasing regularity amid a broader climate of arson, vandalism and the displacement of farming communities near Jewish settlements and outposts in the West Bank.

At least 42 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the year, according to the United Nations humanitarian office. Armed settlers were responsible for at least 11 of those fatalities.

HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was “greatly relieved” by the arrest, and would provide further updates as verified details come in.

The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.

It said the suspect was being questioned, and that no further details would be immediately provided. The Burgenland public prosecutor’s office has announced an investigation into suspected “intentional endangerment of the public.”

In an email to The Associated Press on Sunday, the Burgenland police office said the suspect was arrested in Salzburg state, to the west.

The Austrian Press Agency reported that an expert report on the toxicity of the poison was pending. A total of five tampered baby food jars were seized before they could be consumed, APA reported.

Authorities said previously they believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria.

HiPP responded by recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic also removed all of the brand’s baby jars from sale.

The company said the recall was not due to any product or quality defect on its part, and said the jars left its facility in “perfect condition.”

Police said a customer at the time of the discovery had reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, but no one had consumed the baby food.

Pfaffenhofen, Germany-based HiPP said it has been a “victim of extortion,” adding that an unspecified “blackmailer” sent a message to a shared mailbox in the case, prompting it to immediately inform police.

The commitment from the seven countries, also including Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait and Oman, to raise production by 188,000 barrels per day comes after a virtual meeting they held on Sunday.

The move is mostly symbolic because it comes as Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes, in the midst of the U.S.-Israeli war. That has stopped much of the oil shipped from Gulf producers and knocked millions of barrels a day off the global market.

It also follows a decision by the United Arab Emirates to leave the OPEC oil cartel, shaking up the 65-year-old alliance that produces some 40% of the world’s crude oil and exerts major influence over the price of energy around the globe.

Iran is one of OPEC's 12 member countries, and Russia is not — it works with the Vienna-based oil producers alliance through the OPEC+ grouping.

The seven countries said they would hold monthly meetings “to review market conditions, conformity, and compensation” and plan to meet again on June 7.

The Greek goddess stands on a pedestal, holding a golden apple bestowed on her for her beauty — a classic ideal of beauty as old as, well, ancient Greece.

But the idea of “Costume Art,” which examines the dressed body through centuries of art history, is not to celebrate the classical form. It is rather, says Andrew Bolton, longtime curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, to use that form as a launch pad.

“Now, we go through and reclaim the body,” he says, leading a reporter through the gleaming new Conde M. Nast galleries that the show will inaugurate.

The corpulent body. The disabled body. The pregnant body. The aging body. The new show, which gala guests will view before it opens to the public May 10, is the most consciously body-positive show the museum has attempted. Perhaps its most prominent feature is a group of new mannequins, based on real people with a wide variety of body types.

There is even, in the “aging body” section, an enormous gray hoodie, emblazoned with the phrase: “I’M RETIRED. (This is as dressed up as I get.)” Just in case you’re tired of the whole glittery glamour thing.

Bolton took The Associated Press through the exhibit late last week as a huge team of installers was busy hammering, nailing, posing and otherwise adjusting the 400 items on display. Here are some of the highlights.

A new space, giving fashion its due

Last year, the Met Gala, a fundraiser for the Costume Institute, brought in a record $31 million. That gargantuan sum alone — it grows every year — can explain why the museum has granted its only self-funding department some prominent new digs, fashioned from former retail space on the museum’s main floor, right off the Great Hall. “We're in the epicenter of the museum,” notes Bolton, with evident pride. It will house all future fashion exhibits, making them easier to reach for guests and enabling shows to last longer; “Costume Art” will be up for 8 months.

The universality of … diversity

The show travels through centuries of art history by pairing art objects with fashion garments, making the argument that not only is fashion art — that's indeed the gala dress code — but more profoundly, art is fashion. Its first main gallery bears the title “Bodily Being in its Diversity,” and begins with flowing Grecian-style gowns, paired with images on Greek vases or flasks. But the display soon veers from classic forms into those that fashion has traditionally ignored.

The pregnant body, unhidden

Bolton argues that the pregnant body has either been ignored or stereotyped in art. Here, he presents designers — often female, working in the late 20th century or later — who have explored and accentuated the expectant form. The so-called “pregnancy dress” from British designer Georgina Godley, which appeared in her 1986 “Bump and Lump” collection, is a straightforward celebration of the extended pregnant belly. It is paired with a rare (for the time) 1920 sculpture by French artist Edgar Degas, “Pregnant Woman” — a nude figure holding her belly and seeming to reflect on what's to come.

The corpulent body, unfettered

Garments on display here include the corsetry of designer Michaela Stark, who posed herself for three of the new mannequins. One of them displays the corsetry ensemble “Fat Not Fertile” — fighting the trope that a larger body represents reproduction and fertility. Stark uses corsets to bind the flesh and accentuate, not hide it — to “bring back power to the female form.” The ensemble is paired with an ancient marble statuette resembling the same body type.

The disabled body takes center stage

A striking subset of the Reclaimed Body section explores the disabled body, itself divided into different types of disability: physical, sensory and cognitive.

In one ensemble, a mannequin based on Paralympian athlete, model and actor Aimee Mullins wears a pair of Victorian-esque Alexander McQueen boots, which are really prosthetic limbs. The outfit is paired with a 1965 sculpture, “The Amputee,” by John Gutmann.

Irish disability activist Sinéad Burke, who was born with dwarfism, also posed for two mannequins. One wears a Burberry trench coat, cut down for length — and including part of a discarded sleeve, refashioned into a headpiece. The other is a Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren “Mickey and Minnie” dress, paired with an ancient Egyptian statue of a dancing dwarf.

Model and activist Aariana Rose Philip, who uses a wheelchair, also posed for a mannequin, placed in its own chair — wearing a pair of denim shorts and a shirt bearing the slogan: “Queer Capital.” The display is accompanied by a work from artist Lucy Jones, who, like Philip, lives with cerebral palsy.

Exploring a less visible disability is a coat by Scottish designer Nadia Pinkney, who paid homage in her “Remember Me Knot” collection to both her grandmother and great-grandmother, who had Alzheimer’s. The coat’s pattern — derived, according to curators, from brain scans — is meant to reflect the “physiological tangles” the disease inflicts on the brain’s structure.

It's paired with a lithograph by Willem de Kooning, whose own experience with Alzheimer’s affected his late-career work.

The vital body — colorful and bloody

The second main gallery is devoted not to diversity so much as commonality — those things that unite us all. Like aging, which the show seeks to reframe as “a mode of sophistication rather than biological decline.” And mortality. There’s also a whole bloody section on, well, blood.

This includes Westwood’s “Martyr to Love” evening jacket where shiny beads represent a muscled torso, and deep red beading portrays blood dripping from a wound. It is paired with German painter Albrecht Dürer’s “Man of Sorrows with Arms Outstretched.”

“Costume Art” opens to the public May 10 and runs through Jan. 10, 2027.

The service members are U.S. Army soldiers who went missing while on a hike, a U.S. defense official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the issue.

“They were not actively taking part in any training. The day’s exercises had concluded, and, from our understanding, they were out on a recreational hike,” the official said.

AFRICOM said the U.S., Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise have launched a search and rescue operation.

“The incident remains under investigation and the search is ongoing,” it said in a statement.

The incident happened on Saturday at about 9 p.m., the Moroccan military said, near the Cap Draa Training Area near Tan Tan, close to the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is mountainous, a mix of desert and semidesert plains.

The search team includes helicopters, ships, mountain rescue units and divers, the defense official told the AP.

“The soldiers were last seen near ocean cliffs in the vicinity of the Cap Draa Training Area during scheduled training. When they did not return as expected, U.S. and Moroccan personnel immediately initiated a joint search effort,” the official added.

The war games exercise started in April and runs across four countries, including Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal. It is scheduled to end in early May.

The exercise began in Tunisia with active-duty members of different branches of the U.S. military, including the National Guard, Army Reserve, Air Force, and the Marine Corps.

In all, over 7,000 personnel from more than 30 nations are participating across the four host countries.

African Lion, which has been running since 2004, is the largest U.S. annual joint military exercise on the continent and usually features high-ranking military officials from the U.S. and its top African allies.

U.S. military officials have said the annual multinational engagement serves as a venue for strengthening regional security cooperation and refining the readiness of participating forces for global crises.

In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured during a helicopter crash in Morocco’s southern city of Agadir while taking part in African Lion.

Morocco is a major ally of the United States in a troubled region. Since 2020, military officers disillusioned with their governments’ records of stemming violence have overthrown democratically elected governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and began distancing themselves from Western powers.

———

Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

Highland Park will pull out of DART, according to election returns Saturday. It’s the first time any city has pulled up its stake in the agency since 1989 when Flower Mound and Coppell opted to leave.

Voters in Addison and University Park also weighed in on proposals to leave the system but chose to remain in the agency. This leaves 12 cities connected through DART.

Nearly 70% of voters in Highland Park decided to discontinue DART in the town, according to final but unofficial returns. The result was mirrored in Addison, where 70% voted to remain connected to the system; University Park was more narrowly divided, with 54% voting to stay.

DART will cease services in Highland Park on May 14, a day after the city council is scheduled to formally sign off on the election results, the agency said in a news release.

DART offers a mixture of rail and bus services across North Texas, however, rail does not reach every city paying into the system — including Highland Park. Officials and transit advocates say the exit leaves the state of public transit in North Texas weaker — at a time state transportation planners say Texas needs more public transit.

“The future of North Texas will be shaped by the cities that choose to move forward with DART,” Randall Bryant, chair of DART’s board of directors, said in a statement. “We are focused on expanding this system with partners who recognize that transit drives economic growth, connects people to opportunity, and strengthens communities.”

Highland Park’s exit means DART loses out on  $270 million in sales tax revenue over the next 20 years, according to the agency’s projections.

Saturday’s vote is the culmination of years of tension between the transit agency and some of its suburban members. Officials in the three suburbs have complained that, according to a consultant’s report, they pay too much in sales taxes to DART for how much they get back in bus, rail and other forms of transit service. They sought to eject themselves from DART and regain control over the money it sends to the agency, putting measures on Saturday’s ballot asking voters whether they should remain in DART.

Highland Park, a north central Dallas County suburb with nearly 9,000 residents, contributes about 1% of sales tax collections for DART. It’s one of the wealthiest cities in the area and in the fiscal year of 2023, it paid $6.3 million in sales tax to the agency but received $1.9 million worth in services. 

The vote will spur the closure of 15 bus stops in those cities, making it harder for people who rely on transit to access those parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Highland Park, about four miles north of downtown Dallas, will also lose access to paratransit services provided by the agency for riders with special needs.

Trump started stoking interest in the extraterrestrial in February, directing federal agencies to release their records related to extraterrestrial life and UFOs. Since then, he has built suspense with tantalizing updates, teasing an imminent release of documents never before shared by the U.S. government.

“We’re going to be releasing a lot of things that we haven't,” Trump said Wednesday at a White House event celebrating NASA astronauts. “I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people.”

Trump has relished in portraying himself as the president who spills the secrets. In the first week returning to office, he ordered the release of records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. The disclosures revealed little beyond what was already known.

In the buildup to that release, Trump said “the American people deserve transparency and truth.” Now, as he turns to the sky, the president has struck a similar tone, suggesting answers to decades-old questions may be on the way. His February directive on social media called for transparency around "alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).”

“The first releases will begin very, very soon,” he told supporters in April at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix. “So you can go out and see if that phenomena is correct. You’ll figure it out.”

An expert cautions against raising expectations

Even before Trump's directive, the Pentagon was years into a process to declassify and release government documents related to UFOs, now often referred to as unexplained anomalous phenomena, or UAP.

Citing concerns over national security, Congress created an office in 2022 to investigate UAP and declassify as much material as possible. The office's 2024 debut report revealed hundreds of new UAP incidents but found no evidence that the U.S. government had ever confirmed a sighting of alien technology. A second report covering more recent sightings is expected to come soon.

That agency, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, is now working with the White House to release “never-before-seen UAP information,” according to a Pentagon statement.

The office's previous director, however, said Trump's promises were bluster, a “shiny object” to distract Americans from the war with Iran. Sean Kirkpatrick, a physicist and former career intelligence officer who led the office until 2023, said he has seen the government's records and believes there are no bombshell revelations to be found.

“Readers should not get their hopes up that there’s going to be some document with photos, interviewing the aliens when they came down,” he said. “Because that just doesn’t exist.”

Videos purporting to show alien technology tend to have mundane explanations, he said. Modern infrared cameras used by the U.S. military often capture jet engines and other hot objects in a long thermal bloom, which, Kirkpatrick said, explains viral videos of speedy, pill-shaped objects.

Pentagon not forthcoming on UAP reports, GOP-led panel says

On Capitol Hill, those types of videos have caught the attention of a small group of Trump-aligned Republicans who insist the Pentagon is holding back secrets.

The Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets has been conducting its own investigation into reports of mysterious aircraft near U.S. military installations, which the panel says pose a threat to national security and the armed forces.

Last fall, the task force heard testimony from current and former service members who described UAP encounters. In one case, a senior Navy officer said he was off the coast of California in 2023 when he saw a glowing “Tic Tac” shaped object emerge from the ocean and link up with three similar objects. They sped away in an instant, he said.

Trump's interest in the subject has energized congressional Republicans, including Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, an Air Force veteran who co-chairs the task force. Luna has criticized what she calls “less than adequate” transparency from the Pentagon.

In a March letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Luna demanded dozens of UAP videos identified by whistleblowers and labeled with names such as “Spherical UAP in clouds.” Her deadline for Hegseth came and went, and no videos were produced.

Trump's entry to the UFO fray drew applause from Luna, who last year told podcaster Joe Rogan that she has seen evidence of “interdimensional beings.” The Pentagon “can’t hide from our docs request anymore!” Luna said on social media after Trump's directive.

Vance professes to be ‘obsessed’ with UFO files

Trump appears skeptical about the existence of extraterrestrial life. Addressing the Turning Point USA crowd in Phoenix, he said, “I figured this was a good crowd because I know you people, you’re really into that. I don’t know if I am.”

Why he made the revelation at that event, held at a megachurch, is unclear. A day earlier, Trump had spoken in Las Vegas, not far from Area 51, a top-secret Cold War test site that has fueled UFO conspiracy theories.

Vice President JD Vance has described himself as “obsessed” with UFO files. In March, he said he has been trying to find time to investigate Area 51 since he took office.

“I’ve still got three more years as vice president,” Vance told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. “I will get to the bottom of the UFO files.” Invoking his Christian faith, Vance said he believes sightings reported to be aliens are actually the work of spiritual demons.

Even before Trump tackled the topic, alien buzz was already in the air.

It's back in Hollywood with an upcoming Steven Spielberg movie, “Disclosure Day.” Former President Barack Obama made a splash in February when he declared on a podcast that aliens are real. He later clarified that he had seen no evidence but that “the odds are good there’s life out there.”

Trump is hardly the first president drawn to UFO mysteries. President Bill Clinton has said he once ordered a review of the Roswell Incident — something had crashed in 1947 at a New Mexico ranch and officials later said the debris was the remnants of a high-altitude weather balloon — around its 50th anniversary in 1997. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan claimed to have seen UFOs before their time in the White House.

The U.S. government has been investigating UFO reports since the 1940s, in part to determine if they represent advanced technology from competing nations or “evidence of off-world technology,” according to the Defense Department's 2024 report.

In online communities devoted to UFOs, some see Trump's promise as a step in the right direction; others believe it will come to nothing. For people who follow the topic closely, promises of big revelations have never lived up to the hype, said Greg Eghigian, a Pennsylvania State University professor who wrote a book on the history of UFO sightings.

“There is almost no satisfaction that is possible for many of the really die-hard folks,” he said. “So in a sense, I think disappointment can almost be guaranteed to be expected no matter what comes out of this.”

A nighttime drone strike sparked a blaze at Russia’s largest oil exporting port on the Baltic Sea, the port of Primorsk, according to Russian regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko.

The port, operated by Russia’s state oil firm Transneft, is capable of handling hundreds of thousands of barrels per day. Primorsk, which was targeted multiple times in March, lies over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Ukraine, between the Russian-Finnish border and Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg.

Local Gov. Drozdenko said that the drone strike did not cause an oil spill, but gave no immediate further comment regarding casualties or damage.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces destroyed several military and other targets, while also inflicting significant damage on oil port infrastructure.

“One more Russian carrier of Kalibr missiles is out of action. Major General Yevhen Khmara reported on the successful destruction of targets in the Primorsk port," Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post on Sunday.

According to Zelenskyy, Ukrainian drones also hit a Karakurt missile ship, a patrol boat, and a tanker belonging to Russia's so-called shadow oil fleet, used to evade Western sanctions and price caps on Russian energy.

In a separate post earlier on Sunday, Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces had struck two more “shadow fleet” tankers near the entrance of the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

“These tankers were actively used to transport oil. Now they won’t,” he said. He added the operation was led by the chief of Ukraine’s general staff, Andrii Hnatov.

Moscow did not immediately acknowledge Zelenskyy's claims regarding either strike.

Kyiv has recently stepped up its attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure. Ukrainian officials argue that oil revenue directly funds Moscow’s full-scale invasion of the country, now in its fifth year.

Drone strikes kill civilians near Odesa and Moscow

Elsewhere, two people were killed and three others wounded as Russian drones struck Ukraine's southern Odesa region overnight into Sunday, Ukraine's Emergency Service reported. It said the attack damaged three residential buildings.

The drones also hit port infrastructure, causing a fire that was later extinguished by emergency teams, the emergency service reported.

Nighttime Russian strikes also wounded six people in the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine, the agency said. A passenger bus transporting 40 children was damaged, but no one inside was injured, it added.

In Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike west of Moscow killed a 77-year-old man, local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov reported on the Telegram messenger app. He said the fatal attack occurred near the town of Volokolamsk, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) from central Moscow.

Vorobyov added that six drones were shot down in the Moscow region, which surrounds but does not include the Russian capital. At least five more drones were downed on the approach to Moscow itself, according to mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Separately, in Russia's western Smolensk region, a man, woman and child were injured after Ukrainian drone debris flew into an apartment block, according to local Gov. Vasiliy Anokhin.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Sunday that a total of 334 Ukrainian UAVs were downed overnight over Russia and occupied Crimea.

Also overnight into Sunday, Russia attacked Ukraine with 269 drones and ballistic missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Ukrainian forces shot down and repelled 249 drones, while hits from ballistic missiles and 19 drones were recorded in 15 locations, the air force said in a Facebook update.

Ligon defeated Democrat Ron Angeletti, an educator and small-business owner who was the only other candidate on the ballot. The two are set for a rematch in November for a full four-year term. In the meantime, Ligon will serve the remainder of Creighton’s term, which runs until the start of the next legislative session in January.

The Republican captured 75% of the vote, according to final but unofficial results posted by the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.

“The voters of SD4 have delivered a clear message tonight. Conservative values and Republican dominance in Texas are alive and well,” Ligon said in a statement declaring victory 25 minutes after polls closed. “Democrats from Texas and all over the country threw everything they had at us. Democrat politicians were here today in full force, campaigning hard for my opponent. As if we had been flying the ‘Come and Take It’ flag – they tried – and they failed.”

Senate District 4 — which spans across Chambers, Harris, Jefferson and Montgomery counties — voted for President Donald Trump by a 34-point margin in 2024, making it one of the reddest seats in the upper chamber. It is considered a virtual lock for Republicans in November, even with midterm political headwinds that have left Democrats optimistic about flipping GOP legislative seats.

Although the district has not had representation since Creighton’s departure in October, the Legislature has not been in session during that period and is not scheduled to reconvene until January for the next regular session.

Disclosure: Texas Tech University System has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

It turned out to be just enough.

After debuting in Game 4 following appendectomy surgery last month, the former MVP played some of the best playoff basketball of his career over the final four games of the series to lead the 76ers to a 109-100 Game 7 victory over a Celtics team that had looked like a potential NBA title contender.

The No. 7 seed’s reward is an Eastern Conference semifinals matchup with the No. 3 seed New York Knicks that begins Monday.

In leading Philadelphia to just its second road Game 7 victory ever and first since 1982 against Boston, Embiid finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to become the first player in NBA history to score 100 points in a playoff series despite missing the first three games.

“Sometimes I’ve been in those positions where I’ve come up short,” Embiid said. “I’ve always said it, you can’t win alone. You need a team. ... The way we’re playing right now, we’re so in sync, offensively, defensively.”

He and Tyrese Maxey (30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists) also became the third duo in league history to each have 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a Game 7.

Maxey said this series demonstrated how he now knows when to be assertive and when to defer to Embiid.

“It’s a growth, because I had to learn when to be aggressive, when not to be aggressive,” Maxey said. “It got a little bit difficult in the middle of this season. I was basically being first option every single night. Then he comes back and I’ve got to find a way to do both. And he does a really good job of just keeping me engaged and keeping me confident and keep me like, ’Hey I need you to do what you do.'"

The 76ers will need everything Embiid gave and more to compete with a Knicks team that plays a much more physical game than Boston.

Nurse said he believes Embiid is up for the challenge. He was limping at times in Game 7 but then got extra treatment while on the bench just to be able to contribute late.

He had reason to be fatigued because even though nine 76ers players touched the floor in Game 7, only six logged double-digit minutes. Embiid played 39 minutes, tying his series high.

“He was doing everything he could to stay in the game,” Nurse said. “Obviously, we ran a lot of things through him and we did just enough.”

Nurse said being able to come out the hostile environment of TD Garden with a victory will serve his team well going forward.

“It’s really good for us to go through that and respond to it,” Nurse said. “It’s going to be like that in the playoffs. You’re going to be in tight games and it’s going to be super loud. ... And you just have to play through it.”

Nurse said he believes the difference was making Boston play halfcourt sets over the final three minutes after the Celtics were able to play in transition for about 12 straight minutes in the third and fourth quarters.

That’s a lesson he hopes can be applied to New York.

“In the last two (games) and portions of this one, we just guarded really well,” Nurse said.

While there was satisfaction in beating Boston, Embiid said they have loftier goals.

“One series. Got more to go,” he said.

___

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

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The fire is around McGowen Street and Scott Street. Roadways in the area are blocked off. Drivers should avoid the area and seek alternate routes.

Officials have not released information on whether anyone was injured, and the cause of the fire has not been confirmed.

This is a developing story. Updates will be added as new information becomes available from the scene.

Deputies were called a little after 1 p.m. yesterday to a shooting at a home in the 14200 block of Texarkana Street in the Cloverleaf area, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said.

When they arrived, investigators said they found an adult woman with a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

In an update posted Sunday, Gonzalez identified the victim as Yanira Nafin, 39, and the suspect as Jose Arquimides Romero, 43, her common-law husband.

• MORE NEWS: Woman killed in hit-and-run crash near Bush Airport, police say

Gonzalez said detectives believe the shooting stemmed from a dispute at the home involving Romero’s complaints of back pain.

Authorities said three children were in the house at the time and were not injured after taking cover.

Authorities said Romero remained at the residence and was taken into custody. Harris County Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives charged him in connection with Nafin’s death, and he was booked into the Harris County Jail.

The investigation remains ongoing.

The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office said the roadway is now reopen.

ORIGINAL REPORT

CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas - The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office says emergency personnel are responding to a major crash on I-10 westbound at the 813 mile marker near SH 61.

All westbound lanes are currently shut down while first responders work the scene. Traffic is being diverted to FM 1724.

Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.

“Neither side really wants to hear what I say," says Frazer, a professor of history and political studies at The Master’s University, a Christian school in Santa Clarita, California.

The founders, Frazer says, did not create a Christian republic. Several key founders either rejected core Christian doctrines or were vague enough to keep historians debating. For Frazer, that often disappoints audiences of his fellow Christians.

But, he says, nor were the founders a cluster of rationalist deists — believers in a God who set the universe in motion like a clockmaker and then left it alone — and anti-religious skeptics, as they are sometimes portrayed. That disappoints audiences who favor a high firewall between church and state. Most of the founders were religious in one form or another.

The long-running debate over the founders’ intentions about religion has been turbocharged with the approaching 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. Amid the America 250 celebrations, some Christian activists and authors are redoubling claims that the U.S. had a Christian founding.

They have an ally in the White House.

President Donald Trump is promoting “ America Prays,” culminating in a May 17 gathering on the National Mall in Washington. Official participants include many Christian organizations and individuals, some who champion the idea of a Christian founding. Cabinet officials are issuing Christian messages in their official capacity. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth proclaimed that “America was founded as a Christian nation … in our DNA.”

In short: The long-standing debate — secular government on one hand, faith on another — rages and matters still.

Countering the Christian nation narrative

Critics and advocacy groups are pushing back.

“Most — nearly all — serious historians agree that America was not founded as a Christian nation in any meaningful legal, philosophical, or constitutional sense,” says the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State. It decries efforts “to redefine America according to the Christian Nationalist disinformation and then reshape our law accordingly.”

Six in 10 U.S. adults surveyed say they believed the founders originally intended America to be a Christian nation, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center report.

Why do the founders’ beliefs and intentions matter?

“Everyone’s looking for what we historians call a usable past,” says John Fea, author of “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?”

“We go into the past looking for what we want in order to advance a particular political or cultural agenda,” says Fea, a fellow at the Lumen Center, a Christian research institute and study center in Madison, Wisconsin.

Advocates often skirt history's nuances. For example, public officials and others did indeed offer prayers on behalf of the new republic at important historical moments.

“But are those prayers the central part of the story of what happened when we, in the United States, declared independence?” Fea wonders. “Last time I checked, it was about taxation and representation and shutting down the port of Boston and all these more economic and political things.”

Church and state in the new nation

Historian Mark David Hall argues that Christianity did strongly impact the founding. While core founders did not hold traditional Christian beliefs, he contends many other founders did, and that this shaped their thinking about how to form the new republic.

“There’s plenty of evidence Christianity had an influence,” says Hall, author of “Did America Have a Christian Founding?”

He says founders’ attention to human dignity harmonizes with the Bible’s teaching of humanity created in God’s image. The system of checks and balances — to prevent the concentration of power — reflects teachings about human sin that would have permeated a largely Protestant culture, he says.

He also notes that some early presidents and Congresses issued proclamations for prayer and thanksgiving, though some drew opposition and controversy. Some states sponsored churches for decades after the country's Constitution was ratified, indicating the founders did not believe religion should be absent from public life.

They believed that faith was important in forming moral, responsible citizens of the new republic. They promoted “toleration without eliminating the importance of real religious commitment on the part of differing adherents,” Frazer wrote in his book, “The Religious Beliefs of America’s Founders.”

There is no reference to any specific religion in the Constitution beyond the date — “in the year of our Lord” 1787. It forbids religious tests for officeholders. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees religious freedom and forbids “establishment” of a national religion.

Twentieth-century Supreme Court rulings applied the First Amendment to the states on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits states from denying citizens’ rights. The court cited founder Thomas Jefferson’s metaphor of a “wall of separation between church and state.” Courts have since wrestled with how to apply that principle in areas such as school prayer, healthcare, labor law and crosses on public lands.

Frazer argues that the Bible is not cited as a source for any governing principles in the documented proceedings of the Constitutional Convention or in the influential Federalist Papers, which advocated for the Constitution. He says the founders drew on influences such as Enlightenment thinking on such concepts as human equality, accountable government and freedom of religion. Early critics of the Constitution faulted it for lacking religious content.

The Declaration of Independence does have religious language, declaring that rights come from the “Creator.” It appeals to “divine Providence” and to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”

Thomas Jefferson and other founders — adroitly, Frazer says — used terms acceptable to Christians as well as followers of other religious and philosophical movements.

America's complicated religious history

Even the seemingly straightforward question, “Did the founders intend America to be a Christian nation?” raises questions: Who were the founders? When was the actual “founding”?

Some see the founding as the original colonial settlements — a century and a half before 1776. Colonial charters for Massachusetts Bay and Virginia declared the spread of the Gospel as a fundamental purpose. Puritan Boston endeavored to be a Christian “city upon a hill.”

In practice, the religious nature of the colonies varied. They had economic and territorial ambitions alongside heavenly ones. State religious persecution of religious minorities in Virginia and Massachusetts drew pushback.

The religious values of a colonial system that decimated Native communities and imported enslaved Africans has also come under enduring scrutiny.

Decades before the American Revolution, an evangelical revival known as the Great Awakening reached many colonists. Church membership and attendance declined steadily throughout the 18th century, according to studies, even as the colonies remained mostly Protestant.

The Protestant label also covered a range of beliefs, as some churches shifted toward Unitarian views that esteemed Jesus as a prophet or sage, not divine.

By the Revolution, rationalistic approaches to religion strongly influenced many college-educated and propertied elite men, such as those who produced the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, Frazer wrote. So did Freemasonry, a fraternal order based on beliefs in a universal God and morals.

Some founders were devout Christians such as John Jay, Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry. Others believed in God but not in Jesus’ divinity, including key founders like Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. The enigmatic Washington kept active in his Episcopal church but avoided sacraments and also was an active Freemason. He spoke about God in terms most people at that time could accept, such as “Providence” or “Supreme Ruler.”

Challenging misconceptions about deist founders

But contrary to popular belief, most founders were not deists.

Frazer instead describes many founders as “theistic rationalists.” George Washington believed that divine “Providence” saved his life in battle and intervened on America’s behalf. He was far from alone.

“They did believe in an active God,” Frazer says. “Therefore, prayer matters, because there’s someone listening.”

Even the skeptics thought religion was important in forming virtuous citizens. Franklin donated toward building projects for various churches and a synagogue in Philadelphia. Many scholars believe the First Amendment created a sort of religious free market in which Christianity and other faiths have flourished to this day.

At speaking engagements, Frazer hands out a flyer with 12 points on why the Christian America view is dangerous for both church and state.

“It’s mostly dangerous for Christianity,” Frazer contends. By claiming people or ideas as Christian if they aren’t, it “muddies the waters in terms of what Christianity is all about.”

___

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.

Now, the 57-year-old Texan is hoping to get some relief.

Haines is among more than 1,500 property owners who filed a federal lawsuit arguing the moratorium enacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention violated the Fifth Amendment by unlawfully denying them compensation. Plaintiffs range from those who lost thousands of dollars to one who lost over $14.5 million.

After initially losing in the Court of Federal Claims in 2022, the plaintiffs won on appeal and are now in settlement discussions with the Justice Department. Landlords are hoping to recoup as much as $1.5 billion — a fraction of what the industry lost.

“It’s important for us to stand up when a group like the CDC unilaterally, functionally, decides that they have a right to oversee our business,” said Haines, who owns three rental communities with 240 units in Arlington and Irving, Texas.

“What I hope that we will accomplish and, to some extent, we already have, is vindication for ourselves,” he said. “But what’s more important to me is that hopefully my investors will recover some of that money that they should have had coming in over the last six years.”

The federal eviction moratorium lasted from September 2020 through July 2021, and was among the pandemic's most divisive policies. It ended after the Supreme Court ruled the CDC lacked authority to impose the ban without congressional authorization.

The Justice Department, responding to Associated Press questions about the landlords' case, said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

Landlords say moratorium was bad for business

Moratoriums were also imposed in 43 states and scores of cities, which lasted longer than the federal ban because states and cities have broader regulatory powers than federal agencies like the CDC.

Landlords say the bans devastated their businesses. Unable to collect rent, many were forced to take on debt, lay off staff, delay repairs and, in some cases, sell their property. They say the impact lingers, with longer delays for evictions, tighter screening for riskier tenants and growing numbers of owners getting out of the rental business altogether.

Tenant advocates counter that eviction bans were a lifesaver. They credit them with keeping millions of tenants housed during the pandemic and slowing the spread of the coronavirus. They also argue landlords were already paid — in the form of tens of billions of dollars in rental assistance.

From the moment the pandemic hit, Haines said he knew he was in trouble: Many tenants lost their jobs, so he didn't require new leases and tried to be flexible with those who couldn't pay.

But when the moratorium took hold, it was the biggest threat he'd faced in 30 years in real estate.

“It was terrifying,” Haines said. “We knew almost immediately that we were going to a massive deficit in cash flow that we probably weren’t going to be able to cover.”

A survey by the National Rental Home Council, a trade association, published weeks after the federal moratorium ended, found that half of small landlords had tenants who missed rent and a third sold or planned to sell properties. The moratorium and backlog of eviction cases cost owners $57 billion, according to the lawsuit, with more than 10 million delinquent renters in just the ban's first four months.

“Public health measures like this, they may be well intentioned,” said Creighton Magid, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “But when the government imposes this type of moratorium, the financial burden should be borne by the government, not individual property owners.”

Liz Leone, who has 52 apartments in Las Vegas and is part of the lawsuit, said the moratorium almost forced her out of business. She lost over $250,000, she said, and borrowed $60,000 from the federal Small Business Administration “just to keep my nose above water.” She's still paying it off.

“I was definitely questioning whether I would survive,” said Leone, who's been in the business for 35 years. "You delay all the expenses you can, but we still had to pay our property taxes. We still have to pay our utilities. ... So that’s what you did: I borrowed.”

Moratorium prevented homelessness

Housing advocates maintain the policy kept families housed, noting a significant spike in evictions after the moratorium ended.

Eviction bans "were a powerful intervention to keep people in their homes,” said Kathryn Leifheit, assistant professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and lead author of a study published in April in the medical journal JAMA Network Open that found homelessness rose 11% in a typical state in 2022, and would have increased 20% without state eviction moratoriums.

That was the case for Dulcee Barnes. The 28-year-old and her two roommates lost their restaurant jobs in Miami during the pandemic. Two months behind on rent, they would have been evicted if not for the moratorium.

“It gave us breathing room. It took away the fear of having to possibly pack up within 24 hours and live in somebody's car or couch surfing," she said.

Landlords already got paid

Eric Dunn, director of litigation at the National Housing Law Project, a tenants' rights nonprofit, disputed that landlords suffered significant losses, saying they were able to collect rent and sell their properties during the moratorium.

They also benefited from $46.5 billion in federal emergency rental assistance, which the Eviction Lab at Princeton University found in April was largely targeted to areas where landlords filed the most evictions before the pandemic.

Landlords said rental assistance never fully compensated them for their losses, contending programs were often mired in red tape and poorly run. States were slow to spend the money, struggled to set up programs and, in the case of Arkansas and Nebraska, didn’t accept all federal funding.

Landlords also complained some tenants took advantage of the moratorium to live rent free. “They were doing things like buying cars,” Leone said. “They didn’t have to pay rent, and here I was driving a car that was 18 years old.”

Lingering effects of moratorium

Despite the moratorium ending five years ago, landlords say fallout from the policy remains. They are taking fewer risks and being more cautious about renting to tenants with checkered rental histories.

Rick Jones, vice chairman of Management Services Corporation, which owns 4,000 apartment units in Virginia and is party to the lawsuit, said that's partly due to increasing fraud. Applicants fake employment records and payroll checks, he said, adding: “There are companies that just advertise really creating a whole new identity for you.”

“Most property owners and managers realize that it’s more important to keep that unit vacant than to put a bad resident in. That’s probably what the eviction moratorium reinforced,” said Jones, whose company lost more than $230,000 in unpaid rent during the pandemic.

“When you have somebody that’s bad and you can’t get them out, you’re helpless."

Haines said he's increased tenant screenings and turns away some low-income applicants he might have accepted before the pandemic. That's partly because evicting a tenant takes months longer than before the pandemic, he said.

“It’s done more harm," he said, to low-income people "that we might have considered leasing an apartment to that now we simply can’t take the risk.”

He just didn’t yet know her name.

“He goes, ‘you know the young girl from ‘House of the Dragon’? The young queen or princess? That’s how I picture it, like a young punk rock girl who is just totally badass and tough,’” Safran told The Associated Press. “I was like, yeah, that sounds fantastic, and we haven’t seen that before.”

Milly Alcock, now 26, had just started to break out playing Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (later portrayed by Emma D’Arcy) in the “Game of Thrones” prequel, when she got a request for a self-tape for the secretive Supergirl project. Alcock had been working in her native Australia since she was a teenager, but her world was suddenly getting bigger very quickly.

A few weeks later, she was summoned for a screen test (her first ever). She boarded a 24-hour flight from Sydney to Atlanta and gave it her best shot.

“I kind of had a feeling, I remember I like got back to my hotel room and I like sat down and I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna, something’s gonna happen,’” Alcock said. “I just had like an intuition that like, this is going to be a very exciting challenge if it goes in my favor.”

‘This is crazy, what have I done?’

Ten days later, Gunn texted her an article in the trade publication Deadline: “‘Supergirl’: New Woman Of Steel Is ‘House Of The Dragon’s’ Milly Alcock.” No phone call. No context. And all she could think was, “This is crazy, what have I done?” A few days later, she was back on that 24-hour flight to film her cameo in “Superman.”

And things have not slowed down. If shooting the film was a marathon of stunts and action and emotion, the promotion of new DC’s second major film is going to be its own non-stop ride.

When Alcock spoke to the AP earlier this month, she had just arrived in Las Vegas from Kyoto, where she was filming another movie, and on just two hours of sleep had to muster the energy to get up on stage in front of thousands of movie theater owners to hype “Supergirl,” which is out June 26.

“It’s a really original and unique take on a superhero movie,” Safran said. “I think it’s just a great movie for audiences. It’s not just for superhero fans.”

‘She’s just that girl’

The character might be less widely known than her famous cousin, but the response to her appearance in “Superman” was encouraging.

“She’s in the ‘Superman’ movie for, you know, 12 seconds, yet one of the things audiences wanted to see ... more of was her,” Safran said. “And Milly in real life, she’s just that girl … she is authentically a badass.”

Perhaps part of the intrigue is that she’s not straightlaced Superman, who got to be raised by loving and gentle parents on Earth. Supergirl saw her planet destroyed and everyone she knew killed and had to fend for herself.

Directed by Craig Gillespie, best known for two other films about complicated young women, “I, Tonya” and “Cruella,” this film finds the jaded Kara on an intergalactic odyssey with Krypto the Superdog and a young woman seeking revenge against the murderous Krem of the Yellow Hills.

“Kara surprisingly reminded me a lot of myself, which I never thought I would get from playing like a superhero, from playing someone who isn’t human. There’s a lot of humility in her and that kind of made me fall in love with her immediately,” Alcock said. “Sometimes you can get swept up in what other people expect, and then you kind of lose your intrinsic you-ness. And that’s why people hire you in the first place, because of what you bring to something just innately being who you are.”

‘Why would someone have a toy of my face?’

Alcock didn’t grow up a big film fan, but in acting found a lifeline and an outlet to communicate feelings that she struggled to in real life. It helps her exist as a person, she said.

Recently, Alcock has been living in London, where she said she has a great group of friends, none of whom are actors. And she’s adjusting to the reality that her face is going to be everywhere for a bit.

“It’s been kind of disorientating,” she said. “I do this job because it gives me the ability to disappear. So then to like suddenly be so visible and so exposed is a very vulnerable experience. I’m just trying to learn how to deal with that relationship. But I mean, it’s exciting. Of course it’s exciting. But like anything exciting, it’s also terrifying.”

When she was on the “Superman” set, she remembered talking to David Corenswet briefly and realizing that they had very different perspectives about the experience.

“I remember him being like, ‘We’re gonna have action figures, isn’t that cool?’” she said. “And I was like, ‘That’s so weird. Why would someone have a toy of my face?’”

The performance followed similar shows by Madonna in 2024 and Lady Gaga last year, which also were attended by huge crowds that danced on the sprawling sands. For Shakira, it was part of her “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” or “Women No Longer Cry,” world tour named after her 2024 album.

Shakira's set kicked off around 11 p.m., more than an hour after the scheduled slot, to her fans screaming with excitement and frantic applause as skywriting drones flew overhead, spelling out in the sky, “I love you Brazil” in Portuguese.

The megastar spoke fondly about the first time she came to Brazil, some three decades ago.

“I arrived here when I was 18 years old, dreaming about singing for you,” Shakira told the crowd shortly after coming on stage. “And now look at this. Life is magical.”

The much-loved pop star sang fan favorites such as “Hips Don’t Lie,” “La Tortura” and “La Bicicleta." She ended with “BZRP Music Sessions #53/66,” which followed her separation from Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué.

She also took the time to celebrate women’s resilience during the show. “Us women, every time we fall we get up a little wiser,” she said.

One of the first places where Shakira became successful

Rio Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere said on X that 2 million people attended the performance. “The She-Wolf made history in Rio,” he posted, referring to Shakira's 2009 hit.

When Shakira first performed in Brazil in the 1990s, she established an amazing connection with the Brazilian public, according to Felipe Maia, an ethnomusicologist pursuing a doctoral degree in popular music and digital technologies at Paris Nanterre University.

That success in Brazil “has a lot to do with the fact that she comes from Colombia, a country whose culture has many similarities with Brazil,” Maia said, adding that Saturday’s performance “crowns the relationship she has had with Brazil for a very long time.”

Erica Monteiro, a 38-year-old accountant, said she has listened to Shakira since childhood.

“For me she represents the strength of our Latino community,” Monteiro said ahead of the concert. “We’re treated as if we were inferior but in fact we have much more strength.”

Heading home after Saturday's show, Hellem Souza da Silva said Shakira's performance, like Bad Bunny's concerts in Sao Paulo in February, helped consolidate Brazil's Latino identity.

These artists “are making it clear that Brazil, Puerto Rico, Colombia and other countries are part of Latin America. And that America is not the United States,” she said.

Crowds started piling onto the beach Saturday morning to nab a good spot for the show. Street vendors sold sweet corn and other Brazilian snacks, bottled water and caipirinhas, the popular Brazilian cocktail, but also toilet paper, deodorant and even bags of sand for concertgoers to stand on to get a better view of the stage set up opposite Copacabana Palace, a historic luxury hotel.

Street vendor Simone Paula da Cunha arrived on the beach on Friday evening, hoping to sell all the beer and water bottles she had bought ahead of the show and make about $100 in all.

Despite being tired, da Cunha was excited at the prospect of seeing Shakira live. “I remember her from when she still had black hair,” she said. “I'm a huge fan of hers.”

An effort to boost the city's post-Carnival economy

The free concerts are part of City Hall's attempt to boost economic activity after Carnival and New Year’s Eve festivities and before the monthlong Saint John’s Day celebrations in June.

“For us, parties are serious business. Because parties generate jobs, income, development, and identity for the city,” Cavaliere, the mayor, said on Wednesday as he presented the city’s operational plan for the event. “Our investment in this show will give us a financial return 40 times greater,” he said.

Shakira’s performance could generate around 777 million reais (around $155 million), according to a study by City Hall and Riotur, the municipality’s tourism company, thanks to the influx of tourists and cash spent in restaurants, hotels and shops.

More tourists headed to Rio in the month of May in the years with shows — 2024 and 2025 — compared to 2023, according to City Hall data. In 2024, the growth was 34.2% on May 1, just ahead of the concerts, compared to the previous year. In 2025, the increase was 90.5% compared to 2023.

Ahead of Shakira’s performance, Airbnb said in an April 22 statement that it was seeing an increase in guests expected to travel from different parts of Brazil, Latin America and even European capitals such as Paris and London.

Wanderson Andrade, a 30-year-old architect, said he flew in especially for the show from the city of Goiana in central Brazil on Saturday and planned to fly back the following day.

“I tried to get tickets to see her in Brazil last year but I didn't succeed,” said Andrade, whose first tattoo is a wolf in honor of Shakira. “Today is a dream come true.”

___

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

Benavidez put on a show with Alvarez sitting ringside on Saturday night, moving up 25 pounds in weight and dominating former sparring partner Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.

He twice sent Ramirez to the canvas, including knocking him out at 2:59 of the sixth round to win the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles and become the first boxer to win championships at 168, 175 and 200 pounds.

Benavidez (32-0, 26 knockouts) not only remained undefeated, but showed why he was a -600 favorite over Ramirez (48-2, 30 KOs).

Ramirez was taken to a hospital to receive a head scan, according to Jane Murcia, communications director for Golden Boy Promotions.

“He’s in good spirits and has a swollen eye,” Murcia said. “There’s no determination of a fracture at this point.”

In the co-main event, WBA super middleweight championship fight, Jaime Munguía (46-2, 35 KOs) upset title holder Armando Reséndiz (16-3, 11 KOs) by winning a resounding unanimous decision. Reséndiz was a -200 favorite, but Munguía — the former WBO junior middleweight champ — was the aggressor from the start and won by scores of 117-111, 119-109 and 120-108.

“It feels great to have this championship belt with me, but this is just the beginning," Munguía said. "I’m excited for what comes next. We are ready for big challenges and great fights.”

Benavidez has chased Canelo with hopes of setting up a showdown, but Alvarez never agreed to it and it has been looking unlikely to happen.

Maybe now it's different, and Benavidez didn't waste the opportunity to make the case yet again.

“I see Canelo in the building. Let me just ask the fans this. Do you guys want to see Canelo versus David Benavidez?" the man known as “The Mexican Monster” asked, drawing a roar from the crowd.

“Enough said. That means we can’t leave that fight on the table. I have respect for Canelo. He’s a great champion. I’m a great champion, too. Let’s do it.”

Benavidez said he would be willing go back down in weight to make it happen.

“I’m still champion at 175," Benavidez said. “I’m champion at 175 and 200. So if they want to come get it at 175, let’s get it at 175.”

Boxing fans, or least those who support Benavidez, haven't forgotten how Canelo has yet to take on the match. Alvarez, wearing a black Munguía T-shirt, was booed all three times he was shown on the large video board. Benavidez, who was born in Phoenix and lives in Miami, later was cheered while shown going through prefight preparations.

He then gave his fans plenty more to cheer about and they reciprocated by regularly chanting his nickname “Monstruo” in the Cinco de Mayo weekend showcase fight.

Benavidez, even when being backed down by Ramirez, delivered his signature rapid-fire combinations, usually pelting his opponent's head. A right hand to Ramirez's head in the fourth staggered him, and Benavidez went for the knockout but settled for the knockdown at the end of the round when Zurdo went down to his left knee.

Then two rounds later, Ramirez again went to a knee. This time, the fight was over.

“We came up together," Benavidez said. "We came up sparring together. I got him ready for his world championship fights. He got me ready for my world championship fights. I just want to say I love Zurdo Ramirez, but, you know, it is what it is in here. There’s only one ‘Monster.’”

And now the 29-year-old Benavidez can make a credible argument after dominating the 34-year-old Mexican that he one of the sport's best pound-for-pound boxers if not right at the top.

The statistics underscored how much Benavidez owned the fight.

According to Compubox, he landed 151 punches at a 46.2% to 89 for Ramirez, who reached his target on 19.8% of attempts. The power punches were 137-64 and the percentage 56.8-27.7.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to overpower him because it was my first time coming up to 200 pounds," Benavidez said. “So I knew I had to use the gifts that God gave me: speed, power, movement, punch selection and IQ. That’s exactly what I did.”

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AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing

Jackson Blake also scored for Carolina, and Frederik Andersen stopped 19 shots for his second shutout of these playoffs and seventh in his postseason career.

Game 2 of the series is Monday night in Raleigh, with Carolina yet to trail in any of its five postseason games so far after jumping to a 2-0 first-period lead in this one.

“We had a good start, obviously,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That’s what won the game.”

Carolina closed a first-round sweep of Ottawa last weekend, then had an extended break while the Flyers battled to push past Pittsburgh in overtime of Game 6 on Wednesday night. That led to rest-versus-rust conversations about how the Eastern Conference’s top seed would start Saturday night.

Instead, the Hurricanes pounced from the opening puck drop, a departure from how all four regular-season meetings went to overtime or a shootout.

Stankoven scored in each of the four wins against the Senators, then scored on a redirect from the slot just 1:31 in.

“I think you’re just trying to get it off quick,” Stankoven said. “Obviously, it’s nice to have that confidence that comes with putting the puck in the net, and yeah, you just kind of build off of it.”

Blake followed at 7:30, splitting two defenders as he entered the zone and charging in to slip a puck behind Dan Vladar.

That was more than enough offense on this night with the Flyers struggling to apply much pressure on Andersen — who opened the Ottawa series with a shutout, too.

“We definitely came ready to play,” Andersen said.

Philadelphia started its first postseason since 2020 by battling through Pittsburgh to close out a six-game series in overtime on Cam York’s Wednesday night winner. But the Flyers sputtered from the start, managing just nine shots on goal through two periods and being outshot 3-2 on their four power plays for the night.

Otherwise, they struggled to find much open ice with Carolina’s aggressive style closing in rapidly to shut down lanes toward Andersen or for the pass.

“We talked about it, we just didn’t live it on the ice,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said, pointing to a need to react quicker against Carolina’s pressure. “We weren’t quick enough for their speed. ... It’s a good baptism how some of our players are going to have to play.”

By the final 10 minutes, the game had turned testy with players having to be separated multiple times. That included 10-minute misconduct penalties on Philadelphia’s Trevor Zegras and Nick Seeler, along with Blake and Shayne Gostisbehere for Carolina.

Both teams were down key players. The Flyers didn’t have regular-season goals leader Owen Tippett because of an undisclosed injury, while the Hurricanes were missing defenseman Alexander Nikishin after he suffered a concussion in Game 4 against Ottawa.

Carolina veteran Mike Reilly drew in for Nikishin and had the primary assist on Stankoven’s first goal and the secondary assist on Blake’s score.

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

Embiid finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Tyrese Maxey added 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. VJ Edgecombe scored 23 points and Paul George had 13.

Philadelphia, the No. 7 seed, will visit No. 3 New York on Monday night in Game 1 of the second round.

The Sixers franchise, including its time as Syracuse Nationals, improved to 2-10 in road Game 7s. Its only other win came in 1982 at the Boston Garden. It's a small measure of revenge after Boston blew out Philadelphia in Game 7 in the second round of the 2023 playoffs.

“We had a chance to beat them three years ago, didn’t do it. We came in and got it done," Maxey said.

Embiid, who debuted in Game 4 after recovering from appendectomy surgery, is the first player in NBA history to score 100 points in a playoff series despite missing the first three games. He and Maxey also became the third duo in league history to each have 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a Game 7.

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 33 points and nine rebounds. Derrick White had 26 points, including five 3-pointers. Neemias Queta finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. The Celtics struggled from the 3-point line for the third straight game, finishing 13 of 49.

Brown said Embiid changed tenor of the series.

“He put a lot of pressure on us,” Brown said. “We didn't really have the answers for him.”

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla shrugged off any notion that his team was too dependent on 3s in the series.

“I love the looks that we got. I love the process that we had.. But I hate the result," Mazzulla said.

The second-seeded Celtics made their earliest exit from the playoffs since the 2020-21 season. Boston fell to 32-1 when leading a series 3-1.

The Celtics played without Tatum after he was ruled out about 90 minutes before tipoff with left knee stiffness. Brown said he didn’t find out until about 45 minutes before the game.

“Nobody told me anything. But my mindset was the same,” Brown said.

Philadelphia led for all but 31 seconds in the game, increasing a five-point halftime edge to 18 points in the third quarter. It was down to 13 at the start of the fourth and Boston opened the period on a 16-4 run to pull within 92-91.

The 76ers were leading 101-98 when Maxey got free for a layup with 1:15 remaining. Boston missed its next four shots and Philadelphia pushed it to 105-98 on a pair of free throws by Maxey.

Mazzulla said Tatum came to the team facility Saturday with knee discomfort, and the medical team decided for him not to play. Tatum briefly left Game 6 in the third quarter for unspecified treatment to his left calf. Mazzulla downplayed the significance, saying initially Tatum would play in Game 7.

With Tatum out, Mazzulla made radical changes to the starting lineup, opting to start Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. alongside Brown and White.

It was the first time that group started together this season and the Celtics quickly fell into a 9-0 hole. Philadelphia led by 15 in the first quarter and 32-19 when it ended.

Unlike in their losses in Games 5 and 6, the Celtics weren’t as quick to fire up 3s, instead opting to attack the interior of Philadelphia’s defense to get easier looks.

Boston started the second on an 18-4 run to take its first lead of the night, 37-36, on a 3-pointer by Payton Pritchard. The 76ers led 55-50 at halftime.

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

The Narges Mohammadi Foundation said the Nobel Prize laureate had two episodes of complete loss of consciousness and a severe cardiac crisis.

Earlier Friday, Mohammadi had fainted twice in prison in Zanjan in northwestern Iran, according to the foundation. She was believed to have suffered a heart attack in late March, according to her lawyers who visited her a few days after the incident. At the time, she appeared pale, underweight and needed a nurse to help her walk.

The hospital transfer comes “after 140 days of systematic medical neglect,” since her arrest on Dec. 12, the foundation said.

“This transfer was done as an unavoidable necessity after prison doctors determined her condition could not be managed on-site, despite standing medical recommendations that she be treated by her specialized team in Tehran,” the foundation said.

Help may be little too late, family says

Mohammadi’s family had advocated for her transfer to adequate medical facilities for weeks.

The foundation, quoting her family, said her transfer Friday to a hospital in Zanjan was “a desperate, ‘last-minute’ action that may be too late to address her critical needs.”

Mohammadi's brother Hamidreza Mohammadi, who lives in Oslo, Norway, said in an audio message shared with The Associated Press by the foundation that her family is “fighting for her life.”

“My family in Iran is doing everything they can. But the prosecutors in Zanjan are blocking everything,” he said.

On March 24, Narges Mohammadi’s fellow inmates found her unconscious, her lawyers said she told them during the visit a few days later. Upon later examination at the prison’s clinic, a doctor told her that she probably had had a heart attack. She had chest pain and breathing difficulties since.

Her legal representative in France, Chirinne Ardakani, said at the time that Mohammadi had been denied transfer to the hospital or to visit her cardiologist. A prison official was present throughout the brief visit by Mohammadi’s lawyers.

Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023

Mohammadi, 53, a rights lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 while in prison, was arrested in December during a visit to the eastern Iranian city of Mashhad and sentenced to seven more years in prison.

Her family said in February that her health was worsening in prison, in part because of a beating she endured during her arrest in December. He said multiple men hit and kicked her in her side, head and neck. The Nobel committee condemned the “ongoing life-threatening mistreatment” of Mohammadi in a statement in February.

“In recent days, her blood pressure has experienced severe fluctuations, going very high and low, and today she suddenly fainted due to a sudden drop in blood pressure,” her lawyer Mostafa Nili posted on X.

At first, the prison doctor injected Mohammadi with drugs but she refused to be transferred to a hospital, demanding to see her cardiologist. A few hours later, Mohammadi fainted again. This time a neurologist ordered her immediate transfer to a hospital, the lawyer added.

Mohammadi was urgently transferred to the hospital and admitted to the cardiac care unit, “but her blood pressure continues to fluctuate severely,” Nili wrote. He said a medical official in Zanjan recommended a one-month suspension of her sentence for treatment, but the public prosecutor in Zanjan referred the matter to his counterpart in Tehran.

Prior to her arrest Dec. 12, Mohammadi had already been serving a sentence of 13 years and nine months on charges of collusion against state security and propaganda against Iran’s government, but had been released on furlough since late 2024 over medical concerns.

Continued her activism on furlough

During that furlough, Mohammadi kept up her activism with public protests and international media appearances, including demonstrating in front of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, where she had been held.

In February, a Revolutionary Court in Mashhad sentenced Mohammadi to an additional seven years. Such courts typically issue verdicts with little or no opportunity for defendants to contest their charges.

Mohammadi suffered multiple heart attacks while imprisoned before undergoing emergency surgery in 2022, her supporters say.

In 2023, Mohammadi became the fifth laureate to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison, further amplifying her voice in support of widespread protests that swept Iran after the death the year before of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the country’s morality police for not properly wearing the mandatory headscarf.

Her selection enraged Iran’s hard-line Shiite theocracy, which increased her prison time and later sent guards to rough her up along with other prisoners who were protesting inside Evin Prison.

Yet Mohammadi remained defiant, even issuing boycott calls for the 2024 election that President Masoud Pezeshkian won. She maintained that one day Iran’s government would change due to popular pressure.

“I’m just glad I don’t have to answer that question anymore," DeVaux said to a rousing round of applause.

DeVaux joined Jena Antonucci, with Arcangelo in the 2023 Belmont, as the only women to train the winner of a Triple Crown race. She was just the 18th woman to saddle a horse in the Derby in its 152-year history, and the gravity of the situation came into focus for her days earlier when she saw a young girl on the backstretch and realized the impact she is making.

“It really is an honor to be able to be that person for other women or other little girls to look up to,” DeVaux said. “You can dream big, and you can pivot. You can come from one place and make yourself a part of history.”

DeVaux credits growing up with seven brothers and two sisters for her toughness. After winning the Derby on her first try eight years after starting her own stable, she thanked her husband for inspiring her to give it a chance.

“I didn’t believe,” DeVaux said. “I started my career here 22 years ago as a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed exercise rider. And I would not believe that I would be sitting up here today. Never in my life did I think I would.”

It came with a lot of hard work. DeVaux fielded questions this week about Golden Tempo's cracked heels, and she downplayed concerns. She put a lot of time into getting the colt into form, trying blinkers and other things to get the son of Curlin to focus.

Jockey Jose Ortiz even described Golden Tempo as lazy. But Ortiz showed what he and the horse could do Saturday, winning the Derby for the first time in his 11th try — and doing so in impressive fashion.

Ortiz navigated past 17 other horses around the final turn and made a hard charge down the stretch. With a crowd of more than 100,000 watching and roaring at Churchill Downs, Golden Tempo passed morning line favorite Renegade — ridden by brother Irad — just before the wire to win the 1 1/4-mile race in 2:02.27 at odds of 23-1.

Their parents were there to witness it.

“I get to ride it almost every year, but to get to win it, it’s just special,” said Ortiz, who also won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday aboard Always a Runner. “I just wish my grandpa was here, but I know he’s looking from heaven. Just very happy that I get my goal, my life dream goal achieved.”

Golden Tempo paid $48.24 to win, $19.14 to place and $11.90 to show. Renegade paid $7.14 to place and $5.46 to show. Ocelli — who didn’t get into the field until Thursday when Brad Cox’s Fulleffort was ruled out — paid $36.34 to show after going off at 70-1.

“He gave me a really good run and proud of his effort,” Ocelli jockey Tyler Gaffalione said. "We were just not able to get the job done but hats off to the winner and runner-up. They ran huge races.”

The 152nd Kentucky Derby went on with just 18 horses following a scary incident before the race. Great White was a late scratch by track veterinarians after flipping and throwing his jockey.

Great White’s trainer, John Ennis, confirmed to The Associated Press that the big gray gelding and jockey Alex Achard were fine.

Great White became the fifth horse scratched this week and the second Saturday. Silent Tactic was ruled out Wednesday, Fulleffort on Thursday and Right to Party on Friday, with Great White, Ocelli and Robusta getting in. The Puma was out, less than 12 hours before post time, because of a swollen leg from a skin infection, but it was too late to replace him.

Following Golden Tempo's victory in the $5 million Run for the Roses, the immediate question was whether he would run back in two weeks in the Preakness Stakes on May 16. After two of the previous four Derby winners did not participate in the Preakness, DeVaux said it would be determined in the coming days.

“We’re going to let him decide that,” DeVaux said. “We’re going to have to allow him to tell us, because the horse is first. We’re not here for ourselves. We’re not here for our egos. We’re here for the horse.”

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

It was the third time in major league history that a team had walked that many batters consecutively — and the first time in more than four decades, according to the Elias Sports Bureau and Sportradar.

Pittsburgh also was at bat when Atlanta walked seven straight in the third inning on May 25, 1983. The only other time it happened was on Aug. 28, 1909, when the Chicago White Sox issued seven straight bases on balls to the Washington Senators.

The string of free passes resulted in the Pirates scoring five runs in the inning without a hit. Starter Rhett Lowder issued the first three walks before he was pulled.

“No excuses for that,” Lowder said, according to MLB.com. “I just didn’t really have anything today. I was trying and just couldn’t get back in the zone.”

Lowder walked Brandon Lowe with one out and the bases empty. After he walked Bryan Reynolds and Ryan O'Hearn, the Reds replaced him with Connor Phillips, who also could not find the strike zone.

Phillips walked Nick Gonzales, Marcell Ozuna, Horwitz and Konnor Griffin to force in four runs, exiting after throwing five of his 21 pitches for strikes.

“Just getting on base any way possible,” O'Hearn said in a televised postgame interview. “Walks, hits, whatever it takes. Our guys know what they’re doing up there. So, proud of the offense.”

Sam Moll came in and induced Henry Davis' RBI fielder's-choice grounder, then retired Oneil Cruz on a tapper fielded by catcher Tyler Stephenson.

Lowder, who took the loss, allowed eight runs in 1 1/3 innings to raise his ERA from 3.18 to 5.09. Entering Saturday, he had not pitched fewer than five innings or given up more than four earned runs in six starts this season.

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

“I know Andy well, and he is always a Vote we can count on because he knows what it takes to GET THINGS DONE,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

Barr is facing former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron in the May 19 Republican primary, and would have faced entrepreneur Nate Morris. In a Truth Social post just before his endorsement of Barr, Trump announced that he'd asked Morris to “step aside” from the race to join his administration as an ambassador.

“Nate is a terrific businessman and strong MAGA Warrior,” Trump wrote, adding that he'll announce Morris' specific role soon. Shortly after, Morris posted on X that he was proud to be part of the Trump administration and, in another post, endorsed Barr.

All three Republicans coveted the president's endorsement — and boasted frequently of their Trump loyalty — in the conservative state, where Trump won 64% of the vote in the 2024 presidential race.

It isn’t the first Senate primary where Trump has endorsed or teased an endorsement, and he’s been using his influence to continue shaping the Republican Party.

In Louisiana, Trump backed Sen. Bill Cassidy’s challenger, Rep. Julia Letlow. Cassidy voted to convict the president during his 2021 impeachment trial after the Jan. 6. attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In Texas, the president has dangled a possible endorsement in the primary between Sen. John Cornyn and challenger Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, but he hasn’t announced anything.

In Kentucky, Barr said he was honored to have Trump’s endorsement, adding in a statement that he’ll stand with Trump “100% to deliver for Kentucky and to keep Making America Great Again.”

A consultant for Cameron’s campaign, Brandon Moody, said in a texted statement, “Congrats to Mitch McConnell for getting his guy,” but did not explain further.

The Democratic field in Kentucky includes former state lawmaker Charles Booker and former Marine pilot Amy McGrath. McGrath beat Booker and several other candidates in the 2020 Democratic primary to face McConnell.

Democrats have not won a U.S. Senate race in Kentucky since 1992.

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This story has been updated to correct that McGrath won the 2020 Democratic primary, not Booker.

The Pentagon on Friday had initially announced it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but when asked Saturday about the reason for the move, Trump didn't offer an explanation and said an even bigger reduction was coming.

“We’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000," Trump told reporters in Florida.

Earlier on Saturday, Germany's defense minister appeared to take in stride the news that 5,000 U.S. troops would be leaving his country.

Boris Pistorius said the drawdown, which Trump has threatened for years, was expected, and he said European nations needed to take on more responsibility for their own defense. But he also emphasized that security cooperation benefited both sides of the trans-Atlantic partnership.

“The presence of American soldiers in Europe, and especially in Germany, is in our interest and in the interest of the U.S.,” Pistorius told the German news agency dpa.

The plan faces bipartisan resistance

The planned withdrawal faced bipartisan resistance in Washington, with swift criticism from Democrats and concern from Republicans that it would send the “wrong signal” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose full-scale invasion of Ukraine recently entered its fifth year.

Trump's decision comes as he seethes at European allies over their unwillingness to join his campaign with Israel against Iran. He has lashed out at leaders like Merz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Merz last week criticized the war in Iran, saying the U.S. is being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and calling out Washington’s lack of strategy.

In another sign of friction, Trump accused the European Union of not complying with its U.S. trade deal and announced plans to increase tariffs next week on cars and trucks produced in the bloc to 25%, a move that would be particularly damaging to Germany, a major automobile manufacturer.

At least one EU lawmaker called the tariff hike “unacceptable” and accused Trump of breaking yet another U.S. commitment on trade.

US increased troops after Russian invasion of Ukraine

A pullout of 5,000 soldiers from Germany would amount to about one-seventh of the 36,000 American service members stationed in the country. The Pentagon offered few details about which troops or operations would be affected. When contacted after Trump's announcement of more cuts on Saturday, the Pentagon did not offer any additional details and referred back to its earlier statement.

The withdrawal of the 5,000 troops is scheduled to take place over the next six to 12 months, according to the Pentagon. Trump previously said he would pull 9,500 troops from Germany during his first term, but he didn’t start the process and Democratic President Joe Biden formally stopped the planned withdrawal soon after taking office in 2021.

More broadly, around 80,000-100,000 U.S. personnel are usually stationed in Europe — depending on operations, exercises and troop rotations. The U.S. increased its European deployment after Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022. NATO allies like Germany have expected for over a year that these troops would be the first to leave.

Pistorius, in his comments to dpa, said, “We Europeans must take on more responsibility for our security,” while stressing recent efforts by Germany to boost its armed forces, accelerate procurement and develop infrastructure.

NATO spokesperson Allison Hart, in a post Saturday on X, said the trans-Atlantic alliance was “working with the U.S. to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany.”

“This adjustment underscores the need for Europe to continue to invest more in defense and take on a greater share of the responsibility for our shared security,” she added, noting “progress” toward a target among NATO allies to each invest 5% of their economic output to defense.

A ‘thorough review’ prompted drawdown decision

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that the “decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground.”

A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said the branches of the U.S. military didn’t have prior knowledge of the decision to draw down the 5,000 troops and learned about it “in real time.”

In response, the Defense Department reiterated that it conducted a thorough review of its force posture in Europe.

“The decision to withdraw troops in Germany follows a comprehensive, multilayered process that incorporates perspectives from key leaders in EUCOM and across the chain of command,” acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez wrote in an email, using the abbreviation for U.S. European Command.

Most U.S. troops in Germany come from the Army and Air Force.

Germany hosts several American military facilities, including the headquarters of the U.S. European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base and a medical center in Landstuhl, where casualties from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were treated. U.S. nuclear missiles are also stationed in the country.

Withdrawal of 5,000 troops — the size of a brigade combat team — from Germany would likely have limited impact on combat power, but “in terms of messaging of U.S. commitment though, it’s very different,” another U.S. defense official said.

The only permanent brigade combat team in Germany is the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, alongside an aviation brigade and other assets, which is considered to have an important role in America's — and NATO's — ability to deter threats.

GOP lawmakers voice concern about withdrawal plan

After swift pushback from Democrats on Friday, Republican leaders of both armed services committees in Congress said Saturday they were “very concerned” about the troop withdrawal.

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama said the decision risked “undermining deterrence and sending the wrong signal to Vladimir Putin.”

They also said the Pentagon had decided to cancel the planned deployment of the Army's Long-Range Fires Battalion. Parnell's statement made no mention of that.

Wicker and Rogers said any significant change to the U.S. force posture in Europe warrants review and coordination with Congress.

“We expect the Department to engage with its oversight committees in the days and weeks ahead on this decision and its implications for U.S. deterrence and trans-Atlantic security,” they said in a joint statement.

They also noted that Germany has heeded Trump’s call to shoulder more of the burden of defense spending in Europe, while giving U.S. forces access to its bases and airspace in the war against Iran.

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Burrows reported from London and Grieshaber from Berlin. Associated Press writers Ben Finley and Michelle L. Price in Washington and Jamey Keaten in Lyon, France, contributed to this report.

It's the third consecutive pole for the current Formula One championship leader, who blocked Max Verstappen from taking the top starting spot at Miami International Autodrome for a third straight year.

Mercedes has dominated the competition this season, with George Russell winning from the pole in the season-opening race, then Antonelli winning from the pole in the two grands prix that followed. F1 then had a five-week break when a pair of races in the Middle East were canceled because of the war in Iran.

All teams made upgrades to their cars during the break, but after Russell was fourth and Antonelli sixth in Saturday's sprint race, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff acknowledged “we are a little out of sync with our upgrades compared to other teams.”

Antonelli recovered by qualifying and turned a lap at 1 minute, 28.653 seconds to beat Verstappen of Red Bull for the pole.

“Obviously a difficult start of the day with the sprint where it didn't go our way, but super happy with the recovery,” Antonelli said. “We will do our best this week and obviously it's been a little bit more difficult for us.”

Verstappen earned his best starting spot of the season as Red Bull has seemingly improved with its car upgrades. The four-time world champion — a two-time winner at Miami — had qualified sixth in Australia, eighth in China and 11th in Japan.

His best finish of the season so far was sixth in the Australia season opener, and the Dutchman has been so frustrated with the current car regulations that he's talked about potentially leaving F1.

He was all smiles after his qualifying result.

“For sure the car has not been great in the previous races and from my side I never felt comfortable with the layout of the car,” Verstappen said. “I think over the those last few weeks the team has been pushing to try to bring upgrades to the car and making me feel more comfortable with a lot of things in the car and it really pays off.

“I feel more in control of the car again and I can push a bit more. To be on the front row is way better than I expected heading into the weekend.”

Charles Leclerc, who was third in the sprint race, qualified third for Ferrari. Lando Norris, the reigning world champion and defending Miami Grand Prix winner, qualified fourth for McLaren after winning the sprint race from the pole.

Russell was fifth, Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari was sixth and Oscar Piastri of McLaren was seventh after finishing second in the sprint race.

Both of the Cadillac drivers failed to advance out of the first round in the team's first race in the United States. Despite major upgrades made to the new car during the five-week break between the Japanese Grand Prix on March 29 and Miami, Valtteri Bottas qualified 20th and Sergio Perez was 21st.

Only Gabriel Bortoleto qualified below them, last in 22nd, because of an issue that caused his Audi to catch fire.

F1 and the FIA governing body moved the start time of Sunday's race up by 3 hours to 1 p.m. EDT because of heavy rain expected in Miami. Most of the drivers have been concerned since Thursday about the forecast, which calls for thunderstorms. The race must be paused if there's lightning in the area because conditions must be clear enough for a medical helicopter to operate when cars are on the track.

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

“I’ll let you know about it later," he said before boarding Air Force One, adding that “they’re going to give me the exact wording now.”

Shortly after speaking to reporters, Trump posted on social media about the new proposal, saying he “can’t imagine that it would be acceptable in that they have not yet paid a big enough price for what they have done to Humanity, and the World, over the last 47 years.”

Two semiofficial Iranian news outlets, Tasnim and Fars, believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said Iran has sent a 14-point proposal via Pakistan in response to a nine-point U.S. proposal. Iran's state-run media have not reported on the new proposal. Pakistan has hosted previous negotiations between Iran and the United States.

Trump rejected a previous Iranian proposal this week. However, conversations have continued, and the three-week ceasefire appears to be holding.

The U.S. president also has floated a new plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes.

Imprisoned Iranian activist's health worsens

The health of imprisoned Iranian rights lawyer Narges Mohammadi was at “very high risk," her foundation and family said Saturday, adding that Iran 's Intelligence Ministry was opposing her transfer to Tehran, Iran's capital, for treatment by her own doctors.

Mohammadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in her early 50s, was urgently transferred to a hospital in Zanjan in Iran's northwest on Friday after a cardiac crisis and fainting. Her family has said her health had been worsening in part from a beating she received during her December arrest.

Medical teams in Zanjan have requested her records before performing any treatment, while recommending that she be transferred to Tehran, her foundation said.

But her Paris-based husband, Taghi Rahmani, said the Intelligence Ministry opposed the transfer for angiography, or imaging of the blood vessels. He spoke in a voice message shared with The Associated Press by the foundation.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee in a statement urged Iranian authorities to immediately transfer Mohammadi to her medical team, saying her life is in their hands.

“She has the mental resilience for imprisonment, but her body does not have the readiness. The Ministry of Intelligence wouldn’t even mind if (she) died,” her husband told Sky News.

He added that their children hadn't seen Mohammadi for over a decade, since 2015.

Before her arrest on Dec. 12, Mohammadi already had been serving a sentence of 13 years and nine months on charges of collusion against state security and propaganda against Iran’s government, but had been released on furlough since late 2024 over medical concerns.

Her legal team is pursuing the matter with the General Prosecutor’s office, the foundation said.

The US warns shipping companies about possible sanctions

The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz, adding pressure in the standoff over control of it.

Iran effectively closed the strait by attacking and threatening ships after the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Feb. 28. Tehran later offered some ships safe passage via routes closer to its shore, charging fees at times.

The U.S. on Friday warned against transfers not only in cash but also in “digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments,” including charitable donations and payments at Iranian embassies.

The U.S. has responded with a naval blockade of Iranian ports since April 13, depriving Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy. The U.S. Central Command on Saturday said 48 commercial ships have been told to turn back.

Iran hangs two men convicted of spying for Israel

Iran on Saturday said it hanged two men convicted of spying for Israel.

The judiciary's news outlet, Mizanonline, said Yaghoub Karimpour was accused of sending “sensitive information” to an officer in Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, while Nasser Bekrzadeh allegedly sent details about government and religious leaders as well as information about Natanz. The city is home to a nuclear enrichment facility bombed by Israel and the U.S. last year.

Iran has hanged more than a dozen people over alleged espionage and terrorist activities in recent weeks. Rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.

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El Deeb reported from Beirut and Anna from Lowville, New York. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price and Collin Binkley in Washington and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

The team announced the news about 90 minutes before the start of the winner-take-all first-round matchup between Boston and the Philadelphia 76ers.

“He just came in today with knee discomfort. The medical team and myself decided for him not to play,” coach Joe Mazzulla said during his pregame meeting with reporters.

With Tatum out, Mazzulla made radical changes to the starting lineup for Game 7, opting to start Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. alongside Jaylen Brown and Derrick White. It is the first time that group has started together this season.

Tatum averaged 23.3 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.8 assists through the first six games of the series, while shooting 52.2% from the field and 36.5 from the 3-point line.

Tatum briefly left Game 6 in the third quarter for unspecified treatment of his calf. Tatum, of course, is just 22 games into his return from the torn right Achilles tendon injury he suffered in last season’s playoffs.

The Celtics downplayed the situation, with Tatum saying afterward that his leg was only feeling “a little stiff.” He said following a quick assessment and some time on the exercise bike he didn’t return because the game was out of hand and the starters had already been pulled.

But he was a late addition to the injury report on Saturday, listed first as questionable when the 1:45 p.m. report was released.

Tatum's return to action was carefully managed during the regular season, beginning with a slow ramp up of his minutes. He also was not allowed to play in both games of a back-to-back.

But he's had a lot less rest over the last three playoff games, playing every other night.

Saturday marks the 67th game this season that Tatum has not played.

This will be the fifth time that the 76ers have played against Boston this season with Tatum sidelined.

“Obviously, it will change the matchups and things like that,” 76ers coach Nick Nurse said. “Obviously, they played the majority of their season without him, and played very, very well. So, I think they've got enough games under their belt and have guys they trust and rely on and all that kind of stuff.”

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Cruz told the audience of conservative Christians that the Republican party is “winning historic victories” under President Donald Trump’s second administration. “We have won more victories than at any time since we have been alive,” he said, pointing to low immigration crossings at the southern border and a federal ruling on Friday banning abortion pills to be mailed to patients, a major victory for anti-abortion groups.

The senator’s presence in Iowa is significant since it is where the first presidential nominating contests happen in the country, but he didn’t tease plans of running.

Instead he used his speech to address anti-Semitism and blamed Democrats for it.

“About 10 years ago, anti-Semitism began rising on the left and the Democrat Party leadership looked the other way and hoped it would go away,” Cruz said. “I truly believe this is an existential crisis and here’s why: Anti-semitism is a gateway drug to anti-capitalism and anti-Americanism.”

The senator called out two former Trump supporters: Tucker Carlson and former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who have both become some of the president’s most vocal critics. He called them “self-appointed, outspoken influencers who are pushing anti-Ssemitism on the right” who have “lost their ever-loving minds.”

Cruz won the famed Iowa Republican Caucus in 2016, narrowly beating Donald Trump at the onset of an intense series of contests in which he would ultimately come in second to the eventual president. As a first-term, 45-year-old senator at the time, Cruz barnstormed the Hawkeye State by building out a massive field operation, visiting each of the state’s 99 counties and earning the endorsement of influential Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vaander Plaats.

The Texan was the first major Republican candidate to launch a presidential bid in 2015 and went on to win 11 states in the primaries. Cruz’s run catapulted him to national fame, buoyed by his close association with the Tea Party wing of the Republican grassroots base, appeal to evangelicals and a significant donor network.

A decade later, Cruz is now a bearded third-term senator with powerful insider status — chairing the Senate Commerce Committee — while retaining his grassroots connections, co-hosting the most popular podcast among politicians. Speaking to the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition in the suburb of Clive, Cruz did not discuss his 2016 victory in the state.

Cruz’s name is frequently discussed as a potential 2028 contender, alongside Trump Cabinet members including presumed frontrunners Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The upcoming presidential field will be the first without Trump since 2012. That presents an opportunity for the GOP to chart a course beyond the president who has thoroughly remade the party since his first term.

Friday’s visit was Cruz’s first to an early state — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina or Nevada, which hold presidential nominating contests first in the primary calendar — since his Senate re-election in 2024. He was scheduled to appear at Iowa Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird’s annual Barn Bash outside of Des Moines in August but was unable to attend.

Leading up to the 2016 election, Cruz began making stops in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina as early as 2013. He spoke at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition’s spring kickoff — the same annual event as Friday’s — in 2015, shortly after launching his presidential bid.

The family of late owner Peter Seidler formally announced the deal Saturday. The sale must still be approved by Major League Baseball.

The deal with private equity billionaire Feliciano and his wife took shape last month at an MLB-record valuation of $3.9 billion. The Padres' announcement of the deal didn't give specifics on the members of the investor group or the purchase price.

“The Padres are more than a baseball team; they are a unifying force in San Diego, rooted in community, connection and belonging,” Jones and Feliciano said in a joint statement. “As life and business partners, and as a family, we are honored to lead this next chapter together. We have worked hard for everything we have achieved, and we have built it together. We see that same spirit in this team and its fans, and we know what it takes to win. We are committed to showing up, listening and earning the trust of this community while building on the strong foundation established by the Seidler family.

“This is about more than baseball — it’s about boosting the pride, energy, and connection that define the Padres, investing in community, deepening belonging and ensuring this team remains accessible and endures for generations. We are all in — with the goal of bringing a World Series championship to San Diego.”

Seidler’s family began to explore a sale of the Padres last November, two years after the death of the popular Peter Seidler, who became the Padres' primary owner in 2020. His brother, John Seidler, has served as the Padres’ chairman since his death.

“When I became control person, my goal was to continue building on our recent success in pursuit of a World Series championship for the city of San Diego and our faithful fans,” John Seidler said in a statement. "As I pass the baton to Kwanza and José, I do so with full confidence that they share that vision as well as the Padres' deep commitment to San Diego. It’s what the team, our fans and the community deserve. Our family loves this team.”

Peter Seidler joined the Padres' ownership group in 2012 when John Moores sold the team for $800 million to a group headed by Ron Fowler. Seidler took over and immediately endeared himself to San Diego's fans with his aggressive financial backing of general manager A.J. Preller, who built a team that has reached the playoffs in four of the past six years.

The Padres have been a hot ticket for several years as San Diego's only team in the four biggest North American sports leagues, ranking second in the majors in attendance last season. Preller's roster is off to another strong start this season, sitting second in the NL West at 19-12 heading into a home game against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.

Jones and Feliciano already got a start on their new endeavor last month when they traveled to Mexico City to watch the Padres' international series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The couple was spotted sitting with Padres CEO Erik Greupner.

Feliciano will become the second Latino owner in baseball, joining Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno. Latino and Hispanic players comprise roughly 30% of major league rosters.

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

The bombshell indictment against the 10 has shaken Mexico's political establishment.

In a short video announcement at midnight on Friday, Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya, the highest-ranking official named in the indictment, denied accusations that he protected the Sinaloa cartel and helped it smuggle vast quantities of drugs into the U.S. in exchange for political support and millions of dollars in bribes.

“My conscience is clear,” said Rocha, 76, a longtime ally of influential former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “To my people and to my family, I can look you in the eye because I have never betrayed you, and I never will.”

But he said he would take a temporary leave of absence from the position he has held for six years to defend himself against what he called the “false and malicious” allegations and cooperate with the Mexican government's investigation.

Juan de Dios Gámez Mendívil, the mayor of the Sinaloa state capital of Culiacán named in the indictment, also said he would take leave and denied the charges. Another defendant and member of the ruling Morena party, Sen. Enrique Inzunza, said he would continue serving in the Senate while defending himself from the accusations.

In a special vote Saturday, the state's local congress appointed as interim governor Yeraldine Bonilla Valverde, an ally of Rocha who previously served as the state's secretary of government. It approved Rocha's leave of absence for a period of 30 days.

As serving governor and mayor, Rocha and Gámez Mendívil had enjoyed immunity from criminal prosecution. But in leaving their posts even temporarily, the officials lost their blanket protection from prosecution, Arturo Zaldívar, a former Mexican Supreme Court justice who now advises Sheinbaum, posted on X.

“They can be detained like any person,” he wrote.

The president wants the trials held in Mexico

Sheinbaum has struggled to strike a balance between the interests of her progressive Morena party and pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to step up the fight against cartels.

In a nod to her party’s vow to stamp out corruption, Sheinbaum said she wouldn’t defend anyone found to have committed a crime.

But she vigorously defended Mexico's sovereignty, saying that if federal authorities uncovered “irrefutable” evidence linking the 10 indicted officials to cartel crime, the accused would be tried in Mexico, not the U.S. — a move that risks backlash from an American administration that has threatened military action against cartels on Mexican soil.

“We will never subordinate ourselves because this is a matter of the dignity of the Mexican people,” she said Friday.

Many Mexicans living cartel violence almost daily in Sinaloa said on Saturday that they welcomed news of the U.S. indictment and their governor's resignation as a step toward accountability.

“We are in an ungovernable state where the same party and the same governor essentially gave free rein to what has become a violent situation," said Raquel Campos, a 35-year-old doctor in Culiacán. “Unfortunately it was another country that had to take action.”

No arrests till the investigation is over

Pending investigation, the Mexican attorney general’s office said it would not arrest Rocha or the other accused officials, as requested by the U.S.

Rocha, a point person for the hands-off “hugs not bullets" approach to dealing with organized crime that López Obrador pioneered and Sheinbaum has since ditched, insisted in the video that the indictment represents a political attack on Morena.

“I will not allow myself to be used to harm the movement to which I belong — one that has improved the lives of millions of Mexican men and women,” he said.

Born in the same town as the notorious Mexican drug kingpin “ El Chapo,” Rocha has found himself embroiled in similar scandals before. In 2024, he was named in a published letter written by a then-Sinaloa cartel capo who was kidnapped by leaders of a rival faction and handed over to U.S. law enforcement. In the letter, the capo said that he was on his way to meet Rocha when he was abducted.

“It's an open secret,” Sergio Estrella, 42, a shopkeeper in Culiacán, said of the alleged collusion between drug kingpins and senior officials. “The government needs to take a different tack, to recognize how deeply drug trafficking is embedded in politics.”

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DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Associated Press journalist Aarón Ibarra in Culiacán, Mexico, contributed to this report.

It didn't seem to matter, either.

Young is still in full control at Trump National Doral, after his round of 2-under 70 on Saturday got him to 15 under for the week. He had a six-shot lead over a group that includes top-ranked Scottie Scheffler into a potentially rainy final round Sunday.

“No lead is safe out here,” Young said. “I’m going to go try to execute my plan as if I’m right around the lead or just trying to have a good day out there, not necessarily with any thought toward where I’m at in the tournament.”

Young had four birdies and two bogeys on Saturday.

“The tournament’s in his hands right now,” said Scheffler, who shot a 3-under 69 to get to 9 under — but hasn’t been able to close the gap on Young. “I can go out and have a really good round, and if he has another really good round he’s going to be a tough guy to catch. All I can do is go out and try and have a great round and see where that leaves me.”

Si Woo Kim (69) and Kristoffer Reitan (69) also were 9 under. Ben Griffin 68), Nick Taylor (72) and Matt McCarty (69) were 8 under.

Catching Young will be tough in any conditions.

And nobody knows what awaits players Sunday at Doral.

A lot of rain is expected on Sunday — more than an inch, according to some forecasts, with heavy downpours predicted for the afternoon — the tournament moved up its schedule for the final round in an effort to beat the worst of the weather.

Players will go off in threesomes, from split tees, with everyone starting between 7:30-9:40 a.m. It's unknown if President Donald Trump — the course owner — will publicly appear in the final round. He was expected to be at the course Sunday, though that was before the schedule for the final round changed.

Young shared the lead through three rounds at the Masters — tying for third at Augusta National after Rory McIlroy beat him by two shots. McIlroy had a six-shot lead after two rounds there and got caught, a lesson that'll be in the back of Young's mind Sunday.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to forget,” Young said. “But it won’t change really how I play, especially the front nine. I may be a hair more conservative in a place or two, but with the weather looking the way it does, that would be how I would be playing anyway.”

Scheffler beat Young by five shots in that final round at the Masters. He'll need to do better than that at Doral if he's going to win on Sunday.

But the way he finished Saturday might have made his comeback chances a bit of a boost.

The 18th at Doral basically is two different holes — a brutal par 4 for those who don't have enough distance for a 300-plus-yard carry over water and into a wider portion of the fairway, and a slightly less brutal par 4 for those who can get it out there. Scheffler is one of those who don't have problems reaching the better spots of that fairway, and he took full advantage of that on Saturday.

His approach from 172 yards stopped 4 feet from the cup. He made the birdie — just the ninth of the week at the finishing hole.

“Just ended up in a good spot and really nice 9-iron in there to finish off,” Scheffler said. “It’s always nice to have a little tap in at the last.”

Young actually had a closer approach on the 18th, but his shot from about 165 yards was 60 feet below the hole. His birdie putt was about 8 feet short, but he saved the par to preserve the six-shot edge.

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

Instead, a top Justice Department official insisted the ruling wasn't binding, and the administration continued denying detainees around the country a chance for release.

By February, the district court judge, Sunshine Sykes, was fed up. Sykes, a nominee of President Joe Biden, accused Trump officials in a ruling that month of seeking “to erode any semblance of separation of powers,” adding that they could “only do so in a world where the Constitution does not exist.”

Hardly isolated, the case illustrates a broader pattern of defiance of lower court decisions in President Donald Trump's second term.

The failure of Trump officials to follow court orders has been highlighted most notably in individual immigration cases. But a review of hundreds of pages of court records by The Associated Press also shows an extraordinary record of violations in lawsuits over policy changes and other moves.

In the second Trump administration’s first 15 months in office, district court judges ruled it was violating an order in at least 31 lawsuits over a wide range of issues, including mass layoffs, deportations, spending cuts and immigration practices, the AP’s review of court records found. That’s about one out of every eight lawsuits in which courts have at least temporarily blocked the administration’s actions.

The Republican administration's power struggle with federal courts — which is testing basic tenets of U.S. democracy — reflects an expansive view of executive authority that has also challenged the independence of federal agencies, a president’s ethical obligations, and the U.S.’s role in the international order.

Judges find widespread noncompliance

The violations in the 31 lawsuits are in addition to more than 250 instances of noncompliance judges have recently highlighted in individual immigration petitions — from failing to return property to keeping immigrants locked up past court-ordered release dates.

Legal scholars and former federal judges said they could recall at most a few violations of court rulings over the full four-year terms of other recent presidential administrations, including Trump's first time in office. They also noted previous administrations were generally apologetic when confronted by judges; the Trump administration's Justice Department has been outright combative in some cases.

“What the court system is experiencing in the last year and a half is just qualitatively completely different from anything that’s preceded it,” said Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University who studies federal courts and is tracking litigation against the Trump administration.

Though Trump officials eventually backed down in about a third of the 31 lawsuits, legal experts say their treatment of court orders poses serious dangers.

“The federal government should be the institution most devoted to the rule of law in this country,” said David Super, a constitutional law scholar at Georgetown University. “When it ceases to feel itself bound, respect for the rule of law is likely to break down across the country.”

The White House’s aggressive policy moves have prompted a barrage of lawsuits — more than 700 and counting.

The administration has gotten a boost from higher courts

The AP’s review also found that higher courts, including the Supreme Court, overruled the district courts and sided with the White House in nearly half of the 31 cases. Critics say those decisions are emboldening the administration to ignore judges' orders.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the higher courts had overturned “unlawful district court rulings.” The administration will “continue to comply with lawful court rulings,” she added in a written statement.

“President Trump’s entire Administration is lawfully implementing the America First agenda he was elected to enact,” the statement said.

Among other instances of noncompliance, judges found the White House defied rulings when it deported scores of accused gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador, withheld billions of dollars in foreign aid and failed to restore programming at the Voice of America. The three cases date to the first few months of the new administration, but judges have continued to find violations since then, including in two cases in April.

“The danger is that this gets normalized,” said JoAnna Suriani, counsel at the nonpartisan group Protect Democracy, which is tracking noncompliance cases. The group is also involved in litigation against the administration.

‘Ham-handed.’ ‘Hallucinating.’ Judges have also been scathing

In October, U.S. District Judge William Smith took little time to conclude Homeland Security officials were flouting one of his orders. Smith, a nominee of George W. Bush, had blocked them from making billions of dollars in disaster relief funding to states contingent on cooperation with the president's immigration priorities.

DHS responded by keeping the immigration requirement on some grants, but making it contingent on a higher court overriding Smith’s injunction. The judge called the move “ham-handed” and said DHS was trying to “bully the states.”

In a case over the suspension of refugee admissions, U.S. District Judge Jamal Whitehead, a Biden nominee, accused the Justice Department last May of “hallucinating new text” in an appellate court order and “rewriting” it to achieve the government's preferred outcome.

In four additional cases the AP reviewed, judges stopped short of a clear written finding of noncompliance but still criticized the administration’s response to their orders.

Of the judges who have confirmed violations, 22 were appointed by Democratic presidents and 7 by Republican presidents.

Former federal judges Jeremy Fogel and Liam O’Grady said judges are losing trust in the integrity of the Department of Justice.

That’s making them “more aggressive in accusing the government of bad faith,” said O’Grady, who along with Fogel is now part of the nonpartisan democracy group, Keep Our Republic.

Fogel said judges are also getting frustrated.

“They make orders and the orders don’t get complied with and then they have to inquire why the orders are not being complied with, and that’s where it gets very mushy and very political,” he said.

Plaintiffs in an education case raise alarms

In Eureka, California, school administrator Lisa Claussen is worried about the impact on her students’ mental health if a judge does not find the Education Department in violation of a court order on federal grants.

Grant money allowed the school district in the poor coastal community in Northern California to hire more than a dozen psychologists and social workers to help students struggling with drug use and suicidal thoughts.

Education officials in the Trump administration told schools in California and other states last year that it was discontinuing the grants; the administration opposed diversity considerations in the grant process.

U.S. District Judge Kymberly Evanson blocked the move permanently in December, but California and 15 other states now say the administration is making an end run around her injunction by imposing new rules, including an initial limit of six months of funding.

Attorneys for the Education Department said they wanted to see whether schools were making progress on performance goals before releasing additional funds. The judge's order did not block the six-month limit, they added in a court filing.

Evanson, a Biden nominee, has yet to rule.

In the absence of a one-year funding guarantee, Eureka City Schools and other districts say they have already issued layoff notices to mental health providers or eliminated positions.

“We have many kids who don’t trust adults for very good reason and to be able to just swipe this grant like they’re doing ...” Claussen said in a phone interview, her voice trailing off. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”

Justice Department pushes back

In court filings, Justice Department attorneys have generally disputed accusations the government was not complying. They have argued over the meaning of words, cited favorable appellate court rulings and said they were acting outside the scope of the court’s order, among other legal maneuvering.

Outside of court, Trump and White House officials have railed against federal judges. Vice President JD Vance has even suggested the president could ignore court orders.

Will Chamberlain, senior counsel with the conservative legal advocacy group The Article III Project, said many of the judges who have found violations are ignoring laws that clearly prohibit their rulings.

Trump officials are “generally complying, appealing and winning,” he said. “If they were defying orders left and right, they’d be losing them.”

Critics say the higher courts are excusing noncompliance

In March, a federal appeals court ruled Sykes, the judge in California, had likely exceeded her authority in requiring bond hearings nationwide and blocked her February decision.

The outcome was not unusual.

In 15 of the 31 lawsuits the AP reviewed, an appellate court or the Supreme Court either allowed the administration's underlying policy, limited the district court's efforts to correct or punish the noncompliance, or both.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticized her fellow justices after one such ruling.

“This is not the first time the Court closes its eyes to noncompliance, nor, I fear, will it be the last,” she wrote in June in a dissent joined by the court's two other liberal justices. “Yet each time this Court rewards noncompliance with discretionary relief, it further erodes respect for courts and for the rule of law.”

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Associated Press writer Michael Casey in Boston contributed.

The incident comes four days after the four-time All-Star came off the 10-day injured list after fouling off a pitch and breaking his left big toe on April 11 in another game against the Twins.

X-rays showed no new fractures, and its not any worse than it was, manager John Schneider said after the game. He had already planned to give Springer an off day on Sunday.

Springer was hit by an 88 mph slider from Connor Prielipp and immediately went to the ground in pain. After being tended to by a couple of trainers for a few minutes, Springer gingerly walked off the field and was replaced by Jesús Sánchez.

In his sixth season with Toronto, the 36-year-old Springer is hitting .212 with two home runs and seven RBIs in 66 at-bats across 18 games.

The MVP of the 2017 World Series with Houston, Springer is in the final season of a $150 million, six-year deal with the Blue Jays.

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

He missed a 12-foot birdie putt and settled for a tap-in par on the par-5 8th hole Saturday — and that was the first par of his day at Trump National Doral, after an opening seven-hole stretch that featured an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys.

He began the day with a 9-foot putt for eagle at the par-5 opening hole, and his wild beginning was underway. The rest of his opening seven holes:

— No. 2, missed 15-foot par putt, bogey.

— No. 3, made 3-foot birdie putt.

— No. 4, missed 12-foot par putt, bogey.

— No. 5, 86-yard chip stops 8 inches from hole, birdie.

— No. 6, made 6-foot birdie putt.

— No. 7, made 4-foot birdie putt.

Going back to Friday, it was actually nine consecutive holes without a par for McCarty — who finished bogey-bogey in the second round.

He wound up shooting a round of 3-under 69, with just six pars for the day. He was at 8 under for the week going into Sunday's final round.

“Kind of roller coaster early,” McCarty said. “I played really solid.”

Even with all the everything-but-pars excitement to McCarty's round Saturday, he wasn't anywhere near close to a record for the most holes to begin a round without a par.

Since the tour began keeping such records — ShotLink didn’t start until 2004 — that record belongs to Per-Ulrik Johansson, who began his first round at the 2004 Valero Texas Open with 12 consecutive non-pars. Johansson started with a birdie, then made five bogeys, then two birdies, then a bogey, then a triple-bogey, then a birdie and finally one more bogey to start his round.

McCarty started Saturday's round in 12th place, eight shots back of leader Cameron Young. His start in the third round briefly got him as high as a tie for second.

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

This was far too big and far too significant for Al-Shaair to not speak from the heart.

Authentic and introspective, the Texans’ hard-hitting middle linebacker and emotional leader of the top-ranked defense in the NFL wears his feelings on his sleeve. He doesn’t hold back, whether it’s delivering his trademark punishing tackles or in deep conversations. Al-Shaair provides his genuine thoughts and leaves no doubt about his convictions.

During a watershed, life-changing moment for Al-Shaair and his family as he celebrated a three-year $54 million contract extension that includes $32.5 million fully guaranteed in new money and $45.75 million total guaranteed, the Pro Bowl selection reflected on the hard moments of the past.

Growing up in Tampa, Fla., Al-Shaair and his family experienced homelessness after a fire cost them their home. Al-Shaair grabbed his seven siblings to save them. Their last semblance of stability melted down to soot and ashes.

Raised by his mother, Naadhirah Lennon, Al-Shaair and his siblings dealt with significant hardships. They moved into a budget, extended-stay motel. Al-Shaair didn’t want recruiters to know about his circumstances, so he preferred college football coaches to meet with him away from the motel, including Florida Atlantic assistant coach Nick Caley, who’s now the Texans’ offensive coordinator.

Poverty-stricken and dealing with housing issues and low on food, Al-Shaair took custody of his younger brothers while attending Florida Atlantic on a football scholarship to bring them along with him. Through it all, Al-Shaair and his family stuck together and had each others’ back. Especially his mom.

“The last person I want to thank, I saved for last because I don’t know if I’m going to cry or not and I don’t want to cry, is my mother,” Al-Shaair said Friday at Reliant Stadium while looking directly at his mom. “I wouldn’t be the man that I am if it wasn’t for you. Everything that I am, is because of you. To be a single mother of one child is tough. Two children, that’s tough. Three, four, five, we’re talking about eight children. Regardless of the outcome of the circumstances that we were in, you believed in me to play football before I believed in myself.

“I am no one, I am nothing if I don’t have you and if I didn’t have you through all those years getting me to this point. Every conversation we had. Even to this day, I have to talk to you when anything is going on in my life. You’re my best friend. You mean the world to me and I can’t repay you enough for the things you’ve done for me. Truly, truly, truly, truly, truly grateful for you and I love you.”

As much as Al-Shaair has dealt with tough times, those experiences only strengthened his resolve.

From his time as a hungry teenager to tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during his final college season, to going undrafted, to being signed by the San Francisco 49ers as a free agent on the recommendation of assistant Chris Kiffin, one of his recruiters at Florida Atlantic along with Caley and Roc Bellantoni, to learning the pro game from DeMeco Ryans, his position coach with the 49ers and a former Pro Bowl linebacker, the journey has never been easy for Al-Shaair. That’s what makes this even more satisfying for him.

It was all truly earned, never given for the Texans’ Walter Payton award winner.

“I love that, I think it inspires people,” Lemon told KPRC 2. “I hope it inspires people and gives them hope that I, too, can get through the trials I’m going through at that time.”

And that’s why Al-Shaair, a devout Muslim, delivered a strong message of gratitude. He quoted a verse from the Quran: ‘With hardship comes ease. Not before or after, but almost simultaneous.’

As Al-Shaair discussed the various trials and adversities he’s experienced, he didn’t speak about them with regret.

If anything, he was glad for what he has and what he endured.

After watching your childhood home burn to the ground, or injuring his knee as a senior and watching his draft stock plummet to, now, becoming an anchoring force as a team captain of the top-ranked defense in the NFL and a leader in the community, his rough upbringing gave him invaluable perspective and resolve.

“I’m truly, truly grateful,” said Al-Shaair while thanking Cal McNair and Hannah McNair, Ryans, defensive coordinator Matt Burke and linebackers coach Bill Davis, his longtime agent Jason Chayut of Sportstars and his extended family. “It really does feel surreal. Everything that I went through to be at this point. I wanted to be here. I didn’t want to be anywhere else. I couldn’t see myself going anywhere else.

“I’m grateful to my agent, Jason Chayut for taking a chance on me back when I was coming out of college with a torn ACL and not pretty, not the hottest linebacker you want to get. He took a chance on me and we’ve worked together now going on eight years, four different contracts later. I see you like family. My family, they’re my support system and they love me regardless of how many tackles I make or what I do. I wouldn’t be able to be here without them.”

Growing up in Tampa, Al-Shaair endured strife and it created gratitude for whatever he did have. He once gave his last $50 to a college student he felt like was in a greater need than him.

It was his grandfather, James Tokley Sr., a poet laureate who instilled wisdom and confidence in Al-Shaair and his name. Al-Shaair means ‘Son of a Poet’ in Arabic.

It was his mother who first allowed him to play football. He wanted to be a Pop Warner player. As a middle school student, he got in an Oklahoma drill. Relatively inexperienced at the time, Al-Shaair got flattened by and older, larger player.

Initially, Al-Shaair told his mother that he didn’t want to keep playing if he couldn’t be the best. She encouraged him to stick with football. She gave him the confidence to fail or succeed as long as he applied his best self to the task at hand.

“When I was growing up in Tampa, I begged her to let me play and she didn’t want me to play because she didn’t want to see me get hurt,” Al-Shaair said. “We were staying in a motel at the time, ‘I promise you, if you let me play football I’m going to make it to the NFL, I’ll take care of our family one day.’

“I had no clue if I was ever actually going to be able to do it or not. I never saw it done. I didn’t think stuff like that happened to people like me, in my life and my situation. So, to sit here years and years later, to be actually living that out is absolutely amazing. All praise to Allah. It’s nothing but God’s mercy and God’s grace that I’m ever here and able to say that.”

The contract isn’t only about money and the value that Al-Shaair provides in the locker room.

It’s a display of respect, just like the fact that Cal McNair and Hannah McNair and their son, Calhoun, attended the press conference and posed for photos with Al-Shaair and his mother, along with defensive coordinator Matt Burke and teammate Jamal Hill.

“I just wanted to be myself: be authentically me,” Al-Shaair said. “Obviously, as a football player on the field I try to show the abilities that I have to be a tone-setter. Get guys organized, lined up, communication, all those different things. Off the field, just connecting with the guys, understanding that the relationships that you build, it makes you push a lot harder when you are doing it for your brothers.

“Truthfully, I just wanted to be authentically myself and I always felt like if I got the opportunity to be at a place and show everybody who I was, then things would go well for the team and myself. I’m grateful for that.”

An $18 million average per year compensation boost from 12th in linebacker average per year compensation to third in the NFL behind the San Francisco 49ers’ Fred Warner ($21 million) and the Baltimore Ravens’ Roquan Smith ($20 million). Previously, Al-Shaair was at $11.3 million in terms of average per year.

Texans general manager Nick Caserio and Chayut worked on this contract for three months.

The deal includes $35.25 million fully guaranteed for skill, injury and salary cap in terms of new money and $45.75 million total guaranteed.

After recording a team-high 103 tackles, a career-high two interceptions and a career-high nine passes defensed, Al-Shaair isn’t resting on his laurels. He wants to keep improving and he wants the Texans to get even better on defense and as a team after three consecutive AFC divisional round defeats.

And, yes, he still has a motivational chip on his shoulder as a former overlooked rookie free agent.

“Truthfully, I carry it with me every day,” Al-Shaair said. “I think that it’s just a part of who I am. I think it’s a part of my life. Me, my story in the NFL, I think is a reflection of my story throughout my life. Going through different hardships, having all the weight of the world on your shoulders, feeling like, ‘Man, like there’s no way you’re going to make it out of this situation.’

“Somebody like Chris, he was assistant defensive line coach at the time, it’s like you getting up there talking about a linebacker from Florida Atlantic with a torn ACL talking about you promise he’s going to make the team. You’re almost putting your own job on jeopardy for me. So that type of just character from people who cared about me to speak on my behalf like that. I have a million people that have done that for me, so I’m just grateful.”

An emotional and introspective Azeez Al-Shaair after #Texans contract extension @KPRC2 https://t.co/AO1UItQLOZ pic.twitter.com/NgFM7Usquj

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) May 1, 2026

The deal for Al-Shaair follows other big deals for defensive standouts Will Anderson Jr. (three years, $150 million extension as the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history) and Danielle Hunter (one-year, $40.1 million guaranteed extension).

“You start with the person, a theme of these contracts we’ve been giving out as an organization to reward the type of people we want to represent the team and this building,” Burke said. “He’s probably at the forefront of all that. Just an unbelievable human being. You see there’s ownership here, there’s players here, there’s offensive coaches, defensive coaches, community relations people, the people he connects with in the building is really impressive. It always starts with the person.”

True to form, Al-Shaair was working out at Reliant Stadium as a fixture in the Texans’ offseason workout program when he got the good news from his agent.

He was late for Davis’ position meeting because the deal was being finalized.

“Billy is my guy, but I get in the meeting and he’s like, ‘Oh man, oh man, what are you coming in late for?’” Al-Shaair said. “He’s just giving me a hard time. I’m just cheesing the whole time. I’m not even listening to half the stuff he’s saying, I’m just like, ‘Uh huh. Uh huh.’ I’m just smiling. I just couldn’t stop smiling.

“I tried to call my mom, she was asleep. By the time I got to talk to everybody and everythig, it didn’t feel real, truthfully, until today. There’s no way it’s real. I did sign it, so it is official. If something happens to me now, take care of my mama for me. That’s where I was at.”

Al-Shaair drew heavy criticism for a concussion-causing hit on a late sliding Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence a year ago and served an NFL suspension. He and the Texans took exception to the language in a disciplinary letter from NFL executive Jon Runyan and defended his character. During that time, Al-Shaair was open and forthright about his emotions as he revealed that he was in a dark place at that time and briefly contemplated walking away from the game.

The attacks on his character and being called a dirty player, or racist and anti-Muslim remarks on his social media pages, yes, it bothered him greatly.

And the Texans, especially a fired-up Caserio, stuck up for Al-Shaair and defended him passionately.

“When I reflect back to that time, it was a really challenging time in my life just trying to navigate through how I could be in a situation where people are attacking me as a man, my character for something that I did on the football field that happens in a split-second,” Al-Shaair said. “People get into car accidents and it’s like, ‘You’re at fault, it happened so fast.’ When all that stuff went down, to see the way people were talking about me as a person and as a player, it hurt because I just felt like everything kind of came crumbling down and it wasn’t a reflection of who I see myself as or who I try to be.

“I was truly broken. My heart was broken; my mother could tell you. Everybody who is here that I interacted with could tell you, I was in an extremely, extremely low, dark place. I was dealing with all the off-the-field stuff and the stuff with the Trevor Lawrence stuff and the suspension and all of it, and people pretty much going for my character. I really leaned in on all these other people who did more than their job required them to do to try to make sure I was in a good place mentally. I’m so just grateful.”

Al-Shaair has built a special relationship with the McNair family and their son, Calhoun.

He’ll never forget how they stood behind him during the Lawrence controversy.

“This family has been like my own family,” Al-Shaair said. “I always tell them, ‘You didn’t have to put yourself in front of a speeding bullet for me.’ I feel like the way that they had my back and every chance that they had to speak on my behalf, speak to my character, every time they saw me just pouring into me, trying to make sure I was doing well. Cal told me his father told him, ‘You can never go wrong doing what’s right.’

“That’s something that I think I’ll probably keep with me for the rest of my life. There was countless conversations that I had with them that just reassured me as a person because obviously there’s a business side to this and then there’s a personal side.I’m just grateful that I’m here and I have the relationship that I have with them. Calhoun, [Cal McNair’s] son, I tell him he’s like my nephew.”

Al-Shaair, named the Texans’ annual Media Good Guy award winner last season, is willing to delve into a variety of topics, including his Muslim faith and wide-ranging philanthropy, along with football strategy, offering a window into the game.

It’s a two-way street of mutual respect and understanding.

“I appreciate you guys,” Al-Shaair said. “I think everybody has a job to do. Every time I talk to you guys, I’m trying to do my job to the best of my ability. You’re dedicated to what you gotta do equally as I’m dedicated to what I do. And I think you understand, this is a profession that we all take serious. Everybody has their aspirations and what they’re trying to accomplish.”

“For me given as much of the insight as I can give, being around you guys all the time, knowing the personalities, knowing the different stories that you guys have written, how far you guys have come individually in your own journeys to get here, it’s no different than me as a player. It’s not that hard. I’m definitely grateful for you guys giving me this. I appreciate the work that you guys do for us as well.”

When Anderson got his blockbuster deal, no one was happier for him than Al-Shaair.

They’ve bonded over faith and their love for football.

“He truly is like a little brother to me,” Al-Shaair said. “Truthfully, he is a great human being and I think that is the biggest thing for me. I value character more than I value abilities. I will talk to the janitor for 45 minutes or I will talk to Hannah or Cal for 45 minutes. I value the character. I am so grateful that I have him in my corner because the way we lean in on each other, especially throughout the season when we are kind of having our own moments of rough patches.

“People look to us for leadership so it is hard because you feel like you can’t show that you are going through something all the time because everybody else on the team is looking to you for that inspiration. We actually lean in a lot on each other to kind of be that therapist for each other to make sure like, ‘Hey, are you good?’”

That’s who Al-Shaair is, in a nutshell.

#Texans Pro Bowl linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, an emotional moment, as he was presented annual @PFWAwriters Media Good Guy award. Always insightful, available and a true professional@A_train2_ @KPRC2 @crownawards @Djbienaime pic.twitter.com/ijo9sHjEOm

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 31, 2025

He thinks about other people, including Palestinian children affected by the conflict in Gaza. He regularly hosts child amputees receiving medical treatment in Houston at football games. He advocates for victims through the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and My Cause, My Cleats. He uses his platform to highlight the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, stating that being Muslim drives his view that all people should be seen equally. He was fined by the NFL in January for wearing a ‘Stop the Genocide’ message on his eye back during a playoff game.

“One thing that I also love from me being Muslim, what you learn is that in Islam, there’s no person, all you guys in this building right now, nobody’s better than the next person in here,” Al-Shaair said. “I’m no better than anybody else because of how much money I’m getting, because of what career I have, vice versa. The only thing that you’re judged on is the intention in your heart.

“I think that’s what I try to do. Be really insightful, be really detailed on how I’m interacting with people and be authentic. I think that’s the biggest thing because at the end of the day, we’re all human.”

The Houston chapter of @PFWAwriters voted and named Azeez Al-Shaair the 2025 Media Good Guy Award winner!

The award is given annually to those who best exemplify professionalism and exceptional cooperation with the media at large. pic.twitter.com/8fqaaWZyCE

— Houston Texans PR (@TexansPR) December 31, 2025

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com

But if you’ve been snagged in their now-defunct flight schedule, here are some things to know on how to get home, and get whole.

“Rescue fares,” reduced prices for new flights

Many airlines that used to compete with Spirit are now parachuting in with deals to save their travelers. Airlines including American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines are capping or reducing ticket prices for people to book new flights.

There is a limited window for this deal, which prioritizes now-stranded travelers who need to find a new way to their next destination.

For example, Southwest’s offer is only available in person at an airport ticket counter through Wednesday, May 6, according to industry trade group, Airlines for America and the U.S. Department of Transportation. United, meanwhile, is allowing such bookings for up to two weeks, which can be accessed online.

For those who were planning to fly Spirit and now need to find an alternative to the ultra low cost carrier, American, Allegiant, Frontier and Delta advertised reduced fares on the same routes Spirit once flew.

Many company announcements include maps showing where its routes overlapped with Spirits, which can help narrow the search to find a comparable flight.

“Spirit Airlines played an important role in expanding access to affordable travel and bringing more low fares to more people,” said Bobby Schroeter, Frontier’s chief commercial officer. “We recognize this is a difficult time for their customers and team members.

Get your money back in refunds

Spirit Airlines said they were prepared for an “orderly wind-down” of its operations, and that it will automatically process refunds for any flights booked on a credit or debit card.

Travelers who booked through third-party travel agencies should direct refund requests to those agents.

Anyone else who got their reservation through vouchers, credit or points will have to wait and see though Spirit’s bankruptcy process.

If there are questions about whether your money will make a safe landing back to your wallet, there are other ways to try to claw back your cash for the Spirit flight not taken.

The DOT suggests contacting your credit card company and exercising your rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act, by requesting a “chargeback” for services not rendered.

If you purchased travel insurance or it is included in your credit card’s policy and perks, call them to see if they cover “insolvency” or “service cessation.”

The last resort would be filing a bankruptcy claim but officials warn this route eats up time and money, and ultimately may only result in a partial refund.

The National Consumers League warned travelers to keep all documentation to prove they were booked for Spirit flights, including receipts, booking confirmations, cancellation notices, and any correspondence with the airline. The nonprofit watchdog organization also urged those affected to act immediately as credit card and insurance companies may have strict deadlines that can be time-sensitive.

“Not all Spirit customers should assume a refund will automatically appear,” said John Breyault, the league’s vice president of public policy, telecommunications, and fraud. “When an airline shuts down this suddenly, it’s up to travelers to take proactive steps to have the best chance of getting their money back.”

Expanding capacity and perks

American and United both said it is trying to adjust its fleet so it can help more stranded passengers. American said it is looking into tapping larger planes and United said it is potentially adding additional flights on routes where they overlapped with Spirit.

“We are reviewing opportunities to add additional capacity, including utilizing larger aircraft on critical routes — to support as many affected passengers as possible,” American said via an Airlines for America statement.

Southwest also said it will offer a status-match, by honoring Spirit’s Silver and Gold status members with its own A-List program.

The car rental company Hertz is also advertising deals for alternative transportation, offering one-way vehicles and up to 25% off for those find “the road might be the fastest way home in scenarios like this one.”

I’m an employee. Get me out of here.

Spirit crew members who are stuck at their destination should be granted airline travel benefits, including spare jump seats where available on most major carriers.

American said: “We will provide transportation for Spirit team members who have been displaced on a work trip,” according to an Airlines for America statement.

The DOT also said the other companies are offering preferential interviews to help expedite the job search for former Spirit pilots, flight attendants and other employees. American said it will be setting up recruiting events for those former employees.

The video clip posted on the department's YouTube page Friday shows officers confronting Anthony Griffin after he had randomly slashed three people at the 42nd Street-Grand Central subway station, which connects to Grand Central Terminal.

The uniformed officers, identified in the video as detectives Ryan Giuffre and Anthony Manetta, are seen encountering the 44-year-old as he walks up a stairwell holding a large knife at around 9:40 a.m. on April 11.

They order Griffin to drop the weapon multiple times, but Giuffre draws his gun as Griffin continues to hold the knife high near his head.

Griffin then retreats back down the stairs but starts moving toward the officers with the knife still overhead when they start to pursue him.

“Nobody wants to hurt you,” Giuffre says in the video. “We can talk about it. Get down. Get down. Dude, I’m not going to ask you again. Please. Please. Please. Get down!”

But Griffin continues shouting and moving erratically toward the officers with the large blade raised up.

“I don’t want to be here. Shoot me,” he says at one point. “I am Lucifer," he says at another.

Giuffre then fires two shots at Griffin, who immediately drops to the ground. He was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at the time of the incident that the officers ordered Griffin to drop the knife at least 20 times but he refused to comply.

“Our officers were confronted with an armed individual who had already injured multiple people and was continuing to pose a threat,” she said. “They gave clear commands. They attempted to de-escalate. And when that threat did not stop, they took decisive action to stop it and to protect New Yorkers on one of the busiest train platforms in the city.”

The three stabbing victims — an 84 year-old male, 65-year-old male and 70-year-old female — sustained injuries including “significant lacerations to the head and face” and a skull fracture, though the wounds were not considered life-threatening, Tisch said.

The ultralow cost airline that once operated hundreds of daily flights on its bright yellow planes and employed about 17,000 people said it had “started an orderly wind-down of our operations, effective immediately.”

Although Spirit had gone bankrupt twice before, the company said high oil prices, which have been rising because of the war with Iran, made it impossible to stay aloft.

The airline said on its website that all flights have been canceled and customer service is no longer available. Some passengers arrived Saturday for flights and were stunned to find them canceled, while workers learned overnight they were out of jobs.

“We are proud of the impact of our ultra-low-cost model on the industry over the last 34 years and had hoped to serve our guests for many years to come,” Spirit's announcement said.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday that Spirit had a reserve fund set up for customers who bought directly from the airline to get refunds. People who bought from third-party vendors like travel agents would have to seek refunds from them.

Duffy said United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest were offering $200 one-way flights for people who had Spirit confirmation numbers and proof of purchase for a limited time. Other airlines would also help Spirit employees who might be stranded, as well as offering them a preferential application process as they look for work.

Spirit said in a statement it was working to get more than 1,300 crew to their home bases and that the final Spirit flight landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport from Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The company advised customers that they could expect refunds but there would be no help in booking travel on other airlines.

The Trump administration had considered a government bailout for the cash-strapped business to keep it from going under, but a deal was not reached. Of the potential bailout, Duffy said Saturday “we often times don’t have half a billion dollars laying around.”

President Donald Trump had floated the idea of a bailout last week after the airline found itself in bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in less than two years with jet fuel prices soaring because of the Iran war.

‘They got you there’

Five Spirit flights were still showing as “on time” on Saturday morning on the departure board in Atlanta. A trickle of passengers who hadn’t heard the news were still showing up.

“What!?” exclaimed Taylor Nantang as she, her husband and four children arrived for a Saturday afternoon Spirit flight from Atlanta to Miami for a spur-of-the-moment vacation. The family had driven down from Tennessee to the Atlanta airport.

“So the whole airline at every airport is out of business?” asked Nantang. “Oh my, that’s crazy.”

Other passengers wondered whether the airline would still answer its customer service phone, or when the refunds for canceled flights might arrive on their credit cards.

Joshua Sigler, who had bought a ticket Friday for a flight Saturday to Miami, said he would just return home after learning of the cancellation, rather than try to take advantage of deals other airlines were offering to stranded Spirit passengers.

He said he had gotten no communication from Spirit, which he had flown multiple times in the past. “They get you there,” he said of past flights. “It was cheap.”

‘Boo-hoo crying’

Former Spirit flight attendant Freddy Peterson was on a Spirit flight from Detroit that arrived in Newark around 11 p.m. Friday. He said that despite rumors flying on social media Friday, things seemed kind of normal, with more than 200 passengers on the plane.

“All our aircraft were packed,” he said.

Peterson, 60, said he set his alarm clock for 3 a.m. Saturday to check the company website at the hour of the rumored shutdown and learned all Spirit flights were canceled. He said Delta Air Lines brought him and another flight attendant back to Atlanta on Saturday morning, with Peterson leaving from there to drive to his home in Shellman in southwest Georgia.

“I’ll probably do the boo-hoo crying and all that other stuff once I get in my car."

Peterson said he had been a flight attendant with Spirit for 10 years and the company has “done wonders for me.” He said the airline’s reputation for bargain basement chaos was largely undeserved, but he did fault management for not communicating with the employees in the closing days, saying a promised employee town hall was canceled.

Bailout fizzles

As late as Friday afternoon, Trump had said his administration was looking at a bailout for Spirit and had given the budget carrier a “final proposal” for a taxpayer-funded takeover.

Spirit proudly disrupted the penny-pinching portion of the airlines industry with its no-frills, low-cost flights and provocative ads like its “Check Out the Oil on Our Beaches” campaign after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, referencing suntan oil, but alluding to the crude spilled on the Gulf Coast.

However, Spirit has struggled financially since the COVID-19 pandemic, weighed down by rising operating costs and growing debt. By the time it filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2024, Spirit had lost more than $2.5 billion since the start of 2020.

The budget carrier sought bankruptcy protection again in August 2025, when it reported having $8.1 billion in debts and $8.6 billion in assets, according to court filings.

White House blames Biden

The White House had blamed President Joe Biden's administration for Spirit’s tenuous financial situation. Biden, a Democrat, opposed a proposed merger between Spirit and JetBlue in 2023. On Saturday, Trump administration officials took to social media to amplify voices of conservative critics who faulted Biden for Spirit’s demise.

On Saturday, Duffy blamed Biden as well as his predecessor Pete Buttigieg.

“Many at the time said that this was a disaster. This merger should have been allowed,” he said.

Tad DeHaven, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said the Trump administration also bears responsibility, arguing that the airline’s current crisis reflects a chain reaction of policy missteps rather than a single decision. He pointed specifically to Trump’s decision to strike Iran as “bad foreign policy," saying the conflict drove up jet fuel prices and Spirit's operating costs.

“They were already in trouble,” DeHaven said, describing the situation as “a compounding effect in terms of policy.”

Supporters of a rescue including labor unions representing Spirit’s pilots, flight attendants and ramp workers said a collapse would put thousands of Americans out of work and hurt consumers by reducing airline competition and increasing airfares. About 17,000 jobs could be impacted, according to Spirit lawyer Marshall Huebner.

Budget-conscious and leisure travelers would likely feel Spirit’s absence the most, especially in places where the airline has a big footprint such as Las Vegas and the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.

The carrier flew about 1.7 million domestic passengers in February, roughly half a million fewer than during the same month a year earlier, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Spirit also has sharply reduced its capacity, with about half as many seats available this month than in May 2024.

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Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Amy reported from Atlanta. Catalini reported from Morrisville, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed.

Access Now, the New York-based advocacy group that organizes the annual gathering, said late Friday it had canceled the RightsCon summit in Zambia that was due to take place next week after the Zambian government initially said it was postponed.

Access Now said it had been informed by Zambian officials that the government had been pressured by China over the conference “because Taiwanese civil society participants were planning to join us in person.” Access Now said it pushed back on any move to exclude delegates from Taiwan.

“We believe foreign interference is the reason RightsCon 2026 won’t proceed in Zambia,” Access Now said in a statement.

“What the government wanted from us in order to lift the postponement was conveyed to us informally from multiple sources: … we would have to moderate specific topics and exclude communities at risk, including our Taiwanese participants, from in-person and online participation.”

The Zambian government earlier announced it was postponing the conference because it wanted information on the themes and topics of discussion to ensure they aligned with the country's “national values, policy priorities and broader public interest considerations.”

Zambia has strong political and economic ties with China, largely through Chinese mining interests in the mineral-rich southern African nation.

RightsCon is an annual conference focused on human rights and technology and deals with issues like internet censorship, electronic surveillance and cyberwarfare. More than 2,600 participants were due to attend in Zambia, with another 1,100 attending online, Access Now said. They represented more than 150 countries.

Last year’s summit was held in Taiwan.

Taiwanese Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-jing said in a statement on Facebook on Saturday that the cancellation of the summit showed China’s unease over “the ideas of freedom, democracy and rule of law that Taiwan and RightsCon represent.”

Human Rights Watch said Zambian authorities should explain their actions.

The move by the Zambian government came just a week after Taiwan claimed that Beijing intervened to stop Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te from visiting another southern African country, Eswatini on April 22.

Lai's visit to Eswatini, the only African nation that maintains formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, was called off after the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles were pressured by China to withdraw permission for Lai's plane to fly over their territory, Taiwan said.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry praised the actions of the three nations and said their “adherence to the one-China principle is in full compliance with international law.”

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its breakaway province, to be retaken by force if necessary, and prohibits countries it has diplomatic relations with from maintaining formal ties with Taipei. China has significant influence across Africa.

Taiwanese leader Lai made a surprise announcement on Saturday that he had arrived in Eswatini after the first visit was called off. This time, Lai had not announced publicly that he was traveling.

Taiwan “will never be deterred by external pressures,” Lai wrote on X.

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AP journalist Johnson Lai in Taipei contributed.

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

Over to you, Manchester City.

In one of its most dominant performances for weeks, Arsenal overpowered Fulham in a 3-0 win on Saturday that transferred the title-race pressure to second-place City.

All of the goals came in the first half, with Viktor Gyokeres scoring twice and setting up the other for Bukayo Saka.

City has two games in hand, the first coming at Everton on Monday. Significantly, Arsenal now has a superior goal difference of 4 compared to City in a title fight that could yet come down to that tiebreaker if both teams win all of their remaining matches.

Arsenal has three left — West Ham away, Burnley at home and Crystal Palace away — in an easier run-in on paper than City's.

“We never stopped believing," Gyokeres said. “We’re not going to.”

Arsenal wrests back title momentum

It was only 10 days ago that City ended Arsenal's 200-day stay at the top of the league to become, for many, the title favorite.

Pep Guardiola's team hasn't played in the league since and the momentum might just have swung Arsenal's way after its wins over Newcastle last weekend and now a Fulham team which arrived at Emirates Stadium with aspirations of qualifying for a European competition.

Saka, making his first start in six weeks after an Achilles injury, set up Gyokeres for a ninth-minute tap-in before the roles were reversed in the 40th. Gyokeres held up the ball and slipped in Saka, who drove home a finish inside the near post.

Gyokeres grabbed his second goal — and 21st of the season in all competitions — by heading home Leandro Trossard's cross in first-half stoppage time.

West Ham loses and gives Tottenham hope

A blow for West Ham. A boost for Tottenham.

West Ham's survival bid was damaged by a 3-0 loss at Brentford, for whom Brazil striker Igor Thiago — with a penalty for his 22nd goal of the season — was among the scorers.

It meant West Ham stayed two points above Tottenham, which is in third-to-last place — the final relegation spot.

Spurs, who played in the Champions League this season and have been in the top flight since the late 1970s, visit Aston Villa on Sunday and then there are three more rounds remaining.

Brentford climbed to sixth place, seven points behind fifth-place Aston Villa. The top five qualify automatically for the Champions League.

Newcastle's losing run ends

Newcastle eased some of the pressure on manager Eddie Howe by beating Brighton 3-1 to end a four-match losing run in the league.

“It’s been hard for my family because they see the intimate side of me behind closed doors," Howe said. “I haven’t been a bundle of joy the past few weeks.”

William Osula and Dan Burn were Newcastle's scorers in the first half before Jack Hinshelwood replied for Brighton after the break. Harvey Barnes scored Newcastle's third in stoppage time.

Brighton dropped to seventh place, a point behind Brentford.

Another red card for hair-pulling

There have been three red cards for hair-pulling in the Premier League this season. Twice, the recipient of the pull has been Tolu Arokodare.

The Wolverhampton striker had his hair tugged by Sunderland defender Dan Ballard, resulting in another sending-off for an infringement that has become an increasingly common sight in soccer over the past year.

Sunderland was leading 1-0 at the time through Nordi Mukiele's header at a corner. Santiago Bueno equalized for already-relegated Wolverhampton, the league's last-place club, and it finished 1-1.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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

Attendance is down significantly this year with the arena only a little over half full, but still no other corporate meeting can come close to matching the crowds at Berkshire's Woodstock for Capitalists. For years, more than 40,000 attended to listen to the 95-year-old Buffett and — before his death in 2023, Buffett’s longtime partner Charlie Munger was always part of the fun. Buffett gave up the CEO title in January, but he remains chairman and did make a few comments during the meeting.

Berkshire's businesses were the focus, but timely topics like the Iran war and the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence also came up.

Vice Chairman Ajit Jain said Berkshire would be willing to insure ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz if the price was right and the U.S. Navy escorted those ships.

Jain said he believes there is enough capacity across the insurance industry to take on that risk and there is definitely a need for it because that waterway is the path for so much of the world's oil supply.

“The short answer is it depends on the price,” Jain said.

Abel said the war in the Middle East is definitely creating challenges for Berkshire's businesses because oil is such a fundamental input, but he's confident that the managers will find a way to deal with that.

“We very quickly move to what is the best solution for our customers,” Abel said.

Honoring Buffett's contributions

Saturday’s meeting began with a video tribute to Buffett beginning with a clip showing the standing ovation Buffett received last year after he surprised shareholders by announcing that he would step down.

Abel then announced the symbolic move of retiring jerseys with Buffett’s and Munger’s names on them that will hang in the rafters of the arena.

Buffett again praised Abel and said he's glad that he made the decision to promote him now.

“He’s very, very smart about businesses,” Buffett said during a live interview that aired during the meeting. And Abel is close to earning his American citizenship after growing up in Canada. He has been with Berkshire more than 25 years.

Buffett complained that too many people treat the stock market like a casino and gamble with their investments. He said the world would work better if more people treated each other well.

“If the whole world lived by the golden rule then it would be such a more wonderful society,” Buffett said.

Easing the transition to Abel

Signs of the transition were peppered throughout the 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall where Berkshire companies sold their products. A caricature of Abel playing his favorite sport of hockey is front and center on commemorative boxes of See’s Candy. At the Pilot Travel Center booth, pictures of Abel and Buffett are plastered on a semitrailer truck windshield, but Abel is in the driver’s seat. And shareholders lined up to buy a Squishmallow version of Abel to go with the latest versions of the popular Buffett and Munger stuffed dolls.

“Sadly we miss Warren and Charlie and that show which was fun, but it’s a business meeting for a lot of us and hearing what the businesses are doing is what it’s all about,” investor Chris Bloomstran, who is president of Semper Augustus Investments Group said.

Also, many people travel to Omaha primarily to meet up with like-minded value investors, who practice the approach that Buffett employed, and attend some of the investment conferences and meetings that are scheduled around Berkshire’s shareholder meeting.

“That’s why I’m really here, really here is to network with other people,” said Bob Robotti, who runs his own investment company.

Focusing on Berkshire's businesses

Abel opened the meeting with a detailed discussion of how Berkshire's biggest businesses are performing. He gave a granular explanation about the performance of Berkshire’s insurers, its BNSF railroad, utilities and manufacturers. He talked about how Berkshire is using artificial intelligence “to solve problems at our companies.”

But Abel also used a deepfake video of Buffett asking a question about Berkshire's long-term prospects at the start of the Q-and-A session to highlight some of the cyber challenges and risks AI presents.

“It's scary,” Buffett said later in the meeting. For example, AI could easily create an extremely convincing fake version of the leader of a country with nuclear weapons, he said.

Abel stressed over and over that Berkshire's basic approach that trusts CEOs to manage the day-to-day operations of their companies will not change, and he won't feel pressured to spend the company's nearly $400 billion in cash prematurely.

“One of our greatest strengths at Berkshire is patience and being disciplined at allocating our capital,” Abel said. “We’re not anxious to deploy capital into subpar opportunities.”

Enduring culture at Berkshire

The CEOs of Dairy Queen, See’s Candy, Jazwares and Brooks Running all said very little has changed since Abel was promoted other than they now report to NetJets CEO Adam Johnson who is overseeing 32 retail and service businesses.

“I think this is a very deeply rooted culture that Warren has created, and I believe the transition to Greg is going to be rooted in those values that Warren has for 60 years instituted and will continue,” Brooks CEO Dan Sheridan said.

For years Buffett always said he was having too much fun running Berkshire to ever retire, but once the shock of his announcement in the final minutes of last year's meeting wore off, the company’s executives quickly agreed this plan for the transition was better because Buffett can still be around to advise Abel.

"That’s the greatest combination right now, to be able to have that transition in leadership where Greg and Warren can still work together,” DQ CEO Troy Bader said as his staff sold Dilly Bars to shareholders.

Striving to improve

Abel is known to be a more demanding and hands-on boss than Buffett ever was, but he does that by challenging Berkshire’s CEOs to strengthen their competitive advantages while taking care of their customers. Abel asks tough questions and offers advice that his CEOs appreciate, but he doesn’t tell them exactly what to do.

And with Buffett remaining Berkshire’s chairman and its largest shareholder it’s unlikely that Abel will make any drastic changes.

Robotti said the performance of Berkshire’s businesses should be much more important to shareholders than the entertainment value of the annual meetings.

“My hope and expectation are they’re picking people who have competency in running a business and not necessarily public speakers and presenters,” Robotti said.

Berkshire said Saturday morning that its profits more than doubled in the first-quarter to $10.1 billion, or $7,027 per Class A share, as the value of its investments grew and most of its businesses improved.

Berkshire’s massive cash pile continues to grow, and it hit $397.4 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Most of Berkshire’s varied businesses reported better operating earnings this year. The insurance unit that includes Geico reported an underwriting profit of $1.7 billion, up from $1.34 billion last year. Profits also grew somewhat at BNSF railroad and Berkshire’s utility and manufacturing companies.

But Abel acknowledged there is more improvement needed — especially at BNSF, which lags behind most of the other major freight railroads.