The shooter later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a statement.

The local government said four people were wounded by gunshots and two were injured from falls. The victims were taken to hospitals for treatment. They include Colombian, Russian and Canadian tourists, the local government said. The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.

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

A tour guide, who spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to put his job at risk, said he was leading a group down one of the pyramids around 11:30 a.m. when the man began to shoot, and a number of people stumbled in fear and fell down the stairs.

“When he saw that we were descending he began to shoot downward,” the guide said, adding that the shooter seemed to fire alternatively into the air and then at people's legs.

He said he heard between 20 and 30 gunshots ring out before security officials arrived.

In past years, staff at the archaeological site carried out security scans before people entered the area but has since stopped doing this.

The guide showed a video that he took showing a woman limping and her back covered in blood and another man’s arm being bandaged.

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

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

Anita Anand, Canada’s foreign affairs minister, said on X that as a “result of a horrific act of gun violence, a Canadian was killed and another wounded in Teotihuacán” and that her “thoughts are with their family and loved ones. ”

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

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

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

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

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said the 21-year-old D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged with first-degree murder, lewd and lascivious acts with a person under 14 and mutilating a body. His attorney entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to all counts, and the judge said he would continue to be held without bail.

The girl's parents were in court for Burke's first appearance in the case Monday. Burke appeared behind glass in a custody area of the court, dressed in black.

Alleged child sex abuse during a career on rise

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

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

Prosecutors allege Burke mutilated her body about two weeks later.

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

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

Defense says D4vd ‘did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez’

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

Berk told the judge that after media reports of months of secret grand jury proceedings, she would like a public preliminary evidentiary hearing to take place as soon as possible.

Burke is entitled under California law to a public preliminary hearing, where a judge decides whether there’s enough evidence for trial, within 10 court days of his arraignment. Nearly all defendants waive their right to have it happen that fast, but he didn’t. A hearing to work out what will happen next was scheduled for Thursday.

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

Burke was arrested at a home in Hollywood Thursday.

A missing child and the grisly discovery of a body

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

D4vd was a social media-savvy singer making breakthroughs

D4vd, pronounced “David,” gained popularity among Gen Z for his blend of indie rock, R&B and lo-fi pop. He went viral on TikTok in 2022 with the hit “Romantic Homicide,” which peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. He then signed with Darkroom and Interscope Records and released his debut EP “Petals to Thorns” and a follow-up, “The Lost Petals,” in 2023.

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

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

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

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

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AP Music Writer Maria Sherman contributed reporting from New York.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cook, 65, will turn the CEO duties over to Apple’s head of hardware engineering, John Ternus, on Sept. 1 while remaining involved with the Cupertino, California, company as executive chairman. That’s similar to the transitions made by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Netflix’s Reed Hastings after they ended their highly successful tenures as CEO.

To allow Cook to assume his new job, Arthur Levinson will relinquish his role as Apple's non-executive chairman while remaining on its board of directors.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company," Cook said in a statement. “I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative, and deeply caring people.”

Ternus, 50, has been with Apple for the past quarter century, including the past five years overseeing the engineering underlying the iPhone, iPad and Mac — a role that made him a prime candidate to succeed Cook.

“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” Ternus said in a statement.

Cook and Ternus may have more to say about the changing of the guard on April 30 when Apple is scheduled to release its financial results for the first three months of the year.

The transition to a new CEO comes at a pivotal time for Apple. Artificial intelligence has unleashed the most upheaval within the industry since Jobs unveiled the first iPhone in 2007. Apple has gotten off to a rough start in AI after stumbling in its efforts to deliver new features built on the technology, as promised nearly two years ago.

Earlier this year, Apple finally turned to Google — an early leader in the AI race — for help making the iPhone's virtual assistant Siri into a more conversational and versatile helper.

“Cook created a major legacy at Apple but it was ultimately time to pass the torch to Ternus with the AI strategy now the focus,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said.

Although he never shook the perception that he lacked Jobs’ vision, Cook leveraged the popularity of the iPhone and other breakthroughs orchestrated by his predecessor to lift Apple to heights that seemed unfathomable when it was on the brink of bankruptcy during the mid-1990s.

Not long after Cook took over, Apple became the first publicly traded company to be valued at $1 trillion, then became the first to be valued at $2 trillion and $3 trillion, too.

But after Apple's slow start in AI, chipmaker Nvidia rode the feverish demand for its processors that power that technology to be the first company to reach the $4 trillion threshold and then the first to break through the $5 trillion barrier, too. Apple is currently valued at $4 trillion, up from $350 billion when Tim Cook took over in August 2011, shortly before Jobs died after a long bout with cancer.

“Steve Jobs was never going to be an easy act to follow, yet Tim Cook took Jobs’ legacy and transformed Apple into a durable, resilient financial powerhouse,” said Forrester Research analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee.

Besides guiding Apple to a phenomenal run of financial success, Cook also made his mark in an October 2014 essay acknowledging his homosexuality – a disclosure by the leader of a renowned company that was hailed as a breakthrough for the gay rights movement.

Before his death, Jobs spent time grooming Cook to be his successor – a move that reflected the Apple co-founder’s respect and admiration for an executive that he hired in 1998 to oversee the company’s supply chain. Knowing his successor would likely be measured against his legacy, Jobs advised Cook to be guided by his own instincts and never bother musing, “What would Steve do?”

Cook, an Alabama native who previously worked at Compaq Computer and Apple’s former nemesis, IBM, masterminded the intricacies of an international supply chain that plumbed the cheaper labor and efficiency of China’s manufacturing plants. It has played an instrumental role in the production of the Mac computers, iPods, iPhones, iPads and other products that account for most of Apple’s annual revenue of $416 billion – up from $108 billion when Cook became CEO.

But most of Apple’s best-selling devices were all conceived while Jobs was still CEO, raising questions about whether Cook was more of a logistics man than an idea man.

“While Cook has kept Apple’s growth trajectory moving at a steady clip, he has not overseen a step-change innovation that would reset Apple’s competitive position for the next two decades, as Jobs did with the iPhone,” Chatterjee said.

The company did create the two popular new product lines – the Apple Watch and wireless AirPod headphones – and a still-niche Vision Pro headset for experiencing virtual reality, but none of them have been the kind of breakthroughs that became Jobs’ trademark. Meanwhile, other ballyhooed projects such as Apple’s effort to build a self-driving car never materialized after years of research and investments.

Apple’s reliance on overseas manufacturing required Cook to master the art of political diplomacy, particularly while President Donald Trump waged trade wars with China during both his terms in the White House. After persuading Trump to exempt the iPhone and other products from Trump’s first-term tariffs, he faced a more daunting challenge during the current administration.

While insisting that Apple shift its iPhone manufacturing from China to the U.S., Trump imposed some tariffs on the device this time around. But Cook still managed to minimize the fees by shifting the production of iPhones destined for the U.S. market to India and also winning some exemptions after promising Apple would invest $600 billion in the U.S. during Trump’s second administration.

Mohammad Sharifullah is accused of scouting the bomber's route to the airport before the attack that killed nearly 200 people, including 13 U.S. service members, at the end of America’s longest war. FBI agents interviewed him for hours over the course of several days after his capture.

But one of Sharifullah's lawyers said he had no role in the bombing plot and suggested that the Afghan national gave a false confession.

“The U.S. government got the wrong man,” defense attorney Geremy Kamens said during the trial's opening statements. “That is why we are proud to represent Mohammad Sharifullah in this trial.”

Justice Department prosecutor John Gibbs said Sharifullah, also known as Jafar, spoke to a journalist about killing American “crusaders” who invaded his home country after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

“The feeling was just to catch the crusaders and kill them,” Sharifullah told the journalist, according to Gibbs.

Sharifullah told FBI agents that he joined an Islamic State regional branch known as ISIS-K around 2016. Although he denied having a planning role in the Kabul airport bombing, he told the agents that he had done “a lot of other things” on behalf of ISIS-K, Gibbs said.

President Donald Trump announced Sharifullah’s capture during his State of the Union address in March 2025. Sharifullah arrived in the U.S. a day later to face prosecution and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Twelve jurors and three alternates were picked Monday in Alexandria, Virginia, for Sharifullah's federal trial on one count of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death. The trial is expected to last about a week.

U.S. troops were conducting an evacuation operation at the Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021, when a lone suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device near an entry point known as Abbey Gate. Approximately 160 Afghans were killed in the attack along with the 13 U.S. service members.

A review by U.S. Central Command found that the Abbey Gate bomber was Abdul Rahman al-Logari, an Islamic State militant who had been released from an Afghan prison by the Taliban. Sharifullah recognized the alleged bomber as an operative he had known while incarcerated, according to an FBI affidavit.

A former Marine testified to Congress that he and others had spotted two possible suspects behaving suspiciously on the morning of the bombing but didn't get permission to act. However, the Central Command review concluded that the snipers hadn't seen the actual bomber and that the attack was not preventable.

Still, the carnage led to sharp criticism of how Democratic President Joe Biden's administration handled the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan after a war spanning two decades. On the campaign trial, before he won a second term in the White House, Trump repeatedly condemned Biden’s role in the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal and blamed him for the Abbey Gate attack.

One of the prosecutors assigned to the Abbey Gate case was fired by the Justice Department last year after a right-wing commentator publicly criticized him over his work during the Biden administration. Michael Ben’Ary's ouster was part of a broader purge of Justice Department veterans deemed to be insufficiently loyal to Trump, a Republican.

Sharifullah is accused of participating in other attacks linked to ISIS-K. The FBI said he provided instructions on the proper use of firearms before other ISIS-K members carried out a March 2024 attack at a Moscow concert hall that killed roughly 140 people.

Kamens suggested that Sharifullah gave a false confession under duress while in Pakastani custody. The defense lawyer told jurors that the airport bombing was likely an “inside job” aided by sympathetic Taliban extremists who were in power and helping with airport security that day.

“The Pakistanis wanted him to confess, and their intelligence service tortures people,” Kamens said.

Anderson is pivotal to the Texans’ present and future as a game-wrecking defensive end capable of harassing quarterbacks and shutting down runs, doubling as a team captain and leader.

Anderson signed a three-year, $150 million contract extension that makes him the highest paid defensive player in the league in terms of new money average. He received a $32 million signing bonus and is now under contract through the 2030 season. He received $134 million total guaranteed, $100 million fully guaranteed and a rare no-trade clause on a blockbuster deal negotiated by agent Nicole Lynn of Klutch Sports and Texans general manager Nick Caserio

And hammering out this contract couldn’t have made Texans coach DeMeco Ryans any happier. Earned, not given embodies the situation.

“Will is an outstanding young man, outstanding player,” Ryans said Monday as the Texans launched their offseason conditioning workout program. “He shows up every single day, working how we expect guys to work and doing all the things a leader does. He’s a guy that you want guys following.

“He embodies everything that it means to be a Texan and he’s definitely deserving of the contract situation that he’s gotten. He’s earned it and he’s done an outstanding job of leading.”

The blockbuster deal exceeds a previous record-setting deal signed by Green Bay Packers pass rusher Micah Parsons last year, a four-year, $188 million contract with $120 million fully guaranteed and $136 million total guaranteed for a $46.5 million annual average.

Although the Texans ultimately lost in the AFC divisional round playoffs to the New England Patriots, it wasn’t because of Anderson. He recorded three sacks, two forced fumbles and two tackles for losses.

The extremely high value of Anderson as a pass rusher and run-stopper was underscored again, just as it was all season during a breakout year. He finished the regular season with a career-high 12 sacks, 54 tackles, 20 tackles for losses and 23 quarterback hits.

Anderson, a former third overall pick acquired after a trade with the Arizona Cardinals, has proven himself at every turn on and off the field as a team captain and feared pass rusher and run-stopper.

Trading a first-round draft pick to land Anderson has proven to be an extremely wise investment as they selected him one pick after quarterback C.J. Stroud.

“The 2023 draft is probably one of the most exciting drafts that I’ve been a part of, and I would say one of the most exciting drafts in Texans history,” said Ryans, a former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year selected in 2006 out of Alabama. “It was exciting just to know what we were doing. We pick C.J. at the second pick and to know we’re back on the phones trying to trade up to get Will, it was just an exciting moment, a tense moment.

“The adrenaline is pumping in the room. It was awesome. Nick executed the trade. It was about the guy we were getting. As we all see, fast forward to where we are now, it was well worth the move. We knew the type of man that Will was, and it was worth moving up to get him and it has paid off big time for us.”

In just three NFL seasons, Anderson already has recorded 30 sacks, 136 tackles, 46 tackles for losses and 64 quarterback hits.

According to Next Gen Stats, Anderson finished with the second-most quarterback pressures in the NFL with 85 overall and the third-highest pressure rate, a 20.5 percent clip. He also set the NFL record for most third-down pressures with 48 in a single season in the Next Gen Stats era.

“Of course,” Anderson said when asked by KPRC 2 after the season about his desire for a new deal with the Texans. “I want to be here my whole career. I love the Texans. I love everything about them. You know, they traded up and got me, man.

“But, you know I don’t really like to speak on all these things. But, of course I would love to be here, man, and if it’s in God’s will to happen, it’ll happen.”

Without getting into specifics about future plans, the McNair family made it clear how highly they value both Anderson and quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was secured with a $25.9 million fifth-year club option through 2027 and isn’t expected to get an extension this year. The Texans and Stroud are open to future negotiations, though.

“We’ll let DeMeco and Nick make the football decisions there, but they’re exciting, really good young players,” Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair said. “We hope to have them around for a long, long time.”

PHOENIX -- #Texans Cal McNair and Hannah McNair on potential long-term deals for Will Anderson Jr., C.J. Stroud: 'Exciting, really good players, we'll hope to have them around a long, long time. .. It's a good problem to have when you have so many guys you want to keep under… pic.twitter.com/WunQinzX0g

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) April 1, 2026

A year from now, cornerback Kamari Lassiter and safety Calen Bullock will be eligible for extensions. Both were named Pro Bowl alternates after the 2025 season.

“It’s a good problem to have when you have so many guys you want to keep under contract,” Hannah McNair said. “If we keep drafting the way we do, this is going to be something we talk about every year.”

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

Victor Wembanyama — as expected — was announced Monday night as the league's top defensive player. The San Antonio center was second in the voting for DPOY as a rookie, was the favorite last season until a medical condition ended his season prematurely, then left no doubt this year.

At 22, he's the youngest winner of the award.

Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren and Detroit's Ausar Thompson were the other finalists, after both helped their teams secure No. 1 seeds for the playoffs. But this was never in doubt, not after the 7-foot-4 — or maybe taller — Wembanyama led the NBA in blocked shots for a third consecutive season and generally terrorized opponents any time they wanted to score.

“Best player in the world,” Spurs forward Keldon Johnson said.

The NBA will continue its award announcements Tuesday when the Clutch Player of the Year — either Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Denver's Jamal Murray — is revealed. Wembanyama is also a finalist for MVP, with the winner of that trophy not set to be revealed until next week at the earliest.

First, the league got this announcement out of the way. And Wembanyama's win was accompanied by a slew of historical significance.

— Every other winner of the award had been at least 23. Wembanyama doesn't turn 23 until next January.

— The Spurs became the first franchise with four players to win DPOY, which was first handed out in the 1982-83 season. The others? Alvin Robertson in 1986, David Robinson in 1992 and Kawhi Leonard in 2015 and 2016.

— Wembanyama joins Robinson and Michael Jordan as the only players to win both Rookie of the Year and DPOY.

The biggest accomplishment may be this: Wemby got everybody to agree.

Golden State's Stephen Curry was the unanimous MVP in 2016 and in the 10 seasons that have followed, there have been only two instances of a player collecting 100% of the first-place votes for an award.

Those were Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year in 2024, and now this.

No player in at least the last 50 seasons — and maybe ever, since it's hard to say with certainty because some full voting results for awards handed out generations ago are not known publicly — has won two awards unanimously.

It's the 10th known unanimous pick in any NBA awards vote for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player, DPOY or Coach of the Year. And some of biggest names like LeBron James and Michael Jordan never won a major award by unanimous decision.

“I feel like he is one of the hardest workers that I’ve ever been around,” Johnson said. “He takes his craft very seriously. I feel like this is just a small token of what’s to come for Victor. He’s a special player now. He’s a special player on the court and even more special person off the court as well. This is just a small token, small flowers that’s given to him for Defensive Player of the Year.”

Holmgren and Thompson both got votes for the first time; a panel of reporters and broadcasters who cover the league were asked to pick their top three in the category, with ballots due last week before the playoffs started.

Wembanyama is an MVP finalist (along with Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, and three-time winner Nikola Jokic of Denver), which almost certainly means he'll be an All-NBA first-team selection. And the DPOY win means he'll also be on the All-Defensive team, so Wembanyama is assured of no fewer than four trophies from this year's award season.

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

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

Trump indicated that he still expects to dispatch his negotiating team, led by Vice President JD Vance, to Pakistan's capital of Islamabad for a second round of talks, even as Iran insisted it would not take part until Trump dialed back his demands.

Iran’s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, accused the United States of wanting Iran to surrender and added that on the contrary, Iran has been preparing “to reveal new cards on the battlefield."

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,” Qalibaf wrote in a post on X early Tuesday.

Trump insisted he feels no pressure to end the war until Iran agrees to his terms.

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

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

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

Iran holds out on resuming negotiations

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

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

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

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

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

Trump swipes at war critics, seeks to calm investors

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

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

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

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

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

Israel-Lebanon talks to resume, official says

Meanwhile, historic diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to resume Thursday in Washington, an Israeli, a Lebanese and a U.S. official said. All three spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes negotiations.

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

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

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

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

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

Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to a new toll released Monday in official Iranian media by Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization.

He did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, saying instead that 2,875 were male and 496 were female. Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and younger.

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

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

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

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

Iran said it had reopened the strait to ships Friday, but traffic halted after Trump refused to lift the U.S. blockade.

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

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

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

The attack on Sunday morning unfolded in two homes in a Shreveport neighborhood. The gunman, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, died after a police pursuit that ended with officers firing on him, authorities said.

Police have not provided a motive for the killings. Family members said Elkins and his wife were separating and community leaders called for a reckoning over domestic violence as the shooting reverberated across the city, including in the classrooms where the children attended school.

Here's what to know about the attack.

Shootings began before sunrise

The attack began before dawn in a neighborhood south of downtown Shreveport.

Police received the first report around 5:55 a.m. from a caller stating they were on top of a house where someone had been shot, Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said. Five minutes later, police were told that Elkins had shot everyone inside the 79th Street house.

Troy Brown, Elkin's brother-in-law, said his wife and his 12-year-old daughter had escaped through the home’s roof.

Officers arrived within minutes but another call at 6:07 a.m. reported a second attack on nearby Harrison Street, where the caller said Elkins had shot her before fleeing, according to Smith. Police then received word the gunman had stolen a car, leading to a pursuit and eventually an exchange of gunfire.

Elkins was pronounced dead about an hour after police received the first call. It was not clear whether he was killed by officers or from a self-inflicted gunshot, Smith said.

Gunman had felony gun conviction

Court records showed that Elkins was placed on probation in 2019 after pleading guilty to illegal use of weapons. A police report for that case said Elkins fired five rounds at a vehicle and told police that someone inside it had pulled a gun on him.

Under Louisiana law, a person convicted of illegal use of a weapon is banned from having a gun for at least 10 years after completing their sentence and probation. Investigators were not aware of other domestic violence issues involving Elkins, said police spokesperson Chris Bordelon.

Authorities have not said how or where Elkins obtained the weapon used in Sunday's attack.

Elkins had served in the Louisiana National Guard from 2013 to 2020, held the rank of private and had no deployments, a guard spokesperson said. He was a signal support system specialist and a fire support specialist.

Elkins had voluntarily checked into a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in January for just over a week, according to Brown. He said Elkins appeared “better when he came home” and seemed fine a day before the shooting.

The murdered children were all under 12

The eight children ranged in age from 3 to 11. Besides Elkins' seven children, his nephew was among the slain, according to the Caddo Parish coroner’s office.

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

Francine Monro Brown, a cousin of Shaneiqua Elkins, said she would often see the children playing in the yard on Sunday mornings when she drove past the house on her way to church. She called them “happy” and “joyful.”

Family member says couple was separating

Elkins and his wife were separating and had been arguing about their relationship before the shooting, said Crystal Brown, a cousin of a woman shot in the attack.

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

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

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

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

Here is the latest:

Iran’s chief negotiator seems to cast more doubt on a second round of talks with the US

“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats,” Parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf wrote early Tuesday morning in Tehran in a social media post on X.

He accused the United States of wanting Iran to surrender and said that on the contrary, Iran has been preparing “to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Experts vary on whether US broke ceasefire with Iran

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

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

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

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

Trump offers mixed messages about path ahead

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Trump gets defensive on Iran strategy

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

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

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

Lebanese official confirms next meeting with Israel set for Thursday

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

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

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

Israeli airstrike wounds six people in southern Lebanon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Vance is at the White House, not Pakistan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

— By Matthew Lee in Washington

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Israeli official says talks with Lebanon to resume in Washington

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

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

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

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

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

— By Josef Federman

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

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

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

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

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

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Trump snaps at critique that Israel dragged him into Iran war

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

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

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

Still no commitment by Iran for Round 2 talks with US

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UAE arrests people over alleged ties to Iran

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Israel condemns a soldier defacing a statue of Jesus in Lebanon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The satellite was supposed to join AST SpaceMobile's orbiting network of satellites designed to provide direct space-to-smart phone service.

The rocket’s upper stage and satellite reentered the atmosphere Monday, according to the U.S. Space Force. No additional detail was available.

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

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

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

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

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

He said Keith Sonderling, the current deputy labor secretary, would become acting labor secretary in her place. The news outlet NOTUS was the first to report Chavez-DeRemer's resignation.

Labor chief, family members faced multiple allegations

Chavez-DeRamer’s departure follows reports that began surfacing in January that she was under a series of investigations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I think the secretary demonstrated a lot of wisdom in resigning,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Monday after her departure was made public.

She enjoyed union support — rare for a Republican

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

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

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

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

She was a key figure in Trump's deregulatory push

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

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

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

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

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

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Associated Press writers Steven Sloan and Will Weissert in Washington, and Cathy Bussewitz in New York, contributed to this report.

The Monday decision by U.S. magistrate Elizabeth Chestney in San Antonio is a major development in the nearly year-long saga of the family who has for months raised alarms about the treatment at the facility, including medical neglect, rotting food, impotable water, and disrespect for their Muslim faith as they begged for their release. Last week the family’s lawyers said the mother was rushed to the emergency room, after months of suffering from an unidentified bump, which she feared may be cancerous due to her family history and possibly heightened by the lack of medical care at the detention center. 

“A federal court has ruled that the Trump administration is violating the Constitution by detaining the El Gamal family,” the family’s lawyer, Michigan-based Eric Lee, said in a statement. ”We feel vindicated, but despite the court’s ruling, the family has not yet been released. After 10 and a half months we demand the executive branch release them immediately.”

Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the immigration courts, did not immediately respond to questions. A hearing before U.S. District Judge Fred Biery in San Antonio is scheduled for Thursday. The decision by the magistrate judge argues that the family is wrongfully detained, known in legal proceedings as a habeas petition. Such claims have escalated in recent months, specifically seeing a dramatic spike in the Western District of Texas overseeing both the Dilley facility and El Paso’s Camp East Montana that holds adults. 

The El Gamal family, who came to the U.S. on a tourist visa in 2022 and later applied for asylum, have been detained since last June after the father, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was charged with attacking mostly Jewish protesters in Boulder, Colo., accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators supporting Israeli hostages. He allegedly wounded at least 29 people and an 82-year-old woman died from her injuries. The father, who pleaded not guilty, remains in federal custody on more than 100 charges related to the incident. 

His wife, who said she met her husband in an arranged marriage when she was young, and her five children, have not been charged with any crimes. They have repeatedly maintained that they did not know about Soliman’s plans and had an estranged relationship with him. The family has since disavowed the father and is no longer in contact with him, their attorney said, and his wife has filed for divorce.

Nevertheless when the family was detained last June, the White House tweeted, “Six One-Way Tickets for Mohamed’s Wife and Five Kids. Final Boarding Call Coming Soon.”

The family garnered widespread public attention this year after their lawyers shared heartbreaking accounts in the children’s own words and drawings of the harm they said they were suffering at Dilley.

“We have been here for nine months. I really miss playing with my toys and my watch,” wrote the 9-year-old in accounts first shared with The Texas Tribune. “Please get us out of here.”

The 16-year-old wrote, “I have seen with my own eyes, food that has mold in it. I even saw food with actual worms.”

He described suffering from appendicitis, writing that he began feeling “severe abdominal pain” one morning and was unable to walk to the medical unit. Hours later, he was brought in a wheel chair to see a nurse who he said told him, “‘I can’t help you. Go and come back if you still have pain in 3 days.’” He said he threw up and only then was transferred to the emergency room.

Together, the children’s accounts offered a bleak view of life inside an immigrant detention facility, which generally is not intended for children. The Trump administration is appealing a decades-old federal court settlement to allow them to detain children, like the El Gamal siblings, for longer than 20 days, which according to the existing agreement is typically the maximum time kids held with their parents can be imprisoned. For more than a decade, medical experts and child advocates have testified about the long-lasting harm suffered by children when they are detained. 

Since the El Gamal family spoke out earlier this year, their attorneys said that conditions have deteriorated for them. The eldest sister, who last year was chosen as one of the “best and brightest,” students in Colorado and recognized by a picture with the mayor with a scholarship from the local paper, was separated from her mother and youngest siblings after telling reporters about their poor treatment. 

Their plight helped renew attention on the conditions at the controversial Dilley facility, which opened in 2014 under former President Barack Obama and has long been plagued with problems. Former President Joe Biden shuttered it in 2021 but President Donald Trump reopened it last year. 

The detention center, which has been the focus of mass media coverage and spurred nationwide protests, including in Texas, reentered the public consciousness earlier this year after photos of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing a blue hat and Spider-Man backpack, went viral following his January arrest in Minneapolis. He and his father were sent to the Dilley facility, but following widespread public alarm, quickly released while their asylum cases proceeded in the courts. 

The majority of families detained at Dilley have not faced that same fate. Instead attorneys said they have suffered as bouts of measles spurred the facility into lockdown. Several children, lawyers and advocates said, have become so disillusioned that they attempted to self-harm. 

A 13-year-old friend of the El Gamal family, for example, was deported to Colombia earlier this year after attempting suicide, the family’s attorney said. He said he worried every day that one morning he would wake up to learn that one of the El Gamal children had suffered the same fate.

Monday’s ruling brings hope, but the family’s prospects are far from certain, Lee said. 

“We won’t rest until this innocent family is free,” he said, adding that the government “continues to detain them even though a court has held that their prolonged detention violates the Constitution.”

Monday will hang on to the nice cool weather push behind Saturday’s front. Highs will generally sit in the low 70s.

Tuesday:

Rain gear will become your best friend, as another wave of rain pushes into SE Texas on Tuesday. We’re tracking a low but real severe weather risk for both Tuesday and Wednesday for our viewing area.

The main concern is excessive rainfall. Localized heavy rain could lead to minor flooding, with rainfall rates possibly peaking in the 2–3 inches per hour range.

We’ll continue to see daily rain chances through the weekend.

10 Day Forecast:

If the rainy pattern persists, this will make it four weekends in a row of stormy weather.

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

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

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

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

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

More than a century-old tradition

Brig. Gen. Richard Reale Jr. of the National Lancers, part of the Massachusetts Organized Militia, portrayed Revere. He said the act serves as an important tribute to “tradition and patriotism” as America marks 250 years since the nation’s founding.

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

The reenactor, dressed in Colonial costume and accompanied by another horseman, traced the route taken by Revere 251 years ago as he alerted militias about British movements.

Accompanied by a police escort, Reale made his way through the narrow streets of Charlestown, under an expressway to Somerville and then along the main streets of Medford and Arlington — passing salons, laundromats, restaurants and plenty of Dunkin’ stores.

People along the route popped out of their homes or stopped their cars to watch him pass. Trotting along on his horse, the rider repeatedly yelled, “Regulars are coming" and "Redcoat are out" while occasionally urging people to grab their muskets.

Large crowds greeted the rider in Medford, where he stopped at the site of what once was a tavern that Revere visited and quizzed the crowd on what they knew about the silversmith.

Outside Arlington town hall, resident Vernon Brown said the reenactment resonates deeply in a place tied to the Revolution’s earliest fighting.

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

A second rider finished his ride in Lexington, where he met up with a reenactor playing another midnight rider, William Dawes.

A Revolution turning point

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then and now

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

Michelle DiCarlo-Domey, who organizes the ride each year for the National Lancers, said thousands come out to see history come alive and show their patriotism.

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

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AP journalist Leah Willingham contributed from Boston.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prosecutors say 50-year-old Quoc Viet Ngo believed he was communicating online with a 15-year-old girl, who was actually an undercover detective. Investigators say the case began as part of an operation targeting online predators.

Ngo appeared in court as a judge approved new restrictions to his bond. He is now barred from accessing the internet and is limited to using a phone equipped with software that blocks online activity.

• FIRST REPORT: Houston Police lieutenant arrested in online solicitation of minor case

Authorities say the investigation was led by the Harris County Precinct One Constable’s Office Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, working alongside a regional task force.

According to investigators, Ngo allegedly sent sexually explicit images and later showed up at a home in an unmarked Houston Police Department vehicle, expecting to meet the teen for sexual activity. Deputies say condoms, alcohol, and his service belt were found inside the vehicle. When he was taken into custody, officers used his own handcuffs to arrest him.

Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen said, “Lt. Ngo was sworn to protect the very people that he was targeting.”

Ngo was previously featured in a 2018 KPRC 2 community story about “Boots for Cops,” a program that provides custom western boots to law enforcement officers.

If convicted, Ngo could face up to 20 years in prison. He has since been relieved of duty.

His next court appearance is scheduled for May 21.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gunman had no recent arrests for domestic violence, police say

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

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

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

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

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

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

The violence started before sunrise Sunday

Authorities said the shooting erupted before dawn at two homes.

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

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

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

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

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

A relative says they were a joyful family

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

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

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

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

Who gets to vote?

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

How many voters are there?

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

How many people actually vote?

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

How much of the vote is cast early or absentee?

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

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

When are early and absentee votes released?

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

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

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

How long does vote-counting usually take?

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

Are we there yet?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Officials said schools near the park were safe.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Authorities confirmed to KPRC 2’s Bryce Newberry that Kevin Faux, 24, was arrested without incident at an apartment in Gretna, Louisiana—an area just southeast of uptown New Orleans.

The arrest was conducted by the US Marshals Service New Orleans Task Force. There was another person inside the unit when Faux was taken into custody.

Faux had been wanted on a capital murder charge in the death of 23-year-old Ashanti Allen, who was eight months pregnant when she was reported missing on April 10.

MORE ON THE SEARCH: Search expands for missing pregnant Houston woman Ashanti Allen

Her body was found on April 16.

Faux’s arrest marks a significant development in a case that has drawn scrutiny over Faux’s criminal history and prior release from jail.

The suspect is expected to be extradited back to Texas, where he will face capital murder charges.

Authorities have not yet released details on the timeline for his transfer, but online records say he remains in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. He has a hold preventing him from bonding out.

Court records confirmed that prosecutors have filed a motion to deny Faux bail under a 2025 voter-approved Proposition 3 measure to deny bail under certain violent offenses.

MORE ON PROP 3: No bail for you: Texas law allows judges to deny bail

The investigation remains ongoing.

Disappearance and discovery

According to the Houston Police Department, Allen was last seen on April 8 and was reported missing by her mother on April 10.

Her mother told investigators she received a text message from Allen’s phone at 3:50 a.m. that morning stating, “I’m leaving I’m not coming back,” but said the message was out of character and raised immediate concern.

When she went to check on her daughter, Allen’s vehicle was missing, and her purse had been emptied, with her wallet, ID, and credit cards gone.

Six days later, on April 16, Allen’s body was found in southwest Houston near Chimney Rock.

Investigators later determined she had been strangled with a cord that was found wrapped around her neck and tied into two knots.

Surveillance video and timeline

Court documents outline a detailed timeline of events based on surveillance footage, phone data, and witness statements.

Video from Allen’s apartment complex reportedly captured Allen and Faux walking to her car at around 2:20 a.m. on April 10. License plate readers captured the vehicle minutes later on the South Loop West service road.

A witness told investigators she met Faux on the night of April 9, and he left at around midnight, saying she was returning to his mother’s house.

She said he later called her on FaceTime at around 3:17 a.m.

She described him as sweating and frantic in a wooded area, where he allegedly told her he had “killed a motherf-----r” and showed her what appeared to be a lifeless body on the ground.

Text messages recovered by investigators show Faux later saying he “had to fight for [his] life” and “Imma felon then I killed a [expletive].”

The messages stopped at 3:46 a.m., just minutes before Allen’s mother received the “I’m leaving” text from her daughter’s phone.

Evidence tied to suspect

Allen’s brother later tracked her phone to a home connected to Faux’s mother.

While Allen’s brother was present, Faux’s mother called Faux and put the phone on speaker, and he allegedly denied seeing Allen and claimed he had not been in contact with her.

Detectives later recovered Allen’s vehicle parked near that home and tracked her phone to a nearby park. On April 15, a city employee found her phone at Edgewood Park.

Doorbell camera footage from the residence showed Faux arriving and leaving his mother’s residence multiple times on April 10. Allen’s vehicle was seen parked at the home, and later footage showed Faux returning with a backpack and large container.

Investigators said Allen’s phone location data aligns with Faux’s movements captured on surveillance video.

Additional video from a nearby business reportedly showed a man wearing clothing consistent with Faux dragging what appeared to be a body to the location where Allen was later found.

Out-of-state movements

According to court records, Faux reached out to a woman in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, on April 10, saying he had purchased a bus ticket to come visit her. He had previously connected with the woman online, but they had never met in person.

The woman told investigators he arrived at around 5 a.m. on April 12 and mentioned being involved in a missing persons investigation in Houston.

Authorities say Faux denied involvement when questioned and told her not to look up the case online.

She still decided to look up the case online and was concerned by the news reports. She became more suspicious after she noticed Faux using Allen’s debit card, records showed.

A short time later, an anonymous tipster alerted investigators that Faux had been seen recently leaving a residence in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. He was ultimately arrested shortly afterward.

Faux’s history of violence and early release

Court records show Faux had multiple prior assault-related cases, including:

• A 2019 aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
• A 2021 misdemeanor assault involving another woman
• Two assault charges involving Allen in 2025

In Sept. 2025, Faux was jailed in connection with assaults against Allen and later sentenced in February to 280 days behind bars.

However, records indicate he received a “two-for-one” credit—commonly used to manage jail populations—which cut his sentence in half.

READ MORE: Ashanti Allen case highlights safety planning after pregnant woman’s death

He was released months earlier than expected.

Family demands accountability

Speaking with KPRC 2 last week, Allen’s family said they were unaware of the full extent of the danger she may have been facing before her death.

“We need to know what’s happening behind closed doors with our kids,” her father previously said. “If we only knew what was going on, we would not be standing here talking to you.”

READ MORE: Ashanti Allen murder suspect Kevin Faux still at large; Family questions how man with violent history is free

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“We just want the dogs out,” he said.

—-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Speaking with KPRC 2 News, The Woodlands Fire Chief Palmer Buck said the response started as a rescue but ultimately turned into a recovery operation.

On Monday, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as Mara Flavia Souza Araujo, a 38-year-old athlete from Brazil.

The cause of death was confirmed to be drowning.

Buck said crews were notified around 7:30 a.m. of a “lost swimmer” in Lake Woodlands near Northshore Park and launched a water rescue response.

“We already had a rescue boat on the scene; they were out as part of the racecraft working the event. They let us know as we were arriving on scene that they were searching near a buoy for a lost swimmer. We coordinated all of our resources to around that buoy,” Buck said.

As the race continued, Buck said responders had to work through challenging conditions, including heavy activity on the water from other swimmers and support craft.

Buck said a second rescue boat equipped with side-scan sonar was brought in and, just after 8 a.m., crews began focusing their search after seeing potential targets.

The swimmer was located and identified around 9 a.m., Buck said, and at that point the operation shifted from rescue to recovery.

• MORE NEWS: High water shuts down East Freeway in both directions at McCarty Street in Houston

With underwater visibility described as “zero,” Buck said they waited for a dive team from the North Montgomery County Fire Department to assist.

He said a member of the race support staff reported seeing a swimmer go under, which prompted the emergency response.

“The victim was found in about 10 feet of water on the bottom of the lake,” Buck said. “The dive team accessed the victim, brought her up about 9:37 and then brought her over to the shore where she was pronounced DOS (deceased on scene).”

In a release, the sheriff’s office confirmed the participant drowned during the swim portion of the event and said Major Crimes detectives are on scene and will continue the investigation “per normal protocols.”

IRONMAN also confirmed the death in a statement provided to KPRC 2 News.

We are saddened to confirm the death of a race participant during the swim portion of today’s IRONMAN Texas triathlon. We send our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the athlete and will offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time. Our gratitude goes out to the first responders for their assistance. Out of respect for the athlete and their family, we will have no further comment.

IRONMAN

The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. on April 19, 2026, in the 3500 block of Greenhouse Road when Harris County Sheriff’s Office District 4 deputies responded to reports of a shooting involving multiple vehicles traveling southbound.

Investigators said a dispute began between occupants of two vehicles while driving, which quickly escalated when firearms were displayed and shots were fired.

One of the cars contained a juvenile female and a 9-year-old child. Officials stated this vehicle was not directly involved in the exchange of gunfire.

During the confrontation, one vehicle reportedly collided with another, causing it to overturn. Authorities have not confirmed which vehicle initiated the collision.

No gunshot injuries were reported.

Arrests and charges

Following the investigation, authorities identified and arrested three individuals connected to the incident:

• Legace Davis-McVade, 19
• Shannon McVade-Francis, 37
• Marquis Francis, 38

Shannon McVade-Francis
12-27-88

Legace Davis-McVade
7-1-06 https://t.co/Ft44WJ7zVi pic.twitter.com/cTayod1Zks

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) April 20, 2026

Marquis Francis 2-19-88. https://t.co/kIrvsx8NeI pic.twitter.com/tDhqNynWCA

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) April 20, 2026

Davis-McVade and McVade-Francis were charged with aggravated assault, while Francis was charged with tampering with evidence.

All three individuals were taken into custody and booked into the Harris County Jail.

According to information released by officials, the sequence of events began when Davis-McVade allegedly pulled alongside another vehicle and pointed a handgun at the driver.

The victim reportedly responded by firing multiple rounds as the vehicles moved through the area.

Shortly after, Shannon McVade-Francis is accused of striking the victim’s vehicle from behind, with investigators reporting a second impact that led to her vehicle overturning.

Authorities say Davis-McVade later returned to the crash site and fired additional shots toward the victim’s vehicle.

He also reportedly returned to check on occupants of the overturned vehicle, which included his parents.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

___

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

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

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

Patel still described as pivotal for Trump White House

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

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

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

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

Atlantic outlines behavior it says witnesses saw

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

Burrows instructed lawmakers to study ways to strengthen child safety and accountability for virtual gaming, singling out Roblox, an online platform and community where people can play and design their own games. In a news release, he call Roblox a place where “exploitative content and nominal safeguards are exposing Texas children to ongoing endangerment.” The charge adds to a list of policy priorities Burrows has focused the House around ahead of next year’s legislative session.

“Turning an unspeakable act of violence, whose scars remain across the Uvalde community, into entertainment is a profound moral failure,” Burrows said in a statement. “The State of Texas demands accountability — not a system that profits from violence and provocation while exposing young minds to hateful content. Lawmakers cannot stand by while a platform aimed at children enables and monetizes this kind of abuse.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Roblox in November for allegedly exposing children to sexually explicit content and exploitation. The company has faced a flurry of lawsuits from states and local governments, including Los Angeles County, alleging child endangerment.

Burrows instructed the House State Affairs Committee to evaluate “content moderation practices, enforcement gaps and the adequacy of existing child safety protections, noting that nearly 40% of Roblox’s 144 million daily users are under the age of 13.

He directed lawmakers to recommend proposals to “enforce accountability that

are unconstrained by federal preemption or immunity defenses,” assess the possible civil and criminal liability of third-party content developers on platforms like Roblox, study the potential applicability of age verification and parental consent laws to gaming platforms, and “determine the extent to which platforms prioritize user engagement over safety.”

Here’s the breakdown through the morning:

Notice that if you’re an early riser or a first shifter and have to be out the door by 4-5 a.m., there’s a good chance you’ll be seeing some moderate to heavy pockets of rain.

Nothing severe, however, a good bet that the downpours will be pretty steady for most of your drive.

The rain begins to taper off down along the coast by the back half of the morning drive, but even if you’re route doesn’t take you out to the streets until after sunrise, roads will still be wet if not still actively raining.

There will be more storms that will fire up into the afternoon hours but it will be more spotty than the morning soaker and slowly taper off through the afternoon so the evening drive home doesn’t look as messy.

Make sure to check in with the KPRC 2 Weather Team as we’ll update the storms through the day!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How the selection worked in 2016

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

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

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

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

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

How the four candidates were nominated

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bachelet, however, already faces US opposition

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not all taxed imports immediately eligible

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

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

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

System requires accuracy

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

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

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

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

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

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

Patience with the process

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

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

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

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

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

Will consumers see refunds?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Associated Press Writer Jennifer McDermott contributed to this report.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Starmer denies misleading Parliament

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Warnings about Epstein ties went unheeded

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sylvia Hui and Brian Melley in London contributed reporting.

According to a statement posted by the city on April 20, Chief Finner is being welcomed as the new leader of the Missouri City Police Department.

OUR FIRST REPORT: Troy Finner hired as Missouri City Police Chief nearly 2 years after HPD scandal, retirement

A public Meet and Greet will begin at 5:00 p.m. at the MCTX Community Center, offering residents an opportunity to introduce themselves and engage with the new chief.

City officials noted that space for the event is limited and encouraged attendees to arrive accordingly.

The announcement follows a statement released by the City on March 14, confirming Finner’s appointment.

Finner was appointed by then-Mayor Sylvester Turner as Houston Police Chief in 2021, before retiring in 2024.

His departure from HPD was viewed as abrupt, as it followed a period of scrutiny involving internal department practices related to suspended case classifications, including sexual assault investigations.

“Chief Finner brings the leadership experience, judgment, and professionalism needed to lead the Missouri City Police Department and serve this community effectively,” City Manager Angel Jones said in the city’s earlier announcement.

Missouri City officials said they conducted a review of Finner’s qualifications and leadership background as part of their hiring process.

The Meet and Greet event marks Finner’s first public appearance in his new position.

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

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

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

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

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

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

It begins with understanding

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Making meetings more accessible

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

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

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

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

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

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

Share agendas in advance

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

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

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

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

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

Enable various modes of communication

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

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

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

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

Encouraging naysayers

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

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

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

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

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

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

Article Overview:

• Future-track is showing the peak time for heavy rain around 4–5 am for areas to the west
• More concentrated focus on Houston around sunrise
• More widespread around noon.

You can track radar here: Before you leave your house Tuesday morning.

Tuesday’s Severe Weather Threat:

The main concern is excessive rainfall. The NWS Service defines a Marginal Risk as a 1 out of 4 for excessive rainfall — that’s at least a 5% chance that rainfall will exceed local flash flood guidance in some spots. Meaning, we’re tracking isolated instances of high water, flash flooding, or just excessive runoff.

Localized heavy rain could lead to minor flooding, with rainfall rates possibly peaking in the 2–3 inches per hour range.

• That means those intense downpours can hit the ground so fast that they quickly overwhelm streets and create rapid runoff. 

WATCH: So what does it mean when we say the ground is saturated?! How does it relate to a flood risk.

View this post on Instagram

Now that you know our weather risk for Tuesday, let’s talk about timing:

This can still change, but it gives you a good idea of the pattern so you can plan your day.

While we’ll see the chance for rain throughout the day on Tuesday, right now the future-track is showing the peak time for heavy rain around 4–5 a.m. for areas to the west. That activity then shifts east, with a more concentrated focus on Houston around sunrise and becoming more widespread around noon.

Weather and Traffic Together:

One 2025 study on crash risk during rainfall in Texas, looking at data from 2006 to 2021, found that rain significantly elevates crash risk. I don’t think that’s a surprise, but I was interested in the numbers.

The study showed rain increases crash risk by an average of 38%, and that risk peaks sharply in the early morning hours from 4 to 8 a.m. That’s because of reduced visibility during the night-to-morning transition, lower driver alertness, and the slippery, dangerous conditions rain creates on our roadways.

Take it slow on the roadways Tuesday morning!

Brittany

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But Mendoza also wants to keep Thursday night low key.

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

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

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

The state court lawsuit is the latest in a string of investigations and legal actions Paxton and Congress have undertaken against the platform over the last few years. Paxton is asking a Tarrant County judge to stop the company from accepting donations via gift cards and prepaid debit cards, and fine them $10,000 per violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Paxton claims that ActBlue allows improper donations from people outside the United States and those who have already hit the mandated donor limits. He opened an investigation into ActBlue in December 2023, and the next year, sent a letter to the Federal Elections Commission, claiming he had uncovered evidence that “bad actors can illegally interfere in American elections by disguising political donations.”

ActBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment but has denied any wrongdoing throughout the investigations.

“Partisan allegations against ActBlue are completely baseless,” the company said in a May statement after the Justice Department announced an investigation into the group. “Let’s be clear: Donald Trump and his accomplices in the Republican party are targeting ActBlue as part of their brazen attack on democracy in America.”

Background: ActBlue is the main platform used by Democratic candidates and causes. Since its founding, more than 28 million people have donated through ActBlue, which processed $1.78 billion last year alone.

The group began facing pressure from Republican members of Congress in 2023, which Paxton followed by opening an investigation into Texas-based donations. In August 2024, Paxton claimed victory, saying ActBlue had agreed to start requiring CVV codes on credit card donations.

In April 2025, Trump ordered the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, heightening fears among Democrats about the political targeting of the infrastructure that allows them to fundraise. Paxton also involved ActBlue in his investigation of Texas Democratic House members who left the state in the summer 2025 to protest mid-decade redistricting.

The compounding investigations have led to internal turmoil at ActBlue, The New York Times reported. Earlier this month, the newspaper reported that ActBlue lawyers raised concerns that the company’s systems were not as robust as top executives had told congressional Republicans that they were.

What Paxton is saying: Citing that recent reporting, Paxton filed his lawsuit Monday, saying that ActBlue “lied to Congress and to the American people.”

“It has blatantly ignored state law that prohibits deceptive practices, and it must pay for its illegal conduct,” Paxton said. “Fair elections are the foundation of our democracy, and I will work to ensure no illegal campaign donation flies under the radar.”

He is suing under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a consumer protection statute he has deployed repeatedly over the last year to go after left-leaning organizations. The civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation could be significant if the judge were to rule against the company.

What ActBlue is saying: ActBlue has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, arguing that this is politically motivated persecution.

“Bogus claims of money laundering through ActBlue are simply partisan attacks trying to stifle Democratic and progressive fundraising,” the company said in a statement. “These conspiracy theories have been repeatedly debunked by experts and have no basis in reality.”

The company has said that it takes fraud prevention seriously and has implemented significant systems to prevent foreign or straw donations.

Disclosure: New York Times 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.

“At a time when Texas Democrats must expand the map, rebuild trust and invest in long-term infrastructure, continuity of leadership and vision matters. Abruptly reversing course risks undermining the progress that has been made,” reads the response letter, which was addressed to Scudder. “With only one year — and just a primary cycle completed — we believe more time is needed to make a fair assessment of your chairmanship.”

The dueling letters mark a bitter public dispute between Texas Democrats over their party’s leadership during a midterm election many see as their best shot in years to make significant gains up and down the ballot. Texas Democrats are set to elect a chair to a full four-year term at their party convention in June.

The original letter from last week, which was signed by former party staffers, a congressional candidate and a former Texas House member, reflected ongoing discontent among some within the party over changes Scudder made including moving the party’s base away from Austin and overhauling staff positions. The letter charged Scudder with shortcomings including the party’s out-of-date voter file, chaos at the polls in two counties during primary election day, “racism and a hostile work environment.”

The response letter, meanwhile, praised Scudder’s leadership since he was elected interim chair in March 2025. It pointed to the party’s success recruiting a candidate to run in every state and federal race on the ballot, expanding its presence with new offices across the state, paying off $500,000 in debt Scudder inherited and launching a $30 million coordinated campaign to boost candidates along the ballot.

“The reality is that the Texas Democratic Party is stronger today than it was one year ago: financially stable, more competitive and more structurally aligned with the future we must build to win,” the response letter reads.

Among those who signed the letter supporting Scudder were Texas House Reps. Ana-María Rodriguez Ramos, John Bryant, Venton Jones and Mihaela Plesa, all of whom represent North Texas. Numerous county chairs, precinct chairs, Texas House candidates and party activists also added their names to the effort.

“I completely understand there are ex employees that are upset with how things happened, but this is not going forward with what we’re all wanting: Get Democrats elected,” said Macey Burns, a co-author of the pro-Scudder letter and vice chair of the Texas Progressive Caucus.

“The vast majority of Democrats are excited to be on this team and we’re ready to get Democrats elected,” Burns added, arguing that many of the concerns raised in the original letter were outside Scudder’s control. “This is drama, and this is doing nothing but handing things over to the Republicans. They want to see this infighting.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Texans exercised a $25.9 million fifth-year club option for Stroud, a former NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, instead of a long-term contract extension at this time.

The Texans like what Stroud is doing this offseason in terms of work ethic and attitude., And principal owner, chairman and CEO Cal McNair said during the NFL owners meetings that he envisions the former Pro Bowl passer being with the team for a “long, long time” along with All-Pro defensive end Will Anderson Jr, who signed a three-year, $150 million extension to become the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history.

Stroud reported for the Texans’ first day of their offseason conditioning program Monday along with his teammates with heavy attendance for the voluntary workout sessions.

Back in business 💼 pic.twitter.com/AqyQMSu3Wp

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) April 20, 2026

“I don’t really think that affects his future,” Texans general manager Nick Caserio said last week when asked about utilizing the fifth-year option. “He’s our quarterback. We’ve said that from the beginning. I think that was really more of a procedural thing. I don’t want to say it was a no-brainer, but it was kind of a no-brainer, so we’re glad he’s here.

“Again, it’s more of a part of the process. So, we’re excited about his offseason. I think he’s had a good approach, had a good attitude here. I think he’s put a lot of work in from March and April. I’m so excited to have him around here in the spring and I’m excited to keep moving forward.”

Previously at the NFL scouting combine in February, Caserio threw cold water on unfounded trade speculation surrounding Stroud.

Stroud was named in trade rumors previously dismissed by KPRC 2 as completely unfounded. Stroud will remain the Texans’ QB1 going forward.

While the Texans aren’t engaging in contract negotiations at this time, they can shift that approach anytime. Ideally, they would be happy to reward Stroud provided he proves himself this season after being intercepted a career-high four times in an AFC divisional round loss to the New England Patriots.

“It’s moronic,” Caserio said in response to a question from KPRC 2. “We’re not trading him. He’s our quarterback. He’s going to be playing quarterback for the Houston Texans in 2026. Anything beyond that, you guys can speculate on that, but we’re not trading C.J. Stroud.”

Stroud has been the subject of heavy criticism since that game. However, the organization has had his back. It was an uncharacteristically sloppy performance from Stroud, who completed 64.5 percent of his throws as he passed for 3,041 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions while missing three games due to a concussion.

A former Pro Bowl selection who declined an alternate invitation to the Pro Bowl this year, Stroud has passed for 10,876 yards, 62 touchdowns and 25 interceptions in three NFL seasons. Stroud led the NFL in touchdown to interception ratio with a 23:5 clip as a rookie, passing for 4,108 yards.

The steps include adjusting his offseason approach, improving the supporting cast on offense, and making a coaching change. Jerry Schuplinski has been named quarterbacks coach, replacing Jerrod Johnson.

“C.J. is a young quarterback,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said during NFL meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. “Being early in his career, he’s gained a ton of valuable experience, including in the playoffs. It hasn’t gone as we would like it to there. You always want to win it all.

“But when you go through those difficult moments, those tough times, you learn from them. I know C.J. has learned from those moments. Now, we’ve got to go out and improve and show it on the field. The way he’s attacked the offseason, working hard, throwing every day, staying dialed in. I’m excited to see how that translates into a really great year for us.”

“We’ll let DeMeco and Nick make the football decisions there, but they’re exciting, really good young players,” Cal McNair said at the owners meetings in Phoenix. “We hope to have them around for a long, long time.”

PHOENIX -- #Texans Cal McNair and Hannah McNair on potential long-term deals for Will Anderson Jr., C.J. Stroud: 'Exciting, really good players, we'll hope to have them around a long, long time. .. It's a good problem to have when you have so many guys you want to keep under… pic.twitter.com/WunQinzX0g

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) April 1, 2026

Meanwhile, wide receiver Tank Dell continued his comeback path Monday as he participated in the offseason workouts.

Dell is making a strong recovery from a dislocated knee and torn anterior cruciate, medical collateral and lateral collateral ligaments. After undergoing two surgeries performed by Dr. James Andrews and missing the entire season last year, after getting hurt in December 2024 while catching a touchdown pass against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, Dell is making tangible progress.

Oh hey @Tankdell4 👋 pic.twitter.com/lZQNztxNUw

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) April 20, 2026

Ryans addressed Dell’s medical outlook during the NFL owners meetings and emphasized that the former University of Houston star won’t be rushed back into organized team activity practice sessions.

Texans general manager Nick Caserio said last week that the team will evaluate where Dell stands after spring workouts to determine his activity level at training camp. He was noncommittal on a timeline.

“With Tank, honestly, it’s probably a day-to-day, we’ll kind of see where he is,” Caserio said. “Probably have a better idea as we get through the spring of what his availability is going to be in training camp. He’s been here pretty religiously, since he’s been able to do more once he’s gotten out of the rehab stage.”

Dell has fought through all of the doubt and frustration of an injury that interrupted the dynamic start to his NFL career, leaning on faith, hard work, family, friends and coaches like Ryans to remain positive and optimistic.

Dell called it the hardest year of his life.

The Texans are optimistic about Dell’s medical outlook, but aren’t rushing the process. Dell has posted several workout videos showing himself cutting and catching passes and lifting weights as he works his way back from the injury.

The Texans do expect Dell to participate in the offseason conditioning program.

“Tank, he’s grinding, great attitude,” Ryan said during the NFL meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. “Don’t know if OTA’s he’ll be there, but I know he’ll back for us at some point this year. As I told Tank, it’s not a matter of getting back to OTA’s just to get back, it’s just a matter of getting back in a really good spot physically to where you stay there.

“That’s the main thing. It’s not about how quickly he returns. It’s just about Tank returning because we saw what Tank can do: the playmaking that he provides to our entire team. Just getting him back, whenever that time is, it’s going to lift our team.”

Dell is looking forward to making a healthy return and get back to playing the game he loves.

“What I’ve been through is something that taught me to be humble and just keep working, I’m back, I’m feeling good right now,” Dell said hosting a shopping spree at Academy Sports and Outdoors for athletes from Boys & Girls Club of Greater Houston in honor of National Women’s and Girls Sports Day. “Once the season comes, I’m gonna cook up.”

Running free, catching touchdown passes, bolting past coverage.

That’s the vision for Dell. The comeback trail is being paved month by month for Dell as he continues to strengthen his surgically repaired knee after a devastating knee injury a year ago that sidelined him for the entire season.

Dell tried to make a return for the end of the season as the Texans made another playoff run that ended in the divisional round, but it was regarded as too soon for him to get back out there.

“I was making a push, I wanted to be out there with the guys,” Dell said. “Last year, that football season alone, was the hardest year of my life. Just sitting out of football for a year straight. Been playing football since I was five and that was my first year I ever had to sit out of football so that was hard. I tried to make a push back, it didn’t go as planned. I got time now and I’ll be ready.”

Stroud was the subject of heavy criticism locally and nationally and on social media with lots of cruel jokes and commentary surrounding one of the most successful young quarterbacks in the league.

“In every way possible, like he was there for me,” Dell said of his support for Stroud. “People can say what they want about seven, you know. They sitting on the couches just typing on the computer, typing on their phones. But everybody knows who Seven is.

“Especially in the facility, we know who he is. And when we get back out there with him, it’s going to be special. So, we can let them say what they want about him.”

Dell switched to his college jersey: No. 1

“You all know the connection we have and I know he’s getting his No. 1 back, so he’s happy about that,” Stroud said. “I’m happy for him to get Uno back. So, we’re going to be coming back trim and I can’t wait to get my brother back on the field. I think our connection, hopefully our chemistry picks right back up where we left off.”

NOTE: Tight end Cade Stover, who avoided needing knee surgery this offseason, after getting hurt against the Patriots in the playoffs, is participating in the offseason program.

Stover has made a full recovery from the knee injury and a hernia. He had surgery to repair a broken foot suffered in the first game last season, making a healthy return.

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

Position overview

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

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

Responsibilities

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

Key qualifications

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

Preferred qualifications

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

Location:

WDIV

550 W Lafayette Blvd

Detroit, MI 48226

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

Click HERE to download and complete employment application.

Additional information

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

No Phone Calls Please

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

The World Cup debuts in June, and on June 14, Houston will begin a stretch of seven matches that will last until July 4 at Reliant Stadium.

• Will Houstonians be priced out of World Cup matches? How much viewers are willing to pay ahead of FIFA 2026

The opening match on June 14 in Houston will be powerhouse Germany against Curacao, which will be making its World Cup Debut.

Three days later, Portugal, which will bring a large fan base to Houston, will make its 2026 debut.

• FIFA raises top ticket price for World Cup final to $10,990 during glitch-hampered sales reopening

All matches will be played at 12 p.m. central time, except the one played on June 26, which begins at 7 p.m.

The President of the World Cup Houston Host Committee is Chris Canetti, and he stopped by KPRC 2 for Sports Sunday with KPRC 2 Sports Director Randy McIlvoy.

Sunday marked 53 days out from the opener on June 14.

In the latest religious rights case for the conservative-majority court, the justices will hear from Colorado's St. Mary Catholic Parish and the Archdiocese of Denver, which are supported by the Republican Trump administration.

The schools argue that Colorado is violating their religious rights by barring them from the taxpayer-funded universal preschool program over their faith-based admission policies. They say the state has allowed other preschools to prioritize children with disabilities or those from low-income families, so admission based on religious beliefs about gender and same-sex marriage should be allowed, too.

The state said that religious schools are welcome to participate but are required to follow nondiscrimination laws. Income and disability decisions are in line with those rules, Colorado said. The program was created by a 2020 ballot measure and provides public funding for preschool at schools selected by parents.

The plaintiffs are represented by the group Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which applauded the high court’s decision to take up the case.

“The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that states cannot exclude families from government benefits because of their faith. We’re confident the Court will say the same thing here and put a stop to Colorado’s no-Catholics-need-apply rules,” said Nicholas Reaves, a senior counsel at Becket.

As part of the case, which will be heard in the fall, the court will consider narrowing a landmark 1990 decision over the spiritual use of peyote, a cactus that contains a hallucinogen called mescaline. That opinion, written by conservative icon Justice Antonin Scalia, found religious practices don’t create exemptions from broadly applicable laws.

The justices declined a push from the schools, along with a Catholic family in Colorado, to overturn the ruling.

The high court recently has backed other claims of religious discrimination while taking a more skeptical view of LGBTQ+ rights.

The justices last month ruled against another law in Colorado that banned “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids after the measure was challenged by a Christian counselor.

Last year, the justices found that parents who have religious objections can pull their children from Maryland public school lessons that use LGBTQ+ storybooks. In 2022, the court found a high school football coach who knelt and prayed on the field after games was protected by the Constitution.

The court deadlocked, though, over a plan to establish a publicly funded Catholic charter school after Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused herself.

___

Follow the AP's coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

Hug's fourth consecutive win in Boston puts him into second place all-time in Boston men’s wheelchair history, behind only South African great Ernst van Dyk’s record 10 titles between 2001 and 2014. American racer Daniel Romanchuk was second in 1:22:44, followed by Jetze Plat of the Netherlands in 1:24:13.

In the women’s race, Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Britain earned her second win in Boston, crossing the finish line in 1:30:51. Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland was second in 1:32:59 and Tatyana McFadden of the United States was third in 1:36:43.

American racer Susannah Scaroni, the 2023 and 2025 champion, did not defend her title. She is expecting her first child.

Hug jumped in front of the field quickly, building a 13-second advantage over David Weir of Britain three miles into the race. That lead grew to 55 seconds by the halfway point.

Since winning the Berlin Marathon in 2022, Hug has lost only one of the seven world major titles, when he finished second at the New York Marathon in 2024.

The race came on a clear morning with starting temperatures in the low 40s.

___

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

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

The European Union has largely been on the sidelines in the Middle East despite being the biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians and backing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A majority of EU member countries now recognize an independent Palestinian state after many expressed outrage over Israeli actions in Gaza. The 27-nation bloc is also Israel’s top trading partner and a major buyer of Israeli weapons.

But the EU had no role in negotiating the October ceasefire in Gaza that took effect after two years of war. And European moves to condemn or sanction some Israeli actions frequently had been vetoed by Orbán.

Now Hungary's next leader, Péter Magyar, is indicating he will act differently from Orbán on Israel. And some leaders critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, like Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, are pushing for decisive action.

Challenging Europe's agreement with Israel

Magyar has said he would seek “pragmatic relations” with Israel but also rejoin the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over Gaza. Orbán defied that warrant while hosting Netanyahu in 2025, then started the process of Hungary leaving the world’s only court for war crimes and genocide.

Magyar also said he might not continue Orbán’s policy of vetoing actions on Israel — a stumbling block that EU leaders critical of Israel have failed to overcome over the past three years of conflict in the Middle East.

After the Brussels meeting, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that without Orbán's veto action could be coming soon, such as imposing sanctions on violent Israeli settlers.

“We have 27 countries and 26 countries want to put violent settlers sanctions in place,” she said. “The one who doesn’t want the sanctions on violent settlers has gotten their upper hand. Now, this country had elections, and we’ll have a new government.”

The Spanish prime minister wants the EU to suspend its long-standing Association Agreement with Israel and has said Spain will make a formal proposal at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting on Tuesday.

However, a suspension seems unlikely because countries such as Austria and Germany tend to back Israel.

The agreement in force since 2000 sets out the legal and institutional framework within which the bloc and Israel conduct trade and cooperation. The EU has found indications Israel had violated that agreement in its military campaign in Gaza.

Other action, such as targeted sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank, could be approved if a “qualified majority” — 15 of the 27 nations representing at least 65% of the EU's population — agree.

Ongoing attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and continued devastation in Gaza, have dimmed the prospect for a two-state solution, said Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot ahead of Monday's meeting.

“The two-state solution is being made more difficult by the day,” Prévot said. “But Belgium and many European and Arab partners continue to believe that this remains the only realistic path to a lasting peace, for Israelis, for Palestinians and for the stability of the entire region.”

Palestinian prime minister calls for unity

Gaza requires “one state, one government, one law and one goal,” Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Mustafa said in Brussels.

“Our common objective of achieving one security structure under the legitimate authority should guide the effective coordination between the International Stabilization Force, the Palestinian Authority, security institutions and other international actors. Security must not be fragmented,” he said.

He also called for “the gradual and responsible collection of arms from all armed groups and also the full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.” The disarmament of Hamas is a major challenge in next steps for the ceasefire in Gaza.

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

The EU has avoided directly joining the Board of Peace created by the Trump administration to tackle Gaza, preferring the multilateralism of the United Nations and global legal norms. But the bloc is eager to not be sidelined in diplomacy in the Middle East, just across the Mediterranean.

During the Brussels meeting, Mustafa said he had met for the first time Nikolay Mladenov in the Bulgarian diplomat's role as the Trump-appointed director of Board of Peace. He said he pressed Mladenov on ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza, increasing humanitarian assistance and security in the coastal enclave. “We see eye to eye on many things, and I think that we will be meeting again in the near future,” Mustafa said.

___

Associated Press writers Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal and Justin Spike in Budapest, Hungary contributed to this report.

It took stumbling across an article about a female chemical engineer who became a master whiskey distiller for something to click: Ireland's fellow students could go into plastics and pharmaceuticals, she was going into whiskey.

“It was kind of like a connection of, 'hey, I can see someone who looks like me, who has the same exact kind of education and background doing this job,' and kind of opened it up as an option,” said Ireland, now the chief blender behind Vermont-based whiskey brand WhistlePig.

Ireland is among a growing number of women who have become leaders inside a traditionally male-dominated industry that has not always welcomed outsiders. Increasingly, women are launching their own brands and finding new ways to innovate in distilling and blending at a time when more women are drinking whiskey.

Women are often asked: ‘Do you even like whiskey?’

There is a common, lingering doubt among some male colleagues and consumers that the women gaining expertise in the industry even like whiskey.

Becky Paskin, a journalist from the U.K. and founder of OurWhiskey Foundation, an organization that promotes and supports women in the whiskey business, said she was asked that question while serving as a judge at a whiskey tasting event.

“It is a drink that comes with certain expectations around which gender drinks it and which gender makes it,” Paskin said, adding: “Barely any other drink or food falls under such scrutiny,”

Paskin says part of her work is creating stock images of women consuming whiskey that don't present women as sex objects and are not a public service warning.

“The only images of women drinking whiskey were depicting them as being pregnant, drunk, naked; or pregnant, drunk and naked,” she said.

There's a long history of women preserving and advancing whiskey

Whiskey-making has long been considered a masculine profession in America, a drink exclusively enjoyed by men swirling golden liquid in dark, smoky rooms. But industry experts and historians are quick to point out that women have always been involved in the process and were likely key to its survival in the U.S.

The first distilling instrument was created by a woman, Maria Hebraea, an alchemist from around the 2nd century, according to Susan Reigler, a bourbon expert. From there, distilling was largely seen as women’s work as they were in charge of home brewing, making medicine and taking care of the home.

Women notably managed distilleries in the 1800s in Kentucky, where Catherine Carpenter recorded the first known recipe for sour mash, now the most common style of American whiskey. And while women led the temperance movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, some historians estimate there may have been more female bootleggers than men during Prohibition — in part because women were less likely to be searched by police, according to the book “Whiskey Women,” written by Fred Minnick.

Reigler says she often marvels at the U.S. whiskey industry's transformation, which was in a serious downturn in the 1990s when she first began reporting on it from Louisville, Kentucky. As distillers worked to make whiskey appealing to American consumers, Reigler began documenting how women contributed to that effort, ranging from the wives who made key marketing decisions that boosted distillery tourism to the female bartenders who designed new whiskey cocktails.

Three women co-founded the Kentucky Bourbon Trail — a novel idea at the time that has since been copied across the country — including Peggy Noe Stevens, the world's first female Master Bourbon Taster, who was working at Woodford Reserve, as well as Donna Nally with Maker's Mark and Doris Calhoun with Jim Beam, Reigler said.

“There have always been women in bourbon,” she said. “But a lot of them have been behind the scenes.”

Women advance innovation and creativity in whiskey

In Vermont, Ireland has been in charge of keeping WhistlePig’s whiskey consistent since 2018, but she also oversees experimental batches. Her first whiskey innovation was the Boss Hog VII that quickly attracted praise and awards for her decision to finish it in Spanish oak and Brazilian teakwood barrels.

Ireland says more women becoming involved in the industry establishes whiskey as “a drink for everyone.”

“It can be enjoyed by everyone and it’s being made by females too,” she said.

Judy Hollis Jones spent years as a senior executive in the food industry before launching a whiskey company in Kentucky in 2019. The transition to the whiskey world mimicked the boardrooms she had been in for decades, where she was often the only woman present.

Hollis Jones is the president and CEO of Buzzard's Roost, a whiskey brand she co-founded with Master Blender Jason Brauner. She describes the whiskey industry as a “tough business” that has ebbed and flowed over the years, but one thing that has steadily increased is the amount of women showing up to tastings and tours, eager to take partake in the whiskey experience.

“I’ve had people say to me, ‘Oh, well, you don’t wear jeans, boots and a cowboy hat,’” she said. “And I said: ‘No, I don’t. And every bourbon drinker female does not. We are very wide range of people that love bourbon.’”

___

Associated Press reporter Dylan Lovan in Louisville, Kentucky, contributed.

The large-scale drills will expand this year to include new full-time participants including Japan and Canada, which have signed visiting forces agreements with Manila, the Philippine military said.

More than 17,000 American and Filipino military personnel will participate in the Balikatan — Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder — exercise. The event will last nearly three weeks and include mock battle scenarios and live-fire maneuvers in locations including Philippine provinces facing the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

China has objected to the U.S.-Philippine drills, saying they are aimed at containing its global rise. The Philippine military has insisted the exercise does not target any country and is needed to prepare allied forces to respond to natural disasters.

Nearly 10,000 U.S. military personnel will take part in the drills, a major deployment that U.S. military officials said underscores Washington’s commitment to Asia.

“Regardless of the challenges elsewhere in the world, the United States focus on the Indo-Pacific and our ironclad commitment to the Philippines remains unwavering,” Marine Lt. Gen. Christian Wortman said in the opening ceremony.

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner said the multinational combat drills build deterrence and resilience against aggression in the region. He did not mention any country in his speech, but in the past he has strongly criticized China for its increasingly assertive actions against Philippine navy and coast guard forces in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.

The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also lay claims to the waters, a key global trade route, but territorial confrontations have particularly spiked between Chinese and Filipino forces in recent years.

In Beijing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun warned, without mentioning the United States, that bringing foreign forces with a record of impunity to the region could spark confrontation.

“Unilateralism and military bullying have already brought profound disasters to the world,” he said. “What the Asia-Pacific region needs most is peace and stability, and what it least needs is the introduction of external forces to create division and confrontation.”

The U.S. has repeatedly warned China that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces come under armed attack in disputed waters.

“We remain guided by a shared commitment to uphold international law, to respect sovereignty and to contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific where nations can thrive without coercion,” Brawner said.

During the drills, Japanese forces will fire missiles from a coastal area in the northwestern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte to help sink a mock enemy ship about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away in the peripheries of the South China Sea, Philippine marine. Col. Dennis Hernandez told The Associated Press.

U.S. forces will use a marine drone laden with explosives to further bombard the enemy ship, Hernandez said.

Japan is deploying a 1,400-member contingent to the Balikatan this year, its biggest since joining in the past as an observer nation, Japanese and Philippine military officials said.

Last year, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth assured Philippine officials while visiting Manila that the Trump administration would work with allies to ramp up deterrence against threats across the world, including China’s aggression in the South China Sea.

“Friends need to stand shoulder to shoulder to deter conflict, to ensure that there is free navigation whether you call it the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea,” Hegseth told Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

___

AP journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila, Philippines and Huizhong Wu in Bangkok contributed to this report.

A once-heralded high school football player ranked as the top player in the state of Texas, Perkins can rush the passer, stop the run, drop back in coverage and excel on special teams. He played the Star position for the Tigers.

He’s the fastest linebacker in the draft with a 4.38 time in the 40-yard dash and had a 10-4 broad jump with a 35-inch vertical leap at his Pro Day.

“I’m an X-factor,” Perkins said during the NFL scouting combine. “Come get me.”

Perkins, who was given the coveted No. 7 jersey by LSU which is a major nod of respect in the program, can line up practically anywhere from edge to off-ball linebacker to big nickel or safety.

At 6-foot-1, 223 pounds, Perkins is a slightly undersized and instinctive linebacker.

He has made a full recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament that cut his season short two years ago.

He has conducted Zoom interviews with several teams, including multiple with the hometown Texans, who have displayed interest in Perkins throughout the draft process, in addition to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visited several teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers and Los Angeles Chargers and has met formally with the New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles at the NFL scouting combine. The Green Bay Packers, Eagles, Chargers, Washington Commanders Steelers, New England Patriots, Buccaneers and Las Vegas Raiders have shown consistent interest in Perkins throughout the draft process.

In four seasons at LSU, he recorded 220 tackles, 35 1/12 for losses and 17 sacks.

As a true freshman, Perkins made an immediate impact with 75 tackles, 13 for losses and 5 1/2 sacks with three forced fumbles. He had three sacks in a game against Arkansas.

As noted by East-West Shrine Bowl director Eric Galko, Perkins has played in over 600 snaps as an edge, over 900 snaps at linebacker, and over 700 snaps in coverage as a defensive back and over 200 snaps on special teams.

He led the team with four sacks last season and intercepted three passes.

“He’s a defensive weapon,” Galko said. “He could end up being one of the most impactful defensive front seven players from this draft class.”

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

There is a case to be made that Pope Leo XIV, the careful, reserved, Midwestern Augustinian, found his voice on his epic trip through Africa, blasting the “handful of tyrants” and “chains of corruption” that have held parts of the continent hostage for centuries.

But the fact is, Leo has been preaching this kind of message for a while now, including in the context of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. It just took U.S. President Donald Trump’s unprecedented broadside and Vice President JD Vance's claims of theological superiority for many people to pay attention, especially American Catholics.

“Yes, Pope Leo might give the impression that he is engaging, in his quiet way and with authority, and this is how it looks to the world press and social media,” Cardinal Michael Czerny, a top Vatican official and aide to Leo, told The Associated Press.

“But in fact the Holy Father’s homilies and talks in Africa have been prepared, well in advance, in terms of the local African reality and the church," Czerny said. "So, if they seem relevant to the current wars, controversy, this reminds us of Jesus saying, ‘Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear!’”

Leo tried to make that point when he came to the back of Air Pope One on April 18, en route from Cameroon to Angola, and complained that “a certain narrative” had taken hold suggesting he was in a feud with Trump over the Iran war and his peace messages in Africa were directed at the president.

Leo insisted his words about tyrants and the religious justification for war had been wrongly interpreted and he was referring only to the African context, and to a separatist conflict in western Cameroon, in particular.

The thin line of the pope's explanation

But Leo also was trying to have it both ways. Yes, he was talking about the separatist conflict at a peace meeting in Bamenda. Yes, he was preaching the Gospel message of peace and fraternity. But he also has been talking about Trump, a lot.

“That distancing of Pope Leo from some interpretations was really a move to de-escalate a very dangerous situation,” said Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology at Trinity College Dublin. “Because the Vatican needs the United States to restore some kind of peaceful — not order — but a horizon of peace, a hope of peace.”

Leo criticized Trump, directly, before he got to Africa. And in one remarkable comment two weeks ago, he encouraged the faithful to contact their congressional representatives to demand an end to the war.

The headline from the April 7 encounter outside Leo's country house in Castel Gandolfo was that Leo had called Trump’s threat to annihilate Iranian civilization “truly unacceptable.”

But the more significant message followed. “I would invite the citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war,” Leo said.

Faggioli termed the comment “the Vatican’s nuclear option,” making a direct appeal to U.S. voters to take a stand, because it genuinely feared Trump was about to take the Iran war in a vastly more catastrophic direction.

What came before Leo's unprecedented appeal

The Holy See had never resorted to such a directly political message from a pope even at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when a Catholic president — John F. Kennedy — was on the verge of a nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union, Faggioli said.

At that moment, Pope John XXIII did make a public appeal — his famous Oct. 25, 1962, radio address — with a strong, direct plea for peace including to “those who have the responsibility of power” to “do everything in their power to save the peace.”

The pope also sent private letters to Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and worked behind the scenes through diplomatic channels to de-escalate the situation. But he didn't urge U.S. voters to essentially choose which Catholic to listen to: their president or their pope.

“What is at stake now is that at a time of war, loyalties of Catholics are tested in a particular way,” Faggioli said. He added that however the situation ultimately resolves itself, the tension will complicate any future political aspirations of Catholics seeking high office, whether Vance on the Republican side or California Gov. Gavin Newsom on the Democratic side, as long as a U.S.-born pope is still in Rome.

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, director of the Global Catholic Research Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, said Leo has consistently operated “on a higher plane” but American Catholics are used to church discussion of morality in the context of sexuality, gender and abortion, and it's jarring to process foreign policy through a moral lens.

“So JD Vance can say the pope should stick to morality," she said, “but war and peace are ancient moral issues.”

The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, the under-secretary in the Vatican’s culture department, said Leo is continuing in the tradition of popes past to preach the Gospel message of peace. What has changed, he said, was how Trump reacted.

“The strong reaction arrived from America," he said. "It was America that reacted to Leo’s words, and not vice versa.”

Even with his direct comments about Trump, Leo was not engaging in an attack, Spadaro said.

“It’s very dangerous to imagine that the pope is fighting with Trump, because it means demeaning the pope to a level of contrast, one against the other, which Trump may want but that the pope has no intention of doing," he said.

New role, same Leo, Vatican official says

Spadaro added that from his perch, Leo hasn't changed at all from when he was known as Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary priest.

“I see the Prevost I’ve always seen,” Spadaro said. “Let’s say it’s the backdrop that has changed, so his calm yet very direct style stands in stark contrast to a chaotic scenario, and that’s why it’s striking.”

For better or worse, the incredible saga of Trump, the war and geopolitics seems far removed from Leo’s day-to-day ministering to his flock in Africa, who have turned out in droves to welcome the American pope in each stop on his four-nation tour.

The polyglot pope has made it easy for them to hear his words, delivering speeches, homilies and prayers in the languages of the faithful: French in Algeria, English and French in Cameroon, Portuguese in Angola and, starting Tuesday, Spanish in Equatorial Guinea.

Lucineia Francisco left her family behind on Sunday so she could see Leo at the Shrine of Mama Muxima, Angola’s most popular pilgrimage destination. Some 30,000 people turned out for Leo’s rosary prayer.

“My kids were crying to come, but I said no,” Francisco said. “This is a spiritual journey that I’m really going to face on my own.”

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

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This version corrects the title for Rev. Antonio Spadaro, the under-secretary in the Vatican’s culture department

Bianca Santorini, who runs a criminal defense law practice and travels hundreds of miles each week to courthouses, client meetings, and depositions, says the recent spike in gasoline prices has become impossible to ignore.

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In just two months, gas prices have jumped more than a dollar per gallon, adding significant strain to her daily commute and business operations.

Santorini says the financial pressure extends beyond her own travel.

As the owner of a 10-person law firm and a mother of four, she noticed her staff was also struggling to keep up with transportation costs.

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“I saw my employees struggling. A lot of them have children, and we’re getting squeezed from all sides,” Santorini said.

In response, she made a major workplace change, shifting to a hybrid schedule that allows employees to work from home two days a week, with plans to potentially expand remote work further in the future.

The adjustment, she says, is designed to ease financial stress while maintaining productivity in the office.

• 12 ways you can save money at the pump as 2026 gas prices climb

Santorini hopes other business owners consider similar flexibility as families continue to feel the impact of rising fuel costs.

For drivers looking for ways to save, free mobile apps like GasBuddy and Gas Guru can help locate the cheapest fuel prices nearby.

Membership warehouse clubs such as Costco and Sam’s Club also often offer discounted gas rates compared to traditional stations.

With all the ballots counted on Monday, results showed the Progressive Bulgaria coalition receiving 44.6% of the vote, some 30 percentage points ahead of the center-right GERB party of veteran leader Boyko Borissov and the pro-Western reformist bloc led by the We Continue the Change party. Those parties ran almost neck and neck, scoring 13.4% and 12.6% respectively. Borissov conceded defeat and congratulated Radev.

Two other parties also appear to have gained seats in the 240-seat chamber, according to the latest results.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Monday congratulated Radev on his election victory.

“Bulgaria is a proud member of the European family and plays an important role in tackling our common challenges. I look forward to working together, for the prosperity and security of Bulgaria and Europe,” she posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Radev promises a “European path” but with conditions

Radev described his party’s victory as unequivocal, a “victory of hope over distrust, a victory of freedom over fear," saying Bulgaria would “make every effort to continue on its European path”.

“But believe me, a strong Bulgaria and a strong Europe need critical thinking and pragmatism. Europe has fallen victim to its own ambition to be a moral leader in a world without rules,” Radev told reporters.

During his presidency, Radev gained a reputation as being sympathetic to Russia. He repeatedly opposed EU efforts to send military aid to Ukraine for its war against Russia's full-scale invasion. He has often argued that supporting Ukraine risks drawing Bulgaria into the war and has favored reopening talks with Russia as a way out of the conflict.

Maria Simeonova, head of the Sofia Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that although as president Radev often expressed pro-Russian statements, prompting comparisons to a “new Orbán,” given his landslide victory at home, he is likely to now seek external legitimacy through building relationships with other European leaders.

"Radev is unlikely to openly adopt an Orbán-style rhetoric, at least in his engagement with European counterparts. His criticism — particularly regarding financial and military support for Ukraine or sanctions against Russia — will be aimed primarily at the domestic audience,” said Simeonova.

Radev left the presidency to bid to be prime minister

Radev resigned from the mostly ceremonial presidency in January, a few months before the end of his second term, to launch a bid to lead the government in the more powerful role as prime minister.

The 62-year-old former fighter pilot earned a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the U.S. Air War College in 2003, before being appointed Bulgarian air force commander. His supporters are divided between those hoping he will put an end to the country’s oligarchic corruption and those lining up behind his euroskeptic and Russia-friendly views.

Bulgaria's previous conservative government collapsed in December after nationwide anti-corruption protests drew hundreds of thousands of mainly young people to the streets.

Radev’s popularity surged as he cast himself as an opponent of the entrenched mafia and their ties to high-ranking politicians. At campaign rallies he vowed to “remove the corrupt, oligarchic model of governance from political power.”

NATO and EU member Bulgaria has been repeatedly criticized for not tackling corruption and for deficiencies in the rule of law.

Vessela Tcherneva, Deputy Director of the Berlin-based European Council on Foreign Relations, said that the most important task for Radev’s government will not be foreign policy but rather freeing Bulgarian institutions from the control of Borissov and the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Delyan Peevski, an oligarch sanctioned for corruption by the US and Britain.

“For that he would get support from the reformist pro-European coalition We Continue the Change in parliament,” Tcherneva added.

Maybe this means an end to years of fragmented parliaments

Since 2021, the nation of 6.5 million has struggled with fragmented parliaments that produced weak governments, none of which managed to survive more than a year before being brought down by street protests or backroom deals in parliament.

Tired of the seemingly never-ending election roulette, people on the street reacted with mixed feelings to the latest election results.

“Above all, we expect a more stable judicial system, and for trust in institutions to truly be restored. Until now, they have been heavily influenced by various figures, many of whom, as we can see from the current results, have now left the government,” said Nikoleta Dimitrova, a 37-year-old shop assistant from Sofia.

Accountant Cveta Gerogieva, 55, was less optimistic: “I hope that we will really live a better life, but I am not sure that there will be stability for a long period. Probably we will vote again.”

Eight months after President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation's capital and called up the National Guard, more than 2,500 troops remain, in a deployment that has grown increasingly routine, with no clear end in sight.

Deployments to other cities have ended or been paused by courts in California and Illinois, while more limited operations are ongoing in cities including New Orleans. But in Washington, guard members still walk city streets and patrol metro stations, tourist attractions, neighborhoods and parks.

Even with pivotal elections looming this year, that lingering presence is barely mentioned in city council meetings or by candidates running for mayor and Congress — perhaps reflecting both competing priorities and a sense that local officials have little power to stop it. Unless the courts step in, the guard will remain at least through the end of the year, if not longer.

“Taxpayers are paying more than a million dollars a day to have them walk around,” said Phil Mendelson, chairman of the District of Columbia Council, in an emailed response to questions.

And, he said, “the presence of armed soldiers on American streets is not a good look.”

An indefinite deployment drags on

Trump, a Republican, issued an executive order in August to deal with what he called a crime emergency. The order brought the guard in, along with hundreds of additional federal law enforcement officers.

Over the months, guard members have responded to medical emergencies, assisted with arrests, helped local police enforce the city’s juvenile curfew and carried out beautification projects. The D.C. Guard helped with snow removal during a major storm in January.

While the guard members do not make arrests, the Trump administration argues their support to the broader mission has helped reduce crime. The White House said 12,000 arrests have been made by the task force since operations began, including 62 known gang members, and thousands of illegal firearms were seized.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the president's crime task force in the city has “yielded tremendous results for local communities.”

“Every local leader should want to mimic this success in their own locales,” Jackson said.

But officials disagree over how much credit the deployment can be given in Washington, a heavily Democratic city. Figures show crime was already on the decline before, although those figures are being investigated after claims arose against local police that they may have been manipulated.

A court battle over the guard deployment is ongoing, and without a judge stepping in it could go on as long as the White House wants.

Asked how long the guard deployment would continue, Jackson said in an email that there were “no announcements to make.”

The office of D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, which is challenging the deployment in court, declined to comment, citing the pending lawsuit. The National Guard Bureau at the Pentagon did not answer requests for comment.

Guard presence absent from public discourse

Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is not running for reelection, has walked a fine line on the guard's deployment and the broader federal intervention, at once appearing to work with the president but also pushing back on some of his demands, like local cooperation for immigration enforcement.

Leading candidates to replace Bowser and the city's 18-term non-voting delegate in Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, have focused on affordability, statehood and trying to hold federal agencies accountable for their role in the surge.

The District Council, which includes at least four candidates for mayor or delegate, unanimously approved a measure to increase transparency in federal law enforcement operations. While the military deployment is mentioned at times on campaign websites and in ads, it isn't currently a central campaign issue.

Other pressures on the city, including unemployment and lost revenue tied to federal workforce cuts, have taken priority. The city’s primaries are June 16, along with a special election for an at-large city council seat.

Some residents say frustrations over the guard eased after two members of the West Virginia contingent were ambushed just blocks from the White House, killing Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and severely injuring her colleague.

Kevin Cataldo, a neighborhood commissioner who joined the local Metropolitan Police on a walkalong in his neighborhood recently, said he already treated the guard members courteously, making a point to acknowledge them because they did not choose to be in the city. The shooting ambush deepened his sympathies for them. “That was just horrible,” he said.

District Council member Brianne Nadeau said constituents continue to ask why the guard is still around but the complaints are far fewer than at the start of the deployment.

“It would be great if the federal government would use its money and resources to help the District on the things we need help with and not act like an invading army,” Nadeau said in an email.

Fellow council members and mayoral candidates Janeese Lewis George and Kenyan McDuffie have raised similar issues, including the high costs.

There has been little recent public polling specifically on attitudes toward the presence of uniformed personnel in U.S. cities.

With DC's limited autonomy, pushback is a challenge

Several groups are planning protests and other events on May 1 to oppose the federal surge, including the continuing presence of the National Guard, said Keya Chatterjee co-founder and executive director of Free DC, an advocacy group that fights for the city’s autonomy. Among the goals: “an end to the military occupation of D.C. before the June election.”

Chatterjee said normalizing the guard’s presence makes it easier to suppress dissent and “tilt the playing field” in elections.

The presence of guns and military personnel could create an intimidating atmosphere during elections, Chatterjee said. Citizens have to step in and “number one, we have to help our neighbors feel safe voting.”

Scott Michelman, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia, said the situation underscores the city’s limits on self-governance.

Washington is a federal district with limited autonomy where Congress retains authority to review the city’s laws and control its budget and where the president has direct control of the D.C. Guard and can authorize an indefinite military deployment with little effective resistance from local authorities.

“We should have local control and local democratic accountability for the people who enforce our laws,” Michelman said. “D.C. is uniquely disempowered in our system in many ways.”

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This story has been corrected to show the spelling of the Free DC co-founder’s surname is Chatterjee, not Chatterjay.

For the first time since Hong Kong's deadliest fire in decades engulfed his apartment building in November, Mak stepped into his former home again Monday. His social worker had previously shown him a photo of the devastation.

The ceiling of the apartment where he and his wife lived for over 40 years and raised their children was burned so badly that steel rebar was visible. The floor was littered with broken tiles and parts of the apartment needed reinforcement to prevent collapse.

After the return visit to his charred home on the first floor with his family, the 78-year-old was left disappointed.

“All things were burned and turned into ashes,” Mak said.

The fire spread rapidly across seven of the eight buildings in the apartment complex in the suburban district of Tai Po, killing 168 people. Starting Monday, the thousands of residents displaced by the fire were returning to see what is left of their homes and retrieve their belongings. The process is expected to continue into early May.

Hong Kong Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk said over 1,400 people registered for the return are 65 or older, public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong reported. He said over 260 people returned to the complex Monday and police received some requests for help from residents who suspected their assets had been lost.

As the investigation into the cause of the fire continues, survivors have been living as best they can, scattered across the city, many in temporary housing as they wait to find out where they can resettle.

Loss of valuables in the ruins

The exteriors of some buildings remained blackened from the flames, a reminder of the tragedy.

The return will be particularly difficult for many of the complex's older residents, who made up over a third of some 4,600 people who lived there before the blaze.

With elevators out of service, some have been training to improve their fitness in preparation for climbing the stairs up the 31-story buildings.

There were many items in Mak’s apartment that the family cherished and longed to retrieve: a fishing rod Mak’s son bought him as a gift, wedding photos from half a century ago, letters from their son. All of them were destroyed. They were able to retrieve some charred photo albums with pages stuck together and faces damaged beyond recognition.

Mak's wife, Kit Chan, 74, likened their home to ruins. A box that stored her jewelry including two diamond rings was empty and she suspected theft. The family reported their losses to the authorities.

“My mood is not so good because when I think of valuable, worth remembering items, they are all lost,” she said, pointing to a red cloth with guest signatures from her wedding.

Other residents found items including a painting, wedding rings and a damaged jewelry box.

Former residents have complex feelings

Steven Chung said the staircases were blackened when he climbed several flights and found some valuable belongings he wanted to retrieve. But he had concerns beyond his possessions.

“I worry about another problem because housing prices are increasing rapidly these days,” he said.

Cyrus Ng, 39, lived on the 10th floor of the Wang Fuk Court complex with his parents for over a decade before moving out.

In the immediate aftermath of the fire, he couldn’t sleep, feeling angry, sad and worried about his parents. Nearly five months later, he is more emotionally settled but has not fully accepted what happened.

“We know there are suspicious issues behind this,” he said. “I hope we can really find the truth.”

A lawyer representing an independent committee conducting an ongoing inquiry into the fire’s cause has said almost all fire safety systems failed on the day of the blaze because of human error.

Ng has mixed feelings about returning next week to their apartment, which was spared the worst damage. He fears the emotional impact on his parents, but looks forward to the chance to retrieve their title deed, old photos, clothes and other valuable items.

He also said he is worried about theft after months of vacancy. Police arrested three men in March on suspicion of stealing from the site.

Mixed responses to resettlement offers

The government previously said repairing the damaged buildings cost-effectively would be difficult. Officials were inclined to demolish the seven fire-ravaged buildings, and have proposed to buy back the homeownership rights from the fire victims.

They cited results from a residents' survey, dashing hopes for those who want their homes on the site rebuilt.

Some residents questioned that stance. Data from the fire inquiry showed that only half of some 1,700 apartments in the seven buildings were damaged, to varying degrees.

Ng wondered if some of the buildings could be repaired to allow some residents to return, though his parents were already considering the government’s offer of an apartment elsewhere. He plans to take photos of his apartment during his return to document its condition and help prove that some homes were unaffected.

Other residents who lived in the only building in the complex that escaped the fire face the trauma of living with nightmarish memories.

Stephanie Leung, a resident of that block, is reluctant to live in the same apartment again. She said her family would face great mental stress every time they looked out over the seven other buildings where their former schoolmates or friends died.

She hopes the government will include her block in the same plan as the other buildings, while allowing those who want to remain to stay.

“Whenever I go back, I want to cry,” she said.

The teams announced the deal Sunday after agreeing to it Saturday night pending a physical.

Cincinnati then signed Lawrence to an extension that pays him an average of $28 million through the 2028 NFL season, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The Giants now have the fifth and 10th picks for the draft that begins Thursday night. They’re heading into their first draft under coach John Harbaugh after finishing 4-13 last season.

The Bengals paid a hefty price for the 28-year-old Lawrence, who asked for a trade because he wanted a new contract. He was set to make roughly $20 million each of the next two seasons and is now under contract for three more.

“I know they gave up a lot for me, and I appreciate that. I don’t take that for granted. I have a fire in me,” Lawrence said Sunday at Paycor Stadium, according to the Bengals' website.

Barring a trade, it’ll be the first time Cincinnati doesn’t have a first-round pick since 1989, when the Bengals traded the next-to-last pick in the draft (No. 27) to Atlanta for a second-round pick (No. 35), a fourth (No. 89) and a 10th (No. 256).

The 6-foot-4, 340-pound Lawrence had a career-high nine sacks in 2024 but only registered a half-sack last season. He made the Pro Bowl in 2022-24 and was a second-team Associated Press All-Pro in 2022 and 2023.

The Bengals ranked near the bottom in several defensive categories last season. They were 31st in yards allowed, 30th in points allowed and 30th against the run.

With Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins leading a dynamic offense, improving the defense was a must this offseason. Lawrence gives Cincinnati a proven star in the middle of the defensive line, though the cost was steep.

The Giants will be the 22nd team in the common draft era (since 1967) to have two top-10 picks and the fifth in the last five years. They did it in 2022 with Kayvon Thibodeaux (fifth) and Evan Neal (seventh). The Bears took Caleb Williams first and Rome Odunze ninth in 2024. The Texans selected C.J. Stroud second and Will Anderson Jr. third in 2023. The Jets got Sauce Gardner fourth and Garrett Wilson 10th in 2022.

On Tuesday, Giants general manager Joe Schoen said the team was having productive talks with Lawrence’s camp.

“We’d like for Dexter to be here, and at some point we’ll come to a resolution here, whatever that may be,” Schoen said. “We’ll see. But conversations have been really good, they’ve been productive and we’ll see what happens here down the road.”

But owning two top-10 picks was too good to pass up.

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AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow and AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy contributed to this report.

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

And for the eighth consecutive year, the MVP will be an international one.

Gilgeous-Alexander — the reigning NBA MVP — is one of the finalists for this year's top individual honor, along with Denver's Nikola Jokic and the Spurs' Wembanyama, who is also a finalist for defensive player of the year.

The NBA's run of international MVPs started in 2019 and 2020 with Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is of Greek and Nigerian descent. Jokic, a Serbian, won in 2021, 2022 and 2024. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, who was born in Cameroon but since became a U.S. citizen, won the award in 2023, and Canada's Gilgeous-Alexander won last year.

Gilgeous-Alexander is also a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year this season.

The NBA announced the finalists for seven individual awards Sunday night and will start announcing winners on Monday. The Defensive Player award — widely expected to be going to Wembanyama — comes out then, followed by Clutch Player on Tuesday and Sixth Man on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the appeal that got the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic onto the award ballots might earn him All-NBA, but did not lead to him getting his first MVP award. He was not among the top three in the balloting for MVP; voters cast their ballots last week after Doncic and Detroit's Cade Cunningham won appeals that got them on the ballot even though they didn't satisfy the terms of the NBA's 65-game rule for eligibility in most cases.

Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards lost his appeal — but might get an award after all.

Edwards is a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year. He wasn’t on the ballot for MVP, All-NBA and other honors, but was on the Clutch ballot because those nominees were selected by the league’s coaches.

The finalists

— MVP: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City; Nikola Jokic, Denver; Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio.

— Defensive Player of the Year: Wembanyama; Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City; Ausar Thompson, Detroit.

— Clutch Player: Anthony Edwards, Minnesota; Gilgeous-Alexander; Jamal Murray, Denver.

— Most Improved Player: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta; Deni Avdija, Portland; Jalen Duren, Detroit.

— Sixth Man: Tim Hardaway Jr., Denver; Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami; Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.

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

— Rookie of the Year: VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia; Cooper Flagg, Dallas; Kon Knueppel, Charlotte.

MVP

Gilgeous-Alexander is trying to go back-to-back, Jokic — who has been first or second in five straight seasons, entering this year — is seeking his fourth MVP in six years and Wembanyama is a finalist for the first time.

Coach of the Year

Bickerstaff won the award from the National Basketball Coaches Association, selected by his peers, and is the likely favorite for the official NBA honor. Johnson and Mazzulla both led teams that widely exceeded most preseason expectations.

Rookie of the Year

This will likely be a two-person race in the end, with Flagg and Knueppel — both former Duke players — the presumed frontrunners. That would suggest Edgecombe likely finishes third.

Defensive Player of the Year

Wembanyama was the likely frontrunner to win it last season, but wound up falling short of eligibility after being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis at the All-Star break and missing the rest of the season.

Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert’s bid for a fifth DPOY award — which would break a record — will continue for at least one more year.

Clutch Player

Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in clutch scoring per game, with Edwards second. Denver had two legitimate candidates with Murray and Nikola Jokic; voters clearly gave Murray the edge.

Clutch scoring is defined as points that come in the final five minutes of a game where the point differential between teams is five or less.

Sixth Man of the Year

Jaquez averaged 15.4 points in 74 appearances off the bench, Johnson averaged 13.2 points — after playing in all 82 Spurs games as a reserve — and Hardaway also averaged 13.2 points in the 74 games where he came off Denver’s bench.

The winner will be a first-time selection for the award.

Most Improved Player

Avdija averaged 24.2 points and led Portland’s surge to the playoffs, while Alexander-Walker — bidding to give Atlanta its second consecutive MIP winner after Dyson Daniels last season — averaged 20.8 points, by far the most his career.

Duren was a first-time All-Star selection and averaged 19.5 points, almost double what he averaged last season despite playing basically the same amount of minutes.

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

The ALA on Monday issued its annual list of the books most challenged at the country's libraries, part of the association's State of America's Libraries Report. Patricia McCormick's “Sold,” a 2006 novel about sex trafficking in India, topped the list for 2025. Others targeted include Stephen Chbosky's high school novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Maia Kobabe's graphic memoir “Gender Queer” and Sarah J. Maas' romantasy favorite “Empire of Storms.”

The ALA usually features 10 books, but this year has 11, with four tied for eighth place: Anthony Burgess' dystopian classic “A Clockwork Orange,” Ellen Hopkins' sibling drama “Identical,” John Green's boarding school narrative “Looking for Alaska” and Jennifer L. Armentrout's paranormal romance “Storm and Fury.”

Objections include LGBTQ+ themes (“Gender Queer,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”), sexual violence (“Sold” and “A Clockwork Orange”) and use of alcohol and cigarettes (“Looking for Alaska”). Overall, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom recorded challenges to 4,235 different works, topped only by 4,240 in 2023 since the association began keeping track more than 30 years ago.

The association defines a challenge as “an attempt to have a library resource removed, or access to it restricted, based on the objections of a person or group.” Monday's list arrives during National Library Week, which runs through April 25.

“Libraries exist to make space for every story and every lived experience,” ALA President Sam Helmick said in a statement. “As we celebrate National Library Week, we reaffirm that libraries are places for knowledge, for access, and for all.”

The ALA compiles its survey through media accounts and submissions from libraries. The actual numbers are likely much higher because many incidents are never reported, the association acknowledges.

For decades, challenges to a given book came from a parent or another member of a local community. But in recent years, the ALA has found, the trend has shifted sharply to government officials and such conservative activists as Moms for Liberty, who advocate “parental choice” in deciding what schools and libraries should make available.

Florida, Texas and Utah are among the many states that have called for books to be banned or passed restrictive legislation. In Iowa, an appellate court ruled earlier this month that the state can enforce a law that limits teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ topics with students in kindergarten through the sixth grade and bans some books.

Last year, more than 90% of challenges arose from activists and government officials, according to the ALA, compared to 72% in 2024.

“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” Sarah Lamdan, executive director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, said in a statement. “They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign.”

Lamdan told The Associated Press that activists circulate lists of targeted books nationwide. Echoing a report last year from PEN America that tallied multiple bannings of “Sold,” “A Clockwork Orange” and other books, the ALA found that actual removals — more than 5,600 — well exceeded the number of books challenged.

“I think this reflects the reality that these lists are getting disseminated widely,” Lamdan said. “You can see video footage from various library board meetings where the same books are singled out over and over again.”

The ALA's list of the most challenged books of 2025

1. “Sold” by Patricia McCormick

2. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky

3. “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe

4. “Empire of Storms” by Sarah J. Maas

5. (tie) “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo

5. (tie) “Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins

7. “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas

8. (tie) “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess

8. (tie) “Identical” by Ellen Hopkins

8. (tie) “Looking for Alaska” by John Green

8. (tie) “Storm and Fury” by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes of London’s Metropolitan Police Service said officers arrested two young men, aged 19 and 17, overnight in relation to the attack on the Kenton United Synagogue in the borough of Harrow. The department has made a total of 15 arrests related to six attacks on Jewish targets and a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran's government that occurred over the past few weeks, he said in an interview with the BBC.

One “serious line of inquiry” is that Iran is hiring local criminals to carry out these attacks amid tensions in the Middle East, including the U.S.-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic, Jukes said.

“We’ve seen a pattern with other actors of thugs for hire, people taking cash that looks like quick and easy money,” Jukes said. “This is part of the modern hybrid war fought by proxies.”

In the most recent incident, a bottle containing a flammable liquid was thrown through the window of the Harrow synagogue on Saturday night, causing smoke damage, police said.

Counterterrorism police are investigating the series of incidents, which began on March 23 when an arson attack destroyed four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity that serves people of all faiths in north London. No one has been injured in the incidents.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office said he “shares the country’s shock at the recent antisemitic attacks.”

“He stands with the Jewish community and he is determined to do more to give them the security they deserve," his spokesman, Dave Pares, said Monday.

Police on Friday closed Kensington Gardens, a central London park visited by thousands of tourists and local residents every day, after a group that Israel has linked to Iran posted a video claiming Israel’s nearby London embassy was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances.

Police said the embassy was not attacked, but the force shut the park as officers examined discarded items including two jars containing powder. Police said nothing harmful was found.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said on Sunday that “a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum."

“Thank God, no lives have been lost, but we cannot, and must not, wait for that to change before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society,” he said on X.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said police are aware that a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia had claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in Britain. The same group has claimed responsibility for incidents in recent months at places of worship, business and financial institutions across Europe, all of which appear to be linked to Jewish or Israeli interests, she said.

Israel’s government has described Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy.”

The U.K. has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year to October.

Investigators say the pursuit began around 3:44 a.m. after a neighboring agency attempted to stop a driver connected to a burglary of a motor vehicle case. The driver did not stop, leading officers across multiple jurisdictions before the situation came to an end near the 6500 block of Del Rio Street.

Crash scene shows widespread damage

When the chase ended, the scene showed damage across several vehicles and public infrastructure.

A car believed to be connected to the suspects was left flipped on its side in the roadway. Nearby, a Bellaire police SUV crashed into a gate and a fire hydrant, with visible front-end damage.

At least two other civilian vehicles were impacted. One small sedan had heavy front-end damage, while another blue Hyundai sedan showed lighter damage. A light pole was snapped at the base.

Multiple agencies responded, including West University Police, Bellaire Police, Houston Police, and Precinct 7 constables. It is not clear which agencies were directly involved in the pursuit versus those who responded after it ended.

How the pursuit ended

Authorities say the driver did not stop for the initial agency, leading to a pursuit that lasted close to an hour.

Houston police used a PIT maneuver in an effort to stop the vehicle while trying to avoid other drivers.

During the pursuit, a Bellaire police officer crashed into a parked vehicle. Officials say that officer is expected to be okay.

Two suspects were detained at the scene and are expected to be okay. Investigators have not confirmed who was driving or how each person was involved.

A woman was seen in the back of a patrol vehicle. Police have not confirmed her role.

What I’m working to confirm

As a reporter on scene, I am working to learn:

• The identities of the suspects and whether charges have been filed
• A clearer description of each person involved
• Whether either suspect has a prior criminal history
• Which agency first attempted to stop the vehicle and where that happened
• More details about the officer involved in the crash
• A clearer timeline of how the pursuit unfolded

Neighbors heard the crash but declined to go on camera

Two neighbors who live near the crash site told me off camera they heard a loud noise early in the morning but did not want to be interviewed on camera.

Investigation ongoing

Authorities are still investigating what led up to the pursuit and how the crash unfolded. At this point, there are no active units on scene.

This is a developing story. Updates will be added as more information becomes available.

But unless a bill moving through Congress becomes law, that money could be taxed as income, taking big bites out of their payments and possibly disqualifying them from other government benefits.

“There was this terrifying disbelief,” Bree Jensen, communications director for the Eaton Fire Long-Term Recovery Group, said of informing fellow residents about the tax.

Thousands more who are suing the utility face the same prospect, as well as fire survivors in Colorado, Hawaii and Oregon after a tax exemption on wildfire-related compensation expired at the end of 2025.

In recent years, Congress has shielded wildfire settlements from taxes, but legislation to do so was short-lived and a struggle to pass, leaving gaps between laws that risk saddling some survivors with a possible tax burden on their compensation. A bipartisan House bill to extend the tax relief passed out of committee last month, but the timeline for bringing it to a floor vote and when the Senate will take action are unknown, leaving survivors in financial limbo.

“We have to assume we don’t have that money, so we’re making decisions, choosing cheaper materials, forgoing the solar,” said one Altadena homeowner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she fears compromising her expected settlement of about $700,000. If that money counts as income, she expects taxes would take 37%.

The homeowner hoped accepting a settlement would get her family home faster, after she, her husband and their four pets spent more than a year hopping between relatives' houses and rentals.

“All we wanted was to rebuild a comfortable house and get out of the situation we were in,” she said, adding their construction costs alone are estimated to reach $1 million.

As survivors watch lawmakers lock horns over the Iran war and the record-long Department of Homeland Security shutdown, some worry extending disaster tax relief will be de-prioritized.

“People have low expectations of anything actually getting done,” said Jenn Kaaoush, a 2021 Marshall Fire survivor and town council member in Superior, Colorado.

Compensation has become crucial to rebuilding

Utility equipment is believed to have sparked some of the deadliest and most destructive fires in recent years. Multibillion-dollar settlements have become common after these fires but take years to resolve.

As construction costs soar and insurance becomes more expensive and difficult to secure, compensation from lawsuits has become a critical component of how many households start over.

“It’s the difference between towns getting rebuilt and not getting rebuilt, quite frankly,” said attorney Doug Boxer, who has represented more than 17,000 Californians in cases against utilities and is part of the LA Fire Justice coalition suing Southern California Edison and its parent company, Edison International, on behalf of more than 2,000 clients.

SCE and Edison International have acknowledged their power equipment may have sparked the Eaton Fire, which destroyed 9,000 structures and killed 19 people. The utility last year announced a compensation program for those impacted, promising fast payments based on the value of one’s losses, as well as an additional premium for not joining litigation against the utility.

More than 2,800 households have applied for the compensation program. Thousands more are joining lawsuits against the utility. An investigation into the Eaton Fire's cause is ongoing.

Households can’t afford to lose a chunk of their payments to taxes, said Jensen, whose home also burned. “It sounds like a lot of money, but not in regards to how expensive it is to actually build in the community.”

A bipartisan bill would extend tax relief

Payments related to federally declared wildfire disasters from 2015 through 2026 would not count toward taxable income, according to legislation approved unanimously by the House Ways and Means Committee last month. That would apply to payouts received in 2026 and after.

The measure would extend expanded tax relief for property losses from federal disasters through this year, a provision that helped attract bipartisan support from lawmakers representing states vulnerable to hurricanes and other extreme weather.

Florida Rep. Greg Steube — a Republican who championed the 2024 tax relief bill and introduced its successor with fellow Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, now deceased, and with Democratic Reps. Mike Thompson and Jimmy Panetta of California — told The Associated Press he expects the legislation to ultimately pass, but he acknowledged “the exact timeline remains uncertain.”

Steube, whose southwest Florida constituents could benefit from the provision deducting personal casualty losses, has vowed to push the law forward.

Two similar bills were introduced in the Senate, but further action has not been taken.

After lobbying for the past and present bills as executive director of the survivor advocacy nonprofit After The Fire, Jennifer Gray Thompson said she believes lawmakers understand the bipartisan nature of disaster tax relief.

“As these disasters come in quick succession, we are going to have to adapt on all levels, and our tax code will have to adapt along with it,” she said.

Still, Gray Thompson said she can't be sure when action will come.

Survivors in Colorado, Hawaii and Oregon would also be impacted

Maui residents face similar challenges as they await payments from a $4 billion settlement with Hawaiian Electric. Only about 180 homes have been rebuilt in Lahaina among 2,200 structures destroyed.

What Lahaina survivors need most is “certainty,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen wrote to lawmakers in a letter supporting tax relief.

While the majority of destroyed homes in Superior have been rebuilt, Kaaoush, the town council member, said most survivors are still catching up financially after finding themselves underinsured.

She also worries that her constituents could be knocked off income-qualified government benefits for food, health care or veterans’ support if their wildfire payments count as income.

“This has second- and third-order impacts on their life that will do harm,” Kaaoush said.

Gray Thompson cautioned that while survivors waiting for relief can defer taxes or amend past returns, resolving issues with government programs, such as qualifying for college financial aid, is much harder. “There's no way to undo that,” she said.

Meanwhile, many in Altadena feel they’re continually facing new obstacles to returning home, said another resident who also lost his home and insisted on anonymity because of ongoing litigation.

Being taxed “would just add more pain and suffering for us, really,” he said.

This round of voting includes the Texas Senate District 4 race, where Democrat Ron Angeletti is facing Republican Brett W. Ligon.

In Harris County, officials say seven voting centers will be open during early voting, including locations in Kingwood, Huffman, Crosby, Highlands, Spring, North Houston, and downtown.

On Election Day, that number expands to 27 polling locations.

Beyond the Senate race, voters will also weigh in on local issues. In Magnolia, for example, the fire department is asking voters to approve a sales tax increase to 8.25 percent to help fund additional staffing.

Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth is expected to hold a press conference at 10 a.m. Monday, outlining voting details and reminding residents where and when they can cast their ballots.

Voters should also keep in mind that polls will be closed tomorrow in observance of San Jacinto Day.

This early voting period is separate from early voting for the primary runoff election scheduled for May 26.

For more information on voting times and locations, visit VoteTexas.gov.

I hope you had an amazing weekend! It’s Monday, so let me get you caught up on what went on this weekend (in case you missed it) and what’s happening this morning and today.

First, did you know today was the first day of early voting for the special election? Well, if you didn’t, now you do. Early voting includes the special election for Texas Senate District 4 with Democrat Ron Angeletti, who is facing Republican Brett Ligon.

To read more, click here.

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YOUR MORNING FORECAST ☀️

TODAY:73° TONIGHT: 69°

KPRC 2 Meteorologist says:

“Waking up to another cool morning with temperatures in the 50s! The cool air sticks around through the afternoon with highs only reaching the low 70s. The cool weather also comes with another round of rain. The best chance for rain will be west of Harris County; the farther east you go along I-10, the harder it will be to see measurable rainfall. Thankfully, there are no flood concerns with Monday’s rain, as most of the rainfall rates are expected to be light instead of heavy.”

Get your forecast details here.

TOP STORIES

Man kills 8 children and shoots his wife and another woman in Shreveport, Louisiana

A man killed eight children, including seven of his own, and shot two women in an attack in a Shreveport, Louisiana, neighborhood that was the nation’s deadliest shooting in more than two years, authorities said. At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred early Sunday, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community. Mourners laid flowers outside the single-story house on 79th Street, and people lit candles for the victims at an evening prayer vigil in a nearby parking lot.

Man hospitalized after shooting in northwest Harris County

Deputies are investigating a shooting that left a man injured in northwest Harris County on Monday morning. Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a shooting in the 400 block of Shane Street and found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg.

2 arrested, including 19-year-old, after road rage shooting leads to crash in west Harris County

A chaotic and dangerous situation unfolded in west Harris County on Sunday after a road rage incident involving at least two drivers. Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to a crash in the 3200 block of Greenhouse Road near Morton Road. When deputies arrived, they found one of the vehicles involved had multiple bullet holes.

ARE YOU A KPRC 2 INSIDER? HERE’S SOME EXCLUSIVES

Chris Shepherd shares two of his favorite Houston-area spots for a great meal with friends

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Waking up to another cool morning with temperatures in the 50s! The cool air sticks around through the afternoon with highs only reaching the low 70s.

The cool weather also comes with another round of rain.

The best chance for rain will be west of Harris County; the farther east you go along I-10, the harder it will be to see measurable rainfall.

Thankfully, there are no flood concerns with Monday’s rain, as most of the rainfall rates are expected to be light instead of heavy.

Here’s the timing:

By 5 a.m., the rain moves into Brenham, Columbus, Bay City, El Campo, and Rosenberg. By 8 a.m., light showers will begin across Harris County and continue through the evening.

The shower will go from scattered to spotty by 10 pm.

Tuesday:

Rain gear will become your best friend, as another wave of rain pushes into SE Texas on Tuesday.

We’ll continue to see daily chances of rain through the weekend.

10 Day Forecast:

If the rainy pattern persists, this will make it four weekends in a row of stormy weather.

Have storm or flood photos from your neighborhood? Share what you’re seeing with the KPRC 2 Weather Team through Click2Pins at click2houston.com/pins/.

At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred early Sunday, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community.

“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana.

Mourners laid flowers outside the single-story house on 79th Street, and people lit candles for the victims at an evening prayer vigil in a nearby parking lot.

“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them,” said Kimberlin Jackson, who was at the vigil.

The violence started before sunrise Sunday

Police said the man shot a woman at one home in the neighborhood south of downtown then drove to the second location.

Seven children were killed inside the second house, and one was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to escape, police spokesperson Chris Bordelon said. Another child jumped off the roof and was expected to survive after being taken to a hospital.

State Rep. Tammy Phelps said some children tried to get away through the back door. “I can’t even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” she said at a news conference.

“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said.

The children who were killed were 3 to 11 years old. They were three boys and five girls, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s office.

All the children were “happy kids, very friendly, very sweet,” said Crystal Brown, who is a cousin of one of the women who were shot.

The gunman died after a police pursuit

The gunman, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, died after a police pursuit that ended with officers firing on him, according to Bordelon. Authorities did not say what may have set off the violence but Bordelon said detectives were confident the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.”

Elkins had been arrested in a 2019 firearms case, but Bordelon said officials were not aware of any other domestic violence issues.

Elkins and his wife were in the middle of separating and were due in court Monday, according to Brown. She said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.

“He murdered his children,” Brown said. “He shot his wife.”

Elkins had four children with his wife and three children with another woman who lived close by and was also shot, according to Brown. All the children were together at one house, she said.

The shooting in Shreveport, a city of about 180,000 residents, was the deadliest in the U.S. since January 2024, when eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

Deputies with the Harris County Sherriff’s Office responded to reports of a shooting in the 400 block of Shane Street and found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg.

The man was transported to the hospital in stable condition.

The scene remained active for several hours before investigators cleared the area.

The world’s richest man and Linda Yaccarino — the former CEO of X — have been summoned for “voluntary interviews," while other employees of the platform are scheduled to be heard as witnesses throughout this week, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

It remains unclear whether Musk and Yaccarino will travel to Paris. A spokesperson for X did not respond to questions from The Associated Press and Yaccarino’s current company, eMed, did not answer a request sent to the press email.

French prosecutors also suspect that controversy around the platform’s AI system Grok's deepfakes was concocted to boost the value of Musk-owned companies ahead of a key market listing, and alerted U.S. authorities. Musk welcomed a report that U.S. justice officials refused to help French investigators, posting on X, “This needs to stop.”

The reason for summoning Musk

Musk was summoned after a search took place in February at the French premises of X as part of an investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office. Musk and Yaccarino have been invited in their capacities as managers of X at the time of the events investigated. Yaccarino was CEO from May 2023 until July 2025.

“These voluntary interviews with the executives are intended to allow them to present their position regarding the facts and, where appropriate, the compliance measures they plan to implement,” prosecutors said. “At this stage, the conduct of this investigation is part of a constructive approach, with the ultimate objective of ensuring that platform X complies with French law, insofar as it operates within the national territory.”

The Paris prosecutor's office said Musk and Yaccarino's potential no-show on Monday “is not an obstacle for investigations to continue.”

What is being investigated

French authorities opened their investigation after reports from a French lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms on X likely distorted the functioning of an automated data processing system. It expanded after the AI system, Grok, generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust, a crime in France, and spread sexually explicit deepfakes.

It’s looking into alleged “complicity” in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other charges.

Grok, which was built by xAI and is available through X, sparked global outrage this year after it pumped out a torrent of sexualized nonconsensual deepfake images in response to requests from X users.

Grok also wrote in a widely shared post in French that gas chambers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp were designed for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus” rather than for mass murder — language long associated with Holocaust denial.

In later posts on X, the chatbot reversed itself and acknowledged that its earlier reply was wrong, saying it had been deleted, and pointed to historical evidence that Zyklon B was used to kill more than 1 million people in Auschwitz gas chambers.

French prosecutors alert U.S. authorities

In March, the Paris prosecutor’s office alerted the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the U.S. federal agency responsible for regulating and overseeing financial markets — suggesting "that the controversy surrounding sexually explicit deepfakes generated by Grok may have been deliberately orchestrated to artificially boost the value of the companies X and xAI — potentially constituting criminal offenses," prosecutors said.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said this could have been done "ahead of the planned June 2026 stock market listing of the new entity formed by the merger of Space X and xAI, at a time when company X was clearly losing momentum.”

Justice Department brushes off French call

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department told French law enforcement authorities it wouldn’t facilitate their efforts to investigate Musk’s X. The newspaper reported that the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, in a two-page letter last week, accused the French of inappropriately using its justice system to interfere with an American business.

The letter also said France’s requests for U.S. assistance “constitute an effort to entangle the United States in a politically charged criminal proceeding aimed at wrongfully regulating through prosecution the business activities of a social media platform.”

French judicial authorities didn’t respond to requests for comments.

Investigations launched into several internet platforms

The cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor's office has launched in recent years a series of investigations focusing on internet platforms' suspected illegal activities.

French-language website Coco, which was cited in the landmark trial that turned Gisèle Pelicot into a global icon against sexual violence, closed in 2024 as its manager is accused of complicity in spreading child pornography and trafficking of children for sexual purposes, among other things.

Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, was handed preliminary charges and placed under judicial supervision for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the platform, including child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking.

The Paris prosecutor’s office opened last year an investigation into TikTok over allegations that the platform allows content promoting suicide and that its algorithms may encourage vulnerable young people to take their own lives.

Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it has lodged a new complaint against X with the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office targeting "the platform’s policies that allow disinformation to flourish.''

___

Associated Press reporter Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this story.

Chesnutt, a retired engineer, claims the five wells operating on her ranch are out of compliance with state rules and should be shut down. The company, CORE Petro, says that it’s struggling to break even, let alone pay to plug the wells. But it says that all its wells are in compliance.

There are thousands of oil and gas wells around Texas like these: low-producing wells leased by companies operating on a shoestring. About two-thirds of the active oil wells in Texas, or 99,000 wells, produce less than 10 barrels of oil a day, according to the state regulator. To remain active, oil wells in Texas must produce at least five barrels for three consecutive months or at least one barrel for 12 consecutive months.

Companies will often maintain a minimal amount of oil production instead of plugging a well, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Landowners like Chesnutt argue that this pattern can lead to pollution and burdensome equipment on their land.

Oil industry analysts and environmental advocates say they have heard claims that companies report the bare minimum of oil production to avoid plugging wells.

“The wells on the lease are all producing,” said Railroad Commission spokesperson Bryce Dubee.

Advocates of reforming the oil and gas industry say that stricter rules are needed to ensure companies plug wells in a timely manner and assume the costs so that it does not fall to the state.

In a 2022 report on Texas’ orphan well problem, the nonprofit organization Commission Shift wrote companies should not be able to “indefinitely ‘produce’ a teaspoon of crude or a cubic foot of gas simply to avoid paying for decommissioning.”

Texas has more than 159,000 inactive wells. If the operator of an inactive well goes out of business, the unplugged well eventually becomes an orphan. Texas is facing a record-high backlog of more than 11,000 orphan wells.

Chesnutt is the rare landowner who is fighting back against this broken system. The 69-year-old and her now-deceased husband bought the 375-acre property outside San Angelo in 1998. After retiring from a career working at a pharmaceutical company in San Angelo, she now tends goats and sheep on the ranch.

Her complaints to the Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas, have gone nowhere, she said. She has resorted to shutting off power to CORE Petro’s wells because she says they are out of compliance with state production rules. CORE Petro responds that it’s Chesnutt who is breaking the law by shutting off power and, without electricity, they have no way to produce oil at the wells.

“We’re between a rock and hard place,” said Cassie Ohlhausen, who runs CORE Petro with her husband, Kent. “We’re not financially able to plug a bunch of oil wells. That’s not why we’re in this business. We’re in this business to produce oil wells.”

Chesnutt’s growing frustration has spilled over into confrontations with CORE Petro and commission staff. The Railroad Commission alleges that Chesnutt physically assaulted staff members and endangered them with aggressive driving. The agency has instructed her to put all communications in writing to avoid future incidents. The owners of CORE Petro say she has threatened them with a gun. Chesnutt disputes these claims.

The Railroad Commission declined to answer numerous questions about the oil lease on Chesnutt’s ranch. Instead, commission staff provided a letter sent to Chesnutt that described altercations with staff members. The Railroad Commission has not issued any fines to CORE Petro.

New company takes over wells

Chesnutt’s ranch is one small window into the vast problem of Texas’ aging oil assets. Existing financial mechanisms are not enough to retire the thousands of low-producing oil wells littered across the Texas countryside. The problem eventually falls to the state or becomes a thorn in the side of landowners like Chesnutt.

Persimmon Creek Ranch lays where the desert scrubland of the Trans Pecos region meets the rocky woodlands of the Texas Hill Country. The ranch, about 200 miles northwest of Austin, gets its name from the native persimmons she collects to make preserves.

“One of the biggest things we have focused on out here since we’ve bought the place is water, water, water,” she said. Chesnutt relies on a windmill-operated well to provide water for her residence and animals.

Chesnutt’s home office displays professional mementos, including her diploma from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was an early female graduate of the engineering program. She now applies an engineer’s attention to detail to investigating the drilling operations on her property.

Chesnutt holds 50% of the mineral rights on the property, meaning she receives a share of profits from the wells. This has amounted to only a few hundred dollars in royalties every couple months in recent years. This money is hardly worth the trouble the wells have caused, she said. She riffled through documents on a sunny fall afternoon, her dog Einstein asleep at her side.

While the lease was operated by a previous company, Amor Petroleum, Well #10 had been shut down for lack of production. That left only four producing wells.

Then CORE Petro took over the lease in 2021. Chesnutt says that is when the problems started.

Once a well is inactive, the operator has 12 months to plug it or obtain an extension. The clock started ticking for CORE Petrol to get Well #10 producing again. CORE Petro reported a small amount of production at the well to bring it back to active status.

Chesnutt said that the company caused numerous spills in their attempts to get oil flowing.

“They made a big mess of it,” she said, showing photos of spills of oil and produced water, a hazardous byproduct of drilling. Chesnutt fears the spills could contaminate her groundwater and has paid to get her water tested multiple times.

“We have worked our asses off to make this place wonderful and beautiful,” she said. “I refuse to accept that the next person is going to have this happen to them.”

The Railroad Commission issued CORE Petro multiple violations for unpermitted disposal of oil and gas waste, or spills, at the lease. But each time, the violation was later resolved without the company paying fines.

“RRC records indicate four pollution violations for this lease,” said Dubee, the Railroad Commission spokesperson. “In each instance the operator was notified and upon reinspection all violations have been fixed on the lease indicating compliance.”

CORE’s Ohlhausen said that some amount of spillage is to be expected and that the company always cleaned up the spills.

But Chesnutt’s frustrations only grew.

“What has really blown my mind about this is that we have to follow one set of rules in industry,” Chesnutt told Inside Climate News. ”But the oil companies, they allow them to just come out here and do whatever the hell they want.”

By her account, only one of the wells on her property has produced oil in years. But CORE Petro reports ongoing production at all the active wells. The Railroad Commission requires well testing to prove wells are producing oil. CORE Petro’s most recent well testing, in 2025, shows each well producing less than one barrel a day.

Chesnutt claimed the company is falsifying production numbers to keep the wells operating. The company denies this claim.

“The operators can fill in any information they want and nobody checks them,” she said. “It’s unacceptable. I’m really sad that the Permian Basin and all these areas are like this.”

Conflicts at Chestnutt’s ranch

Operators submit monthly reports to the Railroad Commission of how much oil is produced and how much is stored at each lease. While the state rules require every well to be actively producing oil, production reports are only required for the entire lease, not individual wells. Inside Climate News found inconsistencies between public records of oil production and inspections at the lease.

On July 2, 2025, a truck picked up oil from the ranch and recorded the level of oil in the tank afterward, according to a commission inspection report. A Railroad Commission inspector visited the site on Sept. 16. He noted that the amount of oil in the tank hadn’t changed since July 2.

But in the intervening months, CORE reported producing 10 barrels in July and another 15 barrels in August. The company was reporting production on paper but the volume of the tank did not rise, according to the RRC inspection.

The Railroad Commission declined to answer questions about this and it does not appear the agency has investigated the discrepancy. Cassie Ohlhausen said that the company uses an auxiliary tank to collect the oil. Once it is full, the oil is transported to the tank battery, a large metal tank that stores oil. She said this could explain why the tank battery did not rise even though oil was being produced.

“The reporting of production is accurate and is done by a third party who tracks our oil sales and inputs those numbers into the RRC system,” Ohlhausen said.

Inside Climate News observed an auxiliary tank at only one well. Any oil produced at the other wells would have to flow directly into the tank battery.

Commission documents reveal other inconsistencies. On Feb. 7, 2025, the Railroad Commission issued a violation to CORE Petro that said Well #9 was an “inactive unplugged well.” However, the next time the inspector visited the site, the well was determined to be compliant. The Railroad Commission declined to respond to questions about this.

Property owners have little recourse other than reporting the problems to the Railroad Commission. Chesnutt feels the Railroad Commission is ignoring her complaints about CORE Petro.

“Not one single acknowledgement that [the wells] should be plugged,” she said of her interactions with the state agency. “I’ve had resistance on even cleaning up the spills.”

Meanwhile, Chesnutt’s behavior has alarmed Railroad Commission staff. An attorney for the agency sent a letter to Chesnutt on Oct. 31, 2024. The letter states that she “verbally threatened and physically assaulted Commission staff” and “engaged in reckless and aggressive driving,” threatening the safety of commission staff. The letter also says that she told commission staff of her “intent to commit several violent crimes” against CORE Petro’s employees.

Chesnutt disputes the commission’s characterizations. “I don’t know, because I’ve never assaulted anyone,” she said.

The Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office has responded to calls from Chesnutt, Kent Ohlhausen and the Railroad Commission about incidents at the ranch, according to call sheets. The Railroad Commission requested the sheriff’s office be on “standby” when visiting Chesnutt’s property.

Commission inspectors have also noted in inspection reports that Chesnutt is turning off power to wells on her property. Chesnutt maintains that the wells pose a fire hazard and she is within her rights to turn them off. State rules require electricity be disconnected at inactive wells. Electrical lines for oil wells were blamed for starting devastating wildfires in the Texas Panhandle in 2024.

In response to the regulator’s claims of her “reckless driving,” Chesnutt said that last October she saw a Railroad Commission truck on the road leading to her ranch. She was driving in the opposite direction, so she did a U-turn and flashed her headlights to get the driver’s attention. She asked him to pull over and asked if he was headed to her property, because she was waiting for an inspector.

CORE’s Ohlhausen said that Chesnutt has threatened their staff multiple times.

“All the wells produce at some point or another until she goes and turns them off,” she said.

“We can’t afford a lawsuit, but we have every right to call the sheriff and the justice of the peace and have her stand down on turning our oil wells off,” she said.

“The oil well undertaker”

CORE Petro specializes in operating aging, low-producing wells, Ohlhauser explains, noting that her husband Kent is called “the oil well undertaker” because he works with “end of life wells.”

“We’re the ones that end up with what they call the stripper wells that have already been stripped of all their oil,” she said. “They’re just producing a bit of oil every day to keep somebody alive.”

Kent Ohlhausen owns several other oil companies. Many of the leases he operates meet the bare minimum requirement of one barrel of oil production a month for 12 consecutive months. For example, the Olhausen Oil Company’s Ohlhausen, W.T. lease reported one barrel of oil production for each month between April 2023 to April 2024. The same company’s Barker C.P. lease reported one barrel of oil production every month December 2023 to January 2025.

“We literally work seven days a week, producing stripper oils,” his wife said. “We just eke out a little bit of money and that’s just fine with us.”

The company paid a $50,000 bond to the state of Texas to cover plugging costs if they went out of business. But Ohlhausen said that, even if they wanted to, they wouldn’t be able to plug all their wells.

“Sometimes the money is not there,” she said. “We don’t take investors. We are just Kent and Cassie.”

Complaints reflect broader problems

Texas is dedicating more money than ever to plugging orphan wells. But the number of orphan wells continues to climb. Many of the marginal wells that continue producing when their owners do not have the means to plug them eventually become orphan wells.

“Operators will often produce a de minimis amount of hydrocarbons to stay out of inactive status,” said Adam Peltz, a senior attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund. ”This is widely abused.”

Peltz said that properly identifying inactive wells is important because it creates an “early warning system” for regulators.

“Every marginal well eventually becomes an inactive well. And many inactive wells become orphan wells,” he said. “There’s no reason why the public should bear the risk.”

New Mexico is in the process of reforming its bonding system for oil and gas wells. The proposed rule changes would classify wells that produce less than 90 barrels of oil a year as of “no beneficial use” and require them to be plugged.

Peltz said these changes would reduce the likelihood that the state would end up paying to plug the wells.

The Railroad Commission is also developing new rules for inactive wells following the passage of Senate Bill 1150 in 2025. The law requires plugging wells that are more than 25 years old and have been inactive for at least 15 years, unless they qualify for certain exemptions.

The Inflation Reduction Act created a $350 million fund for plugging marginal conventional wells to reduce methane emissions. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality received the largest grant from the program, of $134 million.

The methane reduction program falls under the TCEQ, as the state agency that regulates air emissions from industry. The program is “currently in development” and staff are preparing to issue a request for grant applications to prioritize and select wells for plugging, according to a TCEQ spokesperson.

The program will rely on operators volunteering to plug their wells.

The program could help companies like CORE Petro plug wells that otherwise might end up orphaned.

“If there was a grant for us to plug wells, we’d be plugging wells all day,” Cassie Ohlhausen said. “Because we know that we own holes that are not gonna ever be viable.”

Disclosure: Environmental Defense Fund and the University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters 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.

In a rare intraparty clash of political heavyweights, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn is fighting to extend his career in the May 26 Republican primary runoff against Attorney General Ken Paxton after no candidate won more than half of the votes during the primary.

Neither candidate responded to our questionnaire ahead of the March primaries, despite repeated efforts by Tribune reporters to seek their participation. In their absence, the Tribune filled in the candidates’ responses, where possible, based on their past public comments and relevant voting histories.

Both candidates have fashioned themselves as close allies of President Donald Trump, who has so far refused to endorse in the contest. They have not participated in a debate and are not expected to do so before the election. 

The race has generated millions of dollars in outside ad spending, most of it from Cornyn’s allies in Senate GOP leadership and around the state, who have been open about their concerns that Paxton — a hardline conservative who has battled scandal through his 11 years as attorney general — would be vulnerable to a Democratic upset in the general election. Paxton, meanwhile, has argued that Texas’ senior senator is not conservative enough and has lost touch with the party’s grassroots. 

The U.S. Senate currently has 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats, with Republican Vice President JD Vance able to cast tiebreaking votes. With Democrats attempting to flip control of the chamber during the November midterm elections, Republicans likely cannot afford to lose Texas — making the choice of nominee all the more significant. A Democratic flip would simplify the minority party’s path to 51 seats and give Texas Democrats their first statewide win since 1994.

U.S. senators are elected to six-year terms in Congress’ 100-member upper chamber. They vote on critical federal legislation, from annual spending bills to military policy to ratifying treaties. Presidential Cabinet and judicial appointments must be confirmed by the Senate.

Question topics

• Regulating AI
• Restricting H-1B visas
• ACA tax credits
• Russia-Ukraine peace plan
• Congress members trading stocks
• USMCA withdrawal
• 50-year mortgages
• In vitro fertilization (IVF)
• Immigration
• Renewable energy tax credits
• Gun safety bill

Campaign site

John Cornyn

U.S. Senator

💰 Campaign finance:

• Total raised this cycle: $18.8 million
• Total spent this cycle: $23.6 million
• Cash on hand as of March 31: $8.2 million

💰 Top outside spending this cycle, according to AdImpact:

• Lone Star Freedom Project: $17.8 million
• Texans for a Conservative Majority: $26.7 million
• One Nation: $10.9 million

🏢 Experience:

• U.S. senator since 2003, making him the 11th-longest-serving member of the chamber
• Served as Senate Republican whip from 2013 to 2019, the second-highest-ranking position in the GOP conference
• Longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving him significant influence over federal judicial appointments
• Served one term as Texas attorney general, becoming the first Republican to hold that office in over a century
• Previously served as district judge in San Antonio and justice on the Texas Supreme Court

📣 Endorsements:

• Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota
• U.S. Reps. Jake Ellzey, R-Midlothian, Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, Nathaniel Moran, R-Tyler, Michael McCaul, R-Austin, Pete Sessions, R-Waco, Randy Weber, R-Galveston, Roger Williams, R-Willow Park
• Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry
• National Border Patrol Council
• Texas Alliance for Life
• Texas Farm Bureau
• Several law enforcement, agriculture and industry associations

🗞️ In the news:

• John Cornyn wallops Ken Paxton in first quarter fundraising for U.S. Senate seat, Texas Tribune
• Houston to consider repealing ordinance limiting its ICE cooperation amid state funding threat, investigation, Texas Tribune
• Texas cities, state government cancel Cesar Chavez Day in wake of report on activist, Texas Tribune
• EXCLUSIVE: Sen. John Cornyn Talks Trump, Paxton Showdown and Faith in High-Stakes Texas Senate Race, Christian Broadcasting Network

Campaign site

Ken Paxton

Texas attorney general

💰 Campaign finance:

• Total raised this cycle (since April): $7.7 million
• Total spent this cycle (since April): $4.9 million
• Cash on hand as of March. 31: $2.6 million

💰  Top outside spending, according to AdImpact:

• Lone Star Liberty PAC: $2.2 million

🏢 Experience:

• Has served as Texas attorney general since 2015
• As attorney general, has spearheaded conservative legal challenges to the Obama and Biden administrations on immigration policy, environmental regulations, health care and LGBTQ+ rights
• Served in Texas House for 10 years and Texas Senate for two years before becoming attorney general, representing McKinney area in North Texas

📣 Endorsements:

• U.S. Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Terrell
• U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Richmond
• U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Flower Mound
• Former Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi
• Gun Owners of America
• Texas comptroller nominee and former state Sen. Don Huffines
• Many individuals who have pledged support as part of “Paxton’s patriots”

🗞️ In the news:

• John Cornyn wallops Ken Paxton in first quarter fundraising for U.S. Senate seat, Texas Tribune
• Judge will allow Attorney General Ken Paxton to withdraw from representing comptroller’s office in voucher case, Texas Tribune
• Abbott legal brief criticizes Paxton’s rushed lawsuit against Harris County’s immigrant legal fund, Texas Tribune
• Texas cities try to address citizen anger over immigration crackdown without riling state leaders, Texas Tribune
• Paxton brushes off concerns about disunity among Republicans in U.S. Senate Runoff, Spectrum News

Q&A

Editor’s note: These responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length. Minor changes have been made, when necessary, to correct grammatical or spelling errors and ensure the text conforms with Tribune style.

Some Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, want to bar states from regulating artificial intelligence, or AI, arguing that a patchwork of state rules — instead of a federal approach — would hinder innovation and disadvantage U.S.-based companies. Should the federal government preempt states from regulating AI?

Cornyn

Cornyn has not taken a public stance on an AI moratorium, only commenting that he was “doubtful” such a provision would survive a procedural challenge over its inclusion in Republicans’ budget mega-bill, where all components must relate to spending or revenue. He voted in favor of stripping a 10-year moratorium on state AI regulation from the mega-bill, which passed via amendment by a 99-1 vote, as senators tried to work out a deal.

Paxton

The Tribune could not find public comments from Paxton about proposed AI preemption. As attorney general, Paxton has investigated AI chatbot platforms.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration established a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications, which allows skilled workers to legally immigrate to the U.S. Do you support eliminating or further restricting H-1B visas?

Cornyn

The Tribune could not find public comments from Cornyn on the future of the H-1B visa.

Paxton

In a November appearance on conservative influencer Benny Johnson’s podcast, Paxton was asked where he stands on ending the H-1B visa. Paxton did not directly address the issue, but noted his record suing the Biden administration over immigration-related issues.

“I want legal immigration,” Paxton said later in the appearance. “I’m not opposed to making decisions about people that we need to come to this country to help us, in whatever area we’re in need, whatever industry we need help in. But it’s got to be decided by Congress.”

“Our immigration laws work if we follow them,” he added.

In January, Paxton announced his office was investigating three North Texas businesses for potential H-1B visa fraud.

The 2025 expiration of the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits is projected to increase premiums under the ACA and lead to hundreds of thousands of Texans dropping their coverage. Did you support allowing the credits to expire?

Cornyn

In a December floor speech , Cornyn said that any clean extension of the tax credits, that does not address issues such as fraud, would be a “dirty bill”. Cornyn said he would prefer a proposal that would redirect subsidies to individuals’ health savings accounts rather than being paid to insurers.

“We know that these subsidies are rife with fraud,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn said he wanted to work with other senators on a solution but was worried that Democrats hoped to run on the subsidy problem in the midterms.

“I understand that Texans need access to affordable health care, but this is not it,” he said.

Paxton

The Tribune could not find public comments from Paxton about his stance on the expiring ACA tax credits. But as attorney general, Paxton has gone after the ACA in court numerous times and has long opposed the law.

A proposal to end the war in Ukraine, negotiated between the Trump administration and Russia, would, among other requirements, compel Kyiv to surrender land to Moscow. Would you support a peace plan that requires Ukraine to cede territory to Russia?

Cornyn

Cornyn has voted in favor of U.S. assistance to Ukraine numerous times since Russia’s 2022 invasion. During Trump’s second term, he has praised the President’s efforts to end the war. In March, he said a lasting peace would require both sides to make concessions and that “there must be real and tangible and enforceable security assurances for Ukraine.”

Paxton

Paxton has criticized Cornyn for voting to send assistance to Ukraine but the Tribune could not find public comments from him on the specifics of what a peace proposal should look like.

A bipartisan group of House members is pushing for a vote on a bill to ban lawmakers from buying and selling individual stocks. Would you support an effort to ban members of Congress from owning or trading individual stocks? 

Cornyn

In a January 2026 press conference, Cornyn noted that he does not own individual stocks and that he would support a proposal that focuses on the stockholding of Congress members themselves. But he cautioned that some of the proposals being debated in the House are overly broad.

“We need to be careful that we don’t want to discourage people who’ve enjoyed a certain level of financial success from actually seeking public office by forcing them to sell their stock portfolio, perhaps at a significant loss,” Cornyn said. “I’m generally supportive…but the details matter.”

Paxton

The Tribune could not find public comments from Paxton on House proposals to ban lawmakers from buying and selling stocks. According to his personal financial disclosure, he does not own individual stock. However, Paxton does have a blind trust, and the Wall Street Journal reported that in 2020, the trustee texted Paxton a list of eight stock buys worth $618,000, which experts said potentially violated rules around how such trusts are managed.

President Trump is considering pulling the U.S. out of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a free-trade agreement between the three nations negotiated during his first term. Should the U.S. withdraw?

Cornyn

The Tribune could not find public comments from Cornyn on withdrawing from the USMCA. When the agreement was first ratified in 2020, Cornyn praised it as a “big win for all three countries involved” and one that would bring “serious benefits” to the state and national economy.

Paxton

The Tribune could not find public comments from Paxton on the USMCA.

President Trump has proposed reviving the 50-year mortgage to promote broader homeownership. Do you support this proposal?

Cornyn

The Tribune could not find public comments from Cornyn on Trump’s 50-year mortgage idea. In December 2025, Cornyn introduced a bipartisan bill , the More Homes on the Market Act, to amend the tax code to incentivize homeowners to sell their homes, increasing housing supply.

Paxton

The Tribune could not find public comments from Paxton on the 50-year mortgage proposal.

President Trump announced a plan in 2025  to make in vitro fertilization more accessible by working with pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of common IVF drugs and encouraging employers to offer IVF treatments as part of their insurance plans. Do you support that plan?

Cornyn

Cornyn supports access to IVF, backing Republican legislation by Sens. Ted Cruz and Katie Britt that would revoke Medicare dollars from states that ban the procedure. The Texas Tribune was unable to find public comments from Cornyn on Trump’s plan.

Paxton

The Tribune could not find public comments by Paxton on IVF. He has vigorously defended Texas’ near-total abortion ban, which defines an “unborn child” as “an individual living member of the homo sapiens species from fertilization until birth, including the entire embryonic and fetal stages of development.” IVF involves the routine disposal of frozen embryos, though some lawmakers who have backed fetal personhood also support IVF.

The Dignity Act is a bipartisan House bill that would provide for the construction of physical barriers at the border, mandate employer use of E-Verify, expedite asylum processing, end catch-and-release, provide work authorization and protection from deportation to non-criminal undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. for five years, and offer permanent resident status to Dreamers. Would you support this framework? 

Cornyn

The Tribune could not find public comments from Cornyn on the Dignity Act. But Cornyn has successfully pushed for measures that reimbursed Texas $12 billion for its border security efforts, and that allowed Texas to invest millions in border infrastructure and to reserve highway funds for border infrastructure projects. Cornyn previously introduced or backed legislation to offer permanent legal status to DACA recipients, expedite asylum processing, tighten asylum standards, restrict parole, mandate employer use of E-Verify, build a border wall, increase hiring at Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, add immigration judges and criminalize visa overstays.

Paxton

The Tribune could not find public comments from Paxton on the Dignity Act. As attorney general, he led lawsuits to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, end catch-and-release and force the Biden administration to continue building a wall along the southern border.

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act ended tax credits that renewable energy producers and developers could claim to finance projects, including in Texas. Do you support the move to scrap these tax credits?

Cornyn

Cornyn voted in favor of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. He has spoken favorably in the past about Texas’ “all of the above” approach to energy, including the growth of wind and solar projects in the state, while also backing Trump’s efforts to expand oil and natural gas production.

Paxton

Paxton praised Congress’ passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, calling it “HISTORICAL legislation that’s going to unleash economic growth.” As attorney general, Paxton sued BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard, accusing them of trying to “artificially manipulate the coal market” by working to move away from coal. Paxton also opposed federal climate regulations under the Biden administration.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 allows states to use grant funding for crisis intervention programs, including certain red flags; narrowed the “boyfriend loophole” to prevent individuals convicted of domestic violence in a dating relationship from possessing firearms; expanded background checks for gun purchasers between the ages of 18 and 21. Would you vote to repeal any of those provisions?

Cornyn

Cornyn was one of the negotiators on the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 and voted in favor of its passage.

Paxton

Paxton has attacked Cornyn repeatedly for his role in passing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Though The Texas Tribune could not find public comments from Paxton on whether he would support repealing the law, he has condemned the measure as infringing on Texans’ Second Amendment rights.

Disclosure: Texas Farm Bureau 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.

This year, crypto super PACs are spending on behalf of a new crop of Texas candidates, and are on track to surpass spending on them and others in the last midterm elections.

Two PACs, Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress, have already spent more than $2.5 million on Texas candidates so far this year, according to the latest Federal Election Commission filings. Those PACs are affiliated with Fairshake, a massive cryptocurrency warchest that reported $193 million cash on hand at the beginning of 2026.

Combined with other crypto-aligned super PACs, at least $28 million have been spent on behalf of candidates across the country at this point in the midterm election cycle. Two years ago, these PACs had only spent about $22 million at the same point in the cycle, according to FEC filings.

At this point in the 2024 midterm cycle, Protect Progress was the only crypto super PAC spending on Texas candidates and it spent almost $1 million, all on behalf of Rep. Julie Johnson, who went on to win her Democratic primary a few days later and eventually the general election in November. Protect Progress, along with three other super PACs including Defend American Jobs and Fairshake, went on to spend a total of $2.5 million up until the November races on Texas candidates including Sen. Ted Cruz, Rep. Monica De La Cruz and Rep. Craig Goldman.

Major cryptocurrency-related legislation has passed since the last midterm election, including the GENIUS Act, the first federal action regulating the industry that passed with bipartisan support in July 2025. The crypto industry backed the bill, which formed a regulatory framework that paves the way for future crypto policy, but their surge in spending might signal its concerns about more industry restrictions.

Bills like the Clarity Act, which critics say could weaken regulatory oversight on the crypto industry, is still being negotiated in Congress and is just one piece of legislation that could shape future crypto policy.

“The fear is there’s going to be significant regulation on the part of Congress, and so [crypto PACs] want to find people who would be willing to at least listen to them,” said Daron Shaw, a government professor at University of Texas at Austin.

Rep. Christian Menefee alone has received nearly two-thirds of the crypto spending in Texas races — Protect Progress, Fairshake’s progressive arm, has spent more than $1.5 million on the candidate to defeat Rep. Al Green, according to FEC filings. Green was drawn out of his seat in last year’s redistricting and faces Menefee — who was elected at the end of January in a special election — in a runoff to represent the area covering inner Houston and the surrounding Harris County areas.

Green, who sits on the House Financial Service Committee, has voted against pro-crypto legislation, including the GENIUS Act and the Clarity Act. He’s also been outspoken about cryptocurrency’s potential to weaken the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions and cryptomining’s contribution to climate change.

Menefee, meanwhile, wrote on his re-election campaign site that blockchain technology, which is necessary to store crypto data securely, offers the potential to “increase trust, transparency and efficiency” with rules to protect consumers. Industry group Stand with Crypto gave an “A” rating to Menefee and an “F” to Green.

“When you get an ‘F’ that means they don’t like you,” Green said on March 19 on the House floor. “When they don’t like you, they’ll do whatever they can … to expel you, to evict you.”

Menefee, who has a major financial advantage over Green, said he recognizes the prevalence of crypto and blockchain technology and wants to regulate it to prevent scams.

“Over 70 million Americans have crypto right now, and a lot of them are young, a lot of them live in Texas-18, a lot of them are Black and brown folks,” Menefee said in an interview. “My job is to protect them, and you can’t protect people when you refuse to engage on an issue.”

The generational divide between Green, who is 78, and Menefee, who is 37, has become a campaign issue, with Menefee highlighting his new energy and Green pointing to his seniority. Menefee said compared to their older peers, people in his generation have a more favorable view on emerging issues like crypto, and that policymakers shouldn’t “bury [their] heads in the sand.”

Green did not respond to a request for comment.

Defend American Jobs, which supports Republican candidates, has spent about $771,000 on behalf of Jessica Steinmann, who is running to replace retiring Magnolia Rep. Morgan Luttrell in Congress. Steinmann, who worked for the Trump administration and Sen. Ted Cuz, pitches herself on her campaign site as a “strong supporter of digital assets, blockchain technology and financial innovation that expands economic freedom” and said she backs pro-growth policies that don’t stifle innovation and “keep crypto entrepreneurs here at home.”

The same PAC spent about $92,000 on Chris Gober, a conservative attorney who is looking to fill retiring Rep. Michael McCaul’s seat in Central Texas. While Gober doesn’t directly mention crypto as a key issue on his campaign site, he pledges to boost technology investment and position Austin and the Brazos Valley as “America’s center for innovation.”

The PAC also spent about $141,000 on behalf of Trever Nehls, the twin brother of Rep. Troy Nehls, who ended his bid for reelection in November. Trever Nehls won his primary election in the solidly red district outside of Houston.

Michael Beckel with Issue One, a D.C.-based nonpartisan organization aimed at reducing the influence of money in politics, said cryptocurrency was a fringe component of the financial industry prior to the Trump administration and current Congress and the industry now “wants their voices heard at the table.”

“The cryptocurrency industry wants people in Washington and in state houses to be able to pick up their phone calls,” he said.

Adam Green, co-founder of political group Progressive Change Campaign Committee that works to elect anti-corruption candidates, said crypto super PACs outspent and were more effective than other major super PACs at electing their favored candidates in 2024, and are set to do it again.

“Crypto was successful last cycle in being the only player on the block, and having a chilling effect on political leaders being willing to put any rules or guardrails,” Green said.

“I didn’t do a lot, to be honest,” Dowd said. “It’s probably better if it gets on and off my stick that quick. ... I just found a little bit of space. Everywhere across the league, there’s limited space out there. Guys are playing their best hockey defensively because everything matters that much more. It was a bang-bang play.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

The Golden Knights, who twice trailed before scoring three third-period goals, have not lost in regulation since John Tortorella (8-0-1) took over as coach.

The Mammoth lost in the franchise's first playoff game since 2020. They are in their second season in Utah after leaving Arizona.

“It was a hard-fought game,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “It was physical. It was intense. Every inch was contested.”

Colton Sissons had a goal and assist for the Golden Knights and Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev also scored. Carter Hart stopped 32 shots. Hanifin had two assists.

Logan Cooley and Kevin Stenlund scored for the Mammoth. Karel Vejmelka, playing in his first playoff game after five years in the Utah/Arizona organization, made 27 saves. Captain Clayton Keller, who closed the regular season with 16 assists over a 10-game streak, failed to record one in this game.

The Golden Knights took the fight to the Mammoth from the beginning and finished with 52 hits to 29 for Utah. Vegas' high in the regular season was 36 against Los Angeles in the Oct. 8 opener.

Both teams breaking into several fights including one after the final buzzer.

“We played physical,” Tortorella said. “We have some things to work on, but it was good to see us bang around a little bit. It's a long series. You just keep on trying to do the things you think you need to grind away.”

Former Golden Knight Nate Schmidt delivered a tremendous cross-ice pass to Cooley, whose one-timer from the right circle put the Mammoth on the scoreboard first with just 11 seconds left in the first period.

Sissons scored the equalizer at 3:44 of the second period, jamming in the puck after a backhand pass from Cole Smith. Utah retook the lead not even two minutes later when Hart found himself out of position and Vegas defenseman Kaeden Korczak knocked the puck into his own net, though it was officially credited to Kevin Stenlund.

“We didn't really pay attantion to it,” Barbashev said. “Our guys did a really good job to get one back on the power play.”

That happened when the Golden Knights again tied the game when Stone put a rebound into the open net for a power-play goal 5:33 of the third period. They then soon had the lead when Utah defenseman MacKenzie Weegar turned over the puck in his zone, and Dowd knocked in Hanifin's shot.

Barbashev closed the scoring with an empty-netter.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

He said a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom” and that U.S. Marines had custody of the vessel, named Touska, and were “seeing what’s on board!”

Iran’s joint military command said Tehran will respond soon and called the U.S. seizure an act of piracy.

The news threw into question Trump’s earlier announcement that U.S. negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran. That had raised hopes of extending a fragile ceasefire set to expire by Wednesday, but Iran has not confirmed it would attend.

The escalating standoff threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy and push the two countries toward renewed fighting that has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, nearly 2,300 in Lebanon, 23 civilians and 15 soldiers in Israel, and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.

Here is the latest:

Iran says it hangs 2 convicts claimed by opposition group

Iran said Monday it hanged two men it accused of setting fire to buildings on behalf of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.

An Iranian exiled opposition group earlier claimed the men as members and alleged their charges stemmed from events that happened after they already had been detained.

The Mizan news agency of Iran’s judiciary identified the men hanged as Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi.

The Mujahedeen-e-Khalq opposition group identified Shahi as Nima Shahi.

The MEK said the men had been “subjected to interrogation and torture” and convicted over an incident that happened before their detention.

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

Activists and rights groups say Iran routinely holds closed-door trials in which defendants are unable to challenge the accusations they face.

Hezbollah claims attack destroyed Israeli tanks

Hezbollah said it detonated explosives Sunday afternoon in an attack against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

The group said in a statement Monday that bombs planted by Hezbollah fighters exploded and destroyed four tanks in a convoy of eight tanks that was passing the village of Deir Siryan.

It was the first claim of an attack by Hezbollah since a 10-day ceasefire went into effect at midnight Thursday.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

Tehran says restrictions on Iranian oil come with a price

Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, says global fuel prices could stabilize only if economic and military pressures on Iranian oil exports end.

“One cannot restrict Iran’s oil exports while expecting free security for others,” Aref wrote on X. “The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone.”

Iran’s foreign minister says US is showing ‘bad intentions and lack of seriousness in diplomacy’

Iran’s top diplomat has told his Pakistani counterpart that Washington’s demands in negotiations and its threats to Iranian ships and ports mark “clear signs” of America’s disingenuousness.

Abbas Aragchi made the remarks in a phone call to Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, according to Iranian state media.

It’s another indication of how the Washington-Tehran standoff is sharpening as the ceasefire is to expire on Wednesday. It could also shake up plans for a new U.S.-Iran round of talks in Islamabad this week.

Iran’s military vows swift response to US seizure of Iranian-flagged tanker

The Iranian military headquarters said the attack and subsequent boarding of the Iranian vessel by U.S. forces was a violation of the ceasefire and an act of “maritime piracy,” according to Iran’s state-run broadcaster.

The United States says it fired on the ship and seized it because it had crossed the blockade line after ignoring multiple warnings.

Iranian state media suggest new talks won’t take place

There has been no comment from Iranian officials on Trump’s announcement of new talks in Pakistan this week.

But Iranian state media, without citing anyone beyond unnamed sources, issued brief reports on Sunday suggesting the talks would not happen. The reports came before the U.S. announcement of its seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM releases video of US firing on Iranian-flagged vessel Touska

U.S. Central Command released a message sent by a U.S. Mariner to the Iranian-flagged tanker in a video posted on X, saying it shows the moments before the U.S. seized Touska for crossing the U.S.-imposed blockade line in the Gulf of Oman.

“Motor vessel Touska, Motor vessel Touska. Vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We are about to subject you to disabling fire,” can be heard in the video. Later, three rounds are fired, leaving smoke in their wake.

CENTCOM said its fire targeted the vessel’s engine room before forces seized the ship. It said Touska was headed to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and ignored multiple U.S. warnings over six hours to evacuate the engine room. The USS Spruance then fired, after which Marines boarded and took hold of the ship.

“American forces acted in a deliberate, professional, and proportional manner to ensure compliance,” it wrote on X.

Iran’s president calls US blockade actions provocative and illegal

The Iranian judiciary’s Mizan news agency has reported on President Masoud Pezeshkian’s phone conversation with Pakistan’s prime minister earlier today. The report says Pezeshkian alleged bullying and unreasonable behavior by the United States during negotiations and the ceasefire.

The report says Pezeshkian warned that the U.S. actions and threatening rhetoric have led to increased suspicion among Iranian officials about the seriousness of the United States and the possibility that it will repeat previous patterns and “betray diplomacy.”

The report did not say whether Iran’s president commented on a second round of talks in Pakistan, or on Trump’s announcement that U.S. forces had seized an Iranian-flagged ship.

French shipping company says one of its ships was targeted

CMA CGM said Sunday that one of its vessels was the target of warning shots. Trump said Iran had fired on French and British ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

The International Maritime Organization confirmed that a French-flagged vessel was involved. The IMO, which regulates international shipping, said there have been 24 incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and across the Middle East since March 1. The latest, on April 18, involved the CMA CGM Everglade, a container ship sailing under French flag. The IMO said it was damaged north of Kumzar, Oman, though no pollution or injuries were reported.

Trump said Sunday on his social media platform, Truth Social, that Iran had “fired bullets” in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that “many of them were aimed at a French ship and a freighter from the United Kingdom.”

Trump said the US forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship Sunday that tried to get around its naval blockade

Trump, in a post on social media, said the ship was warned by a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman to stop but it did not.

“Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room,” Trump wrote.

He said U.S. Marines had custody of the cargo ship, named Touska, and were “seeing what’s on board!”

The seizure escalates a back-and-forth with Iran over traffic in the strait and comes as the U.S. was preparing for a second round of in-person talks with Iran as a fragile ceasefire runs out in days.

US energy secretary describes extending waiver on Russian oil sanctions as ‘pragmatic’

The decision announced Friday at the Treasury Department came days after Secretary Scott Bessent had ruled out such a move, and Senate Democrats led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York called it “shameful.”

“Putin has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of President Trump’s war against Iran, as Russia saw oil revenues nearly double in March,” the Democrats’ statement said. “Enough is enough.”

But Chris Wright said the Trump administration’s reasoning was to ensure that India and other Asian countries receive oil that would have otherwise gone to China. He noted that India exports gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to Europe, where people are also concerned about fuel prices.

“These are short term, pragmatic decisions to allow oil that was already flowing to flow a different direction, and they’re temporary,” Wright said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Pakistan and Iran aren’t confirming Round 2 of US-Iran talks

Six hours have passed since U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for more talks with Iran, but neither Iran nor host Pakistan have confirmed it.

Pakistan has kept up the diplomacy today, with its prime minister holding a 45-minute call with Iran’s president and Pakistan’s foreign minister speaking with his Iranian counterpart.

But while authorities have begun tightening security in Islamabad, the only player that has openly committed to another round of talks is the Trump administration.

British military says situation in Hormuz ‘critical’

The British military has declared the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf to be “critical,” its highest risk level.

The military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, UKMTO, cited “a high level of activity by naval forces in the region.”

It said there is a “risk of attack or miscalculation” in the waterway.

The Iranian navy reimposed tight restrictions on transit through the strait as the U.S. military implements a blockade on Iranian ports and waters. The UKMTO also cited multiple attacks on Saturday by Iranian forces on vessels passing through the strait.

Israel reveals new ‘forward defense line’ in southern Lebanon after ceasefire

The Israeli military says it has established the line and released a map showing troops operating south of it.

The deployment has been described elsewhere as a “Yellow Line.” It says five divisions are working to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure. The line was not mentioned in ceasefire terms published by the United States.

The map shows dozens of villages inside the zone, stretching several kilometers into Lebanon, whose residents would likely be prevented from returning.

There was no immediate comment from Lebanese officials, but the move is likely to raise concerns in Lebanon about the scope and duration of Israel’s presence.

Pope Leo XIV sees a ‘sign of hope’ for peace in the Middle East

Celebrating Mass before an estimated 100,000 people outside the capital of Angola on Sunday, Leo praised the cease-fire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah as a “sign of hope” that he prayed would bring peace permanently to the Middle East.

Leo mentioned the conflict as he called on Angolans to denounce the exploitation of their mineral-rich land and people, who still bear the scars of a brutal, post-independence civil war. “We wish to build a country where old divisions are overcome once and for all, where hatred and violence disappear, and where the scourge of corruption is healed by a new culture of justice and sharing,” Leo said.

The American pope is on an African odyssey that will take him to an epicenter of the African slave trade with a history emblematic of the Catholic Church’s role in forcing human bondage, and what some scholars say is the Holy See’s continued refusal to fully acknowledge it and atone for it.

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Israeli fire kills 1 Palestinian in central Gaza, health official says

The strike on a group of people in central Gaza also wounded three others, according to a health official at Awda hospital, where the casualties arrived.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.

Palestinians in Gaza have reported that Israeli strikes have intensified over the past few days across the enclave. Since a fragile ceasefire deal was reached in October, deadly Israeli strikes have been a near-daily threat in Gaza, and more than 775 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

UK police investigating if Iranian proxies are responsible for arson attacks on Jewish sites

The Metropolitan Police force says counterterror officers are probing fires at synagogues and other Jewish targets, as well as an attack on a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government. No one has been injured in the blazes, the latest of which caused minor damage to a north London synagogue on Saturday night.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said Sunday that the attacks had been claimed online by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.

Israel’s government has described the group, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as recently founded with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

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What’s happening with ships in the Persian Gulf

Vessels trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz have reversed course, according to the MarineTraffic shipping tracker.

The Iranian navy has reimposed tight restrictions on transit through the strait while the U.S. blockades Iran’s ports and waters. The standoff has left hundreds of vessels waiting in both directions for clearance through the waterway where a fifth of the world’s oil supplies normally passes.

Kpler, a maritime data firm, said 19 vessels had passed through the strait on Friday after Iran and the U.S. announced the reopening of the strait late last week as part of understanding between the two governments.

But on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said it had sent 23 ships back to Iran since its blockade began, and at least three vessels were attacked by Iran Saturday while attempting to cross the strait, bringing shipping to a standstill again and further straining the global energy market.

US energy secretary says talks with Iranians over Strait of Hormuz are ‘going well’

Chris Wright said the United States “is not too far away from a deal.”

“There are negotiations with the Iranians going on, despite what you hear in the chatter in public, I think those are actually going well,” Wright said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Wright said Trump is “a creative negotiator” who uses “pressure in different ways, uses uncertainty in different ways.”

“I think we’ll have a nice end of this conflict,” Wright predicted, adding that restarting shipping “will take time but probably not too much time” once the strait is reopened.

Waltz calls potential strikes on power plants and bridges ‘an escalatory ladder’

Trump is renewing his threat to “knock out” every Iranian power plant and bridge if Tehran doesn’t agree to U.S. terms for ending the war.

Some experts in military law have said targeting civilian infrastructure can be a war crime, an issue that could turn on whether the power plants are legitimate military targets, whether the attacks are proportional compared with what Iran has done and whether civilian casualties are minimized.

When the war crimes question was posed to Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz said “that would be an escalatory ladder.”

Iran and its proxies “have a long history of actually deliberately hiding military infrastructure in hospitals, schools, neighborhoods and … and other civilian assets. … They have no ground to stand on,” Waltz told ABC’s “This Week.”

“It’s perfectly acceptable in the rules of land warfare,” Waltz added, noting that Iran has used drones and missiles to strike hotels, resorts and homes across the Gulf.

“So this is just a ridiculous argument,” he said.

Iranian official says US blockade amounts to war crime

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Sunday that the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports and coastline is an act of aggression that violates the shaky Pakistani-mediated ceasefire between the two countries.

By “deliberately inflicting collective punishment on the Iranian population, it amounts to war crime and crimes against humanity,” Baghaei said on social media.

Baghaei’s comments came after Iran’s renewed threats on shipping, in response to the U.S. blockade, fully reclosed the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Bahrain to review citizenship for those deemed threat to its security

Bahrain’s king has ordered a review of citizenship of those deemed a threat to the island kingdom.

The decision has come amid an intensified crackdown on dissent during the war in the Middle East.

According to the state-run Bahrain News Agency, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa ordered the government to immediately take measures against “those who have betrayed the nation or undermined its security and stability,” including stripping Bahraini citizenship from those “who don’t deserve it.”

“The situation is still delicate,” the king was quoted as saying.

Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, has been one of the hardest hit by Iranian missile and drone attacks during the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Authorities in the small Shiite-majority island, which is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, have detained many people over the course of the war.

Spain’s leader wants the EU to end agreement with Israel

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wants the 27-nation European Union to tear up its long-standing Association Agreement with Israel.

The agreement, in force since 2000, sets out the legal and institutional framework within which the bloc and Israel conduct trade and cooperation.

“We have nothing against the people of Israel; quite the contrary,” Sánchez said in a post on X on Sunday. “But a Government that violates international law and, therefore, the principles and values of the EU cannot be our partner.”

Spain will present a formal proposal at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting on Tuesday to end the agreement with Israel, he said.

Sánchez has been a vocal critic of the decision by the U.S. and Israel to attack Iran, drawing sharp public criticism from Trump.

Residents of hard-hit Israeli border town protest ceasefire outside US Embassy

About 150 residents from Kiryat Shmona, located near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, traveled to Jerusalem on Sunday to demonstrate against the ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The 10-day ceasefire announced by Trump began Friday. It is meant to shore up a broader ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

Residents of northern Israel, whose communities were subject to round-the-clock barrages of Hezbollah rockets, have reacted angrily to the truce. They say Hezbollah remains a threat and has not been disarmed.

“It’s time to remove this threat from over the heads of the northern residents,” said Kiryat Shmona’s mayor, Avichai Stern.

One of the protesters, Einat Dardari, said she’s “very disappointed” that the Israeli military was forced to halt its offensive against Hezbollah. “We want security, I want security at home, I want security for my children,” she said.

Iran rebuilds its stockpile of missiles and drones, commander says

A senior Iranian military official said Sunday that Iran has begun rebuilding its stockpile of weapons and munitions as the two-week ceasefire nears to expire, state media reported.

Brig. Gen. Seyed Majid Mousavi, commander of the Revolutionary Guard’s Aerospace Force, said they have repaired missiles and drone launchers during the ceasefire which started on April 8, according to Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

“Our speed in updating and refilling missile and drone launch platforms is even greater than before the war,” he said.

The broadcaster aired a two-minute video paired with uplifting music, showing missiles and drones in warehouses as well as mobile launches of missiles.

The United States and Israel say they have degraded Iran’s military capabilities over the course of the nearly six-week war.

Turkish foreign minister says Israel’s ‘fundamentalist government’ is a global problem

Hakan Fidan was asked whether Turkey could replace Iran as Israel’s main adversary, a question raised in both Turkish and Israeli media in recent weeks.

“This is a fundamentalist government. They are a problem for the whole world. This is not just a problem for Turkey,” Fidan told a news conference at the close of a three-day diplomacy forum in southern Turkey.

Turkish officials have described Israel’s military operations in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon and Syria as an “expansionist” threat to global stability. Fidan said stopping this threat is clearly on the international community’s agenda. He also described the defense agreements signed between Israel, Greece and Cyprus in December last year as a “military alliance against the Muslim countries in the region.”

Trump said US negotiators will be in Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran

Vice President JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be traveling to Islamabad for the second round of in-person talks, according to the White House.

Trump in his social media post Sunday accused Iran of violating the ceasefire agreement by firing bullets Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz, and threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure in Iran if it does not take the deal the U.S. is offering.

“If they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump wrote.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei is in Israel

The far-right South American leader landed on Sunday for a three-day visit, meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visiting the Western Wall of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

Milei is scheduled to sign new binational accords with Israel and receive a Presidential Medal from Israeli President Isaac Herzog celebrating his commitment to fighting anti-semitism, Herzog’s office said. It is at least Milei’s third visit to the Western Wall.

He has backed the United States and Israel’s decision to launch a war on Iran. Earlier this month Argentina expelled Iran’s ambassador from Buenos Aires.

Milei is among a small cohort of right-leaning leaders who have deepened ties with Netanyahu’s government even as Israel faces diplomatic isolation over wartime conduct, including in Gaza and Lebanon. Some of Argentina’s South American neighbors have cut diplomatic ties or withdrawn their ambassadors,

Preparations pick up in Islamabad ahead of possible ceasefire talks

Pakistani authorities have begun tightening security in the capital, Islamabad, ahead of a possible second round of ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Authorities on Sunday deployed troops at roadside checkpoints, closed tourist sites and ordered major hotels to cancel bookings and keep facilities available.

Islamabad’s streets are largely deserted, as residents stayed home to avoid road closures seen earlier this month during the first round of talks.

While there were no formal announcements, Pakistani officials said arrangements are in place for talks in the coming days.

A regional official involved in the mediation efforts said mediators were finalizing the preparations. He said U.S. advance security teams are already on the ground. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the preparations.

Pakistan has led mediation efforts to end the war. Its military chief visited Tehran last week, while Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with regional leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

Israel says it killed Hezbollah commander just before ceasefire

The Israeli army says it carried out a series of strikes that killed more than 150 Hezbollah fighters.

Among those killed was Ali Rida Abbas, which it said was Hezbollah’s commander in Bint Jbeil. The southern Lebanese town and its surroundings were the site of intense clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants in the days leading up to the ceasefire.

Israel gave no evidence to support its claims, and Hezbollah didn't immediately confirm the death of its commander.

The ceasefire took effect early Friday.

Iran wants ‘lasting peace,’ chief negotiator says

Iran’s chief negotiator says his country wants “a lasting peace so that war is not repeated again.”

Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comments in a televised interview late Saturday, a few days before a ceasefire deadline is set to expire, according to Iranian state media.

“What is fundamental for us is distrust of the United States,” he said. “At the same time, we have good intentions and seek a lasting peace — one that prevents the recurrence of war.”

He said that the Islamabad negotiations didn’t address the mistrust, but that the U.S. and Iranian negotiators “reached a more realistic understanding of one another.”

He said that the two sides achieved progress in the Islamabad talks, but disagreement remained on some key issues, including the nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz.

“The gaps remain wide and some fundamental issues are still unresolved,” he said.

He didn’t elaborate with further details.

Lebanon's army reopens some roads in the south

The Lebanese army said in a statement Sunday that it reopened the Khardali road that links the southern city of Nabatiyeh with the town of Marjayoun.

The army said that it also reopened the road that links the port city of Tyre with the village of Bourj Rahhal. The army is also working on reopening other roads, including a bridge on the Litani River in the village of Tayr Filsay.

During Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon over the past several weeks, Israel’s air force has destroyed several bridges on the river.

After a 10-day ceasefire was declared as of midnight Thursday, the Lebanese army and the Litani Authority have been working on putting up temporary bridges to replace the destroyed ones.

Iran negotiator says strait will remain closed

Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as long as the U.S. imposes a naval blockade on Iran.

“It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” he said in televised comments aired by Iranian semiofficial media late Saturday.

Qalibaf, who is Iran’s chief negotiator with the United States, said that the strait is now under Iran’s control, linking the choke point’s reopening to the U.S. lifting of its blockade.

“If the U.S. does not lift the blockade, traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be restricted,” he said.

He said that the ceasefire was on verge of collapse when the U.S. attempted to mine-clear the strait.

He said Iran viewed the U.S. attempt as a violation of the ceasefire.

“The situation escalated to the point of conflict but the enemy retreated,” he said.

Another Israeli soldier dies in combat

Israel’s military says another soldier died in combat in southern Lebanon, the second death announced in under 12 hours.

It brought the total number of soldiers killed in Lebanon to 15, and was the second soldier killed in combat since the ceasefire.

The military said that another soldier was badly wounded, along with four moderately wounded and four slightly injured.

The Trump administration's campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters has persisted since early September and killed at least 181 people in total. Other strikes have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Despite the Iran war, the series of strikes have ramped up again in the past week or so, showing that the administration's aggressive measures to stop what it calls “narcoterrorism” in the Western Hemisphere are not letting up. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs.

The attacks began as the U.S. built up its largest military presence in the region in generations and came months ahead of the raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.

In the latest attack Sunday, U.S. Southern Command repeated previous statements by saying it had targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. It posted a video on X showing a boat moving along the water before a massive explosion engulfs the vessel in flames.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Critics, meanwhile, have questioned the overall legality of the boat strikes.

Wembanyama's 21 first-half points set an NBA record for the most in the opening half of an NBA playoff debut since the league's play-by-play era began in 1997. His 35 total points set a Spurs franchise record for the most in a playoff debut, surpassing Tim Duncan’s 32 in 1998.

“It is obviously different, but we’ve been really good in the regular season,” Wembanyama said. “So, we have no reason to act differently or do anything different.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night in San Antonio before the series heads to Portland for Games 3 and 4.

Stephon Castle and De'Aaron Fox each added 17 points and combined for 15 assists for San Antonio.

Deni Avdija had 30 points and 10 rebounds to lead Portland, which beat Phoenix 114-110 in Tuesday’s play-in game to earn the No. 7 seed.

Scoot Henderson, the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft behind Wembanyama and Charlotte’s Brandon Miller, added 18 points.

The Spurs responded to the Trail Blazers' physicality while holding them to 10-for-38 shooting on 3-pointers and had a 45-38 rebounding advantage.

“The Spurs put you in tough positions,” Portland coach Tiago Splitter said. “Against them, you've got to shoot the ball well from 3s. We didn't. We've got to shoot the ball better.”

The Spurs and the sell-out crowd — which included Duncan and former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer David Robinson sitting together courtside — at the Frost Bank Center were primed for the franchise’s first playoff game since 2019. The six-season postseason drought came immediately after San Antonio won five NBA championships while appearing in a league-tying 22 straight postseasons.

Spurs fans are again dreaming big — and it’s because of their 7-foot-4 post player from France who is a finalist for the NBA's MVP and Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Wembanyama’s highlights included dribbling behind his back to avoid Avdija at halfcourt, backing him down to the top of the key, spinning around him and running free to the rim for a two-handed dunk midway through the first quarter.

San Antonio clamped down defensively to regain their double-digit lead in the third quarter, with Devin Vassell blocking Donovan Clingan and Jrue Holiday while scoring eight straight points.

“That’s what we’ve talked about, just not giving up on the play,” Vassell said. “Every possession matters, whether it’s the first possession in the first quarter or the last possession in the fourth quarter. Play to the whistle.”

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

The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21-kilometer (13-mile) race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, according to a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race kicked off.

That was faster than the human world record holder, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race.

The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward from last year's inaugural race, during which the winning robot finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds.

But the competition, which was held alongside a race for humans, wasn’t without hiccups — one robot fell flat at the start line, another bumped into a barrier.

Du Xiaodi, Honor's test development engineer, said his team was happy with the results. Du said its robot design was modeled on outstanding human athletes, with long legs of about 95 cm (around 37 inches), and was equipped with what he called a powerful liquid-cooling system, which was largely developed in-house.

“Looking ahead, some of these technologies might be transferred to other areas. For example, structural reliability and liquid-cooling technology could be applied in future industrial scenarios,” he said.

While it will still take time to achieve widespread commercialization of humanoid robots, spectators were already impressed by the robots. Sun Zhigang, who had been in the audience last year, watched Sunday's race with his son.

“I feel enormous changes this year,” Sun said. “It’s the first time robots have surpassed humans, and that’s something I never imagined.”

Wang Wen, who came with his family, said robots seemed to have stolen much of the spotlight from human runners in the event.

“The robots' speed far exceeds that of humans,” he said. “This may signal the arrival of sort of a new era.”

Beijing E-Town said about 40% of the robots navigated the course autonomously, while the others were remotely controlled.

State media outlet Global Times reported that a separate, remotely-controlled robot from Honor was the first to cross the finish line in 48 minutes and 19 seconds. But it said the winning one used autonomous navigation and received the championship under the event’s weighted scoring rules.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that the runners-up, which were also from Honor and used autonomous navigation, finished the race in about 51 minutes and 53 minutes respectively. A robot served as a traffic officer to direct the participants with its arm gestures and voice, CCTV added.

In China, technology has evolved into an area of competition with the U.S. with national security implications. Beijing’s latest five-year plan vows to “target the frontiers of science and technology.” Speeding up the development of products like humanoid robots and their applications is part of the 2026-2030 plan for the world’s second-largest economy.

London-based technology research and advisory group Omdia recently ranked three Chinese companies — AGIBOT, Unitree Robotics and UBTech Robotics Corp. — as the only first-tier vendors in its global assessment for shipment numbers for general-purpose embodied intelligent robots.

They all shipped more than 1,000 units of the robots last year, with the first two companies shipping more than 5,000 units, the report said.

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Associated Press video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report.

It was practically a repeat from three years ago, right down to the shot into the 18th hole that Fitzpatrick said was “out of this world.”

The 31-year-old from England quieted the crowd with a 4-iron from 204 yards, a little more left than he intended but no less magnificent. It covered the bunker, rolled past the pin and settled 13 feet away for a birdie to beat Scheffler and win the RBC Heritage for the second time.

The playoff was almost a repeat from when Fitzpatrick defeated another American favorite, Jordan Spieth, in a playoff at the RBC Heritage three years ago. That time, he hit 9-iron with the wind at his back that rolled out to a few inches for the winning birdie.

This time the closing hole was a brute, the toughest at Harbour Town on Sunday.

“It was quite funny that the playoff was just going to keep playing on 18. I was thinking it was going difficult in a way to separate ourselves because it’s such a difficult hole,” Fitzpatrick said. “To do it how I did was special.”

Scheffler, trailing by three shots with four holes to play, forced a playoff with a pair of late birdies for a 4-under 67 and some help from Fitzpatrick, who hit a poor chip from right of the green and missed a 20-foot par putt for his only bogey of the day and a 70.

The gallery that was allowed to come onto the fairway short of the 18th green in regulation filled the Calibogue Sound with endless chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” They returned outside the ropes to see Fitzpatrick hit 4-iron into a stiff breeze to a pin just over the bunker.

Scheffler followed with his worst swing of the day, a 6-iron he fanned so badly that it came up 37 yards short of the hole. He hit a superb pitch to 8 feet, but never had to putt when Fitzpatrick made the winning putt.

“A lot of grit,” Fitzpatrick said of holding on for the win.

His reaction was muted, lightly touching his finger to his right ear in a friendly response to the crowd. Fitzpatrick knew what he was up against, having gone through a similar atmosphere when Cameron Young beat him at The Players Championship.

“I didn't get out of line in terms of no one was shouting on backswings or anything like that, which was great," Fitzpatrick said. "I'm all for it. I love the people ... they're supporting Scottie. You want golf to have an atmosphere. I'm paid so much money to be out there in front of those crowds. Having them chanting at you every week, it’s great feeling.

“However,” he said with a smile, “there's no better feeling than coming out on top against that.”

It was the second straight runner-up finish for Scheffler, who came from 12 shots behind going into the weekend to finish one back of Rory McIlroy at the Masters. This time, he was seven behind Fitzpatrick through 36 holes and finished 64-67.

“In both weeks I put myself behind the 8-ball going into the weekend and had really nice Saturdays and Sundays in order to get myself into contention,” Scheffler said. "On Sunday it’s a shot here or there that makes a difference. This was one of those weeks where anytime Fitzy needed something to happen, he made something happen.

“He definitely earned the win, and he just played great golf.”

It was great theater, but only at the end.

Fitzpatrick started with a three-shot lead and birdied two of the opening three holes, never letting anyone closer than three shots all round until Si Woo Kim birdied the par-5 15th to get within two shots, and then Scheffler came on late with an up-and-down from a bunker for birdie on the 15th, and a bold drive and approach to 10 feet for birdie at the 16th.

That cut the lead to one shot, and both players missed the 18th green well to the right. Scheffler capped off a perfect day of scrambling — 8 for 8 — with a chip that settled a foot from the hole. Fitzpatrick faced his first chip into the grain and came up well short.

They finished at 18-under 268. Kim closed with a 68 to finish alone in third, his fourth top 10 of the year.

Fitzpatrick won for the second time in the last month. After his runner-up finish at The Players, he won the Valspar Championship on the tough Innisbrook track. He has won nearly $8.3 million in his last four tournaments.

The victory, his fourth on the PGA Tour and 13th worldwide, moves him to a career-high No. 3 in the world ranking.

Fitzpatrick’s family used to take holidays to Hilton Head Head when he was a boy, for the golf and tennis and beaches. He came to the tournament and thought it would be cool to win it one day, and now he has done it twice.

“It means the world,” he said. “This is a tournament I wanted to win growing up more than any of the majors before I understood more about the game. To go toe-to-toe with Scottie and get it over the line is special.”

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

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Charlize Theron expanding her already robust action movie resume with “Apex,” Kate Hudson’s “Running Point” returning for Season 2 and a Netflix documentary on country star Lainey Wilson.

New movies to stream from April 20-26

— After nine Oscar nominations, $179 million in ticket sales and a few dings for opera and ballet along the way, “Marty Supreme” begins streaming Friday, April 24, on HBO Max. A24’s biggest box-office hit ever stars Timothée Chalamet as a ping-pong striver in 1950s New York doing whatever it takes to reach greatness. Josh Safdie directs a cast including Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion and Kevin O’Leary. In her review, AP’s Jocelyn Noveck called it a “nerve-busting adrenaline jolt of a movie.”

— Another highlight of 2025, the darkly comic Korean thriller “No Other Choice,” lands on Hulu on Friday, April 24. Park Chan-wook’s satire stars Lee Byung-hun as a family man laid off from a paper plant. After analyzing his prospects, he decides to murder his closest competition for a new job. In my review of the Golden Globe-nominated film, I praised Park, the masterful filmmaker of “Oldboy” and “Decision to Leave,” for “archly and elegantly spinning a yarn about a murderous rampage that accumulates wider and wider reverberations.”

— The latest Colleen Hoover hit adaptation, “Regretting You,” arrives Friday, April 24, on Prime Video. In it, Allison Williams stars as a single mother moving on after the death of her husband (Scott Eastwood). Dave Franco co-stars as her new love interest. In her review, Noveck wrote that “the strange way the tears give way to smiles, quips and then full-on rom-com corniness feels a little awkward — and then just weird and annoying.”

— Charlize Theron expands her already robust action movie resume in “Apex,” a survivalist thriller about a grieving woman who heads into the Australian wilderness for outdoor adventure. But when a sadistic local (Taron Egerton) begins terrorizing her, a frantic chase ensues. Catch it on Netflix on Friday, April 24.

— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

New music to stream from April 20-26

— Laundry started it all. OK, not really, but Kehlani’s first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, “Folded,” marked a new peak for the singer’s sultry, matured R&B. The AP even deemed it one of 2025’s best of the year. Now, Kehlani’s talents have only grown in a new, self-titled, full-length release, out this Friday, April 24.

— Noah Kahan’s 2022 single “Stick Season” turned the Vermont singer-songwriter into a household name; now, he’s at “The Great Divide.” That’s the title of his fourth studio album, out Friday, April 24. Come for folky ruminations on fame (“Porch Light”), stay for the plucky title track and what exists in between.

— In the decade following her debut album, Meghan Trainor’s bright, cheery pop music has kept one central message: Stay true to who you are and ignore the haters. That continues on her single “Still Don’t Care,” the first tease of her seventh full-length album. And it is found on the whole of the release, titled “Toy with Me,” out Friday, April 24. In December, she told the AP to expect a few self-love bops, songs to anger through and lots of familial love. The singer-songwriter recently canceled a summer tour following the birth of her daughter, Mikey Moon.

— Musician documentaries are a dime a dozen these days; often, they function as promotional material with little editorial value. That is not the case with “Lainey Wilson: Keepin’ Country Cool,” available to stream Wednesday on Netflix. The country superstar keeps her cool … and gets candid in this feature, which spans her personal and professional lives.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

New series to stream from April 20-26

— A new Netflix competition show called “Funny AF with Kevin Hart” premieres Monday and features Hart traveling to different comedy clubs in the U.S. in search of the next great stand-up sensation. Hart is joined by Keegan-Michael Key, Tom Segura, Kumail Nanjiani, Chelsea Handler and Nikki Glaser, who serve as judges. The semifinal and final episodes will stream live on Netflix and the audience can vote in real-time. The winner will get their own Netflix stand-up special.

— Prime Video has a new series about a different Kevin that also premieres Monday. “Kevin” is an animated series about a cat who moves into a local pet rescue after his owners split up. Jason Schwartzman voices Kevin and Aubrey Plaza, who co-created and co-wrote the series, also voices a character.

— A new “Stranger Things” animated spinoff harks back to the Saturday morning cartoons of the 1980s, with stand-alone adventures each episode. “Stranger Things: Tales from ’85" takes place during Seasons 2 and 3 of the original show and follows its core gang encountering mysteries and monsters from the Upside Down. They’re voiced by new actors, not the live-action cast. It debuts Thursday, April 23, on Netflix.

— Kate Hudson’s “Running Point” returns for Season 2 on Netflix on Thursday, April 23. Hudson plays Isla Gordon, whose family has owned the fictional Los Angeles Waves for years. Hudson takes over as the team's president when her older brother (Justin Theroux) steps down. Her character is based on Jeanie Buss, the governor and former controlling owner (now minority owner) of the Los Angeles Lakers.

— Richard Gadd, whose “Baby Reindeer” drew acclaim and a defamation lawsuit from the real-life woman it depicted, has created and written a new dark drama called “Half Man” where he co-stars with Jamie Bell. Gadd told the AP that he turned down numerous Hollywood offers after “Baby Reindeer” in favor of making “Half Man.” It premieres Thursday, April 23.

— Alicia Rancilio

New video games to play from April 20-26

— At first glance, Kiln gives off a mellow vibe, inviting you to sit at a pottery wheel and craft a ceramic masterpiece. Don’t get too relaxed: The next step is to send your creation into battle. You’ll need to team up with three friends for “Quench mode,” a 4-vs.-4 melee in which the goal is to douse the flames of your rivals’ kiln. Expect plenty of flying shards and other obstacles to make the free-for-all more frenetic. Kiln comes from Double Fine Productions, which gave us last year’s trippy Keeper, and project lead Derek Brand is a veteran of the studio’s 2021 landmark Psychonauts 2. Start spinning Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

— Italian developer Luca Galante unleashed a surprise smash back in 2022 with his low-res indie shoot-'em-up Vampire Survivors. Fans have since gobbled up a half-dozen expansions, and now it’s time for a full-fledged spinoff, Vampire Crawlers. It’s a “casual, turn-based deck builder” in which you explore dungeons and fight monsters by flinging playing cards at them. Think something like Slay the Spire with, well, vampires — then throw in “turboturn,” which lets you pile up damage by slinging cards more quickly. It looks every bit as hectic and silly as the original, and you can take a bite Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.

— Lou Kesten

Iheanchor has visited a dozen teams, including the San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals.

The 6-foot-6, 321-pound first-round draft prospect ran the 40-yard dash in 4.91 seconds at the NFL scouting combine with a 1.73 10-yar split, a 30 1/2 inch vertical leap, a 9-7 broad jump and bench pressed 225 pounds 25 times.

A former high school basketball player from Los Angeles and a native of Nigeria, Iheanchor excelled against Texas Tech pass rushers, including David Bailey, and at the Senior Bowl all-star game.

He was a second-team All-Big 12 selection and allowed zero sacks on 484 pass blocking snaps last season. He gave up just three hits and 11 hurries last season and three sacks in three seasons for the Sun Devils.

He’s regarded as an athletic, ascending draft prospect with outstanding footwork and improving technique.

He began his career at East Los Angeles Community College.

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

Delp excelled at his Pro Day campus workout, running between 4.44 and 4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash. At 6-foot-5, 245 pounds, Delp had a 38-inch vertical leap and a 10-5 broad jump.

He has met virtually with the Texans and has multiple visits, including the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cleveland Browns.

Delp caught 20 passes for 261 yards and one touchdown last season. He caught 21 passes for 248 yards and four touchdowns as a junior and 24 catches for 484 yards and three touchdowns as a sophomore.

Delp is known for his pure speed and consistent hands and toughness.

A native of Georgia, he chose Georgia over Michigan, South Carolina and Clemson after catching 59 passes for 923 yards and eight touchdowns as a high school senior and was named an All-American.

Delp has a lacrosse background.

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

Tage Thompson scored goals 3:42 apart to tie it, and Alex Tuch sealed the victory by scoring into an empty net with 1:12 left in nearly blowing the roof off the arena.

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen stopped 17 shots.

Buffalo hosts Game 2 of the first-round series Tuesday night.

The playoff win was Buffalo’s first at home — and first overall — since a 1-0 victory over Philadelphia in Game 4 of a first-round series April 20, 2011. The Sabres proceeded to lose the series in seven games. The Sabres won their first Atlantic Division this season and snapped an NHL-record 14-season playoff drought.

Thompson dismissed the narrative of the team lacking playoff experience by saying players drew on the frustrations of going so long without a postseason appearance.

“I think eight years of adversity is enough experience to get you ready for something like this. I think any time you go eight years not making playoffs and then it’s finally here, the last thing you want is regret,” Thompson said. “There’s just a heightened feeling of hunger. You just don’t want to let this opportunity slip. I thought tonight was really important to make a statement and set our standard.”

David Pastrnak scored with seven seconds remaining, and had two assists for Boston. Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm also scored for the Bruins. who finished the regular season 33-2-4 when leading after two periods. Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves.

“I really don't know," Bruins coach Marco Sturm said, when asked what happened.

“I thought we were in the perfect spot. We were exactly where we wanted to play, being in that position five or six minutes left in the game,” the first-year coach said. “That’s something we have to learn again the hard way. We just have to stick with it for 60 minutes.”

After going 5,473 days between playoff games the Sabres delivered a stunning victory.

Trailing 2-0 after Lindholm scored 1:08 into the third period, Buffalo finally caught a spark from Thompson, who led the team with 40 goals this season.

Thompson’s first goal came on a wrap-around backhander with 7:58 remaining. He then tied it by getting to a loose puck to the left of the Boston net, and firing a low shot inside the far post with 4:16 remaining.

With the crowd still buzzing, Samuelsson scored 52 seconds later. Teammate Jack Quinn got to the puck deep in the Bruins zone and fed Samuelsson, who snapped a high shot in from the left circle.

“I don’t think the belief that was ever wavered,” Samuelsson said. “I just think we just had a lot of belief within the group. Just tried to ride the momentum with the fans and it worked out nice.”

This marked just the second time Buffalo overcame a two-goal third-period deficit. The other time also happened against Boston in a Game 4 first-round series-clinching first-round 6-5 overtime win in 1993. It’s best remembered in Buffalo as the “May Day!” game with Brad May scoring the decisive goal to secure the Sabres' first playoff series victory in a decade.

The Bruins, the Eastern Conference’s seventh-seeded team, unraveled in making their return to the playoffs following a one-year hiatus.

“We just couldn’t finish it. That’s the frustrating point, but it’s a long series,” Sturm said. “We’re prepared. We came to Buffalo wanting to get a win. We didn’t get one today, but we’re going to try our best to get one the next game.”

Pastrnak’s three-point outing upped his career playoff total to 90 points, and moved him ahead of Cam Neely and Wayne Cashman for ninth on the team list, and two back of Bobby Orr.

___

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

Six strokes behind playing partner Sei Young Kim for a few moments on the 11th green, Green closed with a 4-under 68 to match Kim (70) and Jin Hee Im (67) at 17-under 271 on the tree-lined layout.

In the playoff on the par-4 18th, Green hit a wedge from 130 yards and curled in the right-to-left breaking putt after Kim — eight strokes ahead with five holes to go Saturday in the third round — left a 35-foot birdie try short.

“I had that putt, obviously very similar line in regulation, so I felt somewhat comfortable,” Green said. “It still was a tough putt, so really glad it went in the hole.”

Im — penalized a stroke for slow play Saturday — reached the green in three after hitting her drive to the right.

Green also won the event in 2023 and 2024 at Wilshire Country Club. The 29-year-old Australian player joined Hyo Joo Kim as the only two-time winners this season on the LPGA Tour and ran her worldwide 2026 victory total to four.

Green has eight career LPGA Tour victories. She won the tour's HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore early last month and also took the Women’s Australian Open and Australian WPGA.

Sei Young Kim took a two-stroke lead into the round and had a three-shot edge on the back nine.

“Just little disappointed because I had a good chance for the win,” she said. "Yeah, but she’s play well. Strong finish back nine.

The tournament was played at El Caballero for the second straight year because of course renovations at Wilshire.

After Sei Young Kim chipped in for eagle on the 11th to leave Green six shots back, Green followed with a birdie on the hole to get a shot back.

“I honestly didn’t think I was in the tournament still,” Green said. “I was just like, `Oh, well just go for as many pins as possible.′”

She birdied Nos. 13-16 — missing a 5-foot eagle putt on 16 — and pulled even with Sei Young Kim and Im — who made a 60-footer for eagle on 16 — when Sei Young Kim bogeyed the par-3 17th.

“Got on a nice stretch there,” Green said. "I kind of thought the putt that I missed on 16 was the crucial moment. I mean, I’m just fortunate enough that I at least got into the playoff.”

The Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the year, will start Thursday in Houston.

“It’s going to be really hard to come back down to earth next week, so it’s going to be my next challenge,” Green said. “I’m going to be on a flight tonight to Houston, so I don’t know if I’m getting much rest."

Ina Yoon was a stroke out of the playoff after a 69. She eagled the 16th, birdied the 17th and nearly holed a 30-foot birdie try on 18,

Former UCLA star Patty Tavatanakit (70) was 14 under with Haeran Ryu (66). First-round leader Chizzy Iwai (70) was 12 under with Minami Katsu (68).

Amateur Asterisk Talley tied for 13th at 9 under after a 70. The 17-year-old Talley played her first event since losing the lead on the back nine in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

“It’s great just to get to play with the pros and get some learning experience,” said Talley, also in the field for The Chevron.

___

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

Leo traveled to the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, nestled in the Angolan savanas of baobab trees at the edge of the Kwanza River. It became a major pilgrimage destination after believers reported an appearance by the Virgin Mary around 1833.

But the Church of Our Lady of Muxima was originally built by Portuguese colonizers at the end of the 16th century as part of a fortress complex and it became a hub in the slave trade. It was where enslaved Africans were gathered to be baptized by Portuguese priests before being forced to walk to the port of Luanda, over 110 kilometers (70 miles) to the north, to be put on ships to the Americas.

Leo, whose own ancestors include enslaved people and slave owners, prayed the Rosary at the sanctuary, a simple whitewashed church with blue trim and a statue of the Madonna inside. Speaking in Portuguese, he recalled it was here “where, for centuries, many men and women have prayed in times of joy and also in moments of sorrow and great suffering in the history of this country.”

He didn’t refer specifically to slavery. After viewing plans to build a basilica at the site, Leo urged the estimated 30,000 people gathered outside to also build “a better, more welcoming world, where there are no more wars, no injustices, no poverty, no dishonesty."

Muxima’s history is emblematic of the Catholic Church’s role in the slave trade, the forced baptisms of enslaved people and what some scholars say is the Holy See’s continued refusal to fully acknowledge it and atone for it.

“For Black Catholics, Pope Leo’s visit to the Muxima shrine is an important moment of healing,” said Anthea Butler, senior fellow at the Koch Center, Oxford University.

She noted that many Black Catholics are Catholic because of slavery and the “Code Noir,” which she said required slaves purchased by Catholic owners to be baptized in the church.

“Others were already Catholic when they were trafficked from Angola to slave-holding colonies,” said Butler, a Black Catholic scholar whose maternal family hails from Louisiana, where the pope’s ancestors also had their roots.

The role of papal bulls in the slave trade

Angola’s Portuguese colonizers were emboldened by 15th-century directives from the Vatican that authorized them to enslave non-Christians.

In 1452, for example, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which gave the Portuguese king and his successors the right “to invade, conquer, fight and subjugate” and take all possessions — including land — of “Saracens, and pagans, and other infidels, and enemies of the name of Christ” anywhere, said the Rev. Christopher J. Kellerman, a Jesuit priest and author of “All Oppression Shall Cease: A History of Slavery, Abolitionism, and the Catholic Church.”

The bull also gave the Portuguese permission “to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery.”

That bull and another issued three years later, Romanus Pontifex, formed the basis of the Doctrine of Discovery, the theory that legitimized the colonial-era seizure of land in Africa and the Americas.

The Vatican in 2023 formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, but it never formally rescinded, abrogated or rejected the bulls themselves. The Vatican insists that a later bull, Sublimis Deus in 1537, reaffirmed that Indigenous peoples shouldn’t be deprived of their liberty or the possession of their property, and were not to be enslaved.

Ultimately, more than 5 million people left from Angola on the trans-Atlantic slave route, more than any other country and nearly half of the roughly 12.5 million African slaves sent across the ocean.

Kellerman recalled that most of these direct victims were sold into slavery by other Africans and were not captured by Europeans.

“That being said, at the time of the building of Muxima, the Portuguese were doing both — buying enslaved people and colonizing/slave raiding. So they were fully using their papal permissions during this time,” Kellerman said in emailed comments to The Associated Press.

He said the first pope to condemn slavery itself was Pope Leo XIII, the current pope’s namesake, in two encyclicals in 1888 and 1890, after most countries had already abolished slavery. But Kellerman said that pope and others since have continued to perpetuate the “false narrative” that the Holy See always opposed slavery, when the historical record says otherwise.

While Leo's visit to Muxima was to commemorate its role as a shrine, Kellerman said he hoped Leo had also learned about its role in the slave trade.

“The popes repeatedly authorized Portugal’s colonization efforts in Africa and Portuguese participation in the slave trade, but the Vatican has never fully admitted this,” he said. “It would be so powerful if at some point Pope Leo were to apologize for the popes’ role in the trade.”

During a 1985 visit to Cameroon, St. John Paul II asked forgiveness of Africans for the slave trade on behalf of Christians who participated in it, but not for the popes' own role in it. In a 1992 visit to Goree Island, Senegal, the largest slave-trading center in West Africa, he denounced the injustice of slavery and called it a “tragedy of a civilization that called itself Christian.”

Leo’s own personal history a point of reflection

According to genealogical research published by Henry Louis Gates Jr., 17 of Leo's American ancestors were Black, listed in census records as mulatto, Black, Creole or a free person of color. His family tree includes slaveholders and enslaved people, Gates wrote in the New York Times.

Gates, a Harvard University professor who hosts the PBS documentary series “Finding Your Roots,” presented his research to Leo during a July 5 audience at the Vatican. According to a report of their meeting in The Harvard Gazette, “The pope asked about ancestors, both Black and white, who were enslavers.”

Leo has not spoken publicly about his family heritage or the genealogical research, and some Black Catholic scholars were hesitant to impose on him a narrative about his identity that he himself has not yet addressed.

“It’s important that we tell our own stories,” said Tia Noelle Pratt, a sociologist of religion and professor at Villanova University, the pope’s alma mater.

“We haven’t heard anything from him about what he thinks about it, and so to impose anything on him, I think would be completely inappropriate,” said Pratt, author of “Faithful and Devoted: Racism and Identity in the African American Catholic Experience.”

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the retired archbishop of Washington and the first African American cardinal, said he had facilitated the Gates-Leo encounter and was “delighted” to have done so.

“It’s one of the things that I think for many African Americans and people of color, they identify with great pride that the pope has roots in our own heritage,” Gregory told AP. “And I think he’s happy about that too, because it’s another link to the people that he tries to serve and is called to serve.”

___

Gerald Imray contributed from Cape Town, South Africa.

___

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

The Metropolitan Police force says counterterror officers are probing fires at synagogues and other sites linked to the Jewish community, as well as an attack on a Persian-language media company.

No one has been injured in the blazes, the latest of which caused minor damage to a north London synagogue on Saturday night.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans said the attacks had been claimed online by a group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia.

“We are aware of public reporting that suggests this group may have links to Iran. As you would expect, we will continue to explore that question as our investigation evolves," she said.

“I’ve spoken previously about the Iranian regime’s use of criminal proxies, and we’re considering whether this tactic is being used here in London," she added.

Israel’s government has described Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, whose name means the Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right, as a recently founded group with suspected links to “an Iranian proxy” that has also claimed responsibility for synagogue attacks in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The police force has deployed extra uniformed and plainclothes officers to northwest London after attacks in the past month on synagogues, Jewish charity ambulances and a Persian-language media organization critical of Iran’s government.

In the most serious incident, four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were torched on March 23 in the Golders Green neighborhood,

No one has been injured in any of the incidents, which all happened within a few miles of each other. Several people, ranging in age from teens to people in their 40s, have been arrested and charged.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said on X that “a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the Jewish community of the UK is gathering momentum.

“Thank God, no lives have been lost, but we cannot, and must not, wait for that to change before we understand just how dangerous this moment is for all of our society,” he added.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attacks, and pledged that "those responsible will be found and brought to justice.

"This is abhorrent and it will not be tolerated. Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain," Starmer said.

Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia also posted a video claiming Israel’s London embassy was going to be attacked with drones carrying dangerous substances. Police said the embassy was not attacked, but the force shut the nearby Kensington Gardens park on Friday as officers examined discarded items including two jars containing powder. Police said nothing harmful was found.

The U.K. has accused Iran of using criminal proxies to conduct attacks on European soil targeting opposition media outlets and the Jewish community. Britain’s MI5 domestic intelligence service says that more than 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots were disrupted in the year to October.

Some security experts say Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia is likely a flag of convenience rather than a coherent group, and its claims should be treated with caution.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes said any “thugs for hire” who carried out such attacks would face justice.

“Let’s be really clear — it’s a mug’s game,” he said. “That’s what people who are now serving long prison sentences have found out, and the same fate awaits those responsible for these recent crimes.”

Authorities 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. The first sample tested positive on Saturday.

“This recall is not due to any product or quality defect on our part. The jars left our HiPP facility in perfect condition,” HiPP said in a statement. “The recall is related to a criminal act currently under investigation by the authorities.”

Burgenland Police in Austria said the suspicious products likely have a white sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar. Other warning signs include a damaged or opened lid and an unusual or spoiled smell. There also might not be a popping noise when the jar is first opened.

HiPP said it is recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Customers can get full refunds even without a receipt. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic have removed all of the brand's baby jars from sale.

A customer reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, police said, though no one had consumed the baby food.

Rat poison typically includes bromadiolone, an anticoagulant that prevents the blood from clotting, according to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety. Ingesting rat poison could lead to bleeding like bleeding gums and nosebleeds, as well as bruising and blood in the stool.

Symptoms could appear two to five days after ingestion, the agency said.

Slafkovsky fired a snap shot from the left circle that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to the far side for his first career postseason hat trick.

“It's pretty nice. I like that feeling,” he said. “Obviously, we don't want to go to overtime. Hopefully we close out games before that. But now we have to focus on the next game.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night at Benchmark International Arena, where Tampa Bay has lost nine of its last 10 home games in the postseason. The Lightning are 1-11 in their last 12 overtime games in the playoffs.

“We took four offensive zone penalties,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “That wasn't over-aggression. That was stupidity. This is the Stanley Cup playoffs. This isn't game 62. That's extremely disappointing.”

Josh Anderson also had a goal for Montreal, and rookie goalie Jakub Dobes made 20 saves.

“His style of play and energy and speed and physicality is perfect for playoff hockey,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said of Anderson. “He had a big night for us.”

Brandon Hagel scored two goals and Darren Raddysh also scored for Tampa Bay.

The Lightning have been knocked out of the playoffs in the first round three straight seasons after falling two wins shy of a three-peat in 2022.

The Canadiens, coached by Lightning icon and Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis, are seeking their first Stanley Cup since winning their NHL record 24th in 1993. They haven’t won a playoff series since the Lightning beat them in the Cup Final in 2021.

Hagel’s power-play goal — a tip-in off a precise pass by Jake Guentzel 8:58 into the third — tied it at 3-3 a few minutes after Slafkovsky put Montreal ahead.

Slafkovsky’s shot from the high slot slid under Vasilevskiy’s left pad for a short-lived lead. He one-timed a perfect seam pass from Ivan Demidov into the net from the right circle to make it 2-2 in the final minute of the second.

Raddysh tied it at 1 with a powerful slap shot in the second. The Lightning went ahead 2-1 just 29 seconds later when Hagel picked up a loose puck from the side of the net and backhanded a shot past Dobes.

Montreal’s fourth line gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead in the first when Anderson flipped a top-shelf shot into an open net.

Anderson also had a goal overturned by video review midway through the second period. He deflected Mike Matheson’s slap shot past Vasilevskiy but it was waved off because his stick was above the crossbar.

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

According to preliminary information, deputies responded to reports of a shooting at a complex located in the 15100 block of Blue Ash Drive, near East Airtex Drive in Houston.

When officials arrived, they found a teenage victim — believed to be around 14 years old — suffering from a gunshot wound.

Investigators say the shooting was allegedly carried out by another 14-year-old teen. The suspected shooter has since been detained.

The victim was transported to a nearby hospital and is reported to be in fair condition, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez confirmed.

Authorities have not released additional details about what led up to the shooting, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Detroit has dropped 11 straight home games in the postseason, a drought that dates to 2008.

The Pistons will get another chance against Orlando on Wednesday night in Game 2.

Detroit's Cade Cunningham scored a playoff career-high 39 points and Tobias Harris added 17 for the Pistons, but the rest of their teammates were quiet offensively.

Franz Wagner scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help seal the victory for the Magic, who never trailed. Orlando’s Desmond Bane and Wendell Carter scored 17 points each and Jalen Suggs had 16.

The Pistons haven’t advanced beyond the first round in the postseason in 18 years and the Magic haven’t since 2010.

Orlando looked ready and Detroit looked rusty early.

The Magic, coming off a rout of Charlotte in a play-in game on Friday, led 18-5 midway through the first quarter after holding the Pistons to 1-of-6 shooting with four turnovers in their first game in a week.

Detroit rallied to pull within two before Orlando closed with six straight points to lead 35-27 after Banchero and Suggs combined to score 20 points.

The Magic led 55-51 at halftime.

The Pistons came out flat in the second half and Orlando took advantage, scoring eight of the first nine points and prompting Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff to call a timeout.

Detroit scored 10 straight points and 13 of 15 to pull into a 65-all tie on Cunningham’s 3-pointer.

Banchero answered with a long jumper over Jalen Duren and Bane followed with a 3-pointer over Cunningham, leading to the Magic restoring a double-digit lead. Orlando led 81-74 going into the fourth quarter.

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

According to court documents, Margarete Scott, 26, has been charged with abandoning an elderly or disabled individual.

Two disabled adults were living in the home at the time, though their identities are not being disclosed.

The charge stems from an incident alleged to have occurred on April 18 at an apartment complex in the 2500 block of Spring Cypress Road in Spring.

Investigators allege Scott intentionally left a disabled individual at the residence without necessary care for several hours.

Authorities say Scott had been working as a full-time caretaker for an organization identified in court records as “SugarHeart” for over a year prior to the incident.

Scott was arrested at 2:42 a.m. on April 18, according to jail records. She has since posted bond, which was set at $15,000.

Scott is scheduled to appear in court on April 20 at 9 a.m.

On Sunday, dozens of figure skaters, hockey players, coaches, and parents gathered at Bendwood Park in Bunker Hill Village, protesting to stop the rink’s planned closure.

“I don’t think people realize how big the community is,” said Amy Good, a hockey parent and coach. “We’ve got figure skaters, hockey players, adults, and kids.”

Chants of “save our rink” echoed through the park as families spoke out about what they stand to lose.

“It’s like a second home to me,” said figure skater Amelia Durham. “It’s just a perfect place and a perfect community.”

Earlier this month, Ice Skate Memorial City announced the rink will permanently close on July 31. Since then, a Change.org petition has gathered more than 6,000 signatures from supporters hoping to reverse the decision.

Many say the closure will impact far more than just those on the ice.

A community beyond skating

For years, the rink has served as a hub for multiple ice sports and a gathering place for families across the Houston area.

“The community is so healthy,” said Will Rassman, a hockey coach and parent. “The different sports that come through—it’s constantly busy.”

Rassman says the rink also plays a key role in supporting surrounding businesses inside Memorial City Mall.

“What is more focused on health and well-being than a rink in the middle of a mall?” said Rassman.

Fewer options in a sprawling city

While some may suggest skaters can simply move to another rink, families say that’s not a realistic solution.

Houston—one of the largest cities in the country—already has a limited number of ice rinks. Families say losing one adds strain to an already stretched system.

“If you’re anywhere near downtown, it’s going to take you at least 40 minutes to get to any other rink,” Rassman said.

For families juggling school, work, and multiple activities, that extra travel time can be a dealbreaker.

And for athletes, not all rinks offer the same opportunities.

“The Galleria is also not regulation size,” said figure skater Mackenzie Nall. “So hockey players can’t play there, and high-level figure skating isn’t possible.”

Concerns about the future of the sport

Some parents and coaches worry the closure could push kids out of skating and hockey altogether.

“I think we’ve already seen that some have said if they don’t have a convenient choice, they’ll go play something else,” said Rassman.

He adds that fewer facilities could also impact the long-term growth of ice sports in Houston.

“Houston has a lot of talent,” Rassman said. “We need places for these kids to practice. The loss of Memorial is a huge blow.”

Memories on the ice

For many young skaters, Memorial City Ice Rink is where they reached milestones and built lifelong friendships.

Skaters said it’s a rink where they accomplished major achievements.

“That’s where I first landed my axel,” said Nall. “Everybody’s support helped me so much.”

Others also said it’s a place they discovered a lifelong passion.

“When I finally made a perfect spin, I was just so happy. I felt like the ice was made for me,” said figure skater Emily Breautigan.

Why rinks are closing nationwide

The Memorial City closure reflects a broader trend across the country.

Ice rinks nationwide have been shutting down due to rising energy costs, aging infrastructure, and redevelopment plans. Recent closures include Valley Ice Center in California and Centre Ice Arena in Delaware.

A spokesperson for MetroNational, the company that owns Memorial City Mall, sent KPRC 2 the following statement:

In November 2025, MetroNational submitted plans for enhancements that included the relocation and construction of the mall’s main entrance. Once this work begins, we will be unable to maintain the required ice conditions, and the ice rink will need to close, permanently. Accordingly, the Memorial City Ice Rink will officially conclude operations on Friday, July 31, 2026.

In light of this timeline, Memorial City Ice Rink will not be accepting registrations for the fall season. The rink will remain open for the remainder of the Spring season (April – June), and Open Skate, Freestyle skate and Learn to Skate programs will continue as scheduled until operations conclude on July 31, 2026.

Although this decision is difficult given that the space has hosted years of memories, this transition allows us to thoughtfully reinvest in the long-term growth of our community and is part of our broader commitment to ensuring our experience offerings align with the needs of West Houston both today and in the years to come.

We are sincerely grateful to the patrons, staff, coaches, user groups and community partners who made the rink a special place over the years. The memories created here will always remain an important part of our community’s story. To ensure the spirit of the rink lives on, all usable equipment from the ice rink will be donated to other rinks and community organizations to support future skaters and programs.

MetroNational remains committed to continued reinvestment and growth in West Houston. With the recent acquisition of CityCentre, M-K-T Heights, and the opening of Greenside later this year, we are continually evolving to deliver the best in retail, dining, and entertainment experiences.

We look forward to sharing future plans for the space in the months ahead.

Rahm went all of last season on LIV without winning, though he did claim the points title. And he had experienced disappointment before in 2017 at Chapultepec Golf Club when it was a World Golf Championship.

There was no doubt this time after he made birdie on the reachable par-4 second hole and then holed out for eagle on the next hole. He played bogey-free.

“If you would have told me last week on Thursday afternoon that I’d be winning by a six-shot margin this week, I would not have believed you because of how bad I played,” said Rahm, who tied for 38th in the Masters. “Hell of a an effort.”

The week has been filled with uncertainty surrounding the Saudi-funded league, with CEO Scott O’Neil writing a memo to staff to say LIV was assured of funding through the end of the year amid reports speculating about the league’s financial future.

LIV announced Sunday it would be returning to Chapultepec next year.

There was a power outage on Tuesday, fueling more speculation. The streaming went out for two hours during the opening round. And then Bryson DeChambeau withdrew from the final round, citing an injury to his wrist that he did not want to further aggravate.

DeChambeau, who was trying to become the first player to win three straight times on LIV Golf, was 16 shots behind Rahm when he stopped playing.

“I experienced some discomfort in my wrist during yesterday's round and have decided to withdraw from the the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City to prevent further injury,” DeChambeau said in a social media post. “Not how I wanted this week to go.”

DeChambeau said he would be evaluated and hoped to be at LIV Golf Virginia on May 7-10, a week before the PGA Championship.

Rahm motored along, and so did his Legion XIII team, which won for the first time this year.

David Puig shot 66 to finish second, picking up valuable world ranking points and all but assuring that he will be in the PGA Championship. The Spaniard is close enough that another top finish in Virginia could get him into the U.S. Open.

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

It was the first interception since the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports began last week. Iran's joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said.

With the U.S.-Iran standoff over the strait sharpening and the ceasefire expiring by Wednesday, it was not clear where President Donald Trump ’s earlier announcement on new talks with Iran now stood. He had said U.S. negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday.

The uncertainty sent oil prices rising again. One of the worst global energy crises in decades threatened to deepen.

Trump on social media said a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer in the Gulf of Oman warned the Iranian-flagged ship, the Touska, to stop and then “stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom." U.S. Marines had custody of the U.S.-sanctioned vessel and were “seeing what’s on board!”

It was not clear whether anyone was hurt. The U.S. Central Command, which didn't answer questions, said the destroyer had issued “repeated warnings over a six-hour period.”

Iranian state media suggest new talks won't take place

There was no comment from Iranian officials directly addressing Trump's announcement of talks. However, Iranian state media, without citing anyone beyond unnamed sources, issued brief reports suggesting that they would not happen.

Minutes after the ship seizure was announced, Iranian state media reported on President Masoud Pezeshkian’s phone conversation with Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, earlier Sunday. U.S. actions, including bullying and unreasonable behavior, have led to increased suspicion that the U.S. will repeat previous patterns and “betray diplomacy," the reports cited Pezeshkian as saying.

Two previous attempts at talks — last June and earlier this year — were interrupted by Israeli and U.S. attacks.

On another phone call, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, that recent U.S. actions, rhetoric and contradictions were signs of “bad intentions and lack of seriousness in diplomacy," Iran’s state broadcaster said.

Pakistan did not confirm a second round of talks, but authorities had begun tightening security in Islamabad. A regional official involved in the efforts said mediators were finalizing preparations and U.S. advance security teams were on the ground. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss preparations with the media.

The White House had said Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round of historic face-to-face talks over 21 hours last weekend, would lead the U.S. delegation to Pakistan with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Iran on Saturday said it had received new proposals from the United States. While Iran’s chief negotiator, parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, late Saturday said “there will be no retreat in the field of diplomacy,” he acknowledged a wide gap remained between the sides.

It was unclear whether either side had shifted stances on issues that derailed the last round of negotiations, including Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump's announcement on talks repeated his threats against Iranian infrastructure that have drawn widespread criticism and warnings of war crimes. If Iran doesn't agree to the U.S.-proposed deal, "the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote.

Iran wants to control strait until ‘war fully ends’

Iran early Monday warned it could keep up the global economic pain as ships remained unable to transit the strait, with hundreds of vessels waiting at each end for clearance.

Security of the strait is not free and “the choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” Mohammad Reza Aref, first vice president of Iran, said in a social media post calling for a lasting end to military and economic pressure on Tehran.

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes through the strait, along with critical supplies of fertilizer for the world's farmers, natural gas and humanitarian supplies for places in dire need like Afghanistan and Sudan.

Iran had announced the strait’s reopening after a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon took hold on Friday. But then Trump said the U.S. blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the United States. Iran said it would again enforce restrictions it imposed early in the war. On Saturday, Iran fired at ships trying to transit.

For the Islamic Republic, the strait’s closure is perhaps its most powerful weapon, inflicting political pain on Trump. For the United States, the blockade squeezes Iran’s already weakened economy. Each side has accused the other of violating the ceasefire.

Since most supplies to U.S. military bases in the Gulf region come through the strait, “Iran is determined to maintain oversight and control over traffic through the strait until the war fully ends,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said late Saturday. That means Iran-designated routes, payment of fees and issuance of transit certificates.

The council has recently acted as Iran’s de facto top decision-making body.

The war is now in its eighth week after the U.S. and Israel launched it on Feb. 28 during talks over Tehran’s nuclear program. At least 3,000 people have been killed in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.

___ Magy reported from Cairo and Metz from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

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An earlier version of this story corrected the name of the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson to Esmail Baghaei.

O'Connor's third-period tally was his first since Game 4 of a playoff series against Dallas on April 26. He missed most of this season with a hip injury. Artturi Lehkonen had a second-period goal for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche.

“Super happy to get it out of the way,” said O'Connor, who underwent hip surgery in early June. "For us, our game translates well to the playoffs. It’s a lot of simplicity and muck it up and just wear teams down. It was nice to get that one out of the way and finish the job off.”

Wedgewood got the nod in net over Mackenzie Blackwood after leading the league in goals-against average and save percentage. Wedgewood made four career playoff appearances in relief before Sunday's start.

At 33 years, 248 days old, Wedgewood became the third-oldest goaltender in league history to pick up a win in his first career playoff start, according to NHL stats.

“Obviously, a long career to get to this point,” Wedgwood cracked.

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Denver.

Artemi Panarin scored a power-play goal with 2:22 left to make it 2-1. Shortly after, forward Joel Armia was called for high-sticking and the Kings were unable to tie it up.

“We were kind of coming there late and couldn’t get enough,” forward Scott Laughton said.

Anton Forsberg stopped 28 shots in his NHL postseason debut.

“We’re comfortable in low-scoring games,” Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “We've got to try and keep it tight.”

Nathan MacKinnon had an assist on Lehkonen's goal to give him 32 career points in Game 1s. He trails only Joe Sakic (42) for the most Game-1 points in franchise history.

The game got chippy in the third period, with Cale Makar taking a shove to the back by Adrian Kempe. Captain Gabriel Landeskog later stood up for Makar and got into it with Kempe. Both drew roughing calls.

There were a combined 84 hits.

“We know teams are going to want to push us out of games,” said O'Connor, whose team was 0 for 4 on the power play. “We feel as though we can push back just as hard. That’s one great thing about our group: the versatility within our locker room. You want to go a 1-0 game? We like to think we can beat you at that. Track meet, if it happens? We’ve got that. Physicality, we have guys who are willing to step up.”

Colorado nearly scored earlier in the second when O'Connor sent a shot past Forsberg. But as the goal horn sounded, the officials signaled no goal. It was ruled Jack Drury made contact with Forsberg following a collision with Drew Doughty. The Avalanche challenged but the call stood.

“I’d like to see it count,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “They saw it different — not losing any sleep over it.”

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

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This story has been corrected to show Logan O’Connor’s last goal was April 26.

The price of U.S. crude oil increased 6.4% to $87.90 per barrel an hour after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 5.8% to $95.64 per barrel.

The market reaction followed more than two days of lifted hopes and dashed expectations involving the strait. Crude prices plunged more than 9% Friday after Iran said it would fully reopen the strait, which it effectively controls, to commercial traffic.

Tehran reversed that decision and fired on several vessels Saturday after President Donald Trump said a U.S. Navy blockade of Iranian ports would remain in effect. On Sunday, Trump said the U.S. attacked and forcibly seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that allegedly tried to get around the blockade. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond.

Sunday's higher prices wiped out much of the declines seen Friday, signaling renewed doubts about how soon ships will again transport the vast amounts oil the world gets from the Middle East.

The US-Israeli war against Iran, now in its eighth week, has created one of the worst global energy crises in decades. Countries in Asia and Europe that import much of their oil from the Gulf have felt the most impact of halted supplies and production cuts, although rapidly rising gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices are affecting businesses and consumers worldwide.

Asked when he thought U.S. motorists would again see gas cost less than $3 a gallon on average, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said prices at the pump might not go down that much until next year.

“But prices have likely peaked, and they’ll start going down,” Wright told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

The price of crude oil — the main ingredient in gasoline — has fluctated dramatically since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, and as Iran retaliated with airstrikes on other Gulf states. Crude traded at roughly $70 a barrel before the conflict, spiked to more than $119 at times, and previously closed Friday at $82.59 for U.S. oil and $90.38 for Brent.

Industry analysts have repeatedly warned that the longer the strait is closed, the worse prices could get.

A fragile, two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz puts the fate of new talks to end the war into question.

Even if a lasting deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz emerges, analysts say it could take months for oil shipments to return to normal levels and for fuel prices to go down. Backed-up tanker traffic, shipowners concerned about another sudden escalation, and energy infrastructure damaged during the war are factors that could impede production and shipment volumes from returning to pre-war levels.

A gallon of regular gas cost an average of nearly $4.05 a gallon in the U.S. on Sunday, according to motor club federation AAA. That’s about 8 cents lower than a week ago, but far higher than $2.98 before the war.

Pinch-hitter Michael Conforto tied it for Chicago in the ninth with an RBI double off closer Devin Williams.

Pete Crow-Armstrong opened the 10th on second as the Cubs' automatic runner. Dansby Swanson fouled off two bunt attempts before Kimbrel (0-1) threw a wild pitch, moving Crow-Armstrong to third.

After Swanson struck out swinging, Hoerner lofted a flyball to right and Crow-Armstrong scored easily.

Caleb Thielbar (1-1) worked a scoreless 10th for Chicago, which posted its season-high fifth straight win.

MJ Melendez homered for New York, which finished with six hits. David Peterson pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings of bulk relief after manager Carlos Mendoza decided to go with Tobias Myers as an opener.

It’s the longest losing streak for the Mets since they also dropped 11 in a row from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8 in 2004. They have been outscored 62-19 during the slide, and they are averaging just 2.9 runs over 17 games in April.

The Cubs rallied in the ninth against Williams. Ian Happ hit a leadoff single and pinch-runner Scott Kingery scored from first on Conforto's one-out double into the right-field corner against his former team. Conforto was stranded when Williams struck out Carson Kelly and Crow-Armstrong, both swinging.

Melendez began the fifth with a drive to right-center on a full-count fastball from Javier Assad. It was his first homer since he was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday.

Chicago had at least one baserunner in each of the first seven innings.

Crow-Armstrong hit a leadoff triple in the third, but Peterson retired Swanson on a grounder to third before Hoerner lined to second for an inning-ending double play.

Up next

Mets: Following an off day, RHP Nolan McLean (1-1, 2.28 ERA) starts Tuesday night against Minnesota in the opener of a nine-game homestand. RHP Mick Abel (1-2, 3.98) goes for the Twins.

Cubs: RHP Colin Rea (2-0, 3.63 ERA) starts Monday night in the opener of a four-game series against Philadelphia.

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

Manchester City swung the race for the championship in its favor by beating Arsenal 2-1 on Sunday thanks to a second-half winner by Erling Haaland.

Haaland’s league-leading 23rd goal of the campaign in the 65th minute allowed City to trim the gap to Arsenal, the long-time front-runner, to three points. City has a game in hand at relegation-threatened Burnley on Wednesday, after which Pep Guardiola’s team is likely to have overturned its goal-difference deficit to Arsenal and taken the lead with five rounds remaining.

“Panic on the streets of London” read a banner held aloft behind one of the goals after the final whistle — a reference to a 1980s song by The Smiths and a nod to Arsenal's end-of-season implosion that has seen Mikel Arteta's team lose four of its last six games in all competitions, including two straight in the league.

This might be a familiar sinking feeling for Arsenal fans, who have seen their team finish as runner-up for the past three Premier League seasons.

“Two weeks ago, this didn’t look very likely, this scenario,” City captain Bernardo Silva said.

An often-frenetic match exploded into life when Rayan Cherki gave City a 16th-minute lead with a weaving run and finish, only for Arsenal to draw level in bizarre circumstances two minutes later after Gianluigi Donnarumma’s clearance was charged down by Kai Havertz and rebounded into the net from close range.

Haaland and Arsenal pair Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhaes struck the goal frame, before Haaland slotted home a low shot from Nico O'Reilly's cross, dealing a huge blow to Arsenal's hopes of a first league championship since 2004.

City is expected to beat next-to-last Burnley, but has a tougher run-in than Arsenal that includes trips to Everton and Bournemouth and a final-day meeting with Aston Villa.

“Every game is a final,” Haaland said.

Unlike City, which is unbeaten in 10 league games, Arsenal is struggling for form and also has to balance playing in the Champions League after reaching the semifinals.

"It's a new league now — everything is still to play for," Arteta said.

Stoppage-time winners for Liverpool and Villa

Liverpool and Aston Villa look to be headed for the Champions League after grabbing stoppage-time winners on Sunday.

Virgil van Dijk headed home in the 10th minute of added-on time to earn Liverpool a 2-1 victory at Everton in a Merseyside derby featuring a record-tying goal from Mohamed Salah.

Salah, who is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season after nine trophy-filled seasons, marked his final derby by slotting in a low finish in the 29th minute. His ninth Merseyside derby goal drew him even with Liverpool great Steven Gerrard for the most in the Premier League era (since 1992).

It was Liverpool’s other stalwart, Van Dijk, who sealed the win by turning in a corner by Dominik Szoboszlai.

There was so much stoppage time because Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was forced off on a stretcher after sustaining an injury attempting in vain to save a 54th-minute shot by Beto that brought Everton level.

Villa, meanwhile, beat Sunderland 4-3 thanks to Tammy Abraham’s goal in the third minute of stoppage time.

Fourth-placed Villa moved 10 points ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea. Liverpool is in between them, but stretched its advantage over Chelsea to seven points.

The top five in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League.

Gibbs-White hat trick boosts Forest survival chances

Morgan Gibbs-White scored a second-half hat trick as Nottingham Forest rallied to beat Burnley 4-1 and further boost its survival hopes.

Forest moved five points clear of third-to-last Tottenham in the relegation zone, while next-to-last Burnley slipped closer to the drop to the Championship.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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

The reigning league MVP made just 5 of 18 field goals but went 15 of 17 at the foul line before sitting out the fourth quarter.

Jalen Williams scored 22 points and Chet Holmgren added 16 for the top-seeded Thunder, who will host Game 2 on Wednesday.

Devin Booker scored 23 points and Dillon Brooks scored 18 on 6-of-22 shooting for the Suns, who shot 34.9% from the field. Jalen Green, who scored 35 and 36 points in Phoenix’s two play-in games, had 17 on 6-for-16 shooting.

It was the third straight year that the Thunder earned the top seed and had to wait through the play-in tournament to learn their first-round opponent. Two seasons ago, Oklahoma City beat New Orleans 94-92 in Game 1. Last year, the Thunder routed Memphis 131-80 in Game 1 on their way to the title.

Phoenix claimed the No. 8 seed by defeating the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. The Suns took an early 5-0 lead Sunday as the Thunder started cold following a week off.

The Thunder heated up quickly. Brooks was called for a flagrant-one foul in the first quarter for hitting Holmgren in the face. The Thunder went on a 12-2 surge after that to take a 24-14 lead.

In the closing seconds of the quarter, Oklahoma City's Jaylin Williams threw a pass about three-quarters of the length of the court. Holmgren caught it with his back to the basket, took one dribble to his right, then turned and drained a 3-pointer as time expired to put Oklahoma City up 35-20.

Oklahoma City extended the advantage to 65-44 at halftime. Holmgren had 16 points and Gilgeous-Alexander had 15 at the break.

Gilgeous-Alexander converted a three-point play to push Oklahoma City's lead to 90-63 late in the third quarter, and the Thunder took a 97-66 edge into the fourth.

Nine Oklahoma City players saw at least 13 minutes of action.

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

The FBI has used social media campaigns to attract applicants, offered abbreviated training for candidates from other federal agencies and relaxed requirements for support staff seeking to become agents, according to people familiar with the changes and internal communications seen by The Associated Press. At the same time, the Justice Department has opened the door to hiring prosecutors right out of law school to help fill vacancies in U.S. attorney’s offices across the country.

Some current and former agents also say the FBI is promoting into positions of leadership employees with less experience than is customary for the jobs.

The moves reflect a broader effort to stabilize a workforce strained by retirements and resignations prompted in part by concerns over the Trump administration's politicization of the department, along with the firings of lawyers, agents and other employees deemed insufficiently loyal to the Republican president's agenda. Critics of the changes say they amount to a reduction in standards for a law enforcement institution that has long prided itself on professional expertise and bears responsibility for everything from preventing terrorist attacks to building complex public corruption prosecutions.

“It’s a sign of, among other things, the difficulty the department is having right now in keeping and recruiting people,” said Greg Brower, a former U.S. attorney in Nevada who left the FBI in 2018 as its chief congressional liaison.

The FBI defended the changes as a necessary modernization of its hiring pipeline, saying it is streamlining, not lowering, standards and removing what it says were “bureaucratic” steps in the application process. It said applicants were still evaluated “on the same competencies.”

“The Bureau holds high standards for potential and current employees, and there is a rigorous application and background process to join the FBI,” the FBI said in a statement.

Waived requirements in some cases to become an FBI agent

The FBI has long been seen as the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency, with a recruitment process anchored around physical fitness tests, a writing assessment, interview and training academy at Quantico, Virginia.

Elements of the regimen have been periodically tweaked to fit the bureau's needs, including over the past year under FBI Director Kash Patel 's leadership.

With a mantra to “let good cops be cops,” Patel announced last year that transfers from other agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration would be able to complete a nine-week training academy instead of the traditional academy that spans more than four months. The change rankled some current and former officials who say the FBI's protocols, culture and diversity of cases it handles help to distinguish it from other agencies.

For support staff employees looking to become agents, the bureau more recently said it would waive requirements of a written assessment and an interview with a three-member panel of FBI agents meant to measure life experience and judgment, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the moves and an internal message seen by the AP.

The FBI said onboard employees would still need recommendations from a senior leader and to complete Quantico training.

“We are not lowering standards or removing qualifications in any way. What we are doing is streamlining the process to remove duplicative, bureaucratic steps to the application system for onboard employees,” the FBI said in a statement, adding, "These are changes based on a wide variety of feedback from successful agents with over 20 years’ experience.”

Patel boasted in January of a 112% increase in applications, and the FBI says it has a “clear path” to add around 700 special agents this year and that its current Quantico class is one of its largest in years. But some people familiar with the matter say an applications uptick does not necessarily correspond to a surge in high-caliber recruits that can offset the attrition the bureau has endured.

At the other end of the employment spectrum, the FBI also faces turnover among senior leaders, including special agents in charge, the title given to heads of most of the bureau's 56 field offices. Some were fired by Patel over the past year. Others retired. Many offices are now led by someone who has been in the job for under a year.

Facing what current and former officials say is difficulty in filling some of the positions, the FBI has moved quickly to promote agents up the ladder, people familiar with the matter say. That includes elevating assistant special agents in charge to special agents in charge and opening the door for employees to be considered for leadership roles without the significant headquarters experience the FBI historically regarded as necessary for a holistic view of bureau operations.

As a conservative podcast host before becoming director, Patel talked about shutting down FBI headquarters and transforming it into a museum of the “deep state” and immediately upon his arrival told colleagues that as director he would move hundreds of employees from Washington into the field.

“As a field agent, you have a field agent’s mentality, you have a field agent's view,” said Chris Piehota, a retired FBI senior executive. Without adequate headquarters experience, he added, you don't know “the business side of the FBI, the logistical side of the FBI or the political jungle" that can accompany the job.

Justice Department changes

The Justice Department, meanwhile, has lowered hiring prerequisites for some federal prosecutors.

Department officials recently suspended a policy that U.S. attorneys offices only hire prosecutors with at least one year of experience practicing law. The department did not explain the reason, but said in a statement that it is “proud to empower young and passionate prosecutors and offer attorneys at every level the opportunity to invest their talents into keeping their communities safe."

It comes as parts of the agency are struggling to keep up with the workload amid critical staffing shortages, with the department recently acknowledging that it has lost nearly 1,000 assistant U.S. attorneys.

In Minnesota, for example, the federal prosecutors’ office has been gutted by resignations amid frustration with the administration’s stepped-up immigration enforcement and the department’s response to fatal shootings of civilians by federal agents.

Justice Department headquarters in Washington has endured staffing losses, too.

The number of lawyers in the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section, which prosecutes organized crime groups and violent gangs, is down significantly, though the section is looking to hire additional attorneys. A National Security Division section that works espionage cases has reported a 40% drop in prosecutors.

The department said in a statement that it has seen an increase in criminal complaints and indictments despite a loss in prosecutors, underscoring the “bloated, ineffective and weaponized” institution it says the administration inherited.

Officials have enlisted military lawyers to serve as special prosecutors in some offices. The Justice Department has taken to social media to recruit applicants, and the FBI has done the same in search of new agents. One recent post from the FBI's Indianapolis office said: “A calling bigger than yourself. A mission that matters. If you’re ready for the challenge, there’s a place for you on the FBI team.”

Chad Mizelle, who served as chief of staff to Trump's first attorney general, Pam Bondi, recently urged lawyers to contact him on X if they want to become prosecutors, “and support President Trump and anti-crime agenda.” Mizelle’s post raised eyebrows not only because federal prosecutors have not generally been solicited over social media, but also because support for the president has not been a prerequisite for career employees.

“We need good prosecutors,” wrote Mizelle, who left the department in October. “And DOJ is hiring across the country. Now is your chance to join the mission and do good for our country.”