It was the first time U.S. aircraft have been downed in the conflict and came just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”

One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said. A U.S. crew member from that plane was rescued, but a second was missing, and a U.S. military search-and-rescue operation was underway.

Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation, said it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down.

The war now entering its sixth week is destabilizing economies around the world as Iran responds to the U.S. and Israeli attacks by targeting the Gulf region's energy infrastructure and tightening its grip on oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Here is the latest:

One Israeli slightly hurt in Iranian missile strike

Israel’s rescue services said Saturday the man sustained glass shrapnel wounds after an Iranian missile hit the central city of Bnei Brak.

It wasn't clear if the glass shrapnel was caused by a direct strike or falling debris from an intercepted missile.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue services said it was taking the man to the hospital.

Iran executes two more members of exile group

The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency said Saturday that the two men who were hanged belonged to the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

The agency said Abul-Hassan Montazer and Vahid Bani-Amirian were convicted of “being members of a terrorist group.”

This brings to six 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.

Israeli military says it struck key infrastructure in Iranian capital

The Israeli military said on Saturday that its air force struck ballistic and and anti-aircraft missile storage sites in Tehran.

It said the strikes a day earlier included weapons manufacture sites as well as military research and development facilities in the Iranian capital.

It said the strikes are part of an ongoing phase to increase damage to Iran's “core systems and foundations.”

Oracle building in Dubai damaged by drone debris

Authorities in Dubai said the facades of two buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted drones, including one belonging to U.S. tech firm Oracle. No injuries were reported.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to attack Oracle and 17 other U.S. companies after accusing them of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations in Iran.

Previous Iranian drone strikes caused damage to three Amazon Web Services facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

365 service members have been wounded in action in Iran war

As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, according to Pentagon data available online.

It is unclear if the data includes any of the service members involved in the downing of two combat aircraft reported Friday.

Most of the wounded — 200 — were also mid to senior enlisted troops, 85 were officers and 80 were junior enlisted service members.

The current death toll remains at 13 service members killed in combat.

Both Richardson and Coleman are racing from “scratch” in the 144th edition of the event, meaning they must run the entire distance and chase down opponents who in some cases may start up to 25 meters ahead of them.

Richardson, who gave away 10 meters to her closest competitor at the start, won her heat in 13.815 seconds Saturday and Coleman his in 12.681.

On Monday there will be six semifinals in each of the men's and women's divisions, with the winners of each of the heats advancing to the respective finals. Only two men and two women have won the race starting from scratch.

“My experience so far is just reminding me what track and field feels like — love the respect and also fun,” Richardson told Seven Network television after her heat.

“It felt like being a kid again, playing tag, like playing rabbit. I had a great time, and it just kind of woke my body up with this being the first time running in 2026 . . . chasing everyone actually made me activate and work on my race pattern."

Richardson is one of the fastest women of all time, winning a silver medal in the 100 meters in the 2024 Paris Olympics, and gold in the 4x100 relay that same year.

Coleman is a former world champion over 100 meters. He and Richardson appear to have continued their relationship despite a domestic violence charge against Richardson last July.

There are more than 700 competitors in the Stawell race, including many of Australia's top runners, in the event held about 235 kilometers (145 miles) west of Melbourne. The men's and women's finals each carry a prize of 40,000 Australian dollars ($27,500).

It has not been disclosed whether Richardson or Coleman have been paid appearance money to take part in the race. Last year Australian media reported that top Australian sprinter Gout Gout was paid 50,000 Australian dollars (35,000) to run at Stawell, where he was eliminated in the semifinals.

Richardson said this week that she was excited about the handicap format.

“I’ve been known to be a chaser in a couple of races, so actually the challenge of the stagger makes me more technical and sound, and with that comes great results," she said in comments on the Australian Athletics website.

Coleman, known for its fast starts, said he's the opposite.

“I’m usually leading from the front and people are trying to come catch me. I feel that this will be the perfect start to the season, to have some fun, but also be able to work on the things I have been practicing,” he said.

___

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

“There’s obviously concern,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after his team's 10-3 victory. “The calf area could be tricky. We’ve just got to wait, but there’s obviously concern.”

Soto singled off Tyler Mahle in the top of the first and appeared to slow up while going first to third on Bo Bichette's run-scoring single.

“He felt something,” Mendoza said. “As he was standing at third base, he continued to get tight.”

Soto was forced out at home plate when Brett Baty grounded into a 1-2-3 double play, and Tyrone Taylor replaced Soto in left field for the bottom of the first.

The 27-year-old Soto is in the second season of a record $765 million, 15-year contract with the Mets. He had 43 homers and 105 RBIs while playing in 160 games last season.

The four-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger award winner has played at least 150 games six times in his eight major league seasons before this one. The only times he didn't were the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and his rookie year with Washington in 2018, when he was called up on May 20. He hasn't been on the injured list since early in the 2021 season with the Nationals.

Soto has hit safely in all eight Mets games this season. He entered Friday with a .282 career batting average and 245 home runs.

He also has played for the San Diego Padres and New York Yankees.

___

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

Less than a quarter later, Flagg was the first teenager to score 51 points in an NBA game in Dallas' 138-127 loss to the Orlando Magic on Friday night.

Flagg scored 24 points in the fourth quarter after coach Jason Kidd and forward Naji Marshall were ejected complaining about what they thought was a no-call when Desmond Bane fouled Flagg.

Kidd was tossed even though he was assessed just one technical foul, while Marshall had gotten another tech at the end of the first half. His second came just moments after Kidd was thrown out.

“It’s great to see,” Flagg said after going 19 of 30 from the field and making all seven of his free throws and topping his previous career high of 49 in a 123-121 loss to Charlotte on Jan. 29.

“I already know that coach has my back and Naji ... I know he has my back for sure out there,” Flagg said. “Just seeing their emotion, seeing them fight for me and fight for the calls. Definitely some emotion, and motivated me even further.”

Flagg exited the game with 45 points, but assistant coach Frank Vogel, filling in for Kidd, told the 19-year-old he was just resting him during a defensive possession.

Vogel called a timeout to get Flagg back in with 3:22 remaining, and Flagg made history a little more than a minute later. He missed a 3-pointer the first time down, then missed a follow attempt on Brandon Williams' miss, got the rebound again and made a corner 3.

On the next Dallas possession, he hit an off-balance shot in the lane while getting fouled to clinch 50, made the free throw and left to a standing ovation.

The Mavericks were down 30 when Flagg started his fourth-quarter scoring barrage in what ended up being their 14th consecutive home loss. It's the longest home losing streak since Dallas lost the first 19 games at since-demolished Reunion Arena in 1993-94.

“It’s always fun getting into that type of mode,” Flagg said. “The basket feels big. My teammates are looking out for you, helping you out. But I like to win. That was my main focus. It’s hard for me to fully enjoy myself out there when we’re down 20, down 10, down 15, for the majority of the game.”

Flagg said he thought it was obvious Bane had fouled him in the opening two minutes of the fourth.

“I think it was warranted,” Flagg said about Kidd's reaction. “I’m not going to lie. I talked to Bane after the play, and he told me he was intentionally trying to foul me. I honestly don’t know how they didn’t see that. Obviously, they must not have had the right view, or they weren’t paying attention. But they missed it.”

Kidd said there was “a lot of excitement in the back” as he watched Flagg with a TV delay, hearing the crowd reaction before the buckets as the former Duke standout was 8 of 12 from the field and 4 of 6 from deep in the fourth.

Flagg's previous career high came against former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel, the fourth overall pick and fellow contender for rookie of the year.

Kidd continues to stump for Flagg to win the same award Kidd won with the Mavs 31 years ago, and dropped a Michael Jordan reference after Flagg's latest milestone. Yes, Jordan was the 1985 Rookie of the Year.

“He should be rookie of the year,” Kidd said. “It’s unbelievable. The country’s not watching the same thing we get to watch on a daily basis. He’s in rare air. He’s with the GOAT when you talk about MJ and what he did in his rookie year. And as a teenager, to see what Cooper’s doing, just the excitement, the joy, playing the game, win or lose, his spirit, is about winning. Right now we’re not.”

For at least one night, the rookie overshadowed the long home losing streak, even though he couldn't end it.

___

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

The two-time All-American made sure there wasn't a repeat performance in this year's Final Four, swooping in for the biggest play in a game that sends the Bruins into the NCAA national championship game for the first time.

Heeding her coaches' persistent advice to sprint back on defense, Betts swatted fellow All-American Madison Booker with 20 seconds left, allowing UCLA to withstand a late charge by Texas for a 51-44 win in the Final Four on Friday night.

“When that play happened, I really have so much confidence that every time she is in a matchup, she’s going to find a way to alter, block, scare somebody from doing that,” UCLA coach Cori Close said. “I just think she’s spectacular.”

She needed to be.

Motivated by the beatdown in their first Final Four a year ago, Betts and the Bruins (36-1) dominated their way to another national semifinal with the best season in program history.

A chance at a first national championship game appearance had to go through the only team to beat them this season.

Texas was overpowering in the first meeting, but the Bruins turned the bully tables on the Longhorns (35-4), shutting down All-American Madison Booker while building a 13-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.

The Longhorns are one of the nation's best defensive teams and flexed their D during a 12-2 run that cut UCLA's lead to 47-44.

Betts swatted the Texas run to halt.

With the Longhorns on the break and Booker attacking the basket, Betts backpedaled and timed her jump just right. She blocked Booker's shot, gathered the ball herself and Kiki Rice hit two clinching free throws, sending Close's crew into the title game.

"As soon as I saw her getting downhill I was like ‘Alright, please block this. Don’t let her score,’” Betts said.

Betts' big block and the Bruins grinding win earn them a spot Sunday’s title game against South Carolina, the three-time national champions who ended reigning champion UConn’s undefeated season and left Huskies’ coach Geno Auriemma fuming.

So was Booker after a brutal finish to what was otherwise a stellar season. She hit her first shot, missed the next 17 and finished with six points on 3-of-23 shooting.

“It did surprise me when I couldn’t get out of my funk because every shot I put up it felt like it was going to be money,” Booker said. “I wish a few more fell in, not just for me but for my teammates, too.”

Same for Texas coach Vic Schaefer after another agonizing Final Four loss.

He twice lost in the national title game at Mississippi State — once on a buzzer beater — and watched the Longhorns clank their way out of their second straight Final Four appearance.

The Longhorns got off to a brutal start with six points in the first quarter, shot 38% from the floor overall and 2 for 9 from 3-point range in the third-lowest scoring in Final Four history.

The chance at a second national title stretches to another year — 40 years and counting.

“We feel like, in our locker room, we let one get away,” Schaefer said. "I feel like this one will haunt me as the coach probably until the day I die.”

In the teams' first meeting, Texas dominated early and held on late for a 76-65 win on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas.

The rematch was more like a wrestling match, players hitting the floor and coaches screaming for fouls that weren't called — just like in the first Final Four game.

UCLA dominated the first quarter to lead by eight. Texas tightened the screws in the second, limiting the Bruins to six points — the 28th opponent they've held to single digits in a quarter to pull within 20-17 by halftime.

Betts turned out to be a huge difference maker.

The 6-foot-7 center was held to a season-low eight points the first go-round against Texas, but had some success early in the national semifinals by attacking before the double teams arrived. She continued to produce while her fellow All-American labored, finishing 7 of 10 from the floor with 11 rebounds and three blocked shots — none bigger than the late one against Booker that all but secured UCLA's 29th straight win since the loss to Texas.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

South Carolina will be trying to win its fourth national championship in nine years. The Gamecocks played stifling defense to knock off UConn 62-48 and end the Huskies' 54-game winning streak in the semifinals of March Madness on Friday night.

UCLA played incredible defense of its own in its 51-44 win over Texas. The Bruins spoiled a chance at the first all-SEC title game since 2017, when Staley’s team beat Mississippi State, which was led by current Texas coach Vic Schaefer. That victory was South Carolina's first title and started the current run that the Gamecocks have been on over the last decade.

South Carolian and UCLA have played each other many times over the past few seasons. UCLA coach Cori Close has been impressed with what Staley has built at South Carolina.

“Dawn does such a great job and is a standard-bearer in our sport,” Close said. "Thankful for what they’ve done, not just for South Carolina, but for the game. We also are an incredibly competitive, confident group. I’m sure they are as well. All you can ask for is to play your best basketball for a national championship."

The Bruins have been on a mission this season since losing to UConn in the Final Four last season. It was the Bruins' first-ever trip to the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. With most of the key players back from that team and a couple of new additions, UCLA ran through the regular season with the only loss in November to Texas in a tournament in Las Vegas.

That loss was the only blemish the Bruins had this year, and they cruised to both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament championship.

Now, they'll have a tall test with South Carolina, which put on a defensive clinic against UConn. The ending of that game was overshadowed by a dust-up between Staley and UConn coach Geno Auriemma as they were shaking hands with less than a second left. The two coaches needed to be separated by their assistants.

Coming into the season Staley wasn't sure about this team as they were dealing with injuries and trying to work in star transfer Ta'Niya Latson from Florida State. The country's leading scorer last season while at Florida State just wanted to have a chance to win a national championship.

“This is why I came to South Carolina. It was a personal sacrifice that I had to make. I mean, I know a lot of people don’t get that, they don’t understand my why,” said Latson. “This is my why. This is why I came to South Carolina.”

Close and her team will try and hang a championship banner to go with the one the school won by taking the 1978 AIAW title, which was the postseason tournament for women's basketball before the NCAA took over in 1982.

The Bruins are a veteran team, even though they have no championship game experience. UCLA's starting five, led by center Lauren Betts, are all seniors or graduates.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

The rescue occurred as the U.S. military was conducting a search and rescue operation, according to three people familiar who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitivity of the situation. Israel is helping the United States with the operation.

Iranian state media has claimed in a post on X that Iran’s military shot down a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle.

According to an email from the Pentagon obtained by The Associated Press, the U.S. military said that it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down” in the Middle East. The email did not provide more details.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a previous statement that President Donald Trump had been briefed but did not offer any additional information.

The number of crew on board wasn’t immediately known.

The war now entering its sixth week is destabilizing economies around the world as Iran responds to the U.S. and Israeli attacks by targeting the Gulf region's energy infrastructure and tightening its grip on oil and natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will keep hitting Iran “very hard” in the next two or three weeks.

Here is the latest:

Oracle building in Dubai damaged by drone debris

Authorities in Dubai said the facades of two buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted drones, including one belonging to U.S. tech firm Oracle. No injuries were reported.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to attack Oracle and 17 other U.S. companies after accusing them of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations in Iran.

Previous Iranian drone strikes caused damage to three Amazon Web Services facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

365 service members have been wounded in action in Iran war

As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, according to Pentagon data available online.

It is unclear if the data includes any of the service members involved in the downing of two combat aircraft reported Friday.

Most of the wounded — 200 — were also mid to senior enlisted troops, 85 were officers and 80 were junior enlisted service members.

The current death toll remains at 13 service members killed in combat.

Bahrain postpones vote on UN resolution aimed at ending Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz

The Gulf nation of Bahrain, which holds the presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month, postponed the vote on a resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz that had been watered down significantly because of opposition from Russia and China, two U.N. diplomats said.

The diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because council consultations have been private, said the vote will now be held sometime next week.

The Bahrain-sponsored draft resolution that had been expected to be put to a vote on Saturday would authorize defensive measures — not offensive action that Gulf nations and the United States initially supported — to ensure vessels can safely transit the waterway where one-fifth of the world’s oil typically passes.

Bahrain has sought support from all 15 council nations, and the postponement of the vote indicates that the watered-down draft is still not acceptable to Russia and China.

A-10 aircraft hit by Iranian air defenses, second US aircraft to go down in the Middle East

A U.S. A-10 aircraft has been hit by Iranian air defenses, Iranian state media reported, citing Iran’s Army public relations office.

The Associated Press reported earlier that a second U.S. Air Force combat aircraft had gone down in the Middle East on Friday.

No other information was immediately known including the whereabouts of the pilot. The Pentagon and White House did not immediate comment.

The A-10, also known by the nickname Warthog, is a single-seat aircraft.

▶ Read more

White House says Trump won’t appear before press on Friday

The White House at 4 p.m. EST called a “lid” for press, indicating the president would not be making any appearance in front of the media for the day.

The call came hours earlier than normal and signaled the president and White House are remaining tight-lipped as the search-and-rescue mission continued.

Trump declines to speak about search for missing crew member

In a brief telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to discuss the search and rescue effort.

He was asked if it would impact negotiations with Iran and said, “No, not at all. No, it’s war.”

Status of a second service member unknown after F-15E shot down

The House Armed Services Committee has been notified by the Pentagon that the status of a second service member is not known after the downing of the fighter jet.

The panel was told that an F-15 was shot down and one service member has been recovered, according to a congressional aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose the private communication.

The other service member’s duty status is unknown, the aide said.

That generally means the Defense Department does not know the person’s whereabouts and they have gone missing.

—- Lisa Mascaro

Second US aircraft went down

A second U.S. Air Force combat aircraft went down in the Middle East on Friday, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation.

It was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down or whether Iran was involved. Neither the crew’s status nor where the aircraft went down was immediately known.

The New York Times earlier reported that the second aircraft went down.

Also Friday, a U.S. fighter jet was shot down in Iran and one crew member was rescued.

—- Konstantin Toropin

One person killed in fires caused by falling debris in Abu Dhabi

The Abu Dhabi government media office said Friday that one Egyptian national was killed in fires caused by falling debris at Habshan gas facilities, following the interception of an Iranian aerial attack, according to a statement posted on X.

In the same fires, another four expats, including two Egyptians and two Pakistanis, sustained minor wounds, added the statement.

The Abu Dhabi government did not specify whether air defenses had intercepted a missile or a drone.

“Significant damage has occurred at the facilities and an assessment is ongoing,” read the statement.

Iranian official derides the US after downing US aircraft

Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf mocked the U.S. after his country shot down a U.S. aircraft over southwestern Iran and at least one crew member ejected.

“This brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from “regime change” to “Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?,” Qalibaf wrote on his X account.

Iranian state media has claimed in a post on X that Iran’s military shot down a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle.

Qalibaf, doubling down on his mockery, wrote, “What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses.”

WHO chief calls for urgent support for health systems in war-affected countries

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated on Friday his agency’s appeal for $ 30.3 million in immediate funding to support strained health services in Iran and another four Arab countries including Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Syria.

“This appeal will support essential health services and trauma care, disease surveillance and early warning systems, mass casualty management and national readiness for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear emergencies,” he said on the social platform X.

So far, the conflict has killed 3,300, wounded 30,000 and caused the displacement of over 4 million people.

The WHO first launched the appeal on Thursday, explaining that this amount will cover the period from March to August 2026.

Archbishop leading US military’s Catholic chaplains questions whether Iran war is just

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who heads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, tells CBS News that a case can be made that the Iran war is unjustified.

Broglio was asked during an interview to be aired on Easter Sunday on “Face the Nation” if the war was justified.

“Under the just war theory, it is not,” replied Broglio, who then evoked the specter of a threat of nuclear arms.”

“It’s compensating for a threat before threat is actually realized,” he said. “I would line myself up with Pope Leo, who has been urging for negotiation.”

“The Lord Jesus certainly brought a message of peace and also, I think war is always a last resort,” Broglio added. “I’m not making a judgment about that, because I really don’t know. But I do think that it’s hard to cast this war, you know, as something that would be sponsored by the Lord.”

Israeli official says Israel providing intel for search effort

The official says Israel is assisting with intelligence, but not active in any on-the-ground rescue.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the unfolding operation.

—- Josef Federman

Kuwait defends against air attacks

The Kuwaiti army said on Friday that its air defenses had engaged with seven ballistic missiles, two cruise missiles and 26 drones over the last 24 days, according to a statement posted on its official page on X.

The statement added that interceptions were still going on causing in Kuwaiti skies, causing explosions.

Israeli tank shelling kills one in southern Syria

An Israeli tank fired on a car in the southern province of Quneitra Saturday, killing a young man, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported, without giving further details.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, said witnesses said that the man was a civilian “and that the attack occurred while he was driving his car on a public road connecting villages near the border strip.” There was no immediate statement from the Israeli military.

After the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad by Islamist-led rebels in December 2024, Israeli forces seized control of a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria, which Israel initially described as a temporary move to protect its borders.

The Syrian government says Israel is violating a 1974 disengagement agreement between the two countries and has called for it to withdraw its forces.

Israel reports new missile launch from Iran

The Israeli army says air defenses are being activated and residents instructed to seek shelter in affected areas.

F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet has a 2-person crew

Iranian state media has claimed that Iran’s military shot down a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle. The aircraft is a variation of the Air Force fighter jet that carries a two-person crew consisting of a pilot and weapons system officer.

Alan Diehl, a former investigator for the Air Force Safety Center, said the Strike Eagle has an emergency locator beacon in a survival kit that can be set to activate automatically or manually.

The Pentagon has not immediately responded to repeated requests for comment

Israel suspends airstrikes as search for downed US pilot proceeds

An Israeli official says airstrikes have been halted in areas “relevant” to the rescue effort.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation is ongoing.

—- Josef Federman

Tehran resident describes projectile overhead and smoke near medical research center

A resident of central Tehran says she was walking home Thursday when she spotted what appeared to be a missile streaking overhead.

“I saw it go over my head and I heard the explosion,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to media restrictions in Iran.

Then she saw smoke rising from a nearby area of the capital hosting many government buildings, including the offices of Iran’s Supreme Leader, which Israel heavily struck early in the war. Next to that is the Pasteur Institute, which has played a leading role in Iran’s health sector for over a century. An Iranian health ministry spokesman confirmed the institute had been struck on Thursday.

The resident said she’s also seen least two police stations “destroyed” in her area of the capital.

—- Amir-Hussein Radjy

An explosion in southern Lebanon injures three UN peacekeepers amid fighting between Israel and Hezbollah

The peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL reminded Israel, Hezbollah and other actors of their obligation to ensure the peacekeepers’ safety, including by avoiding combat near their facilities and positions.

“This has been a difficult week for peacekeepers working near the central part of UNIFIL’s area of operations,” UNIFIL said.

Three U.N. peacekeepers were injured, two seriously, in an explosion of unknown origin inside their position in El Adeisse on Friday afternoon, UNIFIL said. Three UNIFIL peacekeepers from Indonesia were killed earlier this week and others were injured.

Aircraft was ‘shot down,’ US military says

According to an email from the Pentagon obtained by The Associated Press, the U.S. military said that it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down” in the Middle East. The email did not provide more details.

Iran accuses the UN nuclear watchdog of siding with its enemies

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran denounced on Friday what it describes as the U.N. nuclear agency’s “silence” as the US and Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The Iranian agency accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of “not merely inaction but complicity with perpetrators,” according to a statement posted on X. It said it has sent a protest letter to the IAEA’s director. “This historic negligence erodes the IAEA’s little remaining credibility,” read the statement.

The Iranian government has constantly said that it needs to expand its nuclear plants to meet its electricity needs rather than to build weapons.

Jordan and Israel warn of more air attacks

The Israeli military says air defenses are being activated to intercept the fire.

Jordan, the state-owned news agency says alarms are sounding across the country.

One crew member has been rescued after American aircraft went down in Iran, US and Israeli officials say

One crew member has been rescued after an American aircraft went down in Iran, according to one U.S. and one Israeli official, who both spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive ongoing military operations.

US officials are being informed about the rescue operation in Iran

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has been notified about the situation with the pilot in Iran, his office said.

The Defense Department has notified the speaker and said it would provide further updates.

The U.S. military has been conducting a search and rescue operation in Iran, according to three people familiar who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitivity of the situation.

Gas tanker affiliated with Japan makes it through the strait

A liquefied natural gas tanker co-owned by Japanese and Omani companies has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a first passage of a Japan-affiliated vessel through the waterway since the start of the U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran, Japan’s NHK public television said.

The Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said the Panamanian-flagged tanker Sohar LNG, also owned by Oman Shipping Company, crossed the strait Friday and is now out of the Persian Gulf, NHK reported.

The tanker was among 45 Japanese-affiliated ships stuck in the area since the start of the war in the region. Mitsui did not disclose other details, such as the ship’s destination, citing security reasons, NHK said.

Four US planes had already gone down during the Iranian war

Four U.S. military planes had gone down during the Iran war before Friday’s search and rescue operation — three fighter jets hit by friendly fire over Kuwait and a refueling tanker plane that crashed in Iraq following an incident with another U.S. aircraft.

The KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in Iraq while supporting operations in Iran. All six crew members aboard the aircraft died. U.S. officials attributed the crash to an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” and said the other plane landed safely.

Separately, three U.S. F-15E fighter jets were mistakenly targeted by friendly Kuwaiti fire. All six crew members ejected safely.

US has launched a rescue operation after Iranian state media says American fighter jet went down in Iran, AP source says

The U.S. military rescue operation launched Friday after Iranian state media said an American fighter jet went down over southwest Iran and at least one crew member ejected.

Israel is helping the United States with the search and rescue operation, according to an Israeli military officer briefed on the information who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a U.S. announcement.

Social media footage showed American drones, aircraft and helicopters flying over the mountainous region where the Iranian channel said at least one pilot bailed out of the fighter jet.

It would be the first time the U.S. has lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the five-week war. It was not clear if the jet was shot down or crashed. The number of crew on board was not immediately known.

The Pentagon and U.S. Central Command didn’t immediately respond to several messages seeking comment. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “President Trump has been briefed.”

Bahrain cracks down on dissent as Iran war reignites internal unrest

A man detained in Bahrain as the island came under missile attack from Iran vanished for days, until his family was called to a military hospital to retrieve his body, covered in slash marks and bruises. The death of Mohamed al-Mousawi has become a flashpoint in the Sunni-ruled, Shiite-majority country on the war’s front lines, where critics say authorities have revived tactics used to suppress Arab Spring protests in 2011.

Bahrain, a monarchy that hosts the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, has arrested dozens of people for filming airstrikes and demonstrations or expressing support for Iran.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said al-Mousawi was arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran — allegations denied by his family — and that images of his wounds were “inaccurate and misleading.” A Bahrain government statement said the country is defending its national security and denied any sectarianism, saying authorities have acted lawfully and that independent bodies investigate allegations of abuse.

▶ Read more

Iranian motorcyclist describes a tale of two cities in wartime Tehran

A woman in her forties says she has made a point of riding a motorcycle around Tehran as “a form of civil resistance.” Cruising the capital’s streets has also shown her two faces of the wartime capital, she said.

Faced with years of protests, Iran’s Islamic rulers have recently eased enforcement of the mandatory veil and other restrictions on women, including harassing female motorcyclists.

A downtown resident, the woman said she rode uptown to the capital’s richest areas, where she found the cafes were packed.

“Now I’m outside on my motorbike. I stopped by the side of the street. There was an explosion. Several people sitting on chairs by the café, looked up, glanced at the sky and started drinking coffee again,” she messaged The Associated Press, communicating anonymously for her safety.

In other parts of Tehran, she said, “the streets where a building has been damaged and destroyed, or the houses around it, are different. It’s like Gaza. Silence. The smell of death.”

— By Amir-Hussein Radjy

___

This story has been corrected to replace a headline to show that Trump budget is seeking $1.5 trillion in defense spending.

___

This story has been corrected to show WHO is seeking $30.3 million in immediate funding.

The attacks came five weeks after U.S. and Israeli strikes first pounded Iran, with Trump saying earlier this week that Tehran's “ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed."

Iran shot down a U.S. F15-E Strike Eagle fighter jet Friday, with one service member getting rescued and the search still underway for a second, U.S. officials say. Iranian state media also said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed after being hit by Iranian defense forces.

The last time a U.S. fighter jet was shot down in combat was an A-10 Thunderbolt II during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Houston Cantwell, a former F-16 fighter pilot.

But, he said, that’s because the U.S. had largely been fighting insurgents who didn’t have the same anti-aircraft capabilities. The fact that there have not been more fighter jets lost in Iran, Cantwell said, is a testament to the capabilities of U.S. forces.

"The fact that this hasn’t happened until now is an absolute miracle,” said Cantwell, who served four combat tours and is now a senior resident fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “We’re flying combat missions here, they are being shot at every day.”

Shoulder-fired missile likely used, experts say

U.S. Central Command said in a statement Wednesday that American forces have flown more than 13,000 missions in the Iran war while striking more than 12,300 targets.

After more than a month of punishing U.S.-Israeli airstrikes, a degraded Iranian military nonetheless remains a stubborn foe. Its steady stream of strikes against Israel and Gulf Arab neighbors have been causing regional upheaval and global economic shock.

When it comes to American dominance over Iran's airspace, there’s still a distinction between air superiority and air supremacy, said Behnam Ben Taleblu, Iran program senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank.

“A disabled air defense system is not a destroyed air defense system,” he said. “We shouldn’t be shocked that they’re still fighting.”

American planes have been flying missions at lower altitudes, which makes them more vulnerable to Iran's missiles, Taleblu said. It’s possible that Iran fired at the F-15 with a surface-to-air missile, but it's more likely that a portable, shoulder-fired missile was used, he said. Those are much harder to detect and reflect how Iran is “weak but still lethal.”

“This is a regime that is fighting for its life,” he said.

Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel and a senior defense adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, agreed that a shoulder-fired missile was likely used against the fighter jet.

Nonetheless, the American air war against Iran has been a “tremendous success” so far, he said.

To put things in perspective, he said the loss rate for American warplanes flying over Germany during World War II was 3% at one point, which would equal about 350 warplanes in the U.S. war against Iran.

“But then there’s the political side — you have a American public that is accustomed to fighting bloodless wars,” Cancian said. “Then a large part of the country doesn’t support the war. So to them, any loss is unacceptable.”

Pilots are trained on what to do if their plane is hit

The last U.S. jet shot down in combat was struck by an Iraqi surface-to-air missile over Baghdad on April 8, 2003. The pilot safely ejected and was rescued, according to the Air Force.

In high-threat environments like missions over Iran, Cantwell, the retired general, said an aviator's blood pressure goes up and they become highly alert to incoming missiles. Those are typically either infrared- or radar-guided missiles, he said, requiring different evasive tactics.

If they are hit and need to eject from their aircraft, they are trained on what to do next, he said.

Pilots learn to check for wounds after a violent ejection and the shock of a missile explosion and, most crucially, how they are going to communicate their location so rescuers can find them.

At the same time, he said, the enemy is likely working to intercept the communications or even spoof the location.

Helicopters are more at risk than other aircraft

The planes that went down Friday were not the first crewed American aircraft to be lost overall in Iran.

A military helicopter and airplane exploded in 1980 during an aborted mission to rescue several dozen American hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran, according to the Air Force Historical Support Division.

After a series of setbacks, including severe dust storms and mechanical failures, the mission was called off. As the aircraft took off, the rotor blades of one of the RH-53 helicopters collided with an EC-130 aircraft full of fuel and both exploded, killing eight.

More U.S. helicopters have been shot down in recent decades, including a MH-47 Army Chinook helicopter that was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan in 2005, killing 16. Helicopters are more dangerous because “the lower and the slower, the more susceptible you are,” Cantwell said.

That’s why those who went out on this week's rescue missions, likely in helicopters, he said, did “such a brave and honorable act.”

___

Bedayn reported from Denver.

Ta’Niya Latson scored 16 and Agot Makeer added 14 points and South Carolina played stifling defense to beat UConn 62-48 on Friday night, ending the Huskies’ 54-game winning streak.

The Gamecocks have now reached the NCAA championship game in four of the last five seasons, including the past three. They will be looking to win a fourth national title Sunday when they face UCLA, capping off another March Madness.

“I thought our players just locked in once we built a little lead. We got suggestions from coaches as to should we change our defense, start switching everything. I’m like, No, this is what is working," Staley said. “Let’s continue to do what’s working.”

As the final seconds ticked down, Auriemma walked down the sideline to shake hands with Staley and had an animated conversation with her while pointing to the floor. Staley yelled back at him as assistants from both teams separated the two.

When the clock finally ran out, Auriemma walked straight to the tunnel and didn’t shake hands. The two teams did shake hands.

“I have no idea,” Staley said when asked what happened between the coaches. “But I’m gonna let you know this, I’m of integrity. I’m of integrity. So if I did something wrong, to Geno, I had no idea what I did.

“I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game. I didn’t know. I went down there pregame, shook everybody on his staff’s hand.

“I don’t know what he came with after the game, but, hey, sometimes things get heated. We move on.”

Auriemma didn't want to disclose what he said to Staley specifically, but made it a point of saying he was annoyed about the lack of a pregame handshake.

“I’ve been coaching and been to 25 Final Fours,” Auriemma said. “Protocol is we meet at halfcourt, two coaches meet at halfcourt and shake hands. They announce it on the loudspeaker, waited there for three minutes.”

Auriemma was also upset that in the third quarter star Sarah Strong’s jersey was ripped, in his opinion because of South Carolina’s physical defense.

Strong said: “It was an accident, I missed my shot.”

UConn (38-1) entered the Final Four undefeated for the ninth time in school history, and for the third straight time left without a title. The Huskies also lost in the 2017 and 2018 national semifinals. This was the fewest points UConn had scored since putting up 49 points in a national championship game loss to the Gamecocks in 2022.

“Coach was pretty mad going into the half," Latson said of Staley. "She was yelling ‘Meet the moment! Meet the moment!’ We couldn’t be scared to play on this stage, especially against UConn. I mean, they were undefeated.”

The Huskies and Gamecocks played last season for the title and UConn came away with an 82-59 rout for the school’s 12th national championship. UConn also beat South Carolina handily during the 2024-25 regular season.

Leading 46-44 a few minutes into the third quarter, South Carolina scored five straight points, capped by Agot Makeer’s 3-pointer to extend the advantage to seven.

Strong hit a 3-pointer to get the Huskies back within 51-47 with 4:39 left. The Huskies didn't score again until Strong hit a free throw with 30.8 seconds left, after South Carolina had scored 11 straight points.

“I think our defense is pretty elite. We were super prepared by all of our coaches,” Makeer said. “I think we all wanted this really bad. We were just ready.”

South Carolina clamped down on UConn’s two stars. Strong, who was honored as the AP Player of the Year on Thursday, had 12 points and 12 rebounds, but went 4 for 16 from the field. Azzi Fudd had just eight points for the Huskies, making only 3 of 15 shots.

UConn had its worst shooting night of the season finishing 19 for 61 (31.1%) from the field.

Both teams had cruised to the Final Four, each winning in the first four rounds of the tournament easily. The Huskies had been rarely challenged all season long, routing their Big East opponents by record margins.

Facing their first real test in a long time, they had no answer.

The opening 20 minutes was full of missed shots and turnovers. The two teams combined to shoot 22 for 62 from the field (35.4%) and had 14 turnovers. UConn led 26-24 at the half.

There were dozens of former Huskies and Gamecocks players in the crowd including Diana Taurasi, Paige Bueckers and Aliyah Boston. Boston was sitting next to Flavor Flav, who is a huge supporter of women’s sports.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Carlos Garcia, 57, faces a charge of theft of material less than $20,000, records show. Police arrested him on Friday.

In March, detectives from the San Antonio Police Department’s Human Exploitation Unit were notified of brass backflow preventers being cut off and stolen in the City Base area.

The affidavit said investigators noticed tire marks over the area where the brass backflow preventers were located. In some locations, detectives noticed the pipe had been cut with a power tool.

On March 4, detectives found a piece of a fog light left at the scene of one theft, which helped them narrow the suspect vehicle to a truck or SUV.

On March 11, an off-duty officer working at Brooks Development Authority spotted a blue Chevrolet Tahoe parked with its hazard lights on. Garcia was seen damaging a brass backflow preventer, causing water to flow from the pipe, according to the affidavit.

The officer attempted to stop Garcia, but he fled the scene.

On March 30, detectives were investigating another theft in the same area when an off-duty officer spotted Garcia’s vehicle. The officer attempted to stop him, but Garcia fled.

Authorities ran the license plate and obtained a Texas identification photograph, which matched Garcia as the driver.

Detectives located multiple transactions showing Garcia selling brass cut-off valves at a local salvage yard, with records dating back to Feb. 27 through April 1, the affidavit said.

The salvage yard confirmed Garcia had sold brass at that location.

Read also:

• 3 arrested, 8 others detained after deputies uncover North Side gambling operation, BCSO says
• Man arrested for harboring missing juvenile in west Bexar County, BCSO says
• Border Patrol agents seize $2.6M+ in methamphetamine concealed in carrots shipment

With the officiating. With his team's performance. With South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.

The Huskies coach ripped into the officiating during a live TV interview and then had a heated argument with Staley in the final seconds of their 62-48 loss to the Gamecocks. But a rough night for UConn stars Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd was the main cause of the Huskies' poor showing in the national semifinals of the women's Final Four on Friday night.

A minute after his sideline blowup, Auriemma stalked off the floor alone, stewing over the nightmare performance.

Fudd — a senior — shouldered the blame, saying she felt she let the team down.

“I thought some of our shots were a little rushed, some of our offense was a little rushed, out of pace,” Fudd said. “But when we got a lot of good looks, a lot of shots in our offense, shots that we are used to taking, we just didn’t hit very many.”

The Huskies hadn't faced much on-court adversity this season, winning almost all of their previous 38 games by a lopsided margin. Once it hit on Friday, UConn wasn't able to respond.

Auriemma said the officiating didn't help.

“There were six fouls called that quarter — all of them against us," Auriemma said on the broadcast at the end of the third quarter. "And they’ve been beating the (expletive) out of our guys down there the entire game. I’m not making excuses, ’cause we haven’t been able to make a shot. But this is ridiculous.

“Their coach rants and raves on the sideline and calls the referee some names you don’t want to hear. And now we get 6 to 0, and I got a kid with a ripped jersey, and they go, ‘I didn’t see it.’ Come on, man. It’s for a national championship.”

Auriemma wasn't finished showing his displeasure. The 72-year-old coach walked toward Staley in the final seconds of the game before the two had an angry exchange, with assistants having to get in between them. Auriemma blamed the dustup on Staley not following the proper protocol for a pregame handshake.

Once the game finally ended, Auriemma slowly walked off the court and down the tunnel without a postgame handshake with the Gamecocks. The teams did shake hands.

UConn has relied all season on Strong and Fudd, a pair of All-America selections who were steady throughout the season. Against South Carolina, Strong finished with just 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Fudd scored eight on 3-of-15 shooting, including 2 of 9 from long range.

The Huskies' lone offensive bright spot came midway through the third quarter. Kayleigh Heckel, Blanca Quiñonez and Fudd each hit a 3-pointer in a 90-second span to cut the deficit to 40-39, but UConn was never able to take the lead. South Carolina took a 44-39 advantage into the fourth quarter and slowly pulled away.

UConn scored just nine points in the fourth, shooting 2 of 14 from the field. The 48 points were easily a season low. The Huskies were also dominated on the glass, with South Carolina holding a 47-32 advantage.

It's true that it was a physical game. Bodies were flying under the basket for the majority of the night for both teams. UConn was whistled for 17 fouls, while South Carolina was called for just eight.

The problem for Strong and Fudd was they couldn't hit shots even when they had a little space to operate. The 6-foot-2 Strong — AP's Player of the Year — was bothered by South Carolina's interior size, with several of her inside shots rattling in and out.

“Well, sometimes we do forget she’s a sophomore,” Auriemma said. “She’s carried a huge load for this team. An awful lot falls on her. Tonight she’ll be the first to tell you that she is not proud of how her game went today.”

Strong's teammates couldn't pick up the slack. Ashlynn Shade finished with 10 points and Quiñonez added seven. Heckel missed a layup late in the game and the broadcast showed her starting to cry walking back down the court.

Teammates encouraged her and one even lifted her chin, but the damage was done.

UConn’s 54-game winning streak is over.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

In Region 20, which encompasses students in the San Antonio area, there were 30,815 applications submitted.

San Antonio had the fourth-most applications out of Texas’ 20 education service regions, with only Houston, Dallas/Richardson and Fort Worth receiving more applications.

Within San Antonio, there were 6,955 applications submitted by students zoned for Northside ISD and 5,414 applications for students zoned within North East ISD.

There were also 3,358 applications by students zoned for Comal ISD and 2,236 applications by students zoned for San Antonio ISD.

In a news release, Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock said that funding is expected to be exhausted within the second priority tier.

Nearly 30,000 applicants qualified for the first priority tier, which is reserved for low- and middle-income students with disabilities.

After all funding is allocated during the first round, a lottery will be used to allocate funding to the 79,000 applicants from low-income households in the second priority tier.

The lottery will also be used to determine the waitlist for any students in the second priority tier who do not get selected for funding.

Of the applications of students with disabilities, 20% of students will not be considered for additional funding because they did not have an active Individualized Education Program from the local school district.

Families of students with disabilities will still be able to receive priority status, if they submitted alternative documentation of a disability.

Nearly two-thirds of families were able to provide documentation of their student’s disability with a disability certification form. Others provided an expired IEP, an IEP from another state, or a Full Individual & Initial Evaluation.

Families may also receive funding to send their children to preschool, but only if they qualify under certain eligibility requirements.

Comptroller data shows that more than half of preschool applications were ineligible for funding.

Read also:

• What you need to know about Texas Education Freedom Accounts, the foundation of the state’s new school choice law
• TEFA applications hitting record numbers on program’s first day, acting Texas comptroller says
• Ken Paxton won’t represent Comptroller Kelly Hancock in school voucher suit amid grudge match

• TONIGHT: Mainly dry, a few stray showers
• 12p-4p SATURDAY: 60% - highest rain chance of the day
• SATURDAY: Sharp temperature drop around 1pm
• EASTER SUNDAY: Cloudy and cool with intermittent rain

FORECAST

TONIGHT

Stray showers, but not much for overall rainfall.

SATURDAY

• Morning: 20% chance of rain, 70s.
• Midday (Noon - 4pm): 60% chance of rain/storms. Cold front arrives with gusts up to 35 mph.
• Evening/Night: Spotty showers linger. Cooler and windy with temps dropping into the 50s.

EASTER SUNDAY

• Morning: Cloudy, chilly (50s), and damp.
• Midday to Early Afternoon (Noon–4 PM): Off-and-on showers persist. Highs struggle to get into the low 60s.

• Evening (After 6 PM): Rain gradually dissipates. Cool and overcast with temperatures falling back into the 50s — a chilly end to Easter.

MONDAY & BEYOND

Only warming to near 80° next week with a few rain chances.

QUICK WEATHER LINKS

• WATCH LIVE: Doppler Radar
• Hourly and 10-Day Forecast
• Download FREE KSAT Weather Authority App: Up-to-date forecast information and livestreams from trusted local meteorologists.
• KSAT Connect: Share your weather photos.

Guard Julie Allemand, who played last season for the Los Angeles Sparks, was selected by the Toronto Tempo with its first pick.

The Tempo won a coin flip and opted to take the sixth pick in the college draft on April 13 over the top pick in the expansion draft. So Portland went first on Friday and will have the seventh pick in the college draft.

Carleton, who has played for the last seven seasons for the Minnesota Lynx and averaged 6.5 points and 3.6 rebounds a game last season off the bench, was an unrestricted free agent.

“Once we finalized our process, and zoomed in on Bridget, and knew we had our first expansion pick, it was obvious we did not want to have Toronto hold our destiny in their hands," Portland general manger Vanja Cernivec said.

Allemand averaged 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5 assists in 34 games last season.

“This group gives us the ability to compete from day one while continuing to build, and embraces the opportunity to help shape something new in a new country as Canada’s first WNBA team,” Toronto general manager Monica Wright Rogers said.

The league's teams protected five players apiece ahead of the expansion draft but those lists were not made public, leading to speculation about which players were available.

On Wednesday, the Chicago Sky announced trades with the Tempo and the Fire, which prevented the expansion teams from selecting Sky players. In exchange, the Fire got the No. 17 pick in the college draft and the No. 26 pick went to the Tempo.

The expansion draft had two rounds, with up to six picks for each team in each round. The teams alternated picks, with the Tempo picking first in the second round after the Fire got the first overall selection.

Teams could only lose two players to the expansion draft. If a player was taken in the first round, a second player from that same franchise couldn't be taken until the second round.

Following Allemand, the Tempo selected center Nyara Sabally from the Liberty, guard Marina Mabrey from the Sun, forward Aaliya Nye from the Aces, guard Lexi Held from the Mercury, and forward Maria Conde from the Valkyries.

In the second round the Tempo selected forward Maria Kliundikova from the Lynx, center Adja Kane from the Liberty, center Nikolina Milic from the Sun, guard Kitija Laksa from the Mercury, and guard Kristy Wallace from the Fever.

After Carleton, the Portland Fire selected guard Carla Leite from the Valkyries, center Luisa Geiselsoder from the Stars, forward Emily Engstler from the Mystics, guard Maya Caldwell from the Dream and forward Chloe Bibby from the Fever.

In the second round Portland took guard Haley Jones from the Wings, forward Nyadiew Puoch from the Dream, guard Sara Ashlee Barker from the Sparks, guard Sug Sutton from the Mystics and guard Nika Muhl from the Storm.

Mabry was also an unrestricted free agent. Each team was allowed to pick only one unrestricted free agent.

The teams still do not know when free agency will open. More than 80% of the players are free agents this year, as many players have expiring contracts or opted out of the previous collective bargaining agreement.

The college draft is set for April 13 and training camps open on April 19. The season will start on May 8.

The Tempo and Fire join the WNBA as the league's 14th and 15th teams. Portland previously had a WNBA team, also called the Fire, that played from 2000 to 2002.

___

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

The Office of the Ombudsman, housed within the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and led by a gubernatorial appointee, was created last year to address GOP concerns that universities had become too focused on promoting liberal viewpoints instead of preparing students for the workforce.

The ombudsman accepts complaints from students, faculty and staff alleging violations of two state laws:

• A 2023 ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and training at public colleges and universities.
• A 2025 law limiting faculty’s role in some curriculum, grievance and discipline decisions.

The stakes are high: If the office finds a university violated a law and the school does not fix the problem within a set time, the ombudsman can recommend that lawmakers cut access to state funds until the school complies.

State law requires the office to provide complainants and subjects of complaints with a copy of its policies and procedures for complaint investigation and resolution. But when The Texas Tribune asked for those documents, Ombudsman Brandon Simmons pointed to a page on the office’s website that describes how complaints are filed and sets deadlines for when universities must be notified and respond and when the office must issue reports. It is unclear whether that satisfies the law’s requirements.

The webpage does not explain how the office decides an investigation is warranted, what standard of proof it applies in reaching findings or what recourse universities or employees have if they believe the ombudsman’s findings are wrong.

Clear, written policies can ensure investigations are conducted fairly and consistently, higher education experts say.

Neal Hutchens, a professor at the University of Kentucky’s College of Education who studies higher education law and policy, said people also need to understand how the system works to have faith in it. Without that clarity, the office’s authority could feel open-ended and intimidating to institutions and faculty members alike.

“It just has a big question mark for everyone,” he said.

The ombudsman office also asked the Texas attorney general for permission to withhold from the Tribune basic complaint data, including how many complaints it has received, when they were filed, the laws allegedly violated and the status of investigations.

Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Simmons as the office’s first ombudsman in October. Records obtained by the Tribune show he was the only person considered for the job. Simmons, a former technology executive, venture capitalist and corporate attorney, stepped down as chair of the Texas Southern University System Board of Regents to take the position. He had served on the board since 2023, part of a period later examined by a state audit that found significant weaknesses in Texas Southern’s financial controls, contracting and reporting processes.

His office began accepting complaints through an online portal Jan. 9.

That same month, Simmons agreed to an interview with the Tribune but canceled and instead responded to questions in writing.

Asked how the office planned to investigate complaints, he did not provide specifics. Asked how Texans should judge whether the office is working as intended, Simmons offered no concrete benchmarks, saying: “This office seeks to increase public confidence in higher education and to support the continuing ascent of Texas universities’ student success and research and development.”

Later, in response to a public records request, the office said it did not possess written policies or procedures for conducting investigations. The Tribune followed with 10 emails — the majority sent over the past two weeks — asking how the office was handling complaints but did not get an answer until two days before publication, when Simmons pointed to the office’s web page detailing how to file a complaint and listing deadlines.

“Additional policies and procedures will continue to be developed as outlined by Texas law,” Simmons added.

The law does not define when an investigation is necessary, but it says if the office determines one to be necessary, it can request information from a university, which has 30 days to respond. Afterward, it must submit a report to the institution’s board of regents determining whether a violation occurred and recommending corrective action if needed.

If a university does not resolve a violation within 180 days, the office can refer the matter to the state auditor and recommend that lawmakers block the institution from spending state funds until it complies.

The law also requires the office to keep a file on each complaint and submit annual reports to state officials, including the governor and legislative leaders, summarizing how many complaints it received, how many investigations it conducted and what it found.

Unable to get information from the ombudsman, the Tribune asked the state’s public university systems whether the office had sent them any notices of complaint and for related records. Six systems said they had not been notified of any complaints, one had not answered by publication, and the University of Texas System indicated it had responsive records but asked the attorney general if it could withhold them.

The lawmakers who helped shape the office offered different views on how it should function and how much it should disclose.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, the new chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, told the Tribune the office will need to develop “some type of complaint procedure” and said Simmons should come prepared to talk about it at a Higher Education Committee hearing this summer. He said the office should disclose the number of complaints filed, adding he had already asked for those counts.

Asked what protections should exist for universities or employees accused in complaints, including what standard of proof should apply and whether there should be an appeals process, Bettencourt said, “I’m going to leave that one open.”

He said he saw the ombudsman as more than an enforcement arm — a “neutral place” where people could bring problems for resolution that also could keep disputes from being “adjudicated on social media,” pointing to last year’s Texas A&M controversy, which began after a state representative shared a student’s secret recording of a classroom discussion about gender identity.

In a separate interview, state Rep. Matt Shaheen, House sponsor of the bill that created the office, said he was “very satisfied” with the process described on the office’s website, which restates the law’s complaint timeline and reporting requirements but does not explain key investigative standards or procedures. He cautioned against disclosing information about pending complaints, saying they could be false or “malicious in nature,” though he said he would be comfortable with releasing complaint data after the process played out.

Asked about a lack of appeals, Shaheen said those who believed the ombudsman’s findings were unfair could raise their concerns with lawmakers and would have “the opportunity to have their side of the story heard.”

Before the ombudsman office was created, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board handled a narrower set of student complaints, typically reviewing whether universities followed state rules on issues like tuition and financial aid, consumer protections and certain academic requirements. Students generally had to first exhaust a university’s internal grievance process before the board would review a complaint, and the agency did not have the authority to direct universities to change policies or recommend they be blocked from spending state funds.

So far, Simmons has drawn from conservative legal and policy circles to staff the ombudsman office. On April 1, Simmons announced that Ryan D. Walters, a former deputy attorney general for legal strategy and former attorney at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, had joined as deputy director and general counsel. Simmons also hired Edgardo Mondolfi, also a former Texas Public Policy Foundation employee, as his assistant.

Other Texas agencies are more transparent about how they investigate complaints. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation says investigators typically interview the complainant, the respondent and pertinent witnesses, gather relevant documents and can visit a business or site tied to the complaint before submitting a report to a prosecutor. If the agency seeks penalties, it weighs factors such as the seriousness of the violation, whether it was intentional, whether the respondent tried to address the violation after it was discoveredfix it and whether stronger punishment was needed to deter future misconduct. Respondents can then request a hearing before an administrative law judge and later seek rehearing or judicial review.

Critics fear what an office with broad authority and unclear procedures could mean for teaching, research and open inquiry at public universities.

Liliana Garces, a professor at UT-Austin’s College of Education, said such fear is not theoretical.

In a study of how the state’s anti-DEI law was implemented at UT-Austin, she and her research team interviewed nearly 100 administrators, faculty and students over more than a year and found that the flagship went beyond what the law required. For example, university officials encouraged faculty to have their research proposals reviewed by a university lawyer and to avoid using certain language, even though research was exempt.

Garces said the overcorrection was driven in part by undercover videos that appeared to show university employees discussing ways to continue DEI initiatives, followed by pressure from Republican state leaders suggesting universities were not complying. She said that created an environment in which universities felt they were being watched and became more likely to go beyond the law’s requirements.

“Compliance became this moving target where just any kind of visibility created liability for the institution,” she said.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Disclosure: Texas Public Policy Foundation, University of Texas System and 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.

MacIntyre fired a bogey-free 8-under 64 in the second round to reach 14-under 130 for the tournament, taking the outright lead.

Åberg shot a 5-under 67 — his second consecutive round in the 60s — to get to 10-under 134 and sit alone in second place, four shots back.

The pair, both Ryder Cup teammates, teed off in a featured morning group and appeared to benefit from each other’s presence on the course.

MacIntyre’s round featured consistent ball-striking and strong putting, while Åberg continued his solid recent form with precise approaches and effective scrambling when needed.

Their shared energy helped them navigate challenging conditions, including the lingering effects of Thursday’s weather delay that pushed some first-round play into Friday.

Read also:

• Alamo Heights alum Mac Meissner endures wet conditions on Day 1 of Valero Texas Open
• PGA Tour rookie Johnny Keefer set for hometown debut at Valero Texas Open

The Fiesta de los Reyes at Market Square has traditionally been a free Fiesta event, but organizers say a proposed $5 gate fee for the busiest times is necessary to cover the costs of enhanced security that began in 2025.

Merchants in the area, though, are pushing back against the proposal, which still needs City Council approval.

Fiesta de los Reyes runs from Friday, April 17 through Sunday, April 26, typically between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m., apart from an extension to midnight on the Saturday of the Fiesta Flambeau Parade.

The proposed $5 gate fee would be charged to attendees 13 or older arriving after 6 p.m. on most weekdays, or after 1 p.m. on weekends and the Friday of the Battle of Flowers parade.

If someone enters before those times, they would be able to stay in the event for free.

According to a City Council agenda memo, total ticket revenue is expected to be about $400,000 this year.

The city would get 25% of anything collected above $250,000 both this year and in 2027.

That share would increase to include a 50% cut for ticket revenue above $350,000 in 2028 through 2030.

Security costs

The nonprofit Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation has had the city contract to conduct Fiesta de los Reyes since 2011 and uses it to raise money for scholarships.

More than 250,000 people attend the event at Market Square over the course of 10 days. Although entry has previously been free, the Consejo make money from sponsorships, booth rentals and drink sales.

The group pays the city a minimum of $135,000, plus 75 and 25 cents, respectively, for each beer or non-alcoholic beverage sold.

After a fatal shootout in 2024 and another shooting in 2023, the group’s interim director, Elaine De Los Santos told KSAT security measures were imposed by the city for 2025.

Enhancements included closing off the event perimeter with fencing and safety scrim and screening attendees with private security. The event hours, which previously lasted until 1 a.m. on multiple days, were also reduced.

The extra security came with a cost, though — about $200,000, De Los Santos said. So, instead of raising money, she said the Consejos ended up losing $143,000.

“We tried to keep the festival free last year, but unfortunately it cost our organization a lot of money. So we went ahead and decided $5 is not a huge, huge fee,” she said. “We realize that it’s hard on families right now. We feel we’re also competing against the other organizations like (A Night in Old San Antonio) and (La Semana Alegre), and all those organizations charge at least $20.”

The ticketing services are expected to cost the Consejo about another $100,000, she said.

Pushback

The San Antonio City Council still needs to approve the fee. It’s scheduled for a vote on April 9, just over a week before Fiesta de los Reyes begins April 17.

Yvette Ramirez, the president of the San Antonio Farmers Market Plaza Association, represents the 54 business in the Farmers Market Plaza at the western edge of the Market Square.

She said her group will be at the council meeting to speak against the fee, which she thinks will keep out families and potential customers for the small businesses in Market Square.

“This is a public market,” she said. “We just can’t afford to privatize that market for 10 days. Because this year it’s $5. What’s next year, $10?"

Ramirez thinks organizers should find a different way to cover the cost of the security, without a gate fee, or at least less of one.

“We have let the city know that if the charge is after 6 p.m., we don’t have the issue like we would if prior to 6 p.m.,” she told KSAT.

De Los Santos told KSAT the Consejo had already reduced the number of hours they want to impose the fee, and she did not know of another way to raise the money to cover the security costs.

“There’s a lot of expenses. I mean, I think over $300,000 goes into just all the music and the entertainment and the talent. And so again, means all these little bitty things add up really, really quick,” De Los Santos said.

Read also:

• Fiesta parades: How to choose where to sit?

Officers responded to the shooting around 12:45 a.m. in the 900 block of Burton Avenue, which is located near Aaron Place.

At least one person in a white vehicle, possibly a Toyota Prius, opened fire and struck the corner house on Burton Avenue, SAPD said.

One of the bullets went through the home’s walls and hit the woman in her head, police stated.

Neighbors said they have typically felt safe but wish there was a better police presence.

“It would be nice for them to come by here once in a while before it gets bad,” one man said.

At the scene, officers found several shell casings outside the home. Witnesses say they heard multiple shots fired.

One man texted his sister a message after hearing the shooting saying, “they shot at that house with a switch, never heard an automatic close by like that no lie a bullet zoomed by us.”

The woman who was shot was pronounced dead at the scene, officers said. Neighbors told KSAT that the home is a duplex, and the woman lived there with her partner.

The white vehicle fled from the scene after the shooting, according to police.

SAPD said its investigation is ongoing.

More crime coverage on KSAT:

• Bexar County man takes plea deal, sentenced to 50 years in prison for separate murders
• Man arrested for harboring missing juvenile in west Bexar County, BCSO says

When her 20-year-old son Emilio Alejandro Leyva walked out of the doors of the detention facility with dozens of other prisoners, bags and a small release document in hand, she wrapped her arms around her son, who was detained for a robbery, for the first time in years.

“It has been so difficult, but today God has given me so much joy,” said Arias, 43, breaking down in tears. “Today, I feel so happy. This is how all mothers who will have their children released today should feel.”

The outpouring of joy from families comes the day after Cuba's government said it was going to release 2,010 prisoners in what it said was “humanitarian gestures” ahead of Holy Week. But the releases were quickly met with criticisms by human rights groups who said they hadn't seen evidence that those who were released included any of the 1,214 people they have registered as being imprisoned for political reasons.

The government denies holding political prisoners. With very little information provided by the government, it wasn't immediately clear how many people were released on Friday.

The release comes as the Cuban government navigates extreme pressure and a crippling oil blockade by the Trump administration, which has openly expressed its desire for regime change and the release of those arrested for protesting.

Uncertainty over released prisoners

On Friday, detainees in the La Lima prison on the rural outskirts of Havana said they were woken up at 6 a.m. and heard their names called out. Hours later they were walking into the arms of loved ones awaiting them in front of blue prison gates.

The prisoners interviewed Friday by The Associated Press were not serving time for political charges. It's uncertain how many of those released were protesters — often charged with public disorder, contempt or terrorism. Many of the more than one thousand people the activist organization Prisoners Defended has registered as detained for political reasons were protesters from the 2021 mass demonstrations on the island, which were met with widespread arrests by the government.

Sporadic protests have broken out in recent months as the island sinks into a deeper crisis. In one March incident, protesters burned the headquarters of the communist party in central Cuba, leading to five arrests.

The lack of information over releases on Friday fueled frustration among human rights and opposition groups, who said the releases were a good sign, but fell short of real change.

“The government presents it as a humanitarian gesture toward prisoners, not as the release of political prisoners,” said Manuel Cuesta Morúa, leader of the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba, the island’s main opposition platform. “By doing so, it mixes things up to avoid giving the impression that it recognizes political imprisonment in Cuba.”

The group has demanded a government amnesty law and says that people who were previously freed are often placed under house arrest or live under conditions where they can't speak freely.

During a previous release of 51 people in March, organizations monitoring prisons in Cuba noted that 22 had political motives in their cases.

The nongovernmental organization Justicia 11J wrote in a statement Friday that no partial release can be considered progress “as long as the criminalization of the exercise of fundamental rights persists.”

“Although every release represents immediate relief, especially for families, in a context marked by the severity of conditions in the country’s prisons … we warn that this gesture does not constitute a change in the repressive policy of the Cuban state,” the organization said.

US pressure on Cuba

The releases come as U.S.-Cuban tensions are running high. The Trump administration has suffocated the island by imposing an oil blockade, pushing the already stricken island to the brink, crippling hospitals and increasing the number of islandwide blackouts.

Cubans were offered a brief moment of relief this week when U.S. President Donald Trump said the government allowed a Russian ship carrying a nine to 10 day supply of fuel to the island. It wasn't clear if the Cuban or Russian governments made any concessions to allow the shipment to go through. A second Russian tanker is on the way.

Cuba periodically frees prisoners at key moments.

In January 2025, Cuba’s government released 553 prisoners as part of talks with the Vatican, a day after the Biden administration announced its intent to lift the U.S. designation of the island nation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Cuba's government said Friday's release marked the fifth since 2011, and that it has freed more than 11,000 people.

Despite ongoing uncertainty, scenes of hope emerged outside the La Lima prison on Friday as families wrapped their arms around each other and a father planted a kiss on the head of his child swaddled in pink.

Damián Fariñas, 20, who has served the majority of his 2-year prison sentence for a robbery, was greeted by three beaming friends waiting for him on the street.

“This is freedom, a pardon, owing nothing to anyone. I’m heading out into the world,” he said.

___

Associated Press journalists Ramón Espinosa and Ariel Fernández contributed from Havana. Megan Janetsky contributed from Mexico City.

___

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

The threat of cutting funding to cash-starved schools that don’t comply is real, even if the stricter rules Trump wants to come out of the executive order he signed Friday could take a while to figure out.

In the order signed hours before the women’s Final Four tipped off one of the biggest weekends in college sports, Trump went after eligibility rules, transfers and the spiraling costs associated with an industry that now pays its players millions of dollars per year.

He called on federal agencies to ensure schools are following the rules and threatened to choke off federal grants and funding — a similar approach his administration has taken to force universities around the country to alter policies involving diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender rights and even the kinds of classes they offer.

In some ways, forcing those changes might seem like child’s play compared to making major changes to college sports. The NCAA, the newly created College Sports Commission, the four power conferences, dozens more smaller ones and hundreds of educational institutions all have a say here: It’s a big reason Congress, which Trump instructed to act quickly, has been stuck for more than a year on this.

“I'm glad to know the President wants Congress to pass something,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., a key member of the Senate committee looking into changes, who mentioned ongoing bipartisan negotiations.

Trump’s order was his second since last July and it included a laundry list of proposed fixes, many of which lawmakers and college leaders have been pushing for since the approval of a $2.8 billion settlement changed the face of games that were once played by pure amateurs.

In one of the more clear-cut demands in this order, Trump called for “clear, consistent and fair eligibility limits, including a five-year participation window," that limits athletes to one transfer with one more available once they get a four-year degree.

“I'm extremely supportive of the President's order,” said Cody Campbell, the Texas Tech regent and billionaire who is helping shape policy. “I'm very excited that we're making progress and look forward to continued work in the (Congress) to permanently preserve a system that's done so much for America.”

At a college sports roundtable he hosted last month, Trump said he anticipated any order he signed would trigger litigation. Athletes have largely won the freedom to transfer almost at will via the portal along with the ability to be paid by schools that are now doling out more than $20 million a year to their athletes.

Some of those players have also been suing the NCAA about eligibility limits, and their right to do that has been a major sticking point in the Congressional deliberations.

Trump also raised the need to fix revenue-sharing in a way that protects Olympic sports, which are most in peril if the college funding model spirals out of control.

Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said Trump's order “sends an important signal about the value of preserving and promoting investment in women’s and men’s collegiate Olympic sports in America.”

As much as the changes he directs, Trump’s call for the Education Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the attorney general’s office to evaluate “whether violations of such rules render a university unfit for Federal grants and contracts” stands out as a way to force change.

Several universities across the country have made policy changes to comply with federal orders and avoid funding-related showdowns with the government. It hasn't prevented big-named schools like Penn State and Florida State from facing huge debts.

“From what I saw, some of the social media traffic, it’s pretty clear that he made clear that we need Congressional action to sort of seal the deal on a number of these things, which is good, because we do," NCAA President Charlie Baker said.

Commissioners at the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern Conference released statements thanking Trump for weighing in, with the ACC's Jim Phillips saying “there continues to be significant momentum to preserve the athletic and academic opportunities for the next generation of student-athletes and we appreciate the ongoing efforts.”

Attorney Mit Winter, who follows college sports law, said the order is likely to set up a situation where the NCAA and schools have to decide whether to follow a federal court order or an executive order.

“Either way, we’re likely going to see litigation challenging the EO by athletes and third parties,” Winter said.

University of Nebraska president Jeffrey Gold said he didn't want to try to predict what the courts would do.

“But it is critical to what we must do to keep college athletics in line with what we do," Gold said. “The roundtable a few weeks ago showed there is a profound sense of urgency around this.”

___

AP Sports Writers Maura Carey, David Brandt and Eric Olson contributed to this report.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Because it is Good Friday, there could not be an official school event to send off the Southwest Legacy Titans. But that was not a problem for Titans fans, who still showed up for their team.

The program has yet to capture a state title, and this team believes it can bring home some hardware.

“It’s been a blessing having our faculty and staff, our district people, admin and of course our parents. It’s just been uplifting for us, for our athletes,” said Juan Sandoval, the Southwest Legacy head boys soccer coach.

“That’s a dream come true,” said junior defender Jordi Mendez, on what it would mean to bring a state title back to the Alamo City.

The boys will take on College Station on Friday night in Georgetown.

Read also:

• KSN goes behind-the-scenes with athletes ahead of 3rd annual SA Sports All-Star Basketball Game

Matthew Rodriguez, 18, was apprehended in Pennsylvania by New York Police Department detectives working with U.S. Marshals, the NYPD said.

The suspected shooter, 21-year-old Amuri Greene, was arrested shortly after the drive-by gunfire that killed Kaori Patterson-Moore. Greene pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges at an arraignment Friday night and was held without bail.

Kaori was in her stroller when a two men sped down a street on a moped Wednesday afternoon. Greene, riding on the back of the vehicle, fired into a group of people on a street corner, according to a court complaint.

Kaori's mother, Lianna Charles-Moore, told the New York Post that after hearing what she initially believed were fireworks, she was comforting her startled 2-year-old son — who had been grazed by a bullet — when she looked to her left and saw her baby daughter bleeding. The infant had been shot in the head.

“My daughter was innocent. She didn’t deserve that," Charles-Moore told the newspaper. She said her daughter was just about starting to crawl and had recently begun saying “Mama.”

Greene told police he was aiming for another person in the crowd, according to the court complaint.

His attorney, Jay Schwitzman, said after court that he would conduct “an independent and thorough investigation of the facts and circumstances of this tragic incident.”

Police said that after the shooting, the moped sped and crashed into a car two blocks away, hurling both men off the vehicle. Greene was injured and soon was hospitalized in police custody, but the moped driver fled.

Authorities haven't yet released court papers that detail Rodriguez's alleged role. But they haven't indicated they were looking for anyone other than the gunman — alleged to have been Greene — and the moped driver.

Police didn't immediately have information on how the men may know each other or where Rodriguez lives; no working telephone number for him could immediately be found. Police charges against him were pending.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch expressed heartbreak and outrage over Kaori's death.

“This is a terrible day in our city, a tragedy that truly shocks the conscience,” Tisch said at a news briefing Wednesday.

But there's no guarantee her successor will have any better success at placating the president.

Over the last year, Bondi's Justice Department has encountered resistance from judges, grand jurors and its own workforce in trying to establish criminal conduct by one Trump foe after another. A new attorney general will confront not only Trump's demand for political prosecutions — a constant dating back to his first term in the White House — but also the same skeptical court system, and factual and legal hurdles, that have impeded efforts to deliver the sought-after results.

“At the end of the day, it’s not like there were some magic steps that Pam Bondi could have taken to make bad cases look good to grand juries or judges,” Peter Keisler, a former acting attorney general in President George W. Bush's administration, said in an email. "The problem is that the president is demanding that prosecutions be brought when there’s no evidence and no valid legal theory. A new Attorney General won’t change that.”

Bondi was just the latest Trump attorney general pressed to meet the president's demands of loyalty and desire for retribution. Trump in his first term called for Jeff Sessions to investigate Democrat Hillary Clinton and ultimately pushed him out over his recusal from the Russia election interference investigation. He berated another attorney general, William Barr, over Barr's refusal to back his false claims of election fraud in the 2020 contest. Barr resigned soon after.

Bondi arrived at the Justice Department 14 months ago seemingly determined to remain in Trump's good graces unlike her predecessors, heaping praise on him, offering unflinching support and embarking on investigations into Democrats and the president's adversaries — even amid concerns from career prosecutors about the sufficiency of evidence.

Days after Trump implored Bondi via social media last September to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, the Justice Department did just that, securing indictments in Virginia.

But the win was short-lived: A judge weeks later dismissed the cases after finding that the prosecutor who filed them, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed. Grand juries have since refused to bring new mortgage fraud charges against James and the Comey case is mired in a thorny evidentiary dispute and statute of limitations concerns. Both Comey and James have vigorously denied any wrongdoing and called the cases against them politically motivated.

Since then, a federal grand jury in Washington refused to return an indictment against Democratic lawmakers in connection with a video in which they urged U.S. military members to resist “illegal orders." And a federal judge has quashed Justice Department subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve as part of an investigation into testimony last June by Chair Jerome Powell about a $2.5 billion building renovation.

The judge, James Boasberg, said that the government has “produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime” and called its justifications for the subpoenas a “thin and unsubstantiated” pretext to force Powell to cut interest rates. A prosecutor on the case subsequently conceded in court that the investigation had not found evidence of a crime.

An additional investigation into a Trump enemy remains underway with prosecutors in Florida scrutinizing former CIA Director John Brennan over testimony to Congress related to Russian interference in the 2016 election. That investigation has been open for months, but has not produced charges and it's not clear that it will. Brennan's lawyers have similarly called the investigation baseless.

One high-profile Trump critic who could face trial in the years ahead is his former national security adviser, John Bolton, though the investigation that produced that indictment and examined Bolton’s handling of classified documents began before Trump took office.

For now, the Justice Department will be led by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has a longstanding relationship with Trump after having served as one of his personal lawyers. Several people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday that Lee Zeldin, a Trump loyalist and head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has been privately mentioned by Trump as a possible pick.

Whoever holds the job in the long term will almost certainly be expected to carry out Trump's retribution campaign with more success, said Jimmy Gurulé, a former Justice Department official and law professor at Notre Dame. Blanche appeared to acknowledge as much in a Thursday evening interview with Fox News, saying, “I think the president is frustrated, everybody is frustrated ” and “what we saw happen for the past four years is unforgivable and can never happen again.”

“If she was fired because Trump did not think that she was moving quickly enough in bringing criminal cases against his political enemies, then you would expect that the person that would replace her would probably agree to escalate those efforts,” Gurulé said.

Well, almost everything.

The one thing Konnor Griffin didn't feel when the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop — all 19 years and 344 days of him — ahead of his big league debut Friday against the Baltimore Orioles was shock.

“I'm ready for this,” Griffin said a few hours before stepping onto the field at PNC Park as a professional for the first time.

Certainly looks that way.

All of Griffin's considerable physical gifts were on display over 2 hours and 44 electric minutes in a 5-4 victory over the Orioles.

There was the tidy double play, Pittsburgh’s first of the season, he turned in the second inning. There was the rope he hit to the wall in center field in his first at-bat in a few minutes later, a 105 mph laser off the bat against Baltimore's Kyle Bradish that scored Ryan O'Hearn and sent a jolt through a sellout crowd.

There was blistering dash from second to home on a ensuing groundball to right field by teammate Jared Triolo. There was the confidence to successfully challenge a strike call in his third at-bat. Oh, and the composure to gather a chopper he briefly bobbled before firing to first for an out to end the eighth, too.

All part of what Griffin called “hands down one of the best days of my life,” and what everyone involved with the organization hopes is the start of a long successful run for a franchise that hasn't reached the postseason in over a decade.

“He’s a difference maker, it was very apparent today,” said Pirates ace and reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes, who knows a thing or two about entering the majors with outsized expectations.

Just 628 days after Pittsburgh selected him with the ninth pick in the 2024 amateur draft, the athletic and mustachioed 6-foot-3 Griffin found a No. 6 jersey hanging in his locker at PNC Park and his name penciled in the seventh spot in the lineup against the Orioles, making him the first teenage position player to reach the majors since Juan Soto did it with the Washington Nationals in 2018.

On the surface, it seems fast. Not for Griffin, who checked every box — and quickly — while sprinting through the Pirates' system. The final steps came over the last week when he hit .438 in a handful of games for Triple-A Indianapolis.

All of which made for a full-circle moment when Griffin became the youngest Pirate to get a hit in his first game since Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski did it on July 7, 1956. The club honored Mazeroski, who died in February at 1989, by having “Maz” painted into the outfield grass behind second, not far from where Griffin — who was scouted and signed by Mazeroski's son Darren — went to work on a warm spring afternoon that had a decidedly early fall playoff-like vibe.

“Darren is the reason I’m here,” Griffin said. "He believed in me and took a chance on me. That’s pretty special right there and I’m going to cherish that a long time.”

Griffin's call-up came less than two weeks after he was one of the last cuts during spring training, where he mashed three homers but also hit just .171. Rather than sulk, he headed to Triple-A and made the adjustments necessary — trying to get back to treating his job like a game of Wiffle ball back home in Mississippi — to get a call that has long felt inevitable.

“He just went right down and hit his stride and was able to reset in a couple of days,” Kelly said. “Which again, for anybody, is really impressive, especially for a 19-year-old kid whose hopes and dreams were to make the big leagues.”

Those dreams became reality when Indianapolis manager Eric Patterson called Griffin to his hotel room early Thursday and told him he was heading to The Show.

The next 24 hours were a blur.

From the short drive from Columbus to Pittsburgh to the scramble for at least 40 friends and family members to make it to the ballpark that's tucked hard against the Allegheny River in time for Friday's first pitch.

Griffin is the latest in a string of high-profile arrivals in Pittsburgh, from Skenes to rookie right-hander Bubba Chandler to catcher Henry Davis.

The future that has been talked about since general manager Ben Cherington was hired in late 2019 is finally arriving. And perhaps it's telling of how far the club has come that Griffin is joining a roster that has undergone a significant upgrade in recent months with the additions of All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, All-Star first baseman/outfielder Ryan O'Hearn and veteran designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.

A year ago, fans chanted for owner Bob Nutting to sell the club during the home opener. Those calls have faded, replaced by something seemingly just as rare: optimism for a team that hasn't won a playoff series since the 1979 World Series.

“This team is loaded,” Griffin said. “I get to come in here and just be a piece of this puzzle.”

Perhaps a very big piece. For a very long time. The Pirates and Griffin have engaged in talks about a contract extension that would lock him up for most of the next decade.

Griffin demurred when asked about it Friday, though he made his intentions very clear.

“All I’m going to say is, I want to be a Pirate for a long time,” he said. "This is a special place and I’m thankful to be here.”

___

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

However, the owner of Blessed Sweepstakes on Hildebrand Avenue told KSAT that it was not a gambling operation, and says she is now out thousands after the raid.

Carrie Gutierrez said she was transparent from the start about her business, and said she believed it was a legal operation.

“The city knew exactly what we were opening,” Gutierrez said. “We did the renovations and everything to get it going. We (paid) state taxes on the stickers, each machine.”

“We got our certificate of occupancy,” Gutierrez continued, “so no one ever said, ‘Hey, stop. No, you can’t do this.’”

Three people were arrested and eight others were given citations Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said.

Gutierrez said she is providing assistance for Kambry Ybarra, Alissa Arenas, and Anthony Vera, who were the three employees arrested during the raid.

All three are charged with gambling promotion, possession of gambling device/equipment/paraphernalia, and engaging in organized crime.

“My girls that got arrested, of course, I paid to get them out jail. I’m paying for the lawyers.”

During the raid, Gutierrez said deputies deactivated all 50 of her 8-liner machines. While she helps her employees and continues to pay for renovations, she said she may also be out $80,000.

Gutierrez expressed confusion about why the sheriff’s office targeted her business, saying that there are game rooms all over San Antonio.

The sheriff’s office said the operation was illegal because “gambling winners were awarded sets of beads, representing a specific cash value. These beads were then exchanged for U.S. dollars.”

“While some operators believe these indirect payout systems bypass state law,” the statement continued, “the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office wants to remind the public and business owners that such practices remain a criminal offense.

“Whether an operator pays out in cash, check, or a physical item (like beads or tickets) that is later redeemed for cash,” the statement said, “it is classified as Gambling Promotion and/or Keeping a Gambling Place.”

Gutierrez said on top of the business’s legal troubles, thieves also used a sledgehammer to break through a back wall of the business, targeting an ATM inside the building. The ATM was empty.

Read more:

• 3 arrested, 8 others detained after deputies uncover North Side gambling operation, BCSO says

Lizelle Gonzalez, who went by Herrera and was 26 years old at the time of her arrest in 2022, sought $1 million in federal damages in the 2024 suit after she was initially detained, arguing that she was wrongly arrested and accusing local officials of malicious prosecution and conspiracy.

U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton on Tuesday ruled that qualified immunity protected Starr County’s district attorney, assistant district attorney and county sheriff from the suit’s complaints. Qualified immunity is a long-established legal doctrine that shields many government workers from civil lawsuits when they are acting within their official duties. The ruling leaves Starr County itself as the sole defendant in the suit.

According to federal court documents, Gonzalez was treated at a Starr County hospital in January 2022 following her effort to attempt an abortion. After she was discharged, a nurse reported her to local law enforcement.

The case garnered worldwide attention and occurred before the overturn of Roe v. Wade and Texas’ near total-ban on abortions, making the prosecution all the more concerning to some advocates. At that time, abortion was prohibited after roughly six weeks of pregnancy and Gonzalez was 19 weeks pregnant when she went to the local hospital following her effort to end her birth.

Texas law did not then, and still does not, allow charges to be brought against a pregnant person seeking an abortion. It does permit charges against medical providers or anyone who helps someone procure an abortion, which since 2022 has been a crime in the state.

Gonzalez went to the emergency room in January 2022 after taking Cytotec, known as misoprostol, to induce an abortion but because she was still registering a fetal heart rate, was sent home. She returned by ambulance the following day after complaining of abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. By then, doctors said she no longer had any fetal cardiac activity and she was diagnosed with an “incomplete spontaneous abortion” before her stillborn baby was delivered through a cesarean section.

At some point after those visits, hospital workers told the district attorney’s office of the attempted abortion, who along with the sheriff’s office took their findings to a grand jury.

Gonzalez was arrested and spent two nights in jail. Her mugshot and name were broadcast across the world before Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez dropped the charges and acknowledged that it had been a “mistake”.

In an interview late Wednesday, Ramirez said that he felt “tremendously vindicated” by the judge’s decision.

“There was an apology made by me personally to her,” Ramirez said of Gonzalez. “Whether or not her rights were violated is a legal question and that legal question has been determined by a federal judge.”

Along with her American Civil Liberties Union lawyers, Gonzalez later accused Ramirez and his assistants as well as the sheriff’s office of wrongly arresting her and misleading grand jurors to indict her on that murder charge. The lawsuit alleged the prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies had waived long-standing protections for government workers when they misled the grand jury and wrongly prosecuted Gonzalez.

The Texas State Bar later disciplined Ramirez, a Democrat who represents the 229th judicial district that includes Starr, Duval and Hogg counties in South Texas, finding that he had committed professional misconduct. His legal license was briefly suspended although he continues as district attorney for the tri-county area.

The 50-page opinion issued Tuesday by Tipton, whom Trump appointed in 2020, found that Gonzalez had not proven her “clearly established” constitutional rights were violated in a way that a “reasonable officer” would be aware they were breaking the law. That was also the case in the 2022 Uvalde school shooting as well as many other such mass shootings in the state. Parents of victims have found it difficult to sue local, state and federal governments.

The district attorney’s office had scheduled a Friday press conference to address the case but it was postponed.

Ramirez, in brief remarks by phone Wednesday, repeatedly acknowledged that his office had made an error and that he regretted Gonzalez’s prosecution.

“I’m sincerely sorry it happened,” he said. “I understand that it was a terrible thing for her to go through.”

But he added that in the four years since, “I’ve received hate mail. I’ve received death threats. I’ve received threats on my family.”

Gonzalez argued that the “humiliation of a highly publicized indictment and arrest” has “permanently affected her standing in the community” in her initial arguments in the federal suit.

In a statement Friday, ACLU spokesperson Olivia Cappello called the dismissal of the officials a “free pass” for violating the law. She also emphasized that Ramirez had repeatedly acknowledged wrongly arresting Gonzalez and that state law prohibits arresting a pregnant person for having an abortion.

“Police and prosecutors should not be allowed to get away with arresting someone, taking her away from her kids, and throwing her in jail despite knowing she committed no crime,” Cappello said.

It is China's latest push for a more prominent role in global affairs, though it may prove to be more rhetorical than substantive, with the U.S. appearing uninterested in Beijing's efforts.

“The war with Iran is the priority of all countries in and outside the region,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank. “It is an opportunity China will not miss to demonstrate its leadership and diplomatic initiative.”

Danny Russel, a former senior U.S. diplomat, described China’s diplomacy as “performative” and compared the five-point proposal for ending the Iran war with its 12-point plan for Ukraine in 2023, which was “filled with platitudes but never acted on.”

“Its narrative is that while Washington is reckless, aggressive and heedless of the cost to others, China is a principled and responsible champion of peace,” said Russel, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “What we are seeing from China is messaging, not mediation.”

China has been working “tirelessly for peace” since the outbreak of the war, said Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

How the US views China's diplomacy

The Trump administration appears to have little enthusiasm for the prospect of China's mediation, according to U.S. officials.

The U.S. has soured on third-party mediation efforts, and it has little interest in boosting China’s international stature or giving it an opening to claim success in the Middle East, said three U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss potential diplomatic options.

One of the officials described the administration’s position on the Chinese-Pakistani effort as “agnostic,” neither endorsement nor rejection, but all three stressed that could change if President Donald Trump weighs in before his planned summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

For Beijing, there could be an incentive to see the war subside before Trump travels to China in mid-May. Citing demands of the war, Trump postponed the trip initially set for the end of March.

“There is no guarantee that Trump may not delay the trip to China again if the war rages on,” Sun said.

The war saw a major escalation Friday when Iran shot down two U.S. military aircraft, a first since the war began five weeks ago. Trump told NBC News that it would not impact negotiations with Iran, just days after declaring in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”

Beijing is calculating the pain from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz

For now, China is more insulated from the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz than other countries after diversifying its energy sources and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

China relies on Iran for only about 13% of its oil imports, and Beijing is working with Tehran to allow the passage of Chinese-flagged vessels through the critical waterway, where Iran’s stranglehold has sent energy prices soaring. China also maintains a large strategic petroleum reserve.

While China has positioned itself to cushion short-term shocks, analysts say Beijing is worried about a protracted war and has an interest in trying to bring it to an end.

“An escalation of the conflict will start to harm Chinese interests,” Russel said. “Because China’s growth model is so export-heavy, prolonged energy shocks and shipping disruption will mean costlier inputs and weaker global demand that damage its vulnerable economy.”

Besides not wanting to see a long war, China “welcomes the opportunity to suggest that it is helping mitigate a crisis of America’s making, especially as the Trump administration’s lack of a considered strategy for containing the fallout becomes more apparent,” said Ali Wyne, a senior research and advocacy adviser on U.S.-China relations at the International Crisis Group.

China has undertaken a flurry of diplomacy

After the war began, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with counterparts from Russia, Oman, Iran, France, Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. He told Iran that China cherished its friendship, urged Israel to cease military actions and expressed that China would be willing to play a role in seeking peace.

This past week, Wang hosted his Pakistani counterpart in Beijing to hash out their five-point proposal, calling for an end to hostilities and the reopening of the strait.

He has held more than 20 phone calls with regional foreign ministers, and a special envoy has visited several countries in the region, aiming to promote peace and deescalate tensions, Liu said.

Wang sought support for China's plan from the European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, telling her it represented “broad, international consensus,” the Chinese foreign ministry said. Wang told Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan that halting the fighting was the most urgent matter.

Wang also spoke this week with Bahrain's foreign minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, to explain why China opposed Bahrain’s U.N. proposal to allow military force to open the Strait of Hormuz. Wang said actions by the U.N. Security Council should help ease tensions “rather than endorse illegal acts of war, still less add fuel to the fire.”

China and Russia argued that the U.S. or other countries could exploit a U.N.-backed mechanism to escalate the deadly war, according to a U.N. diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic conversations.

Both countries appear to have less immediate need to see the strait fully open. While China has been able to pay to get some of its ships through, Russia is benefiting from the high price of oil, its main export.

Hoping to avoid a veto, Bahrain significantly watered down its proposal to authorize defensive — but not offensive — action to ensure vessels can safely transit the strait. A vote was pushed back until next week.

To solve the problem of the strait, China says a ceasefire is needed. But its plan with Pakistan has been met with mostly silence from the U.S.

One of the U.S. officials said the plan is difficult to assess because it is less of a roadmap to peace than a vague appeal for respect for international law and the importance of diplomacy and the U.N.'s role.

___

Amiri reported from the United Nations.

The first piece of checked luggage will now cost customers $45 on flights within the United States, Mexico, Canada and Latin America, according to United. A second bag will cost $55.

“This is the first time in two years the airline has raised bag fees,” United said in a statement.

Speaking to investors last month, United CEO Scott Kirby said the rising costs for jet fuel since the conflict began on Feb. 28 had already added roughly $400 million to operating costs. The CEOs for Delta Air Lines and American Airlines reported similar figures.

Some United passengers will still receive a free first checked bag, including co-branded credit card holders, certain loyalty-tier members, active military personnel and travelers in premium cabins. Customers who check bags less than 24 hours before departure will pay an additional $5.

United joins JetBlue, which raised its checked baggage fees earlier this week by $9 for peak travel periods. JetBlue said that charging more for optional services used by select customers helps keep base fares competitive. Like United, it will continue offering a free first checked bag to some customers.

The war, now in its second month, has severely disrupted global oil supplies, particularly near the narrow Strait of Hormuz where a fifth of the world's oil typically passes. That has caused crude prices to fluctuate wildly, which affects airlines' operating costs because the fuel their aircraft rely on is refined from crude oil.

Fuel is typically the second biggest expense for airlines after labor.

The average price for a gallon of jet fuel in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York reached $4.88 on Thursday, up from $2.50 just before the war, according to Argus Media. The energy market intelligence company’s U.S. Jet Fuel Index tracks the average prices across those major hubs.

Airlines are under increasing pressure to find new sources of revenue as fuel costs climb. A number of non-U.S. carriers have already responded by adding fuel surcharges or raising ticket prices. Industry experts say U.S. airlines will boost fares as well, but since they don’t typically rely on fuel surcharges, they’re also expected to pass on higher fuel costs to travelers by raising — or introducing — add-on fees.

United announced another pricing change on Friday that brings the “pay for what you want” approach already standard in economy to its premium cabins. On long-haul international routes, transcontinental U.S. flights and certain Hawaii services, seats in the front cabin will now be divided into three fare types.

At the bottom, a new base fare will carry the lowest upfront price but removes some of the extras that travelers often expect with premium tickets — including advance seat selection and refunds. In practice, that could mean a cheaper entry point to the front cabin but fewer perks.

The middle option, labeled standard, adds back common perks such as seat selection, extra checked bags and the ability to make itinerary changes. At the top end, the flexible tier includes all of those features and is fully refundable, offering the most flexibility for travelers willing to pay more.

United said it plans to introduce the new fare structure in select markets this month and expand it across more routes later this year.

Joshua Bermea, 20, pleaded guilty to burglary of a habitation with intent to commit a felony other than theft (40 years) and possession of a controlled substance (10 years), the district attorney’s office said in a Facebook post.

Judge Gary Steel, who presides over the 274th District Court, handed down the sentences.

Bermea sent approximately 250 text messages to the woman on Nov. 8, 2023. He also threatened to kill her, harm her family members and slash her tires.

The woman told New Braunfels police officers on Nov. 9, 2023, that Bermea had assaulted her. The DA’s Office said Bermea had entered the woman’s home without permission.

When the woman told Bermea to leave the property, he took her cellphone and assaulted her.

In another incident on Sept. 22, 2023, Bermea followed the woman in his vehicle while calling and threatening her after she had ended the relationship.

The woman told authorities that Bermea expressed intent to rear-end her vehicle and sent text messages, stating, “Imma make you live in Hell.”

If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, there is a long list of resources on KSAT’s Domestic Violence page which includes a breakdown of what abuse is, and how it builds gradually.

If you are in crisis, you can:

• call or text 911
• call the Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233
• call the local Family Violence Prevention Services, which runs the shelter (Crisis Number: 210-733-8810, Programs and Administration: 210-930-3669)
• call the Bexar County Family Justice Center at 210-631-0100.

Kenneth Wayne Mulkey, 44, pled guilty to one of two counts of attempted enticement of a minor on Aug. 11, 2025, the DOJ said.

Mulkey used Snapchat to ask a user for their age, sex and location on Oct. 11, 2024, according to court documents.

After the user identified themselves as a 14-year-old boy, Mulkey said he was a 40-year-old football and track coach.

Mulkey then requested a sexually explicit photo of the minor. Geolocation information contained within his cellphone showed Mulkey was 40 meters (approximately 0.02 of a mile) away from Sabinal High School when he sent those messages, court documents indicate.

The following day, the DOJ said Mulkey sent a sexually explicit photo of himself to the user. He also discussed graphic topics with the minor.

Mulkey was initially taken into custody on Jan. 31, 2025 and indicted on Feb. 19, 2025, officials said. He was removed from campus and later placed on administrative leave, according to the Sabinal Independent School District.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Former Sabinal High School coach pleads guilty to attempted enticement of a minor, DOJ says
• Sabinal High School coach arrested, accused of attempting to entice 14-year-old boy
• Sabinal ISD employee detained, accused of criminal offenses involving a minor, district says

Doncic is the NBA's top scorer and the driving force behind the Lakers' surge into the third spot in the Western Conference standings, but he injured his leg during Los Angeles' blowout loss in Oklahoma City on Thursday. An MRI exam revealed the severity of the strain.

The Pacific Division champion Lakers (50-27) have just five games left before the postseason, starting Sunday at Dallas.

Grade 2 hamstring strains sometimes require several weeks of recovery, but Doncic also has prior experience with hamstring issues. He missed four games right before the All-Star break with another left hamstring strain, but returned to the lineup after the break.

Doncic is putting up spectacular numbers in his first full season with the Lakers, who acquired the Slovenian superstar from the Mavericks last season. He is averaging 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game for Los Angeles, and he was named the NBA's Western Conference player of the month for March after racking up 13 consecutive 30-point performances, including seven 40-point games, a 51-point barrage against Chicago and a 60-point masterclass in Miami.

Doncic scored a whopping 600 points in March, becoming only the 10th player in NBA history to hit that mark in one month. While LeBron James and Austin Reaves have also played well down the stretch, the Lakers thoroughly depend on Doncic, who either scored or assisted on 58% of the their total points in March.

Doncic is all but certain to win his second NBA scoring title — but he has played in only 64 games this season, which means he will finish one game shy of the 65-game threshold to be eligible for the NBA's biggest postseason awards.

He was a lock to be an All-NBA selection, and he had even been making a late run at consideration for the MVP award with his outstanding play down the stretch.

Along with his two absences caused by hamstring injuries and a handful of additional absences for minor medical maintenance early in the season, Doncic missed two games last December while flying to Slovenia for the birth of his second child. He also missed one game last week under suspension for accumulating 16 technical fouls.

Since he sits just shy of the 65-game threshold, Doncic theoretically could challenge the rule by citing the extraordinary circumstances of his daughter's birth in Europe through the grievance process created for these collectively bargained rules. It's wholly unclear whether that appeal would have any chance of success.

If Doncic wins the scoring title but doesn't make the All-NBA teams, he would be only the third scoring champ in league history to fail to do so. Elvin Hayes wasn't selected when he won the crown as a rookie in 1969, and Bob McAdoo wasn't chosen for the teams in 1976.

Lakers coach JJ Redick said Doncic was injured in the first half against the Thunder, but was cleared to return to the game while his team was getting plastered by the defending NBA champion Thunder. Doncic lasted only about four minutes before he spun, stopped and went down on the court in pain, leading to his departure.

The loss was only the Lakers' third in 19 games since Feb. 26, but Doncic's absence casts a cloud of uncertainty over the rest of their year. Los Angeles only leads fourth-place Denver (49-28) by one game, while sixth-place Minnesota (46-30) is 3 1/2 games back with a game in hand.

The Lakers’ regular-season finale is next Sunday, April 12, at home against Utah. Their first-round playoff series is expected to start the following weekend.

___

AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

___

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

The lawmakers' failure to offer a solution after months of debate raises uncertainty about how Georgians will vote in November and leaves confusion that could end in the courts or a special legislative session.

“They’ve abdicated their responsibility,” Democratic state Rep. Saira Draper said of inaction by Republicans who control the legislature.

Currently, voters make their choices on Dominion Voting machines, which then print ballots with a QR code that scanners read to tally votes. Those machines have been repeatedly targeted by President Donald Trump following his 2020 election loss, and Trump’s Georgia supporters responded by enacting a law in 2024 that bans using barcodes to count votes.

But state law still requires counties to use the machines. No money has been allocated to reprogram them, and lawmakers failed to agree on a replacement.

“We’ll have an unresolvable statutory conflict come July 1,” said House Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Victor Anderson, a Cornelia Republican who backed a proposal to keep using the machines in 2026 that Senate Republicans declined to consider.

Republican House Speaker Jon Burns said he would meet with Gov. Brian Kemp and “take his temperature” on the possibility of a special session.

Kemp spokesperson Carter Chapman said he Republican governor will examine the situation.

“We’ll analyze all bills, as well as the consequence of those that did not pass,” Chapman said Friday.

House Republicans and Democrats backed Anderson's plan, which would have required that Georgia choose a voting process that didn't use QR codes by 2028. Election officials preferred that solution.

“The Senate has shown that they’re not responsible actors,” Draper said. She added that Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, a Trump-endorsed Republican running for governor, seemed more interested in keeping Trump's backing than “doing right by Georgia voters.”

Jones said in a statement the Senate has proven its commitment to secure elections by passing legislation that includes banning barcodes on ballots.

“Like President Trump, I have been a staunch defender of safe and secure elections and my record speaks for itself," Jones said.

A spokesperson for Jones didn't immediately respond to a request for comment early Friday.

Joseph Kirk, Bartow County election supervisor and president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials, said he’ll look to the secretary of state for guidance and assumes a judge will rule to instruct election officials how to proceed.

“This is uncharted territory,” he said.

Robert Sinners, a spokesperson for Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is also running for governor, said officials are “ready to follow the law and follow the Constitution.”

Burns told reporters that his chamber was seeking to minimize changes this year.

“You can’t change horses in the middle of the stream,” Burns said.

Anderson said without action, the state could be required to use hand-marked and hand-counted paper ballots in November.

Election officials say switching to a new system within just a few months, as advocated by some Republicans, would be nearly impossible.

“They made no way for this to happen except putting a deadline on it," Cherokee County elections director Anne Dover said of the switch away from barcodes. Dover said one problem under some plans is that a very large number of ballots would have to be printed.

Lawmakers seemed more concerned about scoring political points than making practical plans, Paulding County Election Supervisor Deidre Holden said.

“If anyone is resilient and can get the job done, it’s all of us election officials, but the legislators need to work with us, and they need to understand what we do before they go making laws that are basically unachievable for us,” Holden said.

Supporters of hand-marked paper ballots say voters are more likely to trust in an accurate count if they can see what gets read by the scanner.

Right-wing election activists lobbied lawmakers for an immediate switch to hand-marked paper ballots, but the House turned away from a Senate proposal to do so.

Anderson said he wasn’t sure if a special session could escape those political crosswinds, but said Georgia lawmakers must fix the problem.

“This is a legislative problem,” Anderson said. “It’s a legislative solution that has to happen.”

The sizable increase for the Pentagon, some 44%, had been telegraphed by the Republican president even before the U.S.-led war against Iran. The president's plan would also reduce spending on non-defense programs by 10%.

“President Trump promised to reinvest in America’s national security infrastructure, to make sure our nation is safe in a dangerous world,” wrote Budget Director Russell Vought.

The president’s annual budget is considered a reflection of the administration’s values and does not carry the force of law. The massive document typically highlights an administration’s priorities, but Congress, which handles federal spending issues, is free to reject it and often does.

This year’s White House document is intended to provide a road map from the president to Congress as lawmakers build their own budgets and annual appropriations bills to keep the government funded. Vought spoke to House GOP lawmakers on a private call Thursday.

Trump, speaking ahead of an address to the nation this week about the Iran war, signaled the military is his priority, setting up a clash ahead in Congress.

“We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care,” Trump said at a private White House event Wednesday.

“It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare — all these individual things,” he said. “They can do it on a state basis. You can’t do it on a federal.”

Money for immigration enforcement, air traffic controllers and national parks

Among the priorities the White House called for:

—Supporting the Trump administration's immigration enforcement and deportation operations by eliminating aspects of a refugee resettlement aid program, maintaining Immigration and Customs Enforcement funds at current year levels and drawing on last's year's increases for the Department of Homeland Security funds to continue opening detention facilities, including 100,000 beds for adults and 30,000 for families.

-- A 13% increase in funding for the Department of Justice to focus on violent criminals and the president's promise to stop what the White House calls migrant crime.

-- A $10 billion fund within the National Park Service for "construction and beautification” projects in Washington, D.C.

-- A $481 million increase in funding to enhance aviation safety and support an air traffic controller hiring surge.

Cuts to green energy, housing and health programs

— Cancels more than $15 billion from the Biden-era bipartisan infrastructure law, including funds for renewable energy projects and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, grants.

— A 19% cut in the Department of Agriculture, ending certain university grants, a 13% cut for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and about a 12% decrease to the Health and Human Services department, including cuts to a low-income heating assistance program.

The White House is touting cuts of what it calls “woke programs” that often direct federal investments toward low-income communities. The budget used the word “woke” 34 times

For example, the administration is looking to cut Community Services Block Grants, which funds activities such as financial and job counseling and helping people obtain adequate housing. The administration says its cuts would target grants “hijacked by radicals" to promote equity-building and green energy initiatives.

The president also seeks to cut $106 million in funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which it says has “pushed radical gender ideology onto children.”

Supporters and detractors

The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees applauded Trump’s request for defense spending, saying the money would ensure the country’s military remains the most advanced in the world while confronting growing threats from China, Russia, Iran and others.

“America is facing the most dangerous global environment since World War II,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.

The top Democrat on House Budget Committee, Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, said the president was demanding a massive increase in defense while cutting billions from health care, housing and more.

“This budget represents ‘America Last,’” Boyle said.

Debt, deficits and tough choices ahead

With the nation running nearly $2 trillion annual deficits and the debt swelling past $39 trillion, the federal balance sheets have long been operating in the red.

About two-thirds of the nation's estimated $7 trillion in annual spending covers the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs, as well as Social Security income, which are essentially growing — along with an aging population — on autopilot.

It's the rest of the annual budget where much of the debate in Congress takes place, as Democrats over the years have insisted that changes in the level of spending for defense and non-defense need to be equitable.

The GOP's big tax breaks bill that Trump signed into law last year boosted his priorities beyond the budget process — with at least $150 billion for the Pentagon over the next several years, and $170 billion for Trump’s immigration and deportation operations at the Department of Homeland Security.

The administration is counting on its allies in the Republican-led Congress to push part of president’s beefed up defense spending through its own budget process, as it was able to do last year.

It suggests $1.1 trillion for defense would come through the regular appropriations process, which typically requires support from both parties for approval, while $350 billion would go in the budget reconciliation process that Republicans can accomplish on their own, through party-line majority votes.

Congress still fighting over 2026 spending

The president's budget arrives as the House and Senate remain tangled over current-year spending and stalemated over DHS funding, with Democrats demanding changes to Trump’s immigration enforcement regime that Republicans are unwilling to accept.

Trump announced Thursday he would sign an executive order to pay all DHS workers who have gone without paychecks during the record-long partial government shutdown that has reached 49 days.

Last year, in the president's first budget since returning to the White House, Trump sought to fulfill his promise to vastly reduce the size and scope of the federal government, reflecting the efforts of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

However, while Trump had sought a roughly one-fifth decrease in non-defense spending, Congress kept such spending relatively flat.

Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, called Trump's new budget “morally bankrupt.”

“Trump wants to build a ballroom," Murray said, referring to the White House renovation. "I want to build more affordable housing, and only one of us sits on the Appropriations Committee.”

___

Associated Press reporter Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

__

An earlier version of this story misstated what NOAA stands for. It is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The procession started at 10 a.m. at Travis Park and ended at Main Plaza, where the re-enactment took place in front of San Fernando Cathedral.

“People from across the world gather to witness the Passion of the Christ. [In] this dramatization of Good Friday, the sidewalks are filled with families,” Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller said in a news conference on Tuesday.

Actors included:

• Jesus: Abel Patino Paramo
• Mary: Frenzy Lizardi Maldonado
• Pilate: John Austin
• Herod: Joawuin Velasquez
• Caifas: Edgar Holguin
• Soldier 1: Edgar Holguin
• Soldier 2: Mario Huerta
• Soldier 3: Jose Arrevalo

Watch last year’s re-enactment below:

The San Antonio Passion Play dates back to 1983, when the wooden cross carried by the actor playing Jesus weighed 150 pounds. A 50-pound cross is used today.

Click here for more information.

NASA released the crew’s first downlinked images Friday, 1 1/2 days into the first astronaut moonshot in more than half a century.

The first photo taken by commander Reid Wiseman shows a curved slice of Earth in one of the capsule’s windows. The second shows the entire globe with the oceans topped by swirling white tendrils of clouds. A green aurora even glows, according to NASA.

“It’s great to think that with the exception of our four friends, all of us are represented in this image," said NASA's Lakiesha Hawkins, an exploration systems leader. She added the mission was going well.

As of late Friday afternoon, Wiseman and his crew were more than 110,000 miles (180,000 kilometers) from Earth and were quickly gaining on the moon with another 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers) to go. They should reach their destination on Monday.

The three Americans and one Canadian will swing around the moon in their Orion capsule, hang a U-turn and then head straight back home without stopping. They fired Orion's main engine Thursday night that set them on their course.

After Mission Control shifted the position of their capsule, the entire Earth complete with northern lights filled their windows.

“It was the most spectacular moment, and it paused all four of us in our tracks,” Wiseman said in a TV interview.

They're the first lunar travelers since Apollo 17 in 1972.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

That's rare, but it might be this season's reality.

The roster of award-caliber players who won't be winning awards this season continues to grow, with Doncic — the Los Angeles Lakers standout guard and MVP candidate — now out with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain that will force him to miss the rest of the regular season. Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards is certain to miss the league's 65-game award eligibility threshold as well after he was held out Thursday because of illness.

Doncic has played 64 games, one shy of the threshold. It's worth noting that BetMGM Sportsbook, among others, took Doncic off the list of MVP betting options following his injury Thursday.

“At this juncture of the season, it’s the last thing you want to see,” Lakers star LeBron James told reporters in Oklahoma City after Thursday's game, long before an MRI was performed Friday to determine the extent of Doncic's injury. “Especially anybody on our team, but when you have an MVP candidate on your team, the last thing you want to see is somebody go down with a hamstring injury."

Edwards can now only reach a maximum of 64 games as well, so he won’t be on the ballot for most major NBA awards either.

What is the 65-game rule?

It was collectively bargained — meaning the league and the players association agreed on the terms — and this is the third season of it being part of the NBA rules.

It applies to player eligibility for five awards — MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, the All-NBA Team and the All-Defensive Team. Players have to either play in 65 regular-season games (with some minutes-played minimums in there as well), or at least 62 games before suffering a “season-ending injury."

But even with Doncic's hamstring hurt badly enough that he'll miss the rest of the regular season, it wouldn't be classified as “season-ending” unless a doctor — jointly selected by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association — says he wouldn't be able to play again through May 31.

There is a grievance process and even a way to challenge the rule citing extraordinary circumstances, but neither would be easily utilized.

Who's out of the award races?

Five of the league's six highest-paid players this season — Golden State's Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo and Boston's Jayson Tatum — aren't eligible for awards. Denver's Nikola Jokic is the exception on the highest-paid list, and he'd likely be ineligible if he misses more than one more game down the stretch.

There were 23 players on the list of those winning MVP, MIP, DPOY, All-NBA and All-Defense last season. Of those, at least 10 are out of the running for honors this season: Antetokounmpo, Curry, Edwards, James, Tatum, Detroit's Cade Cunningham, Indiana teammates Tyrese Haliburton and Ivica Zubac, Utah's Jaren Jackson Jr. and Oklahoma City's Jalen Williams. (Most of those 10 have been out of the awards mix because of injuries for some time; Tatum and Haliburton both tore Achilles in last season's playoffs and it was obvious then that they wouldn't hit 65-game marks this year.)

Another four award winners from a year ago — Jokic, Oklahoma City's Lu Dort, Golden State's Draymond Green and Cleveland's Evan Mobley — aren't at 65 games yet this season but, for now anyway, seem on pace to get there.

Will the rule be changed?

Never say never. The union wants changes to the policy, and it's certain to come up in their conversations with the league office. But many players — and even Andre Iguodala, now the head of the players' association — have said in recent years that the 65-game rule is a good thing.

The league doesn't seem inclined to make a change based solely on what would appear to be an extraordinary number of award candidates not hitting the threshold in one year.

“I think it is working,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last month. “I think if you look at the numbers, the pre-implementation of this rule, numbers were going in the wrong direction. I may have this a little bit off: I think the three years before we adopted this rule, almost a third of the All-NBA players had not played 80% of the games. That was a huge issue for the league.”

Scoring champion ... but not All-NBA?

As we said, it's rare, but it has happened. Twice, to be exact.

— 1968-69: Elvin Hayes won the scoring title as a rookie, then wasn't even All-NBA — and didn't win Rookie of the Year, either.

— 1975-76: Bob McAdoo won his third consecutive scoring title and was second in the MVP race — but didn't make All-NBA. Players voted for MVP in those days, and McAdoo was an extremely close second behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Dave Cowens was third in the MVP vote but got the second-team All-NBA nod at center, with Abdul-Jabbar the first-team pick.

Doncic now seems likely to join that list. It's not mathematically certain yet that he wins the scoring title, but it would take something extraordinary for it not to happen.

He's averaging 33.5 points per game, with Gilgeous-Alexander at 31.6 per game. For Gilgeous-Alexander — last season's scoring champion — to overtake Doncic, he would need to go on an unbelievable run. An example: He'd need to score 292 points over the final five games to take over the top spot, and nobody other than Wilt Chamberlain has had a five-game run like that.

Of the previous 79 scoring champions, 64 were first-team All-NBA and 13 were second-team.

Jokic is going to win the league's rebounding and assist titles, while averaging a triple-double yet again. But he's also not assured yet of being on the award ballots.

Why can some players win statistical titles but not win All-NBA?

The thresholds are different.

While the award mandate is 65 games in most cases, players are eligible for most statistical awards if they play in 58 games (or 70% of the season). There are different standards for some stat awards, such as field-goal percentage (minimum 300 made), free-throw percentage (minimum 125 made) and 3-point percentage (minimum 82 made).

A player can win a stat award while appearing in less than 58 games.

For example, last season, San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama played only 46 games but still won the blocked shot title. Even if he played in the minimum 58 games and recorded no blocks in the 12 games needed to reach that number he still would have been ahead of the runner-up, Utah's Walker Kessler.

___

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

According to Bexar County jail records, San Antonio police took Walter Allen Gutierrez, 71, into custody on Thursday. He has been accused of intoxication manslaughter — a second-degree felony — related to a deadly July 3, 2024, crash in the 7800 block of Grissom Road near Misty Way Street.

KSAT received a copy of Gutierrez’s March 26 intoxication manslaughter indictment on Friday. The indictment identified Marissa Sifuentes as the person who died in the crash.

According to an SAPD preliminary report from July 3, 2024, Gutierrez (the driver) and Sifuentes (the passenger) were traveling in a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. Gutierrez attempted to make a left turn into a private parking lot when a Ford F-150, which had the right of way, crashed into Sifuentes’ passenger side, authorities said.

Police said Sifuentes was thrown from the Dodge Grand Caravan’s front passenger seat to the rear passenger seat on contact. She suffered “severe” injuries to her right leg and was transported to a local hospital in critical condition, the report said.

Four others, including Gutierrez, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, an SAPD spokesperson said at the time.

According to the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office, Sifuentes died from complications related to blunt force injuries suffered in the crash. Her death was ruled an accident.

Gutierrez’s previous arrest

On Thursday, Gutierrez was also booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on an unrelated suspicion of driving while intoxicated (DWI) charge, jail records indicate.

The suspicion of DWI charge, which happened in July 2023, is considered a Class B misdemeanor.

Records show Gutierrez appeared in court on April 11, 2024 — three months before the deadly crash — and pled no contest to the DWI charge. At the hearing, a judge granted him deferred adjudication.

Following Gutierrez’s intoxication manslaughter indictment and arrest, a Bexar County judge decided on Thursday to hold him in jail without bond, court documents show.

Gutierrez is scheduled to make his next court appearance in the 2023 DWI case on May 11.

More recent crime coverage on KSAT:

• Former Sabinal High School coach sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempted enticement of minor
• New Braunfels man sentenced to 50 years in prison after abusing woman he previously dated
• Woman killed in drive-by shooting on South Side, San Antonio police say

It was the first time U.S. aircraft have been downed in the conflict and came just two days after President Donald Trump said in a national address that the U.S. has “beaten and completely decimated Iran” and was “going to finish the job, and we’re going to finish it very fast.”

One fighter jet was shot down in Iran, officials said. A U.S. crew member from that plane was rescued, but a second was missing, and a U.S. military search-and-rescue operation was underway.

Neither the White House nor Pentagon released public information about the downed planes. In a brief telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to discuss the search-and-rescue efforts but said what happened would not affect negotiations with Iran.

“No, not at all. No, it’s war,” he said.

Separately, Iranian state media said a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf after being struck by Iranian defense forces.

A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation said earlier that it was not clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down or whether Iran was involved. Neither the status of the crew nor exactly where it went down was immediately known.

Those incidents came as Iran fired on targets across the Middle East on Friday, keeping the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors despite U.S. and Israeli insistence that Iran’s military capabilities have been all but destroyed.

Second service member's status unknown

Neither the White House nor the Pentagon released public information about the downed planes. But the Pentagon notified the House Armed Services Committee that the status of a second service member from the fighter jet was not known.

In an email from the Pentagon that obtained by The Associated Press, meanwhile, the military said it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down” in the Middle East, without providing more details.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have roiled stock markets, sent oil prices skyrocketing, and threatened to raise the cost of many basic goods, including food.

Downed jet could mark a new level of pressure on the US

Prior to word of the rescue, social media footage showed American drones, aircraft and helicopters flying over the mountainous region where a TV channel affiliated with Iranian state television said earlier that at least one pilot bailed out of the fighter jet.

An anchor urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward.

It was the first time the U.S. has lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the conflict and could mark a new level of pressure on the U.S. military.

Throughout the war, Iran has made a series of claims about shooting down piloted enemy aircraft that turned out not to be true. Friday was the first time that Iran went on television urging the public to look for a downed pilot.

Iranian state media said in a post on the social platform X that the military shot down a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle. The aircraft is a variation of the Air Force fighter jet that carries a pilot and weapons system officer.

Alan Diehl, a former investigator for the Air Force Safety Center, said the Strike Eagle has an emergency locator beacon in a survival kit that can be set to activate automatically or manually.

Iran targets a desalination plant and a refinery

News about the downed planes came after Iran attacked Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery. The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. said firefighters were working to control several blazes.

Kuwait also said an Iranian attack caused “material damage” to a desalination plant. Such plants are responsible for most of the drinking water for Gulf states, and they have become a major target in the war.

Also sirens sounded in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia said it destroyed several Iranian drones and Israel reported incoming missiles.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates shut down a gas field after a missile interception reportedly rained debris on it and started a fire.

Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan, but it was not immediately clear what was hit.

In Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion in its fight with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militant group, an Israeli drone strike on worshippers leaving Friday prayers near Beirut killed two people, according to the state‑run National News Agency

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes. In a review released Friday, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a U.S.-based group, said it found that civilian casualties were clustered around strikes on security and state-linked sites “rather than indiscriminate bombardment” of urban areas.

More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, 19 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.

Iran keeps a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz

World leaders, meanwhile, have struggled to end Iran’s stranglehold on the waterway, which has had far-reaching consequences for the global economy and has proved to be its greatest strategic advantage in the war.

The U.N. Security Council was expected to take up the matter Saturday.

Trump has vacillated on America’s role in the strait, alternately threatening Iran if it does not open the strait and telling other nations to “go get your own oil.” On Friday he said in a post on social media that, “With a little more time, we can easily OPEN THE HORMUZ STRAIT, TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE.”

Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, were around $109, up more than 50% since the start of the war, when Iran began restricting traffic through the strait.

___

Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro and Ben Finley in Washington contributed.

The new Marine Minerals Administration will bring together the functions of the current Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said. Doing so will enable a “streamlined approach” that will maintain existing regulatory protections and rigorous safety standards, he said.

The combined agency will “deliver clearer coordination, better service to the public and stronger, more integrated oversight of offshore energy development,” Burgum said in a statement.

The new name is reminiscent of the old Minerals Management Service, which for decades was the federal agency responsible for overseeing offshore drilling. In April 2010, a deadly explosion destroyed BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 people and discharging nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil into the sea over the next three months in the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Lawmakers from both parties and outside critics accused the agency of lax oversight of drilling and cozy ties with industry. A 2008 report by the Interior Department’s inspector general said employees accepted gifts, steered contracts to favored clients and engaged in drug use and sex with employees of the energy firms they regulated.

The head of the agency resigned in May 2010 — less than a year into her tenure — under public pressure as the Obama administration moved to impose stricter control over drilling in the wake of the spill.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement replaced the disbanded Minerals Management Service in 2011. The former agency’s revenue management function was also separated into a new office. The Obama administration said the reorganization was designed to remove the complex and sometimes conflicting missions of the former agency.

BOEM oversees development of oil and gas, as well as renewable energy and mining on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, while BSEE enforces safety and environmental regulations.

Environmental groups slammed the reorganization as a replay of the agency's troubled past.

The MMS was intentionally split up after the Gulf spill because regulators were too cozy with industry and “we couldn’t trust the integrity of their work,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

The new set-up "sounds like yet another handout to the oil industry that will fast-track risky projects. It sure won’t make the people or wildlife on our coasts any safer,” she wrote in an e-mail Friday.

The National Ocean Industries Association, which represents offshore developers, said that two separate — yet overlapping — government agencies responsible for administering the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act can understandably result in inconsistencies and delays.

“Bringing them back together should result in closer coordination and a more efficiently functioning government, for the benefit of American citizens who rely upon the energy produced from the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf to fuel our economy and lift society,” Association President Erik Milito said in a statement.

___

McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

___

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

The FDA designated the action as a “Class II recall” on March 31, which is defined as “temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote,” according to their website.

The cause for the nationwide product recall, according to the FDA, is due to “lack of assurance of sterility.”

K.C. Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a California-based company, sold the eye drop solution under numerous names to stores nationwide such as H-E-B, Walgreens, Walmart and CVS.

The recalled H-E-B-branded products include:

• H-E-B A.C. Eye Drops
• H-E-B Lubricant Eye Drops
• H‑E‑B Original Eye Drops

The full list of product names, expiration dates and specific stores can be found on the FDA report.

More recent news coverage on KSAT:

• Hidden in plain sight: These quiet protectors hold back floodwaters in San Antonio
• Bexar County ME’s Office identifies man killed in suspected East Side drive-by shooting
• Community members fill downtown San Antonio streets for Passion Play on Good Friday

The juvenile, whose age and gender have not been made public, was arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday, Los Angeles Police Officer Charles Miller said. The arrest stems from the Feb. 25 death of 12-year-old Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, which will be responsible for filing charges, said Friday that the case was under investigation.

Miller said that he couldn’t release any other information because both the victim and the suspect are juveniles. Khimberly's family says she was struck in the head on Feb. 17 during a bullying incident at Reseda Charter High School, which also includes a middle school.

“This arrest is an important step toward accountability, but an arrest alone does not equal justice and does not answer the larger question of how this was allowed to happen in the first place,” Robert Glassman, the family’s attorney, said in email Friday.

Khimberly was in a hallway on the school’s campus when she was struck in the head with a metal water bottle while trying to help her older sister, Sharon Zavaleta, who was being bullied by a group of students, the family said in the wrongful-death claim filed last month against the Los Angeles Unified School District.

She was taken to Valley Presbyterian Hospital, where she was evaluated and released the same day. Three days later, she was taken to UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, where she was placed in an induced coma and underwent emergency brain surgery to try to stop a hemorrhage, the family said. She died Feb. 25.

Glassman said the family has not ruled out taking legal action against Valley Presbyterian Hospital but that they are focused on supporting each other and holding the Los Angeles Unified School District accountable for its failure to intervene long before the fatal attack.

The sisters had been bullied, harassed and physically attacked for months at school, and their mother reported the incidents to school officials, who failed to stop the abuse, he said.

“The focus cannot stop with one student — there must be a hard look at what the adults in charge knew, when they knew it, and why meaningful action wasn’t taken sooner,” Glassman said.

A spokesperson for LAUSD said the district does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.

Last month, a 12-year-old girl died days after collapsing in the street following a fistfight near a school bus stop in her Georgia neighborhood, according to police.

Jada West, a sixth grader, died after a fight with another student from Mason Creek Middle School broke out at an intersection near hear home.

Friday, April 3

A collision on U.S. Highway 90 near the Zarzamora Street exit has closed multiple eastbound lanes.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, the two right-hand lanes and the right shoulder are closed after a minor crash.

The eastbound exit lanes off U.S. Highway 90 onto Zarzamora Street were also closed. The department is asking drivers to use an alternate route.

TxDOT reports heavy traffic in the area, with cars on U.S. 90 East traveling an average speed of 23 miles per hour between Cupples Road and Interstate 35.

For more information on traffic, you can click here to view our traffic page on KSAT.com. To view more on the current weather conditions, click here.

Click the links below for current road closures.

• San Antonio road closures
• Bexar County road closures
• TxDOT highway conditions

According to the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office, Justin Cline, 31, died of multiple gunshot wounds early Wednesday morning in the 1500 block of Center Street, which is located in between Gevers Street and Mittman Street.

Cline’s death has been ruled a homicide.

According to a San Antonio Police Department report on Wednesday, Cline was struck by gunfire “several times” on the upper and lower parts of his body. Witnesses told police they heard gunshots and saw a “black sedan leaving the scene.”

An SAPD homicide detective on scene also told KSAT at least 80 shots were fired in the “targeted attack.” Investigators also believe multiple shooters fired their weapons.

The shooters have not been located, police said on Wednesday.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Man killed in suspected drive-by shooting on East Side, San Antonio police say; at least 80 rounds fired

Currently, more than 11,000 Texans await life-saving transplants.

The federally designated organ procurement organization for Central and South Texas hosted a tree dedication April 2 at Crockett Park with San Antonio Parks and Recreation. The dedication brought together donor families, volunteers and community members to honor donors’ legacies.

The organization, which partnered with KSAT Community in February and March to debunk myths and misconceptions during the “Donors Opting Out” town hall, said community education and donor registration remain critical to saving lives.

The Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA), founded in 1975, is one of 56 federally designated organ procurement organizations (OPOs) in the United States.

TOSA is committed to a mission of saving lives through the power of organ donation by providing organ donation and recovery services to Central and South Texans wishing to donate and for those waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

For more information, visit TOSA1.org.

KSAT Community operates in partnership with University Health and Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union. Click here to read about other KSAT Community efforts.

Interested in partnering with KSAT Community? Get in touch by filling out this form.

“I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week outside of the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. “I carry all of this suffering in my prayer.”

Inside the Colosseum, Leo lifted the cross and began the rite flanked by two torchbearers, who accompanied him throughout the hour-long procession from inside the Colosseum, through the crowd outside and up steep stairs to the Palatine Hill where he gave the final blessing.

At the first station, marking the moment Jesus was condemned to death, the meditation prepared especially for Leo's first Good Friday underlined that those with authority will have to answer to God for how they exercise their power.

"The power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instill violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge, or for reconciliation,'' read the meditation written by Rev. Francesco Patton, who was custodian of the Holy Land 2016-25, charged, among other things, with looking after sacred sites.

Some 30,000 faithful gathered outside the pagan monument, following the stations as they were recited over loud speakers.

They included Sister Pelenatita Kieoma Finau from Samoa and a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.

"We have been part of our parish stations of the cross, but this is so exciting. It is very meaningful to have the experience of being with the people of Rome on this special occasion,'' she said.

Past processions

John Paul II carried the cross for the entire procession from his first Good Friday as pontiff in 1979 until his hip surgery in 1995, when he carried it just part of the way, according to AP reports at the time.

For the first two years of his papacy, Benedict XVI carried the cross for the first station inside the Colosseum, then followed other bearers in the procession that ends on a platform on the Palatine Hill.

Pope Francis never carried the cross, but participated in the procession until his health worsened. He died after a long illness last year on Easter Monday, which fell on April 21.

Pope John Paul II was just 58 when he became pope, and was known as a hiker and outdoorsman. His two successors were in their late 70s when they began their papacies, and Francis was missing part of a lung due to a pulmonary infection as a young man.

The Way of the Cross commemorates the final hours of Jesus’ life, from his death sentence to taking up the cross to his crucifixion, death and burial. The procession ends outside the Colosseum atop the Palatine Hill.

“The Way of the Cross is not intended for those who lead a pristinely pious or abstractly recollected life,” Patton wrote in his introduction. “Instead, it is the exercise of one who knows that faith, hope and charity must be incarnated in the real world.”

At 70, Leo is physically fit and an avid tennis player and swimmer. Before becoming pope, Leo would work out regularly at a gym near the Vatican, with a plan befitting a man in his early 50s, according to his former trainer.

The pope's Holy Week activities

On Holy Saturday, the pontiff will preside over a late night Easter vigil, during which he will baptize new Catholics, and lead Roman Catholics into Christianity’s most joyous celebration marking Christ’s resurrection.

On Easter Sunday, the pope will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square before delivering his Easter message and offer the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the city of Rome and the world.

——

Barry reported from Milan.

Dozens of dams are hidden in plain sight across the city — tucked into parks, trails and green spaces — quietly protecting neighborhoods when heavy rain hits Flash Flood Alley.

At one flood-control dam inside McAllister Park, people walk dogs and ride bikes nearby every day without realizing they are standing on critical infrastructure.

“These were built when all of this was ranch land,” said Wayne Tschirhart, a senior technical engineer with the San Antonio River Authority whose focus is dam safety.

Many of San Antonio’s dams do not look like traditional dams with large walls and reservoirs. Instead, they are mostly grassy, earthen structures designed to temporarily hold back floodwaters during major storms.

“Most of them are earthen dams with earthen auxiliary spillways,” Tschirhart said. “They are earth and grass covered, and you really don’t know they are there.”

At the dam at McAllister Park, Tschirhart said the concrete spillway almost never sees water.

“I’ve been here 19 years, I’ve never seen water go over this concrete,” he said.

The dam stretches more than a mile long through the park.

“We’re at the dam crest. This is the auxiliary spillway,” Tschirhart said. “Then the earthen part goes back into the park, and the total length is like 6,600 feet. So it’s over a mile long.”

According to Tschirhart, there are 65 dams in Bexar County listed in the National Dam Inventory. The San Antonio River Authority operates 27 of them.

Those dams quietly hold back massive amounts of water during storms before it can rush into neighborhoods downstream.

“This and seven other dams upstream hold back a lot of, you know, thousands of acre-feet of water during a flood event that would normally impact people’s homes downstream and community downstream,” Tschirhart said. “And so they don’t make any noise. They fill and there’s no sirens.”

“They just sit here and operate and do what they do,” he added.

Without the dam system, Tschirhart said neighborhoods including Terrell Hills, Alamo Heights and areas stretching to Roland Avenue could flood during major rain events.

The dams may not look impressive, but Tschirhart said they play a major role in keeping people safe.

“They are nothing fancy,” he said.

But when asked whether they save lives in the community, Tschirhart had a simple answer: “Yeah, save lives and property.”

Read also:

• What happens after you flush? Inside one of San Antonio’s largest wastewater treatment plants

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

FAST FOOD FRIDAY: GOOD FRIDAY EDITON

BILL MILLER BBQ: 871 E bitters Rd, San Antonio, TX 78216

TOMMY’S RESTAURANT: 938 Wurzbach Pkwy #109, San Antonio, TX 78231

LAS PALAPAS: 11860 Blanco Rd, San Antonio, TX 78216

TACO PALENQUE: 15333 San Pedro Ave, Hill Country Village, TX 78232

MAMA MARGIE’S: 9950 I-10, San Antonio, TX 78230

Today’s show featured another edition of Fast Food Friday. Bean and cheese tacos, from five different establishments, were pitted against each other in honor of Good Friday. Bill Miller BBQ, Tommy’s Restaurant, Las Palapas, Taco Palenque, and Mama Margie’s battled it out, with each stop delivering its own take on the classic staple.

Highlighting the range of flavors and value found across San Antonio’s fast food scene, Bill Miller BBQ earned Best Bang for Your Buck, while Taco Palenque stood out with both Best Bite and Best Salsa. From longtime local institutions to quick-service favorites, the segment showcased how even the simplest taco can spark strong competition when it comes to taste, texture, and overall experience.

ALAMO CANDY COMPANY

1149 W Hildebrand Ave, San Antonio, TX 78201

Alamo Candy Company is a longtime San Antonio staple known for its sweet, sour, and spicy treats inspired by Mexican candy traditions. Founded in 1991 by Felix and Juanita Samame, the family-owned business has grown into a beloved destination offering everything from chamoy pickles and cherry bombs to house-made syrups and candy-coated favorites.

During the episode, Texas Eats NOW joined the excitement of Fiesta season as Alamo Candy Company hosted a 2026 medal giveaway. Fans lined up early to grab a limited KSAT Texas Eats Fiesta medal while enjoying the vibrant, warehouse-style shop that continues to serve generations of San Antonians with bold flavors and nostalgic treats.

Follow Texas Eats and David Elder on Facebook and Instagram for more food info, pictures, videos and giveaways.

• Facebook: @TexasEatsTV
• Instagram: @texaseatstv
• TikTok: @ElderEats
• Twitter: @TexasEatsTV

The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring marked a turnaround from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February. The job gains were about three times what economists had forecast. But uncertainty surrounding the war with Iran — and its impact on energy prices — is clouding the outlook for the labor market.

The unemployment rate was down from 4.4% in February. That is partly because the labor force — those working and looking for work — dropped by 396,000 in March so fewer people were competing for jobs. In fact, the percentage of people in the labor force dropped to 61.9% last month, the lowest since November 2021.

Health care companies added 76,400 jobs last month, boosted by the return of 31,000 Kaiser Permanente employees to work after the end of a strike in February. Factories added 15,000 jobs last month but have still shed jobs for 14 of the last 16 months. Construction companies added 26,000 jobs, probably partly because of warmer weather last month.

Average hourly wages were up 0.2% from February. Compared to March 2025, they were up 3.5% — the smallest gain since May 2021 and one consistent with the Federal Reserve's 2% annual inflation target.

Labor Department revisions shaved 7,000 jobs off combined January and February payrolls.

The U.S. job market has been in a slump over the past year. Most economists say the impact of the war and higher energy prices was probably not fully reflected in the March jobs numbers.

“The data is mostly backward-looking, and likely does not incorporate any impact from the recent rise in energy prices, or other risks related to the war in Iran,’’ Thomas Simons, chief U.S. economist with the investment firm Jefferies, wrote in a commentary.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at the accounting firm KPMG, said that the economy is getting a lift from big tax refunds made possible by President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax cuts. “But those are now being eaten up by higher energy costs,’’ she said.

Last year, employers added an average of just 9,700 jobs a month, the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. Businesses have been reluctant to bring on new workers partly because of uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports and crackdown on immigration. One measure released by the Labor Department on Monday showed the weakest hiring since April 2020 – in the middle of COVID-19 lockdowns.

But firms have also been reluctant to let go of their existing employees, creating what economists describe as a “no-hire, no-fire’’ scenario that locks young applicants out of the job market. At the same time, there are growing worries that artificial intelligence is taking entry-level jobs.

New jobs are heavily concentrated in health care and social assistance (which includes day care and vocational rehabilitation centers). That combined category accounted for more than half the jobs created last month. The trend reflects an aging U.S. population. A graying Japan saw the same thing in the early 2010s, Vanguard economist Adam Schickling wrote in a commentary ahead of Friday's jobs report.

“The larger-than-expected rebound in nonfarm payrolls in March mainly reflects a reversal of the strike and weather effects that weighed on hiring in February, rather than being a sign that the labor market is rapidly gaining momentum,” said Stephen Brown, chief North America economist at Capital Economics. Citing higher oil prices, he warned of the risk that "the hit to consumers’ purchasing power will weigh on demand and therefore hiring in the near term.''

March’s unexpectedly strong hiring is likely to ease pressure on the Fed policymakers to cut interest rates right away to help the job market, giving them time to assess what impact higher energy prices are having on overall inflation.

Worries about the fallout from the war are likely to limit job gains for awhile. “It’s the nature of uncertainties,’’ said Olu Sonola, U.S. head of research at Fitch Ratings. “Companies typically respond by holding back’’ on hiring decisions.

A lot will depend on how long the conflict lasts and what happens to oil prices. The price of benchmark American crude oil closed just below $112 a barrel Thursday. “If that’s $140 next month,″ Sonola said, “God knows what’s going to happen.’’

Mai Truong is the founder of Bo & Mei, which makes games and puzzles designed to celebrate Asian heritage. She’s currently preparing for this year’s holiday shopping season and assessing her hiring plans — but she’s facing lots of unknowns.

The Brooklyn, New York-based company, which had sales of under $500,000 last year, had to pay tens of thousands of dollars in tariffs last year. Truong is not sure what her tariff bill will be this year and whether she will be able to get a refund after the Supreme Court struck down some of Trump's tariffs. The Iran war is also creating unforeseen costs including higher shipping expenses.

Truong is her company's only full-time employee. But she typically hires a couple of contractors, who work in operations, marketing and other areas, to help in the months heading to Christmas.

“It makes everything feel very uncertain,” she said. “On the other hand, there’s so little you can do with the volatility. You just have to stay the course and kind of deal with the variables as they become more clear.”

_____

Anne D'Innocenzio reported from New York.

A year and a half after winning the White House by promising to lower costs and end wars, Donald Trump is a wartime president overseeing surging energy costs and an escalating overseas conflict.

The war in Iran was largely unpopular even before an American fighter jet was shot down in Iran, a development that dominated headlines on Friday and contradicted Trump’s claim that Tehran's military capabilities have been all but destroyed. One crew member has been rescued.

Earlier in the week, the Republican president offered little clarity to a nation eager for answers during a prime-time address from the White House, his first since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran more than a month ago, simultaneously suggesting that the war was ending and expanding.

“Thanks to the progress we’ve made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly,” Trump said. “We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”

Trump's comments come roughly six months before voters across the nation begin to cast ballots in elections that will decide control of Congress and key governorships for Trump’s final two years in office. For now, Republicans, who control all branches of government in Washington, are bracing for a painful political backlash.

“You’re looking at an ugly November,” warned veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse. “At a point in time when we need every break possible to hold the House and Senate, our edge is being chipped away.”

Republicans confront evolving political landscape

It’s hard to overstate how dramatically the political landscape has shifted.

At this time last year, many Republican leaders believed there was a path to preserve their narrow House majority and easily hold the Senate. Now they privately concede that the House is all but lost and Democrats have a realistic shot at taking the Senate.

Republicans are also struggling to coalesce around a clear midterm message on Iran.

The Republican National Committee has largely avoided the war in talking points issued to surrogates over the last month. The leaders of the party's campaign committees responsible for the House and Senate declined interview requests. Many vulnerable Republican candidates sidestep the issue, unwilling to defend or challenge Trump publicly.

The president remains deeply popular with Republican voters, and he has vocal supporters like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

“That was the best speech I could’ve hoped for,” he wrote on social media after Trump's address on Wednesday evening. Graham said Trump “gave the American people a clear and coherent pathway forward.”

Trump made little effort to sell the conflict to Americans before the initial attack. Five weeks later, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed and hundreds more injured. Thousands more troops have converged on the region, and the Pentagon requested $200 billion in new funding.

The Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for a fifth of the world’s oil, remains closed. The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. was $4.08 on Thursday, according to AAA, almost a full dollar higher than on President Joe Biden's last day in office.

On Wednesday, Trump insisted that gas prices would fall quickly once the war concluded but offered no solution for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, he invited skeptical U.S. allies to do it themselves.

He insisted that the war would be worth it.

“This is a true investment in your grandchildren and your grandchildren’s future,” Trump said. “When it’s all over, the United States will be safer, stronger, more prosperous and greater than it has ever been before.”

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who was once among Trump's most vocal allies in Congress, lashed out against his Iran policy.

“I wanted so much for President Trump to put America First. That’s what I believed he would do. All I heard from his speech tonight was WAR WAR WAR,” she wrote on social media. “Nothing to lower the cost of living for Americans.”

Time is not on Trump's side

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say the U.S. military action in Iran has “gone too far,” according to AP-NORC polling from March. Roughly a third approve of how he’s handling Iran overall.

The possibility of sending U.S. forces into Iran also appears politically unpalatable.

About 6 in 10 adults are “strongly” or “somewhat” opposed to deploying U.S. troops on the ground to fight Iran. That includes about half of Republicans. Only about 1 in 10 favor deploying troops.

At the same time, Trump’s approval ratings have remained consistently weak. About 4 in 10 Americans approve of how he’s handling the presidency, roughly in line with how it’s been throughout his second term.

Republican strategist Ari Fleischer, a senior aide in former President George W. Bush’s administration, acknowledged that Trump has not received the polling bump in this war that Bush got after invading Iraq.

Bush, of course, worked to build public backing for the Iraq War before going in. Immediately after the 2003 invasion, Bush's popularity soared, as did the stock market.

Public sentiment and the economy soured only after the conflict stretched on. It ultimately spanned more than eight years, spawning a generation of anti-war Republicans — and sowing the seeds of Trump's “America First” foreign policy.

“My hope is that the Trump experience is the exact opposite of the Bush experience,” Fleischer said.

He said Trump must win the war decisively and quickly to avoid a further backlash, saying there could be a “very significant political upside if things end well, oil comes down and markets rally.”

Fleischer added that Trump's actions will matter much more than his words.

“Ultimately, he is not going to get judged on his persuasion or his explanations or his assertions, he’s going to get judged on results,” he said.

___

Associated Press writer Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.

Redick said Doncic had an issue with the hamstring in the first half of the 139-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and was tended to at the break.

“We checked him out, he got work done, he was cleared," Redick said.

Doncic returned to action briefly. On his final play of the game, he spun before trying to go up for a shot against Oklahoma City's Jalen Williams. There was no contact before Doncic stopped, then lay down on the floor while wincing in pain. He left the game for good with 7:39 remaining in the third quarter.

“Those things happen,” Redick said.

Williams, an All-Star in 2025, has missed 27 games this season because of a right hamstring strain. He felt badly for Doncic.

“It’s very, like, spooky in a way to see it happen to him, and I’m the one guarding him," Williams said.

Williams could have stolen the ball after Doncic let it go, but he chose not to take advantage of the situation.

“I tried to let it go out of bounds and give them time to figure it out,” Williams said. “That injury sucks. So I wish him a speedy recovery. Hope it's not anything serious.”

Doncic had scored at least 40 points in five of his previous seven games. He was held to 12 on 3-for-10 shooting against Oklahoma City's relentless defense.

The Lakers trailed 90-58 when Doncic was hurt, so the injury made a bad night worse.

“I mean, it’s something you never want to see as a teammate,” Lakers forward Jake LaRavia said. “So especially in a game like this, it was tough to see him go down. All the prayers for him ... but yeah, you never want to see that.”

Lakers guard Austin Reaves hurt his back during the game, but continued to play. He sat out the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.

“He was in a weird position, stretching for a basketball, loose ball," Redick said. "And he just felt something intercostal, somewhere in his back, in between the ribs. He was able to play through it ... we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

The Lakers will host a rematch with the Thunder on April 7.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the final score of the game was 139-96, not 139-97.

___

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

“I'm happy to announce I'm staying at Arizona,” Lloyd said during his pre-practice news conference at the Final Four. “We've been able to get some things done the past couple days.”

The school also announced it had reached an extension with Lloyd through the 2030-31 season, though it didn't release financial terms. Lloyd had previously been under contract through the 2029-30 season worth an average of nearly $5.5 million in base and supplemental pay for the coming seasons, along with a buyout that dropped from $11 million to $9 million on Wednesday.

Lloyd, 51, had been considered a top potential target for the Tar Heels, who fired Hubert Davis on March 24 after five seasons. He had deflected questions about the UNC opening as the Wildcats (36-2) kept advancing in the NCAA Tournament to their first Final Four since 2001, including as recently as Thursday in Indianapolis.

Lloyd praised UNC as “a first-class organization” and said he appreciated “the way they've handled this.”

“Arizona basketball, you guys know what it means to me, and when I say it’s a special place, that always comes from the bottom of my heart,” Lloyd said.

“I didn’t want to make this entire Final Four about that because I’m just a small part of something much bigger. But on that same note, I’d also like to let you know that North Carolina is an amazing place. I mean, it’s a 1 of 1. It’s an honor to even be considered for that job.”

Lloyd's comments came a day before the Wildcats (36-2) were set to face Michigan in Saturday night's national semifinals in a matchup of the two 1-seeds in Indianapolis.

Wolverines coach Dusty May has also been mentioned as a possible UNC candidate, but said Friday he'll “never respond to any job speculation.”

“I think it’s well documented how happy I am at Michigan,” May said. “Obviously my private life, my personal life, my family, their happiness is very important. Yeah, I love it at Michigan, but you’ll never hear me comment on any other job unless Michigan lets me go and then I’ll comment on every job.”

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

The annual Marshmallow Drop, hosted by Wayne County Parks, took place two hours apart in Trenton, Michigan, and Westland, Michigan.

“It was great. The weather is beautiful, and I think this is a great thing to do with all the kids to start off Easter and the weekend, so yeah, I think it’s wonderful,” said Anna Grote (GROH’-tee), a Westland resident who attended with her boyfriend and his 10-year-old son.

Hundreds of children at each place cheered as the helicopter passed by on its way to the drop zone. Once there, a passenger unloaded the treats out of a sack and onto the grass below. The helicopter made three passes, dropping marshmallows for kids in different age groups.

David Alexander was in Westland with his two kids, 7 and 10. The Inkster resident encouraged them “to be the first ones at the line.”

“Ready, set, go. Be the first one, take off,” he said.

Officials stressed that, although tempting, the marshmallow must not be eaten, because they struck the ground. Instead, kids exchanged the fluffy treats for a prize.

Some kids snatched up way more than one, and their parents kindly dumped most back onto the turf, allowing other kids a shot at it.

“Everybody was nice. There wasn't any pushing, there wasn't any shoving, no fighting,” said Alexander, a first-time attendee.

Grote said her boyfriend's son “did not have any difficulty at all” in procuring a marshmallow.

“The thrill of the hunt, right,” she said, laughing.

From fake Internal Revenue Service (IRS) cellphone calls to highly convincing emails and text messages, scammers use A.I. technology to trick people into handing over sensitive personal and financial information.

According to BBB Senior Director of Communications Jason Meza, the scams have surged in recent years as A.I. tools become more accessible.

“The IRS has seen a record number of calls come in,” said Meza. “We’re seeing a lot more calls, emerging calls of A.I., impersonating the IRS, impersonating collectors, tax collectors, debt collectors trying to get you to pay up or face penalties or jail time.”

Meza said the calls are a significant red flag because the IRS does not typically contact taxpayers through phone calls, text messages or email.

“The IRS traditionally does not use these services. In fact, they will use snail mail. You will get that mail, that correspondence via the mail,” said Meza. “If it comes to you inbound, unsolicited, you didn’t reach out for information, treat everything with caution.”

Meza said some victims receive messages claiming they qualify for new tax credits or larger refunds.

“I think consumers have a real fear of missing out. The FOMO is real,” said Meza. “They think they’re missing a big deduction or tax credit on their behalf. They think that they might get more money back. So the temptation is out there for them to take the bait.”

Meza warns that clicking on the scam links can lead to providing personal information like Social Security numbers and birth dates, which can lead to identity theft.

If you believe you’ve been targeted by a scam, Meza recommends reporting it immediately to the BBB, the IRS, the Federal Trade Commission, or local law enforcement agencies.

Readers “will not find a printed Las Vegas Sun insert inside,” the Review-Journal wrote in an editorial, noting the Sun maintains a website, has a few hundred thousand followers across social media platforms, and is free to produce its own newspaper.

“We encourage them to do so. The Review-Journal competes with countless sources of news and entertainment, but we would welcome one more. We just don’t want to foot the bill. It is time the Sun stood up on its own two feet,” the editorial said, without specifying the cost.

It was the first day in 76 years the Sun hasn’t been printed, Sun attorney Leif Reid said in an email.

“This does irreparable harm to our community, as no one benefits when a local newspaper is prevented from being published,” Reid said.

The two publications will be in court Friday and the Sun hopes a judge will order printing to immediately resume. Employees are preparing print pages as always in hopes they will be able to publish Saturday, said Robert Cauthorn, chief operating officer.

The now-rare joint operating agreement required the Sun to be printed as a daily insert in the Review-Journal, the state’s largest newspaper. Both companies remained editorially independent with separate newsrooms and websites.

A lower court found the agreement was unenforceable because a 2005 update was never signed by the U.S. attorney general, and in February the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Sun's appeal.

The Review-Journal editorial called the Supreme Court decision a decisive victory, saying that halting publication of the Sun on Friday was “a result of 6½ years of litigation between the newspapers, precipitated by the Sun.”

Such agreements between rival publications have dwindled as part of a "long, slow goodbye of newspapers as we knew them,” said Ken Doctor, a news business analyst. The Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News ended a 40-year agreement last year. USA Today Co., which owns the Detroit Free Press, recently announced its plans to purchase the Detroit News.

The two papers are longtime rivals

In 1950, the Sun was founded in response to the Review-Journal’s refusal to negotiate with typesetters from the International Typographical Union. The union started its own newspaper and reached out to businessman Hank Greenspun for financial backing. The Greenspuns still own the paper.

The Review-Journal has been publishing since 1909, first as the Clark County Review. It is owned by the Adelson family, who are casino magnates and Republican megadonors.

The Review-Journal’s editorials lean more conservative, while the Sun’s lean liberal. The 1970 law signed by then-President Richard Nixon, called the Newspaper Preservation Act, was designed to save newspapers costs while maintaining competition and editorial variety.

The papers first entered into a joint operating agreement in 1989 when the Sun was struggling to stay afloat financially. The agreement made the Sun an afternoon newspaper during weekdays and a section within the Review-Journal on weekend mornings, while the Review-Journal handled production, distribution and advertising. The Review-Journal also collected all revenue and was required to pay the Sun monthly to cover the Sun’s news and editorial expenses.

In 2005 the agreement was amended to make the Sun an insert in the Review-Journal every morning.

Review-Journal owners sought to end the agreement in 2019, and in response the Sun’s owners filed a lawsuit alleging that ending the agreement violated antitrust laws.

Readers today have more options

The 1970 law allowing such agreements came at a time when news options weren't as prevalent and there was more concern over news monopolies.

Las Vegas — and Nevada as a whole — today have more strong, independent news organizations compared with other places, said Stephen Bates, a journalism and media professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The Sun also publishes online. But it has argued in court that losing its print product could make it harder to recruit staff, cause a loss in readers, and even force it to close.

Genelle Belmas, a journalism professor at the University of Kansas who specializes in media law, said it would be disappointing if the last joint operating agreement in the country ends. During visits to Vegas, she's enjoyed being able to pick up the Review-Journal and see the Sun folded inside, offering two differing points of view in one place. Online news outlets make it easier for consumers to stay in their echo chambers, she said.

“Every local news outlet we lose — and that includes big towns, small towns, whatever — is a loss of perspective and a loss of a potential alternative view,” Belmas said.

___

Associated Press journalist Kathleen Ronayne contributed from Sacramento, California.

General. By appearing in person at the designated location and time, an entry to the KSAT Medal Giveaway at Next Level Urgent Care- Olmos Park sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”), brought to you by KSAT12 (“Sponsor”) and Next Level Urgent Care (the “Co-Sponsor”), entrant acknowledges and agrees that entrant has read, understands, and agrees to be bound by these official Sweepstakes rules (“Official Rules”). By entering the Sweepstakes, entrants agree to waive any right to claim any ambiguity or error in these Official Rules, or the Sweepstakes itself, and agree to be bound by all decisions of the Sponsor, whose decisions are binding and final in all matters related to the Sweepstakes. Failure to comply with these Official Rules or any Sponsor instructions relating to the Sweepstakes’ Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Sweepstakes.

Eligibility. The Sweepstakes is open only to legal U.S. residents who are a minimum of 18 years of age or older at time of entry and reside in Sponsor’s Designated Market Area, as defined by Nielsen Media Research, Inc. (“DMA”). Interested entrants must appear at Co-Sponsor site within designated time to be eligible. Employees of Sponsor and Co-Sponsor and each of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising agencies, promotion agencies, prize suppliers, and any other vendors providing services in connection with this Sweepstakes and members of these employees’ immediate families (spouses, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings and their spouses) and those living in the same household with these employees, are not eligible to enter or win.

How To Enter. The Sweepstakes begins at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 9, 2026, and runs through the duration of availability on the same day. (the “Sweepstakes Period”). Sponsor’s time clock will be the official time clock of the Sweepstakes. To enter, you must appear at the designated Co-Sponsor site and be among the first two hundred entrants. Entrants must be the natural person assigned to any submitted email account by the provider responsible for the assigning email addresses for the domain associated with such email account. Entrant must also be an authorized account holder for any submitted telephone number. Limit one entry per person during the Sweepstakes Period. Any attempt by any entrant to obtain more than the stated number of entries using multiple identities, or any other methods will void such entries and that entrant may be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor.

Selection of Winners. The first two hundred potential winners will be selected by a KSAT representative according to time of arrival at Co-Sponsor site on Thursday, April 9, 2026.

Odds. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries.

Winner Notification and Verification. Potential winners will be awarded the KSAT Medal on Thursday, April 9, 2026, beginning at 9:00 a.m. subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. A POTENTIAL PRIZE WINNER IS NOT A WINNER UNTIL HIS OR HER ELIGIBILITY AND COMPLIANCE WITH THESE OFFICIAL RULES HAS BEEN VERIFIED BY THE SPONSOR. If a printing, programming, or other error leads to more prize claims than there are prizes provided for in the Official Rules, prize(s) will be awarded in a random drawing from among all eligible prize claims received at each prize tier.

Prize(s) One KSAT 2026 Fiesta Medal to the first two hundred entrants at Co-Sponsor site. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of prize: $10.00. ARV of all prizes: $2000.00 Unless otherwise stated, subject to winner verification and compliance with these Official Rules, all prizes will be awarded on site directly to winning entrant. Sponsor and Co-Sponsor are not responsible for loss, delay, or damage. There will be no substitution, transfer, or cash equivalent for prizes, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor, which may substitute prizes of comparable value. Limit one prize per person and per household. Payments of all federal, state, and local taxes related to the award of the prize are solely the responsibility of the winner. Prizes may not be sold, bartered, or auctioned. Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied. All properly claimed prizes will be awarded provided a sufficient number of eligible entries are received, but in no event will Sponsor award more prizes than are provided for in the Official Rules. Unclaimed prizes will not be awarded.

Disclaimer and Representations. Each winner assumes all liability for any injuries or damages caused or claimed to be caused by winner’s participation in the Sweepstakes and/or the acceptance and/or use of any prize, and releases the Sponsor and Co-Sponsor and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and all of their officers, directors, agents, and employees (collectively, “Releasees”), from any such liability. Releasees are not responsible for: the failure of any entry to be received by the Sponsor because of electronic device errors or failures of any kind, internet disruption, telecommunications, network, electronic, telephone or mobile service outages, delays, busy signals, or any equipment malfunctions or other technical difficulties that may prevent the Sponsor from receiving any entry submission; entries that are illegible, unintelligible, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, garbled, delayed by computer transmissions, lost, late or damaged; any injury or damage to the entrant’s or any other person’s electronic device related to or resulting from participation or accessing or downloading any materials related to the Sweepstakes; or any human errors, any inaccurate transcription of entry information, errors in any promotional or marketing materials or errors in these Official Rules. If you choose to enter using your mobile phone, standard message and data rates may apply.

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual from participation in the Sweepstakes if Sponsor concludes, in its sole discretion, that such person: (a) has attempted to tamper with the entry process or other operation of the Sweepstakes; (b) has failed to comply with or has attempted to circumvent these Official Rules; (c) has committed fraud or attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes; or (d) has acted toward Sponsor, any other entity affiliated with the Sweepstakes, or any other entrant in an unfair, inequitable, threatening, disrupting, or harassing manner. If a dispute arises regarding compliance with these Official Rules, Sponsor may consider, in its sole discretion, data reasonably available to Sponsor through information technology systems in Sponsor’s control, but Sponsor will not be obligated to consider any data or other information collected from any other source. Any failure by Sponsor to enforce any of these Official Rules will not constitute a waiver of such Official Rules. If there is a conflict between any term of these Official Rules and any marketing or entry materials used in connection with the Sweepstakes, the terms of these Official Rules will govern.

Sponsor also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify these Official Rules for clarification purposes without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Sweepstakes. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the Sweepstakes if an insufficient number of entries are received or if the Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned, including, without limitation, as a result of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, or technical failures of any sort, or for any reason beyond Sponsor’s control. If due to circumstances beyond the control of the Sponsor, any event related to the Sweepstakes or prize is delayed, rescheduled, postponed, cancelled or has a change of venue, the Sponsor reserves the right, but is not obligated, to cancel or modify the Sweepstakes. Notice of cancellation or modification of the Sweepstakes will be published on Sponsor’s website. If cancellation occurs prior to Sponsor’s receipt of any entries, Sponsor will not be obligated to award prize(s). If cancellation occurs after Sponsor’s receipt of entries, winner(s) will be selected by random drawing from among all eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to cancellation, provided Sponsor is able to do so.

Entry constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use winner’s name, home city and state, likeness and/or voice for commercial purposes including advertising, promotion and publicity without additional compensation. The winner’s name and city of residence may be posted online and disclosed to those who make a timely request for a winners list.

By accessing these Official Rules or entering the Sweepstakes on ksat.com , you are deemed to agree to be bound by ksat.com’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

In Case of Dispute. EXCEPT WHERE PROHIBITED, ENTRANTS AGREE THAT ALL DISPUTES, CLAIMS AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THIS PROMOTION, OR PRIZE AWARDED, WILL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION, AND ALL CLAIMS, JUDGMENTS, AND AWARDS WILL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS INCURRED BY ENTRANT WITH REGARD TO THIS PROMOTION, BUT IN NO EVENT SHALL DAMAGES INCLUDE ATTORNEYS’ FEES, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrants and Sponsor(s) in connection with the Sweepstakes will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of state where the Sponsor is located as set forth below (“State”), without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction. The state and federal courts located in the State will be the exclusive forum for any dispute relating to these Official Rules and/or this Sweepstakes. All entrants and winner(s) agree, by their participation in the Sweepstakes, to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the State and waive the right to sweepstakes jurisdiction.

Severability: If any provision(s) of these Official Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect.

Sponsor/Administrator: KSAT12 - 1408 N. St. Mary’s Street, San Antonio, TX 78215

Co-Sponsor: Next Level Urgent Care - Olmos Park - 223 E. Hildebrand, San Antonio, TX 78212

• 📍 Location: Next Level Urgent Care - Olmos Park
• 📅 Date: April 9th
• ⏱️ Line starts: 8:00 a.m.
• 🎁 Medal giveaway starts: 9:00 a.m.
• 🎟️ Cost: FREE to the first 200 people in line

Arrive early, grab your place in line, and get ready to shout “¡Viva Fiesta!” as you snag this year’s KSAT medal. Once they’re gone, they’re gone - so dust off your flower crowns, throw on your brightest Fiesta gear, and meet the GMSA team at Next Level Urgent Care - Olmos Park for Fiesta vibes and KSAT fun!

You can read the Official Rules & Regulations here.

The Republican-supermajority Legislature approved the Democratic-sponsored change, which now lets people prove they have complied for the last year with child support orders, such as payment plans. The legislation also unties the payment of all court costs from voting rights restoration.

Advocates for years have sought various changes to Tennessee’s voting rights restoration system at the statehouse and in court. They say loosening these two rules marks the biggest rollback of restrictions to voting rights restoration in decades.

“This is huge and this is history,” said Keeda Haynes, senior attorney for the advocacy group Free Hearts led by formerly incarcerated women like her.

Most Republicans voted for it and Democrats supported it unanimously. The law took effect immediately upon Republican Gov. Bill Lee's signature last week.

“I think people are at a point where they want to just remove the barriers out of the way and allow people to be fully functional members of society,” said Democratic House Minority Leader Karen Camper, a bill sponsor.

Easing up after years

In 2023 and early 2024, the state decided that the system did require going to court or showing proof of a pardon, not just a paperwork process, and that gun rights were required to restore the right to vote. Election officials said a court ruling made the changes necessary, though voting rights advocates said officials misinterpreted the order.

Last year, lawmakers untangled voting and gun rights. But voting rights advocates opposed some of the bill's other provisions, such as keeping the process in the courts, where costs can rack up if someone isn't ruled indigent.

A Republican split

Easing up on the financial requirements uncommonly split legislative Republicans. For instance, Senate Speaker Randy McNally voted against it, while House Speaker Cameron Sexton supported it, noting that people aren't getting forgiveness on making their payments.

“They need to continue paying that, and as long as they do, then there’s a possibility (to restore their voting rights)," Sexton said. "I really think that’s harder for people to argue against than maybe what something else was.”

Republican Rep. Johnny Garrett, who voted no, said in committee his vote would hinge on whether “there still can be an (child support) arrearage owed beyond that 12 months.”

For some, backed-up child support payments could reach hundreds or thousands of dollars, and court costs could be hundreds or thousands more, said Gicola Lane, Campaign Legal Center's Restore Your Vote community partnership senior manager.

Advocates credited their narrowed focus, omitting goals such as automatic restoration of rights, no longer tying restitution payments to voting rights, or offering a path for certain people to restore their right who are permanently disenfranchised, including those convicted of voter fraud or most murder charges.

The bill passed the Senate last year and the House this year.

Two decades under the child support rule

Lawmakers gave the child support requirement final passage in 2006 within an overhaul bill that also created a voting rights restoration process outside of court. Critics said the child support rule penalized impoverished parents.

Democrats were then narrowly hanging onto legislative leadership in both chambers. Republicans held a slim Senate majority but GOP defectors voted for a Democratic speaker.

Last year marked the dismissal of a nearly five-year-old federal lawsuit over Tennessee’s voting-rights restoration system. Free Hearts and the Campaign Legal Center represented plaintiffs in the long-delayed case, which saw some election policy changes along the way.

Roughly 184,000 people have completed supervision for felonies and their offenses don't preclude them from restoring their voting rights, according to a plaintiffs expert’s 2023 estimate in the lawsuit. About one in 10 were estimated to have outstanding child support payments, and more than six in 10 owed court courts, restitution or both, the expert said.

Other states' systems

Both Republican and Democratic-led states have eased the voting rights restoration process in recent years. Some states have added complexities.

In Florida, after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 restoring the right to vote for people with felony convictions, the Republican-controlled Legislature watered that down by requiring payment of fines, fees and court costs.

Voting rights are automatically restored upon release in nearly half of states. In 15 others, it occurs after parole, probation or a similar period and sometimes requires paying outstanding court costs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Maine and Vermont, people with felonies keep their voting rights in prison, the NCSL says.

Ten other states including Tennessee require additional government action. Virginia ’s governor must intervene to restore voting rights of people convicted of felonies. In some states, including Tennessee, certain conviction types render someone ineligible.

However, Virginia lawmakers this year have passed a proposed state constitutional amendment to ask voters whether they want automatic voting rights restoration after someone is released from prison. Kentucky lawmakers have proposed a similar change for voters' consideration that would automatically restore voting rights after certain completed sentences, including probation.

• 📍 Location: Next Level Urgent Care - Alamo Heights
• 📅 Date: April 8th
• ⏱️ Line starts: 8:00 a.m.
• 🎁 Medal giveaway starts: 9:00 a.m.
• 🎟️ Cost: FREE to the first 200 people in line

Arrive early, grab your place in line, and get ready to shout “¡Viva Fiesta!” as you snag this year’s KSAT medal. Once they’re gone, they’re gone - so dust off your flower crowns, throw on your brightest Fiesta gear, and meet the GMSA team at Next Level Urgent Care - Alamo Heights for Fiesta vibes and KSAT fun!

You can read the Official Rules & Regulations here.

Raw Farm of Fresno, California, said Thursday it is voluntarily recalling more than a half-dozen varieties of its cheddar cheese made from raw milk. The recalled batches carry expiration dates spanning from May 2026 to September 2026.

Interest in and sales of raw milk have been rising in recent years, fueled by social media and growing support from the Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement. Raw milk has not been pasteurized, which kills germs like E. coli, salmonella, listeria and campylobacter.

The Food and Drug Administration began investigating cases of E. coli food poisoning among people who had reportedly consumed the company's products last month and previously requested a recall.

In an update last week, the FDA said it was conducting an inspection of the company's facilities but had not found positive testing for E. coli bacteria among the company's products.

Raw Farm reiterated that point in its announcement Thursday and added that it was conducting its recall “under protest” and in order to chart “a path forward.”

“This voluntary recall is limited to Raw Farm-brand cheddar cheese, and no other products are being voluntarily recalled,” the company said.

The FDA has the authority to order food companies to recall their products when there is a reasonable risk of serious injury or death, but the agency must first give the company the opportunity to voluntarily comply.

The FDA said last week that nine people, including children, have been sickened in the expanding outbreak.

Of eight people interviewed by health officials, seven reported consuming Raw Farm-brand products, according to the FDA. Two people in 2025 reported drinking Raw Farm milk and five people in 2026 said they ate or were served Raw Farm raw cheddar cheese.

Genetic sequencing of E. coli strains from sick people show that they are all closely related, indicating people in the outbreak “share a common source of infection,” the FDA said.

The federal government does not allow the sale of unpasteurized milk across state lines for human consumption. States have widely varying regulations regarding raw milk, with some allowing retail sales in stores and others allowing sale only at farms. Some states allow so-called cowshares, where people pay for milk from designated animals, and some allow consumption only by farm owners, employees or “non-paying guests.”

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

General. By appearing in person at the designated location and time, an entry to the KSAT Medal Giveaway at Next Level Urgent Care- Alamo Heights sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”), brought to you by KSAT12 (“Sponsor”) and Next Level Urgent Care (the “Co-Sponsor”), entrant acknowledges and agrees that entrant has read, understands, and agrees to be bound by these official Sweepstakes rules (“Official Rules”). By entering the Sweepstakes, entrants agree to waive any right to claim any ambiguity or error in these Official Rules, or the Sweepstakes itself, and agree to be bound by all decisions of the Sponsor, whose decisions are binding and final in all matters related to the Sweepstakes. Failure to comply with these Official Rules or any Sponsor instructions relating to the Sweepstakes’ Official Rules may result in disqualification from the Sweepstakes.

Eligibility. The Sweepstakes is open only to legal U.S. residents who are a minimum of 18 years of age or older at time of entry and reside in Sponsor’s Designated Market Area, as defined by Nielsen Media Research, Inc. (“DMA”). Interested entrants must appear at Co-Sponsor site within designated time to be eligible. Employees of Sponsor and Co-Sponsor and each of their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising agencies, promotion agencies, prize suppliers, and any other vendors providing services in connection with this Sweepstakes and members of these employees’ immediate families (spouses, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings and their spouses) and those living in the same household with these employees, are not eligible to enter or win.

How To Enter. The Sweepstakes begins at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, and runs through the duration of availability on the same day. (the “Sweepstakes Period”). Sponsor’s time clock will be the official time clock of the Sweepstakes. To enter, you must appear at the designated Co-Sponsor site and be among the first two hundred entrants. Entrants must be the natural person assigned to any submitted email account by the provider responsible for the assigning email addresses for the domain associated with such email account. Entrant must also be an authorized account holder for any submitted telephone number. Limit one entry per person during the Sweepstakes Period. Any attempt by any entrant to obtain more than the stated number of entries using multiple identities, or any other methods will void such entries and that entrant may be disqualified if discovered by Sponsor.

Selection of Winners. The first two hundred potential winners will be selected by a KSAT representative according to time of arrival at Co-Sponsor site on Wednesday, April 8, 2026.

Odds. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries.

Winner Notification and Verification. Potential winners will be awarded the KSAT Medal on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, beginning at 9:00 a.m. subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. A POTENTIAL PRIZE WINNER IS NOT A WINNER UNTIL HIS OR HER ELIGIBILITY AND COMPLIANCE WITH THESE OFFICIAL RULES HAS BEEN VERIFIED BY THE SPONSOR. If a printing, programming, or other error leads to more prize claims than there are prizes provided for in the Official Rules, prize(s) will be awarded in a random drawing from among all eligible prize claims received at each prize tier.

Prize(s) One KSAT 2026 Fiesta Medal to the first two hundred entrants at Co-Sponsor site. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of prize: $10.00. ARV of all prizes: $2000.00 Unless otherwise stated, subject to winner verification and compliance with these Official Rules, all prizes will be awarded on site directly to winning entrant. Sponsor and Co-Sponsor are not responsible for loss, delay, or damage. There will be no substitution, transfer, or cash equivalent for prizes, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor, which may substitute prizes of comparable value. Limit one prize per person and per household. Payments of all federal, state, and local taxes related to the award of the prize are solely the responsibility of the winner. Prizes may not be sold, bartered, or auctioned. Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied. All properly claimed prizes will be awarded provided a sufficient number of eligible entries are received, but in no event will Sponsor award more prizes than are provided for in the Official Rules. Unclaimed prizes will not be awarded.

Disclaimer and Representations. Each winner assumes all liability for any injuries or damages caused or claimed to be caused by winner’s participation in the Sweepstakes and/or the acceptance and/or use of any prize, and releases the Sponsor and Co-Sponsor and their respective parent companies, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and all of their officers, directors, agents, and employees (collectively, “Releasees”), from any such liability. Releasees are not responsible for: the failure of any entry to be received by the Sponsor because of electronic device errors or failures of any kind, internet disruption, telecommunications, network, electronic, telephone or mobile service outages, delays, busy signals, or any equipment malfunctions or other technical difficulties that may prevent the Sponsor from receiving any entry submission; entries that are illegible, unintelligible, incomplete, stolen, misdirected, garbled, delayed by computer transmissions, lost, late or damaged; any injury or damage to the entrant’s or any other person’s electronic device related to or resulting from participation or accessing or downloading any materials related to the Sweepstakes; or any human errors, any inaccurate transcription of entry information, errors in any promotional or marketing materials or errors in these Official Rules. If you choose to enter using your mobile phone, standard message and data rates may apply.

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any individual from participation in the Sweepstakes if Sponsor concludes, in its sole discretion, that such person: (a) has attempted to tamper with the entry process or other operation of the Sweepstakes; (b) has failed to comply with or has attempted to circumvent these Official Rules; (c) has committed fraud or attempted to undermine the legitimate operation of the Sweepstakes; or (d) has acted toward Sponsor, any other entity affiliated with the Sweepstakes, or any other entrant in an unfair, inequitable, threatening, disrupting, or harassing manner. If a dispute arises regarding compliance with these Official Rules, Sponsor may consider, in its sole discretion, data reasonably available to Sponsor through information technology systems in Sponsor’s control, but Sponsor will not be obligated to consider any data or other information collected from any other source. Any failure by Sponsor to enforce any of these Official Rules will not constitute a waiver of such Official Rules. If there is a conflict between any term of these Official Rules and any marketing or entry materials used in connection with the Sweepstakes, the terms of these Official Rules will govern.

Sponsor also reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify these Official Rules for clarification purposes without materially affecting the terms and conditions of the Sweepstakes. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the Sweepstakes if an insufficient number of entries are received or if the Sweepstakes is not capable of running as planned, including, without limitation, as a result of infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, or technical failures of any sort, or for any reason beyond Sponsor’s control. If due to circumstances beyond the control of the Sponsor, any event related to the Sweepstakes or prize is delayed, rescheduled, postponed, cancelled or has a change of venue, the Sponsor reserves the right, but is not obligated, to cancel or modify the Sweepstakes. Notice of cancellation or modification of the Sweepstakes will be published on Sponsor’s website. If cancellation occurs prior to Sponsor’s receipt of any entries, Sponsor will not be obligated to award prize(s). If cancellation occurs after Sponsor’s receipt of entries, winner(s) will be selected by random drawing from among all eligible, non-suspect entries received prior to cancellation, provided Sponsor is able to do so.

Entry constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use winner’s name, home city and state, likeness and/or voice for commercial purposes including advertising, promotion and publicity without additional compensation. The winner’s name and city of residence may be posted online and disclosed to those who make a timely request for a winners list.

By accessing these Official Rules or entering the Sweepstakes on ksat.com , you are deemed to agree to be bound by ksat.com’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

In Case of Dispute. EXCEPT WHERE PROHIBITED, ENTRANTS AGREE THAT ALL DISPUTES, CLAIMS AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR CONNECTED WITH THIS PROMOTION, OR PRIZE AWARDED, WILL BE RESOLVED INDIVIDUALLY WITHOUT RESORT TO ANY FORM OF CLASS ACTION, AND ALL CLAIMS, JUDGMENTS, AND AWARDS WILL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS INCURRED BY ENTRANT WITH REGARD TO THIS PROMOTION, BUT IN NO EVENT SHALL DAMAGES INCLUDE ATTORNEYS’ FEES, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of entrants and Sponsor(s) in connection with the Sweepstakes will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of state where the Sponsor is located as set forth below (“State”), without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction. The state and federal courts located in the State will be the exclusive forum for any dispute relating to these Official Rules and/or this Sweepstakes. All entrants and winner(s) agree, by their participation in the Sweepstakes, to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the State and waive the right to sweepstakes jurisdiction.

Severability: If any provision(s) of these Official Rules are held to be invalid or unenforceable, all remaining provisions hereof will remain in full force and effect.

Sponsor/Administrator: KSAT12 - 1408 N. St. Mary’s Street, San Antonio, TX 78215

Co-Sponsor: Next Level Urgent Care - Alamo Heights - 7407 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78209

Pittsburgh selected the 19-year-old shortstop's contract from Triple-A Indianapolis before its home opener against the Baltimore Orioles.

The club tipped its hand on Thursday, featuring Griffin on various social media platforms, including an Instagram post with pictures of Griffin at PNC Park and the caption “KG has arrived in Pittsburgh.”

Pittsburgh created room for Griffin on the active roster early Thursday evening, optioning outfielder Billy Cook to Indianapolis, then opened a spot on the 40-man roster by designating infielder Enmanuel Valdez for assignment on Friday.

Griffin is expected to address reporters on Friday morning at the ballpark where the club hopes he can be a lineup fixture for years to come and the team's most consequential position player since former centerfielder Andrew McCutchen, who won the 2013 NL MVP and helped guide Pittsburgh to three straight playoff berths from 2013-15.

Soto also was 19 when he made his major league debut for the Nationals in 2018.

The question when the season started last week wasn't if Griffin would make his big-league debut this year, but when. The answer turned out to be “not very long” after Griffin hit .438 (7 for 16) with three doubles, an RBI and three stolen bases at Triple-A Indianapolis.

The 6-foot-3 Griffin, taken with the ninth overall pick in the 2024 amateur draft, has rocketed through Pittsburgh's farm system. He batted .333 with 21 home runs, 94 RBIs and 65 stolen bases in 122 games at Class A and Double-A in 2025.

Griffin earned an invitation to Pittsburgh's big-league camp and was among the last cuts before the opening day roster was set. While he showcased his power by smashing three home runs during Grapefruit League play — the most by a teenager in spring training in at least two decades — he also struck out more than a dozen times.

The Pirates broke camp with Jared Triolo at shortstop and Nick Gonzales at third. The addition of Griffin likely means Triolo — a Gold Glove winner as a utility player — will head to third.

While Pittsburgh has been in talks with Griffin about a lengthy contract, the Pirates would benefit if any agreement is not finalized until after he plays. The team would remain eligible to receive an extra draft pick through the Prospect Promotion Incentive if it waits until after Griffin's debut to sign him to a multi-year contract.

To receive the pick — which would come at the end of the first round — Griffin would need to accrue one year of service time as a rookie and either win the NL Rookie of the Year or be a finalist for NL MVP.

The Pirates have invested heavily in the amateur draft since general manager Ben Cherington joined the club in late 2019. Pittsburgh already has the highest signing bonus pool ($19.13 million) in the majors available for the 2026 draft.

Griffin will be joining a team off to a 3-3 start after taking two of three in Cincinnati. The Pirates are anchored by one of the best young starting rotations in the majors, led by reigning Cy Young winner Paul Skenes, who picked up his first victory of the season on Wednesday.

Pittsburgh upgraded its woeful offense in the offseason, trading for All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe and signing first baseman/outfielder Ryan O'Hearn and designated hitter Marcell Ozuna in free agency. Lowe already has three homers this season for the Pirates, whose 10 home runs through six games are tied with the Los Angeles Angels for most in the majors. Pittsburgh finished dead last in homers by a wide margin last season.

___

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

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

TASTY MODERN ASIAN KITCHEN

9502 I-10, San Antonio, TX 78230

Tasty Modern Asian Kitchen is bringing authentic Cantonese cuisine to San Antonio’s Northwest side with a modern and inviting dining experience. Located along Interstate 10, the restaurant is known for its daily dim sum service, fresh barbecue meats and live seafood, offering guests a taste of traditional flavors in a clean, upscale setting.

Popular menu items include Cantonese style roast duck, Shanghai soup dumplings and fried shrimp and pork puffs, along with a wide selection of noodle and rice dishes. With friendly service and a comfortable atmosphere, the restaurant has quickly gained attention for delivering high quality dim sum and classic dishes to the local dining scene.

VALERO TEXAS OPEN

23808 Resort Parkway, San Antonio, Texas 78261

TPC San Antonio is once again hosting the Valero Texas Open, one of the longest running events on the PGA Tour. Played on the Oaks Course, the tournament draws top golfers from around the world to a challenging layout known for its narrow fairways, elevated greens, and demanding conditions.

Beyond the action on the course, the event also features a variety of food and beverage options for fans. The Fever-Tree Cocktail Bar offers specialty drinks, including festive vodka pink lemonade with peeps for this year’s Easter Sunday. Plus, attendees can explore the concession stands offering items like crispy chicken sandwiches with boom boom sauce, loaded brisket fries, and smashed burger tacos, showcasing the elevated game day experience at the tournament.

Follow Texas Eats and David Elder on Facebook and Instagram for more food info, pictures, videos and giveaways.

• Facebook: @TexasEatsTV
• Instagram: @texaseatstv
• TikTok: @ElderEats
• Twitter: @TexasEatsTV

“I cannot, by contract, tell you when. I cannot tell you who. But I can tell you, direct to the camera, WKRP, after 48 years, is coming to Cincinnati,” D.P. McIntire, who runs the media nonprofit that is auctioning the famous call letters, told The Associated Press. “Book it! It’s done!”

The call sign was made famous by “WKRP in Cincinnati,” a CBS television sitcom that ran from 1978 to 1982. It made stars of actors like Loni Anderson and Richard Sanders, whose bumbling newsman Les Nessman reported on a Thanksgiving promotion gone bad when live but flightless turkeys were dropped from a helicopter.

McIntire remembers watching the show’s first episode — featuring disc jockeys Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) and Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid) — in the living room with his parents and older sister.

“And at the end of the 30-minute episode,” he said, “I got up and I proclaimed, `I’m going to be in radio. And if I ever have the opportunity, I’m going to run a station called WKRP.’”

McIntire said he got his first on-air job at 13 as a news anchor at WNQQ “Wink FM” in Blairsville, Pennsylvania.

Fast forward to 2014, when his North Carolina-based nonprofit acquired the call sign from the Federal Communications Commission. Stations in Dallas, Georgia, and Alexandria, Tennessee, previously bore the letters.

McIntire laughs as he recalls his chat with a woman in the agency’s audio division.

He had two sets of call letters in mind. She told him he needed a third.

“Being the jokester that I am, I said, `Well, if you need three, and if it’s available, we’ll take WKRP,’” he said. “And 90 seconds later, she came back and she said, `Mr. McIntire. Congratulations. You’re the general manager of WKRP in Raleigh, North Carolina.’”

WKRP-LP — 101.9 on the FM dial — went live Nov. 30, 2015. The LP stands for “low power,” a class of station created to serve more local audiences that didn’t want mass-market content.

“Our format is what radio used to be 35 years ago in small-town America,” he said. "There is Greats of the ‘80s, Sounds of the ’70s, '90s Rewind," as well as local news and “specialty programming.”

LPFM is restricted to nonprofit organizations like his Oak City Media, and it’s definitely local.

“Your broadcast capacity is limited to 100 watts,” McIntire said. “So, your average range is between, depending on your terrain and circumstances, 4 and 12 miles (6 and 19 kilometers) in any direction. Enough to cover a small town.”

And, by necessity, it’s a low-budget affair.

The transmitter is in a corner of McIntire’s garage, between a recycling bin and the cleaning supplies. The broadcast antenna sits atop a 25-foot (7.62-meter) metal flagpole in the backyard. The studio — microphones and a mixing board hooked up to a computer — is on the first floor of McIntire’s home.

Like the WKRP of television, McIntire and his partners set out to be “irreverent.” One of their offerings is a two-hour show called “Weird Al and Friends,” focusing on the satirical works of Weird Al Yankovic.

They even had an annual Thanksgiving turkey giveaway. But don’t call the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — they hand out gift certificates to a local grocery store.

“We don’t toss them out of helicopters,” he said with a laugh.

This news comes hot on the heels of the decision to shutter CBS News Radio after nearly a century in operation. After more than a decade on the air, the 56-year-old McIntire decided it was time to pass the reins.

“We’re in a position where the older members like me who started the station are turning the leadership over to younger members,” he said. “They’re not interested in radio.”

They put out a call for bids to use the call letters on FM and AM radio, as well as television and digital television.

They intend to use the proceeds for a new nonprofit venture called Independent Broadcast Consultants. He said IBC will be “geared specifically toward helping these new broadcasters get up and running, get the consulting that they need in order to be, hopefully, more successful than we have been.”

Oak City Media was all set to hand off the television-related suffixes — WKRP-TV and WKRP-DT — when another group defaulted on the agreement, McIntire said. But he said the Cincinnati deal is in the bag, he just can’t legally discuss it.

“It will be radio,” he said. “But that’s all I can tell you at this time.”

Robert Thompson, who uses a season 2 episode of “WKRP” in his TV history class at Syracuse University, said it’s telling that people see real value in a fictional station whose call letters invoke the word “crap.”

“The value comes from the love of the characters for each other,” he said. “And now by buying this thing, the value comes from our love of the characters themselves.”

Whatever they do with the call sign, McIntire hopes they will be true to the show that inspired it.

“It has a special place in the hearts of an awful lot of people,” he said. “And we have been very, very, very proud to have been a steward of that legacy.”

___

This story has been updated to correct that the studio is on the first floor of the home, not the basement.

A New England furniture chain is offering to reimburse customers for products purchased earlier this year if both the UConn men’s and women’s basketball teams reach the championship games.

That means some 20,000 Jordan’s Furniture customers could be fully repaid for $50 million worth of sales if the two teams win their Final Four games on Friday and Saturday.

For Brian Mazzilli of Plymouth, Massachusetts, that could mean a $3,800 refund for a living room sofa and coffee table. Not previously a college sports fan, he has declared himself an enthusiastic new follower of the Huskies.

“We thought the chances were pretty slim, but now we're pretty excited," Mazzilli said in the aftermath of the UConn men's stunning buzzer-beater win over Duke in last weekend's Elite Eight. “It just didn’t seem that both teams from one school making it to the finals — that seems kind of a long shot.”

When UConn's Braylon Mullins hit the winning, 35-foot shot to beat Duke, Mazzilli said he was jumping up and down like he did when the Patriots' Adam Vinatieri kicked the winning, last-second field goal against the Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl to give New England its first NFL title.

Jordan's isn't on the hook for the $50 million itself. It got insurance for the promotion like it did in 2007 when it offered a similar deal if the Boston Red Sox won the World Series — which they did. In that deal, more than 24,000 customers were reimbursed about $35 million.

“We want this to happen,” Eliot Tatelman, the retired president of Jordan’s who is still the face of the Massachusetts-based retailer in TV ads, said in a phone interview Thursday. “Whether they win or lose, I got to pay for the insurance."

Tatelman said he came up with the UConn promotion idea while thinking of ways to increase the company's stature in Connecticut, where other furniture businesses have been around longer.

The promotion was offered to customers who bought furniture, mattresses and accessories at Jordan's from Jan. 20 to Feb. 16 of this year, with some exceptions. The company will send out refund checks if both UConn teams make it to the championship games.

Jordan's, incorporated in 1928 in Waltham, Massachusetts, by Tatelman's grandfather, has eight retail locations in New England. The company was sold to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in 1999. It's known for entertainment attractions at its stores — including IMAX 3D movie theaters, a rope course and, in Reading, Massachusetts, depictions of Boston landmarks made of millions of jelly beans.

The undefeated, No. 1-seeded UConn women take on South Carolina in the Final Four on Friday night, while the men's team — a No. 2 seed — plays Illinois on Saturday.

Ukrainian officials claim the Kremlin is changing its tactics to increase civilian suffering, shifting to daytime barrages and preparing to target more key infrastructure.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signaled Kyiv's openness to a potential Easter truce. The holiday is celebrated on April 12 in Ukraine and Russia.

Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine is preparing for a shift in Russian aerial tactics, with intelligence indicating that future attacks will move beyond energy infrastructure.

Russia's Defense Ministry said 192 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight across Russia and occupied Crimea.

‘I have no words’

“The Kyiv region is once again under a massive Russian missile and drone attack,” said Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the regional military administration, in a Telegram post on Friday.

Kalashnyk said one person died and at least eight others were wounded in strikes on three of Kyiv’s satellite towns — Bucha, Fastiv and Obukhiv. Earlier in the week, residents of Bucha marked the fourth anniversary of atrocities committed in the town by Russia's invading forces.

Obukhiv resident Lesia Podoriako, 37, told The Associated Press she was at work with her child when she learned her building had been struck.

“I found out about it through Telegram channels. Then all my friends and acquaintances started calling me, telling me that our building was attacked. I have no words. The main thing is that everyone is alive and healthy,” she said.

Another person was killed in Ukraine's northern Sumy region after a Russian guided aerial bomb struck an apartment block, local Gov. Oleh Hryhorov reported. Authorities in the Kherson, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions also reported casualties from Friday's attacks.

Ukrainian officials highlighted what they said were increased daytime attacks by Russia, which they said could lead to more civilian deaths. For months, Moscow pummeled Ukraine with nighttime missile and drone strikes that could involve hundreds of drones at a time.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, said in a post on X that “almost half a thousand drones and cruise missiles” attacked Ukraine overnight.

“This is how Moscow responds to Ukraine’s Easter ceasefire proposals — with brutal attacks,” Sybiha said.

Kyiv floats an Easter ceasefire

Zelenskyy on Thursday signaled Kyiv's continued openness to a potential truce on Easter, which falls next week according to the Julian calendar followed by Orthodox churches in Ukraine and Russia.

Zelenskyy told reporters that the proposal had been communicated to Moscow through U.S. channels. He added that the Kremlin's response remains unclear.

Zelenskyy has previously offered a ceasefire for the Easter period — but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week that Moscow wants a lasting peace settlement, not a temporary truce.

President Vladimir Putin unilaterally declared a 30-hour ceasefire last Easter, but each side accused the other of breaking it.

A change in Russian tactics?

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said Russia was increasingly striking the country during the day, an apparent departure from months of nighttime barrages.

Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation within Ukraine's defense ministry, said that the daytime strikes aimed to “increase civilian casualties.”

“That is why the combined attack is carried out on a working day, using a large number of drones and missiles,” Kovalenko wrote on Friday in a Telegram post.

Zelenskyy told reporters on Thursday that Ukraine is preparing for Russian aerial attacks that could target water systems, logistics and other critical networks. After months of sustained strikes on power facilities, Kyiv now expects increased pressure elsewhere.

“According to intelligence documents we have received, the Russians will target logistics – railways and other infrastructure. They will also target the water supply,” Zelenskyy said at a press briefing.

Around midday on Friday, Russian forces dropped five aerial bombs on the city of Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine. At least two people were killed and three were injured, according to a Telegram update by Vadym Filashkin, who heads the regional military administration.

Elsewhere in Ukraine on Friday, a Russian drone strike damaged a bus in the southern city of Kherson, leaving the driver seriously wounded and at least eight passengers hurt, according to regional officials.

Separately, authorities reported sustained attacks on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, beginning on Thursday and continuing into early Friday. Drone strikes near the city center caused several injuries. Two people later died in hospital, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote in separate Telegram updates.

Bohdan Hladykh, head of Kharkiv’s Department of Emergency Situations, said Russia struck the city at least 20 times during the day on Thursday with explosive drones.

Zelenskyy says battlefield situation has stabilized

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy told reporters that the battlefield situation has stabilized, with recent intelligence assessments pointing to the most favorable conditions for Kyiv in months. While fighting remains intense across eastern sectors, Ukrainian forces have disrupted Russian offensives in recent weeks and regained limited ground.

“On Wednesday I received a report from our intelligence and an analysis from British intelligence. I received MI6’s assessment of the situation at the front: right now, it is the best situation for Ukraine in the past 10 months,” the Ukrainian leader said at a press briefing Thursday.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine has invited U.S. negotiators to visit Kyiv, as part of ongoing discussions on security guarantees and a broader framework for ending the war. Recent talks have involved senior American officials as well as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, with Ukraine seeking clearer commitments on long-term defense support and responses to any future Russian aggression.

Ukrainian drones target Russia

Two people were hospitalized on Friday following a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's Leningrad region, over 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) from the border, said regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko reported, who added that the drones also set fire to an “unoccupied” building within the Morozov industrial zone.

The settlement of Morozov houses a state-owned plant that makes explosives and components for ammunition, including solid fuel used in Topol-M missile systems. The plant was put under U.S., EU and other Western sanctions following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Twelve people, including at least three Russian soldiers, were injured in a Ukrainian drone strike late Thursday on Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, local Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.

Four drones were downed during the night on the approach to Moscow, mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported Friday. He did not reference any casualties or damage.

___

Associated Press journalists Vasilisa Stepanenko in Obukhiv and Derek Gatopoulos in Kyiv contributed.

Zendaya, surprising precisely nobody on the planet, showed up in dazzling blue at Thursday’s New York premiere of “The Drama,” after teasing the bridal theme for weeks by wearing something old, then something new, then something borrowed.

Her strapless Schiaparelli Haute Couture ball gown, accompanied by sapphire earrings, completed the sartorial series just in time for the opening of her movie — a film that has attracted considerable controversy and mixed reviews. Zendaya and Robert Pattinson play a couple whose wedding plans go seriously awry following a dark revelation.

The high-fashion appearances have also echoed the bridal theme of Zendaya’s own life, with unconfirmed speculation flying — fed in part by rings she’s been wearing — that she’s already married to partner Tom Holland.

The actor and her stylist, Law Roach, saved the most spectacular outfit for last. Schiaparelli posted on its own Instagram ​​that the gown, which took some 8,000 hours of work, was made of blue and black raw silk “feathers” in satin stitch embroidery, and contained 27 shades of blue.

“Something old” came in Los Angeles on March 17, where Zendaya wore the same white, off-the-shoulder Vivienne Westwood Bridal gown that she’d worn to the 2015 Oscars.

She transitioned to “something new” at the March 24 Paris premiere — a white custom Louis Vuitton gown with a huge black bow and train.

“Something borrowed” came two days later in Rome, a black Armani Privé dress previously worn by Cate Blanchett, with a plunging neckline framed with stones.

Finally on Thursday, Zendaya completed the circle. “SomethingBlue,” posted Roach.

In case nobody had noticed.

The 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward proved tough enough to score through physical play. Rangy enough to space the floor and shoot from outside. Deft enough as a passer to find teammates, whether against constant double teams coming for him as the top name on every scouting report or while running the entire offense from up top.

“You just want to affect winning in whatever way you can,” Boozer said.

The high-end NBA prospect did that all season for a team that won 35 games, reached No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll, claimed the top overall seed for March Madness and reached the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight. Now he's The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the year, only the fifth freshman to earn the honor and the second in a row for a Duke program that keeps adding to the longest list of winners in the country.

“It just goes to show more about what our team has done, just because I think that really helps awards like this, having great team success,” Boozer told the AP. “It’s really just not me.”

Boozer, named unanimous first-team AP all-American last month, received 59 of 61 votes from AP Top 25 voters in results released Friday. BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, another potential top NBA pick, received the other two votes after averaging a national-best 25.5 points per game.

A short list

Boozer, son of Duke and longtime NBA player Carlos Boozer, ranked averaged 22.5 points (ninth in Division I) and 10.2 rebounds (12th) while finishing tied for the national lead with 22 double-doubles. He also averaged 4.1 assists while posting efficient shooting numbers at 55.6% overall and 39.1% from 3-point range.

He joins fellow Blue Devils star Cooper Flagg last year, another Duke player in Zion Williamson (2019), Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (2012) and Texas star Kevin Durant (2007) as freshmen to win the AP award. Each went No. 1 or No. 2 in the NBA draft that year.

“I’m very grateful just that I’m even in those (NBA) conversations,” Boozer said. “I think a lot of people dream of being where I am. Sometimes you’ve got to take a step back and just remember that once upon a time, you were a kid dreaming to be here. So I think it’s very special.”

His coaches think the same of him.

“We’ve been fortunate enough the last two years to have two of the best freshmen to ever play in college basketball back to back,” Duke associate head coach and former Blue Devils player Chris Carrawell said. “And Cam is right up there.

Boozer is Duke's ninth AP winner, each coming from a different player. UCLA is the next closest with five winners, though that included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1967 and 1969) and Bill Walton (1972 and 1973) as two-time selections.

UCLA, Ohio State and Duke rival North Carolina are the only other programs with as many as three different players to win the award.

Big-game successes

Boozer arrived at Duke alongside twin brother Cayden after the two led Miami's Columbus High to four straight state championships. By late February, the Blue Devils were starting a four-week reign atop the AP Top 25 that would carry to March Madness. Boozer — who said he looks at winning as a skill — routinely posted top performances in Duke's biggest games, including during a rugged nonconference slate.

He matched a season high with 35 points in a November win against Arkansas. He followed with 29 points against defending national champion Florida. He also had big performances at Michigan State (18 points, 15 rebounds) and flirted with a triple-double (18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists) in a February win against Michigan.

Along the way, he pushed through bumps and shoves. He closed Sunday's season-ending loss to UConn with 27 points and his right eye swollen from a first-half blow.

“There’s no agenda other than figuring out a way to win,” Wolverines coach Dusty May said. “I’ve seen him play a number of times this year where there’s six guys in the paint, and it’s not as if he’s jumping 40, 50 inches off the floor. His desire to rebound the ball, to set physical screens, to play to his advantages, is as impressive as any freshman that I can recall.”

Managing pressure

The other challenge was managing the scrutiny that comes from expectations for greatness. A missed shot. A turnover. The 3-for-17 shooting while battling rising frustration and Virginia shot-blocker Ugonna Onyenso in the ACC title game.

“He does a great job of flushing it and not letting it dwell on him too much,” Cayden said. “That’s something he’s always been able to do since we were younger. Obviously I talk to him when he needs me to. And I sometimes just understood that, hey, he’s going through something, give him some space for a little bit and he’ll figure it out.”

Cameron said getting away for time alone and putting down the phone helps. He points to prayer and even a recent effort to read more.

The rest of the time, though, he'll throw himself into becoming a better player. There's comfort in that routine, the results yet to fail him.

“I think just being prepared alleviates pressure," Cameron said. "Being ready for a game, watching film, working out, knowing you put your time in, being confident in yourself — I think all that takes away a lot of the pressure that people talk about. At the end of the day, pressure really is what you put on yourself.”

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

The phone conversation was not captured on video, but Woods could be heard saying, “Thank you so much,” as he hung up and the deputy approached. It wasn't clear if Woods was referring to President Donald Trump, whose former daughter-in-law, Vanessa Trump, is dating Woods.

Shortly after the golfer's March 27 arrest, Trump was asked about Woods and told reporters: “I feel so badly. He’s got some difficulty. Very close friend of mine. He’s an amazing person. Amazing man. But, some difficulty.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump spoke to Woods after the crash.

The footage also shows how Woods appeared to be astonished as he was handcuffed after failing a sobriety test and a video from the back of the patrol car shows the handcuffed golfer hiccupping, yawning and repeatedly appearing to nod off during the 15-minute ride.

Woods told authorities he was looking at his phone and changing the radio station when his speeding Land Rover clipped the back of a truck and rolled onto its side on a residential road on Jupiter Island. No one was injured.

“I looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden — boom,” Woods told an officer as he knelt on a lawn, prior to his arrest.

Body camera footage shows Martin County Sheriff’s Deputy Tatiana Levenar then conducting a roadside sobriety test and telling Woods: “I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you’re under an unknown substance, so at this time you’re under arrest for DUI."

“I’m being arrested?” Woods responded.

“Yes, sir,” Levenar said.

After handcuffing Woods, authorities searched his pockets and found two white pills.

“That’s a Norco,” Woods said after an officer pulled out the pills, referring to a painkiller that contains acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. Authorities would later confirm that Woods was in possession of hydrocodone.

In the body camera footage, Woods told Levenar that he had not drunk any alcohol and that he had taken “a few” medications earlier in the day, though Woods’ words are muted in the released video as he describes some of the drugs.

At the sheriff’s office complex, after Woods was escorted into the “DUI room” where drivers are tested for being under the influence, Woods said, “I’m not drunk. I’m on a prescription medication,” according to a supplemental sheriff’s office report released Thursday.

Woods, 50, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to suspicion of driving under the influence. He posted a statement Tuesday night saying that he was stepping away indefinitely “to seek treatment and focus on my health.”

Woods agreed to a Breathalyzer test that showed no signs of alcohol, but he refused a urine test, authorities said. Under a change to Florida law last year, refusing an officer’s request to take a breath, blood or urine test became a misdemeanor, even for a first offense.

During the field sobriety test, deputies noticed Woods limping and that he had a compression sock over his right knee. Woods explained he had undergone seven back surgeries and over 20 surgeries on his right leg, and that his ankle seizes up while walking.

Woods, who was hiccupping during questioning, continuously moved his head during one of the sobriety tests and deputies had to tell him several times to keep his head straight, according to an arrest report.

“Based on my observations of Woods, how he performed the exercises and based on my training, knowledge, and experience, I believed that Woods normal faculties were impaired, and he was unable to safely operate the motor vehicle,” Levenar wrote.

Woods is the most influential figure in golf and has become as recognizable as any athlete in the world. The first person of Black heritage to win the Masters in 1997, he has captivated golf fans with records likely never to be broken.

His injuries have kept him from accomplishing more, including from a 2021 Los Angeles car crash that damaged his right leg so badly he said doctors considered amputation. He has not played an official event since the 2024 British Open. He was recovering from a seventh back surgery in October and was trying to return at the Masters, where he is a five-time champion.

—-

Associated Press writer Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed to this report.

Magyar, once an Orbán ally, poses the most serious threat to the nationalist prime minister's hold on power since he took office in 2010.

In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Magyar said the European Union's longest-serving leader has led the country on a “180-degree turn” in recent years, endangering its Western orientation while cozying up to Moscow.

Yet despite that drift, “Hungarians still see that Hungary’s peace and development are guaranteed by membership of the European Union and NATO,” Magyar said. “I think this really will be a referendum on our country's place in the world.”

Magyar spoke to the AP on Thursday following an election rally by his center-right Tisza party in Kiskunhalas, a small city of around 25,000 on Hungary's southern great plain. It was one of hundreds of rallies he's held in settlements big and small across the country, a campaign blitz that has him visiting up to six towns a day ahead of the April 12 election.

Orbán has gained a reputation as an inveterate disruptor within the EU for his frequent vetoes of important decisions. He has campaigned by sounding the alarm on a myriad of external dangers he says are threatening Hungarians — the war in Ukraine, a cabal of EU bureaucrats and financial elites aligned against Hungary, and an immigration crisis ever on the horizon.

Magyar, who is leading in most polls, has focused on issues that affect voters' everyday lives, like Hungary’s faltering state health care and public transportation sectors and what he describes as rampant government corruption.

At each of his rallies, he charges Orbán and his nationalist-populist Fidesz party with making Hungary the “poorest and most corrupt” country in the EU — and depicts a “peaceful, humane and functioning” country that is within reach.

Yet alongside that domestic message, Magyar has increasingly portrayed Orbán’s brinksmanship with the EU, and his drift toward Russia, as matters of critical importance for the country’s future.

“I think that Tisza will have an overwhelming electoral victory, because even Fidesz voters do not want our country to be a Russian puppet state, a colony, an assembly plant, instead of belonging to Europe,” he said.

‘The Tisza is flooding’

Magyar and his party's meteoric rise caught many Hungarians by surprise. For nearly a decade and a half, a broad slate of fractured opposition parties had tried and failed to mount a serious threat to Orbán's hold on power.

While opposition politicians often slammed Orbán during debates in parliament, they rarely made efforts to win over his base of support in the rural countryside. Frustrated after a string of bitter losses, many opposition voters descended into political apathy.

Magyar, a 45-year-old lawyer and former Fidesz insider, was previously married to an Orbán ally who served as Hungary’s justice minister. After working for several years as a diplomat in Brussels, he returned to Hungary and took positions in state institutions, gaining familiarity with the workings of Orbán's system.

But then, in the wake of a political scandal in 2024 involving a presidential pardon to an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case, Magyar publicly broke with Orbán's party, accusing it of overseeing entrenched corruption and capturing Hungary's institutions.

He quickly founded the center-right Tisza party — named for Hungary's second-largest river — which, only four months after Magyar's break into electoral politics, won 30% of the vote in European Parliament elections.

As Tisza's popularity grew, a chant heard at its rallies became a motto for its rise: “The Tisza is flooding.”

While Magyar has cast his task in the election as dismantling Orbán's autocratic system, he has promised to keep some of the prime minister's policies he views as positive, such as a fence along the southern border to keep out migrants, and a popular utility reduction program.

Still, his party — a member of the European Parliament's largest, center-right group — diverges from the constellation of far-right political movements in Europe and beyond that view Orbán as a shining example of nationalist populism in action.

In a sign of U.S. President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement's admiration for Orbán, Vice President JD Vance is set to visit Budapest on Tuesday in support of his reelection.

Constructive, but critical

Many EU leaders are watching Hungary's election in the hopes that Orbán will be defeated.

His frequent vetoes — which most recently included blocking a major, 90-bill euro ($104-billion) EU loan for Ukraine — have often been to please his euroskeptic base, Magyar said, “vetoing just to veto so he can say at home that he is vetoing.”

The prime minister's conduct has led to renewed calls within the EU to reform the bloc’s foundational treaties by reducing the number of decisions that require unanimity — a way to buttress against the paralysis that can be caused by intransigent member states.

Magyar said that under a Tisza government, European leaders can expect a “constructive position,” but one that is “critical and willing to debate. We want to be there at the table.”

Despite Orbán's exploitation of the EU's unanimity rules, the ability to veto important decisions is a “valid option,” he continued, adding: “I think the European leaders have no problem with this, they have a problem with the unnecessary troublemaker role.”

“The task of a Hungarian prime minister at any given time is to represent Hungarian interests, and if necessary, to represent them forcefully,” he said. “Whatever it costs.”

Russian energy

Orbán has confounded, and even angered, nearly every other EU leader with his conciliatory approach to Russia and closeness to President Vladimir Putin. Some EU officials, and many of his opponents at home, have accused him of forsaking his commitments to the bloc on Moscow’s behalf.

As nearly every EU country cut off supplies of Russian fossil fuels following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Hungary, along with Slovakia, maintained and even increased supplies — drawing ire from many countries who accused them of helping finance the war.

While Magyar has condemned Hungary's drift toward Moscow, as well as reports that Russian secret services are meddling in the election to tip it in Orbán's favor, he said his future government will pursue a “pragmatic” approach toward Russia.

“Pragmatism means that we have no say in Russia’s internal affairs, and they don’t have any say in our affairs,” he said. “We are both sovereign countries, and we respect each other, but we don’t have to like each other.”

Magyar has criticized Orbán's government for failing to diversify its energy mix, and advocated for reaching new agreements and constructing new infrastructure to bring oil and gas from other sources into landlocked Hungary.

Still, he said, “this does not mean that we must stop using Russian oil tomorrow. It means that the European Union’s resources must be used well.”

“The consultation process is being steadily implemented and advanced,” said China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. Xi Jinping's government is mediating between Islamabad and Kabul, whose representatives resumed the talks on Wednesday in the western Chinese city of Urumqi.

“The three parties have also reached consensus and arrangements on a specific operational mode, including media coverage,” she added, without giving more details.

“Since the recent escalation of the Pakistan–Afghanistan conflict, China has been mediating and promoting talks in its own way, maintaining close communication with both sides through multiple channels and at various levels, and creating conditions and providing platforms for dialogue", Mao said.

She added that both countries “attach importance to and welcome China’s mediation efforts, and are willing to sit down again for talks, which is a positive development.”

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks in recent years, many claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

Even as the talks restarted, the police reported that a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police station in the Bannu district of northwestern Pakistan late Thursday, killing at least five people and wounding several others.

Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan of providing a safe haven to militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP.

The group is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban, which took over Afghanistan in 2021 following the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led troops. Kabul denies that it supports the group.

The fighting between the two sides picked up in February, when Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Pakistan launched strikes in Kabul and several other areas, causing mostly civilian casualties. Pakistan has said it targeted hideouts of TTP, but also that it is in “open war” with Afghanistan.

We’re giving away a family four pack of tickets to Disney on Ice. Click to find out how to enter.

Jada gets geared up for the World Cup. We visit WSS to check out their latest World Cup themed apparel to rep your team this summer.

Jen takes you to a place for your one stop shop for Fiesta decor and party supplies at AWOL.

Jada try’s out one of the hottest fitness trends that’ll get you that summer bod. We’re trying out Hyrox at Drift Movement.

Where do you want us to go next? We want to see your favorite San Antonio spots. Click here to upload photos or videos. We might air them on the show!

SA Live airs weekdays at 10 a.m. on KSAT 12. Stream the show anytime from the KSAT+ app on Roku, Fire Stick, smart TV, smartphone or our YouTube channel.

And by season's end, it's well within reach that the top two 3-point shooters in the NBA this season — at least in terms of makes — both might be wearing Hornets uniforms.

Charlotte rookie Kon Knueppel leads the NBA with his Hornets-record 261 made 3s so far this season, and LaMelo Ball is currently third in the league with 243 makes from beyond the arc. Between them: the Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic, who is set to miss some time with a hamstring injury.

Knueppel already has the NBA record for 3s made by a rookie as well.

“He definitely needs to celebrate,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said.

If Knueppel and Ball finish 1-2 in the final standings for made 3s, they would become the second set of teammates in NBA history to hold down the top two spots on that list for a full season. The other, as one would likely guess, were the “Splash Brothers” — Golden State's Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who finished first and second in the season standings in four consecutive seasons from 2013-14 through 2016-17 (and nearly did it in 2012-13 as well).

Other pairings have come close. Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce were second and third in made 3s for Boston in 2001-02 (behind Ray Allen, the then-future Celtic who was playing for Milwaukee at the time). And in 1992-93, Phoenix's Dan Majerle tied Indiana's Reggie Miller for the made-3s title, with Suns teammate Danny Ainge finishing third.

Who's in and who's out?

Here's what we know so far regarding the NBA playoff field for this season.

— Eastern Conference playoff teams: Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland are in. At this point, Atlanta and Philadelphia would get the other two guaranteed spots but those are not clinched.

— East play-in teams: Nobody is locked into the play-in yet, but entering Friday, the four teams headed there are Toronto, Charlotte, Orlando and Miami.

— East eliminated teams: Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Brooklyn and Washington.

— Western Conference playoff teams: Oklahoma City, San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver and Houston are in. Minnesota is likely to grab the sixth and final guaranteed spot.

— West play-in teams: Phoenix is probably going to the play-in tournament. Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State definitely are.

— West eliminated teams: Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Utah and Sacramento.

Thursday recap

— Hornets 127, Suns 107: Charlotte clinches no worse than a .500 record.

— Pistons 113, Timberwolves 108: Detroit closing in on East No. 1 seed.

— Thunder 139, Lakers 96: Luka Doncic hurt, Lakers tie 7th-biggest loss in team history.

— Cavaliers 118, Warriors 111: Cleveland on brink of clinching top-4 seed.

— Trail Blazers 118, Pelicans 106: Portland made 20 3s, New Orleans made nine.

— Spurs 118, Clippers 99: Victor Wembanyama sits, Spurs win 11th straight anyway.

Friday's schedule

— Indiana at Charlotte: A winning record this season is going to get Hornets’ coach Charles Lee some award votes.

— Minnesota at Philadelphia: Massive implications seeding-wise for both teams.

— Atlanta at Brooklyn: Hawks closing in on Southeast Division title, possibly No. 5 seed.

— Chicago at New York: Knicks nearing the 50-win mark yet again.

— Utah at Houston: The Rockets know they can’t afford a slipup in this spot.

— Toronto at Memphis: Raptors need a few wins down the stretch to avoid play-in.

— Boston at Milwaukee: Bucks coach Doc Rivers faces his former team, a day before expected Hall of Fame formal announcement.

— Orlando at Dallas: Magic coach Jamahl Mosley enjoyed a lot of nights when he was on the Mavs’ staff. He desperately needs one of those good nights here.

— New Orleans at Sacramento: A pair of teams building for the future.

Saturday's schedule

— Washington at Miami: Bam Adebayo scored 83 against the Wizards last month. The rematch!

— San Antonio at Denver: Wembanyama vs. Nikola Jokic in potential West playoff pairing.

— Detroit at Philadelphia: Sorry, Detroit. Michigan-Arizona Final Four game tips off during this one.

National TV schedule

Friday on NBA TV: Chicago-New York.

Saturday on Prime: San Antonio-Denver.

Saturday on NBA TV: Detroit-Philadelphia.

Betting odds

Oklahoma City (+135) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by Boston (+550), San Antonio (+550), Denver (+1100), Cleveland (+1200) and New York (+1600). Detroit, on its way to the No. 1 seed in the East, is +2500.

Key dates

— April 10: All 30 teams play their 81st games of the season.

— April 12: All 30 teams play their regular season finales.

— April 14, 15 and 17: NBA play-in tournament dates.

— April 18 and 19: NBA playoff series openers.

— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

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

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

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

Numbers watch

The Thunder had 14 different players score in their win over the Lakers on Thursday night. There have been only seven games in NBA history, including playoffs, where a team saw more players score at least one point in the same game.

Stat of the day

The Spurs are 27-2 since Feb. 1 — and have picked up only 3 1/2 games on Oklahoma City (23-5) in that span. (By the way, the best record in the East since that date belongs to Atlanta at 20-6.)

___

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

KSAT Investigates is pushing to learn who the shooter was because their history can reveal missed warning signs and whether systems meant to prevent violence failed.

The student was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Comal County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO). The agency said the student brought his grandfather’s gun to school, and his family was waiting in the reunification line.

CCSO said a school resource officer, who is a Bulverde police officer, was not at the school when the shooting happened.

Texas law requires all public schools to have at least one armed security officer or armed school personnel at each public school campus statewide.

The teacher, whom the Comal Independent School District and the Comal County Sheriff’s Office have refused to identify, is at a hospital in San Antonio. The sheriff told KSAT earlier this week that she is awake and conscious, and is able to communicate by squeezing hands.

CCSO is still investigating the unnamed student’s motive, but investigators believe he had been experiencing academic challenges, including failing several classes.

The Texas Attorney General has consistently ruled that privacy rights don’t extend after death, meaning agencies can’t automatically keep those records secret, even if the person is a minor at the time of death.

KSAT Investigates has called and emailed the Comal County Sheriff’s Office, Comal ISD, Comal County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 and the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office numerous times since Monday. All agencies have refused to release that information.

A representative for the Comal County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 cited the Texas Family Code for the reason to refuse releasing the shooter’s identity, stating that “Texas law requires that identifying information related to juveniles involved in delinquent conduct remain confidential.”

In a phone call with KSAT Investigates on Wednesday afternoon, a Comal ISD spokeswoman said she could not release the shooter’s identity because they have his family to consider.

KSAT 12 and several other media outlets won a lawsuit against Uvalde CISD for information related to the Robb Elementary shooting, including records about the shooter. The district was forced to release records in 2025.

KSAT Investigates is going to continue to dig and press to find out how this shooting happened. If you have any information, you can email us at ksatinvestigates@ksat.com or call our tip line at 210-351-1269.

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.

Equities markets are closed for Good Friday, but futures markets were trading into Friday morning, albeit quietly.

Futures for S&P 500 dipped 0.3%, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% and Nasdaq futures were down 0.4%.

American employers added a surprisingly strong 178,000 new jobs last month, rebounding from a dismal February that saw 133,000 job losses. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.3% from 4.4%.

Energy markets were closed Friday following big price surges the day before on fears that the Iran war will drag on longer than expected. U.S. benchmark crude rose 11.4% to $111.54 a barrel on Thursday. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel.

U.S. President Donald Trump late Wednesday vowed the U.S. will continue to attack Iran and failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict in the Middle East.

“A more extended conflict raises the threat to physical infrastructure, extends disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, and will entail a longer postwar recovery period, with price impacts spilling over later into the year,” according to a report from BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.

The U.S. relies on the Persian Gulf for only a fraction of the oil it imports, but oil is a commodity and prices are set in a global market.

The situation is very different in Asia. Japan, for example, needs access to the Strait of Hormuz for much of the nation’s oil imports or would need alternative routes. But some analysts say Japan and other nations are counting on an agreement with Iran to allow fuel to be transported through the strait.

Trading was closed in France, Germany and Britain for the Good Friday holiday.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.3% to finish at 53,123.49. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.7% to 5,377.30. The Shanghai Composite sank 1.0% to 3,880.10. Trading was closed in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia and India for the Good Friday holiday.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

The written ruling by Judge Lewis J. Liman in Manhattan came after Lively, who starred in and produced the film, sued her co-star and director in December 2024. A trial is scheduled for May 18.

Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer Studios had countersued Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of defamation and extortion. The judge dismissed Baldoni’s claims last June.

In his ruling, Liman determined that Lively was an independent contractor rather than an employee. On that basis, he said she was not entitled to bring sexual harassment claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That law prohibits employment discrimination on various grounds, including gender.

As to retaliation, the judge said some evidence might enable a jury to conclude that Baldoni's production company planned not only to damage Lively's reputation but to destroy her career amid fear she'd file a discrimination claim. Lively alleges a smear campaign has been “devastating for her reputation and career,” the judge noted.

In an analysis of the sexual harassment claims, the judge said Lively's claims had to be viewed in the context of the movie they were working on.

“Lively claims that during filming, Baldoni leaned in and gestured as if he was intending to kiss her, and that he kissed her forehead, rubbed his face and mouth against her neck, put his thumb to her mouth and flicked her lower lip, caressed her, and leaned into her neck, saying ‘it smells good,’” the judge wrote.

He said there was no question that the conduct would support a hostile work environment claim if it happened on a factory floor or in an executive suite.

However, the judge noted, Baldoni was “acting in the scene” and his "conduct was not so far beyond what might reasonably be expected to take place between two characters during a slow dancing scene such that an inference of hostile treatment on the basis of sex would arise. At least in isolation, the conduct was directed to Lively’s character rather than to Lively herself.”

Liman added: “Creative artists, no less than comedy room writers, must have some amount of space to experiment within the bounds of an agreed script without fear of being held liable for sexual harassment.”

Despite those findings, the judge said some sexual harassment claims may be put to a jury to support two retaliation claims that survived the ruling, including one against It Ends With Us Movie LLC and Wayfarer Studios, and a third claim that was left intact alleging breach of a contract rider agreement against It Ends With Us Movie LLC.

The judge noted that Baldoni once said “pretty hot” after asking Lively to remove her jacket, exposing a lace bra underneath, and that when he was warned that it was inappropriate and distracting to make such comment, he allegedly rolled his eyes and responded: “Sorry, I missed the sexual harassment training.”

Liman also cited a scene in which Baldoni pushed for Lively to perform a birth scene naked and then the scene was filmed over several hours without the set being closed to nonessential personnel.

In a statement, Lively attorney Sigrid McCawley wrote that Lively “looks forward to testifying at trial and continuing to shine a light on this vicious form of online retaliation so that it become easier to detect and fight.”

She added: “This case has always been and will remain focused on the devasting retaliation and the extraordinary steps the defendants took to destroy Blake Lively’s reputation because she stood up for safety on the set and that is the case that is going to trial.”

Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Baldoni, said the defendants in the case were “very good people who have not engaged in this sexual harassment as alleged.”

“It is gratifying to see that the courts ruling confirms what the legal team believed from day one,” Freedman said in an email to The Associated Press.

“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel that begins as a romance but takes a dark turn into domestic violence, was released in August 2024, exceeding box office expectations with a $50 million debut. But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between Lively and Baldoni.

Lively appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”

Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.

The occasion was the third in a series of “rental rip-off hearings,” a new forum launched by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for disgruntled renters to air their complaints directly to housing officials — and in some cases, the mayor himself.

As she waited in line, Gulhayo Yuldosheva said she worried that noxious mold in her apartment had worsened her child’s asthma. Nearby, her downstairs neighbor, Marina Quiroz, was showing a video of rats scurrying through her kitchen to a representative of the city’s tenant protection office.

Ann Maitin, a longtime resident of the same building, had just met with the mayor.

“He let me go over my three minutes,” she said, holding up a spiral notebook’s worth of grievances.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist swept into office on a promise of zealous tenant advocacy, framed the event as a struggle session for renters, assuring the standing room only crowd that their stories would guide the city's efforts “to actually hold landlords accountable when they don’t follow the law."

To the residents of 705 Gerard Avenue, this raised a practical problem: No one seemed to know who actually owned their building.

“It feels like such a basic question,” said Maitin, a retired Verizon technician who recently organized the building’s tenant association. “You’d think we’d have the right to that information.”

Their situation is hardly unique. As corporate owners and investor groups have grown their share of the rental market in New York City, they are increasingly shielding their identities behind limited liability companies, or LLCs.

The practice, which has also been spreading nationally, is legal. But experts warn it could complicate Mamdani’s promised crackdown, making it harder for the city and tenants to track the chronically negligent owners whose buildings the mayor has vowed to target and even seize.

“There are these big slumlords that everyone knows are doing predatory investment, but pinning them down is going to be difficult, for the LLC reason,” said Oksana Mironova, a housing policy analyst at the Community Service Society. “That’s a problem for the administration, and it’s even worse for tenants.”

‘They treat us the same as the rats’

For Yuldosheva and her neighbors, finding their landlord is one of many problems afflicting their six-story building near Yankee Stadium.

Heat and hot water outages are regular enough that some tenants keep a thermometer on their fridge and the city’s complaint hotline on speed dial. Common areas are often filthy, and increasingly populated by drug users. Getting help with an urgent maintenance issue “feels like waiting for Christmas in July,” said Maitin.

During a monthslong elevator outage, a tenant who uses a wheelchair, Tommy Rodriguez, said he was forced to “slide down the steps, like a kid.” Calls to the building management about a repair timeline went unanswered, he said.

Growing up in the building in the 1980s, Rodriguez recalled the previous landlord as a friendly and responsive neighborhood presence.

“This felt like a home before,” Rodriguez said. “Now they treat us the same as the rats.”

A large rodent had recently chewed a hole through his couch cushion. He handled the extermination himself, with a two-by-four.

A distressing breakthrough

Recently, tenants received a clue about their landlord, following the partial collapse of another Bronx building. The man identified in news stories as the owner of that building, David Kleiner, shared a Brooklyn office with their building manager, Binyomin Herzl.

A handful of tenants visited each of the building’s 72 units, logging an array of decrepit conditions and unusual alterations.

“We didn’t want to become the next news story,” said Yuldosheva, pointing to a crack in the wall of a bedroom shared by her three children — a result, she feared, of the subway that rumbles just below her windows.

Lawsuits show that Herzl has been ordered to pay more than $100,000 for violations across at least six Bronx buildings, several of which were found by a judge to pose an imminent hazard.

Reached by phone, Herzl said he didn't own any of those properties, but simply acted as a middleman between tenants and the true owners, whom he declined to list. “There’s no one landlord,” he said. “It’s a group of investors.”

Kleiner, who was previously featured on the city’s “worst landlord” list, confirmed his partial ownership of 705 Gerard in a brief phone call, but declined further comment.

Herzl, meanwhile, attributed the tenants’ complaints to “normal wear and tear” of a nearly century old building. He said Mamdani should focus on improving the city’s public housing, rather than going after private landlords.

“Our buildings look like five star hotels against his,” he added.

From fines to seizures

When landlords refuse to address a serious violation, like heat or hot water outages, the city can step in and order repairs, then bill the owner directly.

In the last three years, inspectors have ordered emergency repairs at 38 buildings that list either Herzl or Kleiner as an owner, according to records provided by the city’s housing department. The men have been billed $446,521 for those repairs.

Mamdani has proposed using such fines as a vehicle to bring distressed rental properties under city stewardship, by aggressively pursuing liens on delinquent landlords and buying up their portfolios through foreclosure auctions.

Just as the city can shut down unsanitary restaurants, Mamdani has said, landlords that “repeatedly put New Yorkers at risk will not be allowed to operate in New York City — with no exceptions."

In reality, the process is resource-intensive and legally fraught. It is made more complex by the nest of LLCs often used by landlords to obfuscate the full scope of their portfolios, according to Cea Weaver, director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.

“It’d be great to have a better sense of who owns the buildings that we are regulating and overseeing,” she said.

State legislation that would have made it easier to identify LLC owners was recently vetoed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul amid pressure from landlords.

New Yorkers vs. Bad Landlords

Kenny Burgos, the CEO of the New York Apartment Association, a landlord lobbying group, said Mamdani’s tenant proposals — including freezing the rent for regulated tenants — would force landlords to cut back on maintenance and services.

“That’s going to take away from the elevator budget, the boiler budget, the heating budget,” he said. “It’s a question of math: These buildings are crumbling because of policy, not because of bad landlords.”

He characterized the rental rip-off hearings as “show trials” that took a “tribal approach” to the city’s affordable housing crisis.

Despite the combative branding — “New Yorkers vs. Bad Landlords,” blares one promotion — the Bronx event mostly resembled a standard constituent service night: City officials fielded questions about local laws, helped residents with paperwork and connected them to service providers.

Maitin left feeling “glad to be heard by someone who can actually do something about the problem,” but felt it was too early to tell “if it’s all talk."

The next morning, she was surprised to find the building’s superintendent applying a fresh coat of paint to a staircase. Outside, workers were removing scaffolding that had been in front of the building for years.

“I think they caught wind of the rental rip-off,” Maitin said. “They’re scared.”

Wembanyama was rested on the second night of a back-to-back. He had 41 points and 18 rebounds in a 127-113 win at the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.

The Spurs had six players in double figures, including Stephon Castle with 20 points and Dylan Harper with 19 off the bench.

San Antonio kept alive its hopes of catching Oklahoma City for the top spot in the West. The Spurs improved to 27-2 since Feb. 1 and 11-5 when Wembanyama doesn’t play.

Kawhi Leonard scored 24 points to lead the Clippers with his 53rd consecutive game of 20 or more points. Bennedict Mathurin added 18 points off the bench and John Collins had 15. The loss dropped them to the ninth spot for the play-in tournament with their second straight loss after winning five in a row. Portland moved into eighth after a 118-106 win.

The Spurs led by 26 points in the first half. They shot 72% from the floor early in the second quarter, opening with an 11-2 run and hitting 20 of their first 28 shots.

The Clippers rallied in the third when they outscored the Spurs 34-19. Mathurin had 10 points and Leonard eight as the Clippers closed with a 14-4 run to trail 87-78 going into the fourth.

But the Spurs quickly regained the momentum. Castle scored eight of their 10 points in extending the lead to 99-84.

Up next

Spurs: Visit Denver on Saturday in final road game of regular season.

Clippers: Visit Sacramento on Sunday.

___

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

In February, the Trump administration waived over two dozen environmental laws to clear the way for a 150-mile-long border barrier through West Texas, including Big Bend National Park and the adjoining state park, a rugged and scenic stretch with unscalable canyons along the Rio Grande.

But as word spread that the Trump administration planned to erect a 30-foot-tall barrier to deter people from crossing the border illegally, people and officials from both political parties have made their opposition clear.

“A border wall in the Big Bend region is an absurd, wasteful, counterproductive idea that is loathed by nearly every person who has ever lived or visited there,” said Isaac Saul, who writes a political newsletter called the Tangle and has a home in Brewster County, where Big Bend is located.

The sheriffs of Brewster, Culberson, Hudspeth, Presidio and Terrell counties — a mix of Democrats and Republicans — wrote an open letter that said: “Based on decades of combined experience working with this terrain, we believe that construction of a continuous physical border wall in the Big Bend region would not represent the most practical or strategic approach to border security in this area.”

Local officials in nearby Alpine, along with Presidio and Hudspeth counties, have approved resolutions opposing the wall.

After strong opposition, the Trump administration apparently changed its plans: a map on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website no longer indicates that a border wall will be constructed in the Big Bend region from the state park to the Amistad National Recreation Area in Del Rio, as of April 2.

A spokesperson for the Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector told Marfa Public Radio last week that there are “currently no plans for border wall construction” in the state park, which borders Big Bend National Park.

While the Trump administration hasn’t made any official announcement about its plans, the CBP website now shows the agency instead plans to install “virtual wall” technology through the rugged region that would alert Border Patrol agents when people cross the border.

It’s unclear if these plans are final, since the map legend has continuously changed in the past few weeks.

Advocates and residents say they are happy their efforts have apparently helped halt the plans to build a border barrier through the state park. But the fight isn’t over, they say.

“I don’t consider this a win yet because there’s still a lot of unanswered questions,” said Anna Claire, 29, a photographer who lives near Terlingua and led an online petition with more than 100,000 signatures opposing a barrier. “I would say a win is no border wall, period. The whole basis for this wall is that there is a crisis, but there isn’t a crisis and their own data doesn’t back that up.”

Documents obtained by Inside Climate News show the Border Patrol has sought access to Big Bend Ranch and other state parks to lay the groundwork for border barrier construction. Letters sent by the Border Patrol to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department included detailed maps of where the border barrier would go within Big Bend Ranch, Seminole Canyon and Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley state parks.

The Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector, which encompasses 517 miles of the 1,950-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border, has historically been the least busy of the nine sectors. In fiscal year 2025, Border Patrol recorded 3,096 apprehensions in the Big Bend sector — accounting for just 1.3% of the 237,538 apprehensions recorded across the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

Last year, Congress approved $46.5 billion for the Trump administration to erect border barriers and add detection technology in different parts of the 2,000-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border. Contractors have started construction in parts of California, Arizona and New Mexico. But in Texas, where land along the border is privately owned, the administration has faced obstacles and opposition.

The government has sent letters to some landowners along the river, threatening to condemn some of their land through eminent domain if owners don’t willingly allow the federal government access to their land.

Luis Armendariz, 83, who owns about 1,000 acres of farmland and a hardware store in Presidio, about 100 miles upriver from Big Bend, said he received one of those letters and doesn’t see the need for a barrier in the area. He worries that a barrier would cut off his access to irrigation water from the river..

“If the wall is going to get in my way, I don’t want it,” he said.

Disclosure: Texas Parks And Wildlife Department 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.

The move marks a nominal return to an elected government but is widely considered as an effort to keep the army in power after an election organized by the military that opponents and independent observers deemed neither free nor fair, and as civil war rages.

Transitioning to an elected government is also seen as a way to improve frosty relations with some Southeast Asian neighbors following the military takeover. China and Russia have supported the military administration, while Western powers imposed sanctions.

Min Aung Hlaing won an expected lopsided victory

Min Aung Hlaing was one of three nominees for the president’s post, but was virtually guaranteed the job as lawmakers from military-backed parties and appointed members from the army hold a commanding majority in parliament.

The vote was held in the newly renovated parliament building in the capital, Naypyitaw, which was damaged in last year’s earthquake.

Aung Lin Dwe, speaker of parliament’s combined upper and lower house, announced that Min Aung Hlaing won 429 out of the 584 votes.

The two runners-up become vice presidents. Nyo Saw, a former general, had served as an adviser to Min Aung Hlaing, and Nan Ni Ni Aye, an ethnic Karen politician from the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party, will be the country’s first female vice president. All three are expected to be inaugurated next week.

Min Aung Hlaing, who holds the rank of senior general, earlier this week relinquished his post of commander-in-chief because the constitution prohibits the president from simultaneously holding the top military position. A close aide, Gen. Ye Win Oo, took over the powerful job.

Meanwhile, much of the country remains enmeshed in a bloody civil war.

Opposition group says struggle for real change continues

Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the National Unity Government — Myanmar’s main opposition organization, which views itself as the country’s legitimate government — charged that Min Aung Hlaing is responsible for numerous war crimes, and his easy assumption of the presidency proved that the political change some countries had hoped for will not materialize.

“Myanmar people do not accept it. The revolution will continue with great momentum,” he told The Associated Press..

The 69-year-old Min Aung Hlaing had been the military chief since 2011. Under the military-imposed constitution, he held significant powers even before overthrowing Suu Kyi’s government.

Parliament members were elected in three phases in December and January. Major opposition parties, including Suu Kyi’s former ruling National League for Democracy, were either blocked from running or refused to compete under conditions they deemed unfair. Suu Kyi, 80, is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as politically motivated.

Myanmar was under military rule from 1962 to 2016, when Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide election victory. It won an even greater mandate in the 2020 polls, but the army staged a takeover in 2021 before the new parliament could convene.

Peaceful protests against military rule were then put down with deadly force, pushing pro-democracy activists to turn to armed resistance and ally themselves with ethnic minority groups who have been battling for greater autonomy for decades.

Deadly repression birthed ongoing civil war

Security concerns meant voting in the recent election could be held in only 263 of the country’s 330 townships.

Nearly 8,000 activists and civilians have been killed since the 2021 army takeover, and some 22,872 political detainees are imprisoned, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an independent group that tracks rights violations.

The military’s major reliance on airstrikes — 1,140 strikes in 2025 alone, according to the U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project — accounts for hundreds of civilian casualties.

“If Min Aung Hlaing thinks that an official civilian title will shield him from prosecution for the many grave violations of international law that he is accused of overseeing as head of the military, that is not how international justice works," Amnesty International Myanmar researcher Joe Freeman said in statement.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2024 began an investigation into charges of crimes against humanity after the chief prosecutor applied for an arrest warrant for Min Aung Hlaing over the military’s brutal persecution of the Rohingya minority.

At long-awaited hearings at the International Court of Justice in January this year, Myanmar defended itself against accusations that it was responsible for genocide against the Rohingya. The West African country of Gambia first filed the case in 2019.

Taiwan’s first Olympic boxing champion beat Thananya Somnuek of Thailand 5-0 in the first round in the 60-kilogram lightweight division earlier this week.

She backed that up Friday with another 5-0 win over Ayaka Taguchi of Japan, the top-seeded woman in the division. Lin won every round on all five judges’ scorecards, securing a perfect score of 10 in each round.

The 30-year-old Lin had not competed internationally since winning the women’s 57-kg featherweight title at the Paris Olympics in August 2024.

World Boxing took over as the sport’s Olympic-level governing body last year, and it implemented a sex eligibility policy in August requiring all fighters to take a one-time genetic test designed to identify the presence of a Y chromosome.

World Boxing didn't confirm Lin's eligibility until March 19.

It was not clear whether Lin will have to undergo further gene testing if she wants to compete again at the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee announced last week new rules banning transgender athletes and a mandatory gene test once in an athlete’s career.

Lin and Imane Khelif of Algeria won gold medals at Paris amid international scrutiny and misconceptions over both boxers’ sex. While both met the eligibility rules followed at the time by the IOC, which ran the Paris tournament, the two fighters’ success sparked a politically charged debate over those standards.

Lin is expected to fight in the Asian tournament semifinals on Monday.

___

AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing

So did Jess Michaels, one of the legions of women who have said they were sexually assaulted by the late financier and convicted sex offender with a roster of powerful friends in business, politics and beyond.

“I thought, ‘Well, maybe a woman stepping into this role will finally, finally get the truth,’” Michaels recalled Thursday, after President Donald Trump announced Bondi was out of the nation's top law enforcement job.

“She had this opportunity to be a hero and to really do right by survivors of sexual violence and trafficking,” Michaels said, "and she chose not to.”

The furor over the “Epstein files,” as the trove of investigative records came to be known, wasn't the only controversy of Bondi's tenure. But the arc — first raising expectations for a big reveal, then declaring there was nothing to see, and ultimately a forced, flawed document dump — was a stubbornly problematic storyline that ran through her time as attorney general.

Bondi rejected criticism of her handling of the matter, and Trump on Thursday praised her as “a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend.”

Michaels and other Epstein victims watched it all with shaken trust that Bondi's departure alone won't likely rebuild.

“This is not about a single person,” accuser Annie Farmer said Thursday. “It is about a government and judicial system that has repeatedly failed Epstein survivors.”

Here's a glance at Bondi's part in the Epstein saga:

February 2025: The binders

Freshly confirmed as attorney general for a president who had suggested on the campaign trail that he'd open more government documents on Epstein, Bondi whetted appetites by declaring on Fox News that “you’re going to see some Epstein information released.” And when a host asked about "releasing “the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s clients” — a long-rumored, never-seen sex trafficking roster — she replied that it was “sitting on my desk right now.”

A day later, conservative commentators and content creators were brought to the White House to get DOJ binders emblazoned with “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” and “Declassified.”

The attempt to showcase transparency soon backfired, once it emerged that the contents largely were already public. Bondi demanded that the FBI give her “the full and complete Epstein files,” and she later said that she'd unearthed a "truckload” of previously withheld material and that “everything is going to come out to the public.”

July 2025: The walkback

After months of anticipation, the Justice Department said it wouldn't release any more Epstein material. A court had sealed much of it to protect victims, and “only a fraction” would have come out if Epstein had gone to trial, the agency said in an unsigned memo. It added that authorities hadn't found evidence that merited new charges or investigations and that “perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein” wouldn't help victims get justice.

And, it said, there was no “client list.” As for Bondi's prior comment that it was on her desk, officials said she had meant the overall case file.

Conservative influencers, among others, blasted the turnabout and questioned Bondi’s capability. But Trump stood by her, scolding a journalist for attempting to ask her a question about Epstein at a White House Cabinet meeting.

Trump had himself raised questions for some years after Epstein's 2019 death in jail as the financier faced federal sex trafficking charges. After the Justice Department memo, however, the president suggested there was nothing more to say about Epstein and the country, including his own supporters, should simply move on.

November 2025: The legislation

Amid a drumbeat of disclosures that begin to exact consequences for some powerful people — particularly Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Britain's former Prince Andrew — Congress passed legislation to force the Justice Department to disclose its investigative files on Epstein. Trump signed it into law, casting the quest for Epstein information as a Democratic-led distraction from the Republican agenda.

Meanwhile, at his urging, Bondi announced that the U.S. attorney in Manhattan would investigate Epstein’s ties to some of the Republican president’s political foes, including Democratic former President Bill Clinton. None has been accused of misconduct by Epstein’s accusers; nor has Trump, another former Epstein friend. Both Clinton and Trump have said they knew nothing about Epstein's misconduct and cut ties with him many years ago.

December 2025: The first batch

At the statutory deadline for making the Epstein files public, the Justice Department released only some of them. While the records included some material the public hadn't previously seen, including some candid photos of Clinton, the documents didn't break major ground and included little about Trump.

The department said it was continuing to review other Epstein records to make sure that victims were protected.

But Democrats cried cover-up, bill sponsor Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., accused the Justice Department of breaking the law by missing the deadline and redacting too much, and some Epstein accusers also questioned the extensive redactions.

January 2026: The big release

The Justice Department began releasing a huge cache of additional Epstein documents, videos and photos, though others remained under wraps.

The records pulled back a curtain on favor-trading and frank communications in a chummy elite that looked past Epstein's 2008 guilty plea to solicitating prostitution from an underage girl in Florida. Some high-flying Epstein friends resigned or lost jobs in corporate America, academia, big law firms, the British, Slovakian and Norwegian governments and beyond.

But the documents disclosed highly personal information about some victims while redacting the names of Epstein correspondents in, for example, emails that appeared to refer to the sexual abuse of underage girls.

Gloria Allred, an attorney for numerous Epstein victims, said Thursday that Bondi betrayed them by failing to protect personal information in the files.

“She has destroyed the trust in the DOJ that victims had a right to expect, and her termination may be the only type of justice that survivors will receive from the DOJ,” Allred said by email.

February 2026: The hearing

At a congressional hearing, a combative Bondi tried to quell the Epstein files controversy. She defended how the Justice Department dealt with it, lobbed personal insults at Democrats and lauded Trump over, among other things, the performance of the stock market.

Bondi said she was deeply sorry for what Epstein victims suffered. But she declined a request from Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., to face and apologize to them for the Justice Department's actions, and Bondi dismissed Massie’s critiques of the release of victims’ personal information.

March 2026: The subpoena

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subpoenaed Bondi to answer questions on April 14 about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein investigation and file release. With five Republicans joining Democrats to support the subpoena, it reflected widespread discontent, including in the GOP base, over Bondi’s management of the matter.

The future

For now, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will be the acting attorney general.

Michaels, who traveled to the Capitol last year to press for the files’ release, wanted Bondi gone. But will Blanche do better?

"We can only hope. But given that they worked together, I don’t have great expectations,” she said.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Michaels has done.

Robert Glassman, an attorney for a woman who testified as “Jane” in the 2021 criminal trial of Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, noted that agency leaders come and go.

“For victims of sexual abuse, what matters is whether the institutions meant to protect them actually do their job,” he said.

Iran is firing more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states, with a spokesperson for its military insisting Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms, munitions and production facilities.

In Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, Israeli strikes have killed 27 people in a single day, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.

Stocks recovered most of their losses from earlier in the day, though oil prices remained elevated after Trump failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict in his address. U.S. crude oil was up 8.4% at $108.82 per barrel, pulling back from over $110.

In his address Wednesday night, U.S. President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will keep hitting Iran “very hard” in the next two or three weeks and bring the country “back to the Stone Ages,” even as he touted the success of U.S. operations and argued that all of Washington’s objectives have so far been met or exceeded.

Here is the latest:

Bangladesh implements austerity measures

Bangladesh is curtailing office hours and enforcing early closure of malls and shops beginning Friday to handle its energy crisis related to the war.

The country’s cabinet ordered 30% spending cuts for fuel and power at government offices, suspended some staff training and stopped purchases of new vehicles, ships and aircraft. Decorative lighting will not be allowed for celebrations.

Bangladesh, a nation of more than 170 million people, is seeking alternative fuel sources and $2.5 billion in external financing for imports, which account for 95% of its fuel.

Australia urges weekend motorists to refuel in cities

Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen on Friday urged motorists getting away for a long weekend during the Easter holiday to fill up in cities because most of the nation’s fuel shortages are in rural areas.

Among 2,400 gas stations in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, 182 had run out of diesel by Friday.

In Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, 76 gas stations were out of diesel. In the remaining states ranked by the most populous first, Queensland had 75 stations without diesel, Western Australia had 37, South Australia had 28 and in Tasmania there were seven.

“For those Australians planning a road trip this weekend, given our shortages are predominantly in rural and regional Australia, it makes sense to fill up in the city to help the country if you can,” Bowen said in Sydney.

The government, which blamed regional shortages on panic buying and distribution problems, is concentrating on delivering fuel to farmers for planting crops.

Iran claims to be drafting proposal to ‘monitor’ Strait of Hormuz with Oman

Thursday’s comments by Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian diplomat, quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency, described the proposal as “intended to facilitate and ensure safe passage and provide better services to ships passing through this route.”

Iran’s attacks on shipping in the region, as well as reportedly demanding as much as $2 million for passage through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, have created a stranglehold on the route.

It is unclear what the proposal would mean. Oman did not immediately acknowledge it. The strait runs through Iranian and Omani territorial waters but is considered an international waterway that should freely allow ships to pass.

“Naturally, when we face an act of aggression, navigation encounters serious problems, and this is the result of the aggressive act,” Gharibabadi said. “We are currently at war and cannot expect pre-war rules to govern wartime conditions.”

USS Gerald R. Ford leaves Croatia

The largest American aircraft carrier in service sailed out of Split and “remains poised for full mission tasking in support of national objectives in any area of operation,” the Navy’s 6th Fleet announced.

It was unclear where it was going. It went to Croatia after a stop in Souda Bay, Greece, for repairs after a fire in its laundry room. It underwent further repairs in Croatia and saw its sailors take liberty while at port.

The Ford left Norfolk, Virginia, on June 24, 2025, making its deployment one of the longest in Navy history.

If it heads to the Middle East, it would have to pass through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. Yemen’s Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have entered the war and begun firing on Israel, meaning the Ford could face fire from them.

The USS Abraham Lincoln remains in the Arabian Sea. The U.S. military’s Central Command said Friday that it “continues to conduct flight operations, both day and night.”

The USS George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier departed Norfolk on Wednesday to head to the Mideast.

Russian state-run nuclear power company prepares for more evacuations from Iran’s Bushehr plant

The state-run news agency Tass quoted Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev as saying Moscow was preparing for “the final wave of evacuations” from Bushehr, which would include more than 200 people. The company plans to leave a small number of “volunteers” behind to run the reactor.

Likhachev said Russia would request a ceasefire from the Americans and the Israelis to allow the evacuation. Russia and Iran say there have been multiple incidents of fire on the plant, but the International Atomic Energy Agency say there has been no damage to the reactor or radiological release from the site.

Bushehr took decades to build and finally open, with its power plant connecting to the Iranian grid in 2011 with Russian assistance. It runs a pressurized-water reactor that generates up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity. That can power hundreds of thousands of homes and other businesses and industries. But it contributes only 1% to 2% of Iran’s power.

Iranian soccer makes World Cup progress in talks with FIFA chief as war darkens June trip to US

A first face-to-face meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino since the U.S. and Israel started a war against Iran on Feb. 28 made genuine progress in soccer diplomacy at the end of a fraught month.

The Iranian soccer federation’s upbeat readout of the meeting in Turkey made no mention of moving World Cup games to Mexico — a subject Infantino has repeatedly shut down for the past two weeks.

Infantino also offered tangible help for the squad to prepare for the World Cup in the next two months. Most Iran players are with clubs in the national league that has shut down during the war.

Iran’s World Cup hosts in Arizona said this week that they were pressing on with training camp upgrades plus local and federal security plans — echoing the “stick to the schedule” mantra FIFA has used.

The Iranian delegation is due in Tucson no later than June 10.

▶ Read more

Pentagon not offering a reason for Army chief’s departure amid Iran war

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesperson, said Gen. Randy George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately.”

The ouster is the latest of more than a dozen firings of top generals and admirals by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. As with many of those, Pentagon officials are not offering a reason for George’s departure, which comes nearly five weeks into U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and with no clear timeline from the president on when the war may end.

George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023, under the Biden administration.

He is a graduate of West Point Military Academy and an infantry officer who served in the first Gulf War as well as Iraq and Afghanistan. He was former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s top military aide from 2021 to 2022.

▶ Read more

Iran war disrupts US small businesses with shipping complications and higher costs

The war is making life more difficult for small business owners across the country, who are grappling with shipping complications, higher costs and consumers tightening their grip on their wallets.

A shoe designer is struggling to import its shoes from Vietnam; a pistachio grower has millions of dollars worth of pistachio exports sitting in the water; a home landscaper in Kansas City is stockpiling fertilizer as prices skyrocket; and a Chicago electronics store owner is facing pain at the pump.

Small business owners say the severe supply chain disruptions during the pandemic were worse — but they fear that if the war stretches on for months, it might start to come close.

“The costs are rising, the routes are changing, and capacity is tightening. It’s all happening at the same time, and that’s a perfect storm for small businesses,” said Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association, a trade group for U.S companies that move cargo through the supply chain on all modes of transport.

▶ Read more

Strikes on an Iranian bridge killed 8, local authorities say

The strikes also wounded 95 people who had gathering under the bridge and along the riverbank to celebrate “Nature Day,” Iran’s state media said, citing authorities in Alborz province.

Trump referenced the strike on the B1 bridge, which he called Iran’s biggest, in a social media post saying “much more to follow.” Iranian officials condemned the destruction of civilian infrastructure. The bridge was still under construction.

Hegseth asks the Army’s top uniformed officer to step down while US wages war against Iran

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer, Gen. Randy George, to step down, the Pentagon said Thursday, as the United States wages a war against Iran.

A Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, confirmed that George has been asked to take early retirement from the post of Army chief of staff, which he has held since August 2023.

The ouster of George is just the latest of more than a dozen firings of top generals and admirals by Hegseth since he first took office last year.

CBS News was first to report the ouster.

— Konstantin Toropin.

▶ Read more

UN to vote on using ‘all defensive means’ to secure navigation in Strait of Hormuz

The U.N. Security Council has scheduled a vote at 11 a.m. EDT Friday on a Bahrain-sponsored resolution authorizing use of defensive means — but not offensive — to secure international navigation in the Strait of Hormuz which has been mostly blocked by Iran.

The final draft to be voted on, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, makes significantly waters down earlier proposals.

Previous drafts would have authorized countries “to use all necessary means” — U.N. language including possible military action — to secure passage and deter attempts to interfere with international navigation.

The final draft authorizes countries “to use all defensive means necessary and commensurate with the circumstances in the Strait of Hormuz and adjacent waters” to secure passage and deter attempts to interfere with international navigation “for a period of at least six months.”

Russia and China had strongly opposed the previous drafts authorizing possible offensive action.

US oil tops $110 a barrel and stocks recover

Stocks overcame early losses to finish Thursday’s trading with slim gains and close out their first winning week since the start of the Iran war.

Oil prices remained elevated, however, at $111.54 for a barrel of U.S. crude, having soared following Trump’s national address late Wednesday, where he vowed the U.S. will continue to attack Iran and failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict.

“For markets, a prolonged conflict increases the risk of sustained pressures on inflation, global growth, interest rates, and equity valuations,” wrote Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial, in a note to investors.

▶ Read more

Blowing up bridges ‘will not compel Iranians to surrender,’ top diplomat says

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday evening that striking civilian infrastructure “only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray.”

Araghci’s comments came after Trump shared footage on social media of a section of a bridge collapsing in Iran, threatening more attacks. Araghci’s post on X contained a photo of what appeared to be the same bridge.

“Every bridge and building will be built back stronger. What will never recover: damage to America’s standing,” he wrote.

A leading Iranian rights lawyer was detained after giving an interview

The daughter of a leading Iranian human rights lawyer is confirming her mother was detained by Iranian intelligence agents in Tehran overnight.

Attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh is renowned for defending activists, opposition politicians and women prosecuted for removing their headscarves. She has been imprisoned multiple times. Her activist husband, Reza Khandan, is behind bars in Tehran’s infamous Evin prison.

Their daughter Mehraveh Khandan spoke with The Associated Press from Amsterdam. She said her mother has a heart condition, and she’s worried both because U.S.-Israeli attacks may hit detention facilities and because “our regime became even more brutal after this war started.”

Iranian authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissent. Hundreds of people have reportedly been arrested, often for communicating with foreign media. Days before her arrest, Sotoudeh told an interviewer with a Persian media outlet that the Islamic Republic’s policies “have exposed us to death.”

Yemen’s Houthis claim missile attack against Israel

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels said this was a joint operation with Iran and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, said in a prerecorded statement that the group’s intervention in the war is “a gradual one,” and they will “deal with future developments according to the enemy’s escalation or de-escalation.”

Earlier Thursday, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.

The Houthis had remained on the war’s sidelines until Saturday, when they claimed a missile attack against Israel.

There are growing concerns that the Houthis could start attacking shipping in the Red Sea, as they did during the war in Gaza, or oil facilities in the Persian Gulf, as they did previously during Yemen’s civil war.

Trump sons’ drone venture denies conflicts of interest

This latest Trump venture, Powerus, has its sights on $1.1 billion set aside by the Pentagon to build up a U.S. manufacturing base for armed drones to fill a hole left when the Trump administration banned such imports from China.

The Florida-based company denied any conflicts when it announced the Trump brothers’ deal. Asked about potential Powerus conflicts of interest specifically, Eric Trump sent the AP a statement last month saying, “I am incredibly proud to invest in companies I believe in. Drones are clearly the wave of the future.”

The company recently raised $60 million from investors and hopes to tap additional financing by doing a “reverse merger” with a Trump company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange that owns a few golf courses. Such a merger allows a private business to quickly go public, shortening the process of filing paperwork and meeting various requirements of a regular initial public offering.

Company backed by Trump sons is pitching drone interceptors to Gulf states being attacked by Iran

A drone maker backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. is trying to sell to countries that now depend on the U.S. military led by their father, positioning them to benefit from the war he began.

Powerus co-founder Brett Velicovich told The Associated Press that the company is making sales pitches that include drone demonstrations in several Gulf countries to show how its defensive drone interceptors could help them ward off Iranian attacks.

“These countries are under enormous pressure to buy from the sons of the president so he will do what they want,” said Richard Painter, a former chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush. “This is going to be the first family of a president to make a lot of money off war — a war he didn’t get the consent of Congress for.”

▶ Read more

Pakistan hikes fuel prices by 42% amid global oil price surge linked to Iran war

The Pakistani government called Thursday’s increase unavoidable as global oil costs climb because of the Iran war. The government raised prices by 137 rupees (49 cents) per liter, after already increasing prices by roughly 20% last month.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the conflict has hit Pakistan’s economy hard and that he is trying to bring Washington and Tehran to the negotiating table.

War crimes investigation of Israel is sought in France

The complaint filed Thursday with France’s war crimes unit in Paris involves an Israeli strike on a Beirut apartment building in November 2024, well before the current war. The International Federation for Human Rights says it killed seven civilians, including the parents of a French-Lebanese artist, Ali Cherri.

The human rights group said the strike hit just hours before a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, and that bombing a civilian building could constitute a war crime under French criminal law and international humanitarian law. Amnesty International said its own investigation found no evidence of a military objective in or near the building, and that civilians received no effective advance warning.

Israel ’s Foreign Ministry referred questions to Israel’s military, which did not immediately respond Thursday, but has said it follows international legal norms and strikes only legitimate military targets.

War deals a heavy blow to Iraq’s oil-dependent economy

Iraq relies on oil revenues for roughly 90% of its budget, and most of it is exported through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed since the Iran war began with U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Tehran. The war also has led to a sharp reduction in the volume of imported goods reaching southern Iraq’s ports, and halted traffic at Iraq’s border with Iran.

Unlike other countries in the Middle East touched by the war, Iraq hosts both entrenched Iran-aligned forces and significant U.S. interests, exposing it to attacks from both sides.

Iran has offered assurances that Iraqi crude can safely transit the Strait of Hormuz, said Bassem Abdul Karim, the head of Iraq’s Basra Oil Company.

However, because Iraq lacks its own tanker fleet and depends on chartered vessels, shipments ultimately hinge on whether tanker owners are willing to accept the heightened risks. Most are not.

▶ Read more

US-Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure threaten to set back Iran ‘generations’

An Iranian human rights activist has described attacks on her area of eastern Tehran.

“For two or three nights the sky was full of drones. I constantly saw them,” she said, speaking with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity for her safety.

A dissident and former political prisoner, she said U.S.-Israeli strikes are doing growing harm. Trump’s threat to send Iran back to the Stone Age was “offensive” and recalled the brutal 13th century Mongol invasion of Iran, she added.

“The truth is: their problem isn’t with the Islamic Republic, it’s with Iran,” she added, pointing to what she said were recent strikes on steel plants, a pharmaceutical company and a landmark Tehran health institute.

She described seeing “completely” destroyed homes scattered across the capital, especially in a low-income neighborhood, Resalat. Iran’s Red Crescent has reported extensive damage to homes and civilian sites.

— Amir-Hussein Radjy in Cairo

Gulf nations back UN resolution authorizing ‘all necessary measures’ to guarantee shipping through Strait of Hormuz

“All necessary measures” is language used by the United Nations that includes military action.

At a U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council said Iran’s retaliatory attacks on its neighbors had exceeded “all red lines.”

Jassim Albudaiwi also stressed that the six GCC nations must be included in any discussions or agreements with Iran on ensuring regional security.

Bahrain, the current U.N. Security Council president and a GCC member, has said it wants a vote Friday on a resolution calling on countries “to use all necessary means” to ensure international transit “in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.”

It faces opposition from veto-wielding Russia and China.

Dizzying US fuel prices mostly benefit companies that extract and refine crude

The near-daily changes in U.S. gas prices have been dizzying for drivers. Experts say differences in price aren’t typically decided by any individual gas retailer, and most of them aren’t pocketing the extra pennies when prices rise.

U.S. gas prices are climbing fast, and drivers are paying the highest pump prices since 2022 as the Iran war shakes oil markets.

The national average jumped past $4 a gallon this week. The Energy Information Administration says about half the price covers crude oil, and about 20% goes to refiners.

The near-daily changes in U.S. gas prices are dizzying for drivers, who are left feeling frustrated and cash-strapped as the Iran war pushes up prices worldwide. In his speech on the Iran war, Trump asked Americans for patience.

▶ Read more

Gulf nations back UN resolution authorizing ‘all necessary measures’ to guarantee shipping

“All necessary measures” is language used by the United Nations that includes military action.

At a U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday, the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council said Iran’s retaliatory attacks on its neighbors had exceeded “all red lines.” Jassim Albudaiwi also stressed that the six GCC nations must be included in any discussions or agreements with Iran on ensuring regional security.

Bahrain, the current U.N. Security Council president and a GCC member, has said it wants a vote Friday on a resolution calling on countries “to use all necessary means” to ensure international transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

It faces opposition from veto-wielding Russia and China.

Democrats say Trump is losing the war

Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, said the president’s speech Wednesday night was “grounded in a reality that only exists in Donald Trump’s mind.”

“We are losing this war,” Murphy said. “We cannot destroy all their missiles or drones, nor their nuclear program. Iran projects more power in the region than they did before the war, especially if they now permanently control the Strait of Hormuz. We are spending billions we don’t have and losing American lives in a war that is destabilizing the world and making us look feckless.”

▶ Read more

Iran's oldest medical research institution is hit

Hossein Kermanpour, a spokesperson for Iran’s Health Ministry, said on X that the strikes on the Pasteur Institute of Iran were “a direct assault on international health security” and called on the World Health Organization and the International Committee of the Red Cross to respond.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei on X called it “heartbreaking, cruel, despicable, and utterly outrageous.” Both shared photos of destruction and rubble.

Israel’s military said it was not aware of the strikes, and U.S. Central Command did not respond to questions.

The institute is a large laboratory complex that opened more than a century ago and has a staff of more than 1,300 working on the development and manufacture of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. The Paris-based Pasteur Network, a global health alliance spanning 32 centers worldwide, did not immediately respond to questions when contacted after business hours.

The Institute would not be the first medical facility hit during the war. Tehran's Gandhi Hospital was damaged by shrapnel and debris. Israel has previously claimed Iran struck the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. And Lebanon's health ministry said Thursday that nine hospitals have been targeted by Israeli airstrikes so far.

The so-called translunar ignition came 25 hours after liftoff, putting the three Americans and a Canadian on course for a lunar fly-around early next week. Their Orion capsule bolted out of orbit around Earth right on cue and chased after the moon nearly 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am so, so excited to be able to tell you that for the first time since 1972 during Apollo 17, human beings have left Earth orbit,” NASA’s Lori Glaze announced at a news conference.

The engine firing was flawless, she noted.

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said he and his crewmates were glued to the capsule's windows as they left Earth in the rearview mirror, taking in the “phenomenal” views. Their faces were pressed so tightly against the windows that they had to wipe them clean.

“Humanity has once again shown what we are capable of, and it’s your hopes for the future that carry us now on this journey around the moon,” Hansen said.

NASA had the Artemis II crew stick close to home for a day to test their capsule’s life-support systems before clearing them for lunar departure.

Now committed to the moon, the Artemis II test flight is the opening act for NASA’s grand plans for a moon base and sustained lunar living.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Hansen will dash past the moon then hang a U-turn and zip straight home without stopping on land. In the process, they will go the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth, breaking the Apollo 13 distance record set in 1970. They also may become the fastest during their reentry at flight’s end on April 10.

History already made

Glover, Koch and Hansen already have made history as the first Black person, the first woman and the first non-U.S. citizen to launch to the moon. Apollo’s 24 lunar travelers were all white men.

“Trust us, you look amazing. You look beautiful," Glover said in a TV interview after beholding the globe from pole to pole. "And from up here you also look like one thing: homo sapiens as all of us no matter where you’re from or what you look like, we’re all one people.”

To set the mood for the day’s main event, Mission Control woke up the crew with John Legend’s “Green Light” featuring Andre 3000 and a medley of NASA teams cheering them.

“We are ready to go,” Glover said.

Mission Control gave the final go-ahead minutes before the critical engine firing, telling the astronauts that they were embarking on “humanity’s lunar homecoming arc” to bring them back to Earth. The capsule is relying on the gravity of Earth and the moon — termed a free-return lunar trajectory — to complete the round-trip figure-eight loop. The engine accelerated their capsule to more than 24,000 mph (38,000 kph) to shove them out of Earth's orbit.

“I’ve got to tell you, there is nothing normal about this," Wiseman said. "Sending four humans 250,000 miles away is a herculean effort, and we are now just realizing the gravity of that.”

Flight director Judd Frieling said he and his team were all business while on duty but will likely reflect on the momentousness of it all once they go home.

“I suspect everybody understands that this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment," he told reporters.

Savoring views of Earth

The next major milestone will be Monday’s lunar flyby.

Orion will zoom 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) beyond the moon before turning back, providing unprecedented and illuminated views of the lunar far side, at least for human eyes. The cosmos will even treat the Artemis II astronauts to a total solar eclipse as the moon temporarily blocks the sun from their perspective.

While awaiting their orbital departure earlier Thursday, the astronauts savored the views of Earth from tens of thousands of miles high. Koch told Mission Control that they can make out the entire coastlines of continents and even the South Pole, her old stomping ground.

NASA is counting on the test flight to kickstart the entire Artemis program and lead to a moon landing by two astronauts in 2028.

The so-called lunar loo may need some design tweaks, however.

Orion's toilet malfunctioned as soon as the Artemis crew reached orbit Wednesday evening. Mission Control guided astronaut Koch through some plumbing tricks and she finally got it going, but not before having to resort to using contingency urine storage bags.

The urine pouches are serving double duty. Mission Control ordered the crew to fill a bunch of the empty bags with water from the capsule’s dispenser on Thursday. A valve issue arose with the dispenser following liftoff, and NASA wanted plenty of drinking water on hand for the crew in case the problem recurred. The astronauts used straws and syringes to fill the pouches with more than 2 gallons (7 liters) worth before pivoting to the moon.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

According to a sheriff’s office spokesperson, the suspects were identified as Alissa Nadyne Arenas, 23; Kambry Renee Ybarra, 27, and Anthony Vera.

BCSO’s Organized Crime Division and the Street Crimes Unit executed a search warrant on Tuesday at 443 West Hildebrand Avenue for suspected organized gambling.

Deputies found a total of 50 gambling machines at the scene, the sheriff’s office said. Eight others, who were detained at the scene, received citations.

Arenas, Vera and Ybarra were all charged with gambling promotion, possession of a gambling device/equipment/paraphernalia and engaging in organized crime, BCSO said.

More recent crime coverage on KSAT:

• Border Patrol agents seize $2.6M+ in methamphetamine concealed in carrots shipment
• Bexar County man takes plea deal, sentenced to 50 years in prison for separate murders

Jared Ortiz, 30, was taken into custody Wednesday and booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center, records show.

The sheriff’s office said they were investigating a home near Potranco Road between Grosenbacher Road and West Loop 1604 North, where they suspected the juvenile was staying with Ortiz.

Deputies spoke to a relative of Ortiz, who said they had not seen him in a couple of days and took deputies to a house at the back of the property.

When deputies knocked on the door, Ortiz stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

Deputies told Ortiz they had received reports of the juvenile staying at the residence and asked if she was inside.

Ortiz denied the juvenile was inside. A deputy then called out her name and a female responded from inside, confirming her identity.

Ortiz has a bond set at $5,000.

Read also:

• 3 arrested, 8 others detained after deputies uncover North Side gambling operation, BCSO says

And it happened millions of years earlier than researchers thought.

More than 700 fossils found in southwestern China’s Yunnan province offer a window into life from 539 million years ago, during the waning end of the Ediacaran period, a time of simple but strange animals that lived two-dimensionally in the oceans, never going up or down, researchers said.

But a study in Thursday’s journal Science said many of the fossils in this trove are remnants of more complex animals that lived three-dimensional lives, traveling up through the water and eating. Those are traits that had been thought to only spring to life at least 4 million years later in the Cambrian period, during what was called the Cambrian explosion of complex and recognizable animal life.

“This really is the first window we have into how basically the modern animal-dominated biosphere was formed and developed and came through this weird Ediacaran transitional interlude,” said co-author and paleontologist Frankie Dunn of the Museum of Natural History at Oxford University. “We go from a two-dimensional world, and within the geological blink of an eye, animals have diversified. They’re everywhere. They’re doing everything, and they’re changing biogeochemical cycles. They’ve changed the world.”

The new finds were a short distance from a United Nations Chengjiang world natural heritage site for other fossils in an exposure along a roadside that’s not glamorous, but has different layers “where you can literally walk through time, geological time, in a landscape,” Dunn said. And one of those areas provides a “snapshot” where evolution brings forces together.

Complex animals with symmetry developed

In that spot, Dunn said, the group of fossils includes both bizarre examples of life that existed in earlier periods and disappeared, along with early examples of organisms that would evolve into modern animals. What's important in those more modern animals are that their bodies are mostly the same on the left and right.

Nearly all of the animal life on Earth now have similar features on left and right sides, as well as a head and an anus. Before the fossils discovered in China, scientists saw traces of this symmetric body type in fossil tracks, but not the critters themselves.

“Now we know what's making them because we have those fossils for the first time,” said study co-author Ross Anderson, also of Oxford's Museum of Natural History.

Help in settling ‘rocks versus clocks’ debate

Until now, there was a conflict in the field of paleontology. Genetic analysis of how fast traits mutated and evolved suggested that humans and starfish had their earliest common ancestor in the Ediacaran period, but the fossils or rocks weren't there to show it happening, Dunn said. It was called a debate of “rocks versus clocks,” she said.

“What our new fossil site tells us is that actually perhaps the rocks and the clocks are in closer agreement than we thought,” Dunn said.

Emily Mitchell, a paleontologist at the University of Cambridge who wasn't part of the research, said the new study “makes a huge amount of sense because the Ediacaran contains animals, we know there must have been a transitional stage between them and the Cambrian fauna. But until now we didn't really have any evidence of this.”

Some outside scientists, such as Jonathan Antcliffe at the University of Lausanne, questioned whether there's enough evidence to call these fossils of complex animals, but most experts contacted by The Associated Press felt they were.

Trying to figure out how and why

Now that scientists know when this life explosion happened, they’ve got more questions and some theories.

“I’m really interested in understanding, not just when it happened, which is interesting, but how it happened and why it happened the way that it happened,” Dunn said. “So whether there are feedbacks that we can disentangle between Earth and life or between life and life. Once you have Ediacaran on the sea floor, is it inevitable that you’ll end up with something approaching a Cambrian explosion? They’re the kinds of questions that I find really interesting.”

Life on Earth started 3 billion years ago, but it took another 2.4 billion years before complex animals developed. Then they multiplied, diversified and took over rapidly, Dunn said.

That's probably because Earth had to build up oxygen levels high enough and evolution had to kick in with genetic changes, said University of California at Berkeley paleontologist Charles Marshall, who wasn’t part of the research.

Marshall said, "The Cambrian explosion was sudden because of the already rich developmental system that was in place.”

“What fundamentally changed across this period is the way the animals on the planet interacted with each other," said Duncan Murdock, curator of Oxford's museum, where many of the authors work. "Once animals turned up and started eating each other and churning up the sediment, they changed the planet forever. And the planet that we live on is very much built on the foundations from the Ediacaran and Cambrian.”

___

Associated Press journalist Siobhan Starrs contributed from London.

___

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

Under the guard of heavily armed, balaclava-clad police, prosecutors unveiled the 2,500-year-old Cotofenesti helmet, one of Romania’s most revered national treasures from the Dacia civilization, during a news conference in the eastern Dutch city of Assen.

“We are incredibly pleased,” Corien Fahner of the prosecution service told reporters. “It has been a roller-coaster. Especially for Romania, but also for employees of the Drents Museum.”

The helmet was on display at the small museum in January 2025, the last weekend of a six-month-long exhibition, when thieves broke in and grabbed it, along with three golden wristbands.

There were fears the helmet may have been melted down because its fame and dramatic studded appearance made it virtually unsellable.

Two of three missing armbands were also recovered as part of a deal prosecutors reached with three men arrested for the heist shortly after it occurred. Their trial will begin later in April.

Fahner said the search for the remaining armband would continue.

The helmet did not return unscathed.

“The helmet is slightly dented, but there will be no permanent damage,” Drents Museum director Robert van Langh said during the news conference. “The armbands are in perfect condition.”

Thieves used a homemade firework bomb and sledgehammer to break into the museum. Grainy security video distributed by police after the raid appeared to show three people opening a museum door with a large crowbar, followed by an explosion.

The theft put a strain on relations between the Netherlands and Romania

Romanian Justice Minister Radu Marinescu last year called the incident a “crime against our state” and said recovering the artifacts “is an absolute priority.”

———

Associated Press writers Molly Quell and Mike Corder contributed from The Hague, Netherlands.

On average, Black women are four times more likely to die during childbirth. Black babies face an infant mortality rate twice as high as that of white babies.

Metro Health hosted an event Thursday to ensure local Black mothers and moms-to-be have the resources and knowledge they need to buck those trends.

At the Justice and Joy Community Exchange, mothers received necessities like diapers, entered into raffles for breast pumps and strollers and met with others to swap stories and gently used baby items.

Metro Health said the event was aimed at addressing a grim statistic that has existed for decades.

Read also:

• First-of-its-kind bus to bring lifesaving cell collection across Texas

The 12-member National Capital Planning Commission, the agency tasked with approving construction on federal property in the Washington region, took the vote because U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s ruling — which came two days earlier — affects construction activities but not the planning process, said the commission's Trump-appointed chair, Will Scharf.

A vote of 8-1, with two commissioners voting present and one absent, allowed the plan to move forward.

Despite the agency’s approval, the judge’s ruling and a legal fight over the ballroom could stall progress on a legacy project that Trump is racing to see completed before the end of his term in early 2029. It’s among a series of changes the Republican president is planning for the nation’s capital to leave his lasting imprint while he’s still in office.

Before the vote, Scharf, a top White House aide, noted that Leon's order has been stayed for two weeks as the administration seeks an appeal. He said, as he understood the decision, it “really does not impact our action here today.”

Reading from notes, Scharf also delivered an impassioned defense of the project that reviewed the full history of changes and additions to the White House that were criticized when they were made but have become beloved with the passage of time. He spoke about the addition of the north and south porticos and the balcony added by President Harry Truman.

Scharf suggested that Trump’s proposed ballroom will similarly come to be viewed as a wise addition — despite drawing contemporary opposition from some members of the public and government officials.

“I believe that in time this ballroom will be considered every bit as much of a national treasure as the other key components of the White House,” Scharf said.

Scharf also said the project has been viewed negatively because of opposition to Trump, instead of the merits, saying, “I feel that we’ve been unfairly slighted in the press and otherwise for the way we’ve gone about reviewing this particular project.”

The vote by the commission, which includes three members Trump gets to appoint, had initially been scheduled for March but was postponed to Thursday because so many people signed up to comment at the commission’s meeting last month. The comments were overwhelmingly in opposition to the ballroom.

The lone “no” vote was cast by Phil Mendelson, a Democrat who chairs the Council of the District of Columbia. Linda Argo and Arrington Dixon, the two commissioners appointed by Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, voted present.

Mendelson criticized the design of the ballroom addition and how fast it was approved.

“It’s just too large,” he said.

Criticism also came from Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. One of its attorneys, Jon Golinger, said the commission had discounted opposition from city officials and thousands of people who commented against the project, and ignored the judge's ruling. Several commissioners, including Scharf, had said they took the public feedback seriously.

“This approval is illegitimate and this vote is a joke," Golinger said.

Trump, in a statement after the vote, thanked the commissioners and said he was honored.

“When completed, it will be the Greatest and Most Beautiful Ballroom of its kind anywhere in the World, and a fabulous complement to our Beautiful and Storied White House!” the president said on social media.

Trump tweaks the ballroom design

Before voting, the commission considered design changes to the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom addition that the president announced aboard Air Force One on Sunday, as he flew back to Washington from a weekend at his Florida home.

He removed a large staircase on the south side of the building and added an uncovered porch to the southwest side. Architects and other critics of the project had panned the staircase as too large and basically useless since there was no way to enter the ballroom at the top.

A White House official said the president had considered comments from the National Capital Planning Commission and another oversight entity, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which approved the project earlier this year, as well as members of the public.

The official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the ballroom design and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said additional “refinements” had been made to the exterior.

The ballroom, now estimated to cost $400 million, has expanded in scope and price tag since Trump first announced the project last summer, citing a need for space other than a tent on the lawn to host important guests. Trump demolished the East Wing in October with little warning, and site preparation and underground work have been underway since then.

Two other Trump-appointed commissioners, Stuart Levenbach and James Blair, voted for the project.

Levenbach, who serves as vice chairman and is the federal government’s chief statistician, said the White House is currently “not suited” to accommodate large numbers of guests and the addition will improve the “utility” of the compound.

He said tunnels and other structures underground at the White House made it impossible to place many features of the ballroom there, too, as some have suggested might be possible. Levenbach said the addition is a “multipurpose facility,” noting that, in addition to a ballroom, it will also have offices for the first lady, kitchen space and a theater.

“This is not an expansion for its own sake,” Levenbach said.

Blair, a deputy to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, said visitors and guests of the president deserve a “better experience."

Scharf and Blair also said Trump will get “very limited use” of the ballroom before his term ends.

Judge says Trump isn't the owner of the White House

Trump went ahead with the project before seeking input from the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, which he reconstituted with allies and supporters.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private nonprofit organization, sued after Trump demolished the East Wing last fall to build the ballroom addition — a space nearly twice as big as the mansion itself.

Trump says it will be paid for with donations from wealthy people and corporations, including him, though public dollars are paying for underground bunkers and security upgrades.

The trust sought a temporary halt to construction until Trump presented the project to both commissions and Congress for approval. Leon agreed but said that his order would take effect in two weeks and that construction related to security would be allowed.

Agapita Jaramillo received notices from the city for two separate unpaid citations on March 6 and March 30. Jaramillo said one of the citations dates back to Dec. 17, 2012.

Jaramillo said she remembers going to court for her dog being out without a leash and off of her property, but said she didn’t know there was a balance still owed.

“I wasn’t aware,” Jaramillo said. “That’s why I’ve been requesting like copies and support, and when I went to try and appeal it, they told me I couldn’t appeal these citations because they were already past 60 days or 90 days.”

She said she did not know about the second citation.

“One of them, it looks like, was parking near a water hydrant on Orchard Willow,” Jaramillo said. “I don’t even know where that is, and the license plate of the vehicle, I’m not even sure if that was my vehicle.”

Jaramillo said she paid a $97 fine for the citation she knew about, but said paying both is difficult because she is on a fixed income.

“I’m retired,” Jaramillo said. “I’ve been retired for 15 years. I’d like for them to work with me.”

Jaramillo said she has lived at her current home for 26 years, and the city would have been able to reach her by mail at her address prior to 2026.

It is unclear if there was mail sent to her on the citations previously, but the city said there are steps she can take to address the citations.

The court said judges hold “ability to pay” hearings for older adults and people on fixed incomes Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

These hearings are held on a walk-in basis at Municipal Court, 401 S. Frio Street.

“Every year, the San Antonio Municipal Court conducts citywide outreach to individuals with outstanding citations,” the Municipal Court wrote in an email to KSAT. “This outreach can include direct mailers, telephone calls, text messages, and email notifications.”

The City of San Antonio’s Municipal Court said citations do not expire and remain active until a judge clears them or the fine is paid.

Read also:

• San Antonio seeks resident input on city services, budget priorities

Yet he wasn't the main attraction.

That's because across the room, an even bigger gaggle of reporters waited for freshman guard Braylon Mullins — the Indiana kid who hit an all-timer of a shot to send the Huskies back to the sport's biggest stage — to return for his own round of interviews.

“Guards are the ones that hit the big shots,” Reed said Thursday when asked about big men getting their due, adding with a grin: “We just do our job, we do the dirty work — and we're used to doing it our whole life so we have fun doing it.”

Maybe so, but there's no minimizing the impact of size this week in Indianapolis. Not with the Final Four boasting its biggest quartet of teams going back roughly two decades, starting with guys such as Reed, Michigan's Aday Mara, Arizona's Koa Peat and Illinois' 7-foot Ivisic twins as anchors to lineups with size radiating all the way out to the perimeter.

Length, height and bulk

The average height of the Final Four teams is nearly 79.1 inches, or roughly 6 feet 6, according to KenPom’s analytics site. That edges last year’s average of nearly 78.3 inches for the biggest of any Final Four going back to the start of KenPom’s data in 2007.

Illinois (28-8) is Division I's tallest team with an average roster height of nearly 6-7 (80 inches), while Arizona (36-2) is seventh at nearly 6-6 (79 inches). Michigan (35-3) and UConn (33-5) are in the top 30 nationally with nearly identical averages slightly behind the Wildcats.

Consider it a sign of the premium each team put on building a roster to overwhelm teams inside, on the glass and with game-altering length spanning the gaps between.

That kind of size, strength and wingspan creates trouble cascading through the matchups. ACC Network analyst Luke Hancock said teams are also thriving by finding power forwards and centers capable of stepping outside to stretch defenses further and create space, eliminating the ability for a defense to simply collapse on a lone big man.

“Guards still win in March,” said Hancock, the most outstanding player of the 2013 Final Four in Louisville’s later-vacated title run. "But I think these guys have become almost like a necessary component. If you want to win championships, you need a big 4 and a monster 5.”

And it's manifesting in several ways as March Madness reaches its final act.

Defensive edge

The Illini have had the best defensive tournament efficiency of the Final Four teams while dominating the glass to complete those stops. Their roster includes an influx of European talent, including Tomislav (7-1) and Zvonimir Ivisic (7-2), as well as 6-9 forward David Mirkovic from Montenegro.

The Illini also brings 6-9, 235-pound graduate Ben Humrichous off the bench, while the outlier in the big lineup is 6-2 senior guard Kylan Boswell as a strong backcourt defender.

The South Region champion has allowed .976 points per possession in the NCAA Tournament to lead the remaining four teams. Throw in the fact that Illinois is outrebounding opponents by 16.3 per game, and it's been a perfectly timed boost to an already elite offense with those forwards and centers capable of hitting from behind the arc, too.

"Playing in the summer, you could tell it’s a little bit harder to do some things just because you’ve got Z at the rim, who’s 7-foot-2 and a great shot blocker," 6-6 forward Jake Davis said. “You got Tommy down there. So anybody you’re going up against in practice is super tall. ... We’ve just got a bunch of length everywhere. And you could tell early on that we could cause problems for other teams.”

Reed’s presence

The Illini will be tested against Reed, a 6-foot-11, 265-pound senior whose scoring (21.8) and rebounding (13.5) averages in the tournament are the best of any player still standing.

That included opening the tournament with a video game-type stat line of 31 points and 27 rebounds against Furman, making him the first player with 30-plus points and 25-plus rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game since Houston’s Elvin Hayes did it twice in 1968.

He’s coming off a 26-point showing in the comeback from 19 down to stun Duke in the Elite Eight.

“He’s a monster,” said UConn senior Alex Karaban, who was part of the Huskies’ 2023 and 2024 title winners. “He’s been so dominant. He’s really playing like the most dominant player in college basketball right now.”

Wearing them down

When it comes to the No. 1 seeds, the Wolverines have hummed with 90-plus points in four tournament wins. The Wildcats have been right behind in offensive efficiency despite being shooting fewer 3-pointers than just about every other Division I team all season.

Their meeting Saturday matches strengths.

Michigan has used the 7-3, 255-pound Mara to protect the paint, flanked by a pair of versatile 6-9 forwards in Associated Press first-team All-American Yaxel Lendeborg (240 pounds) and Morez Johnson Jr. (250).

“Our size definitely makes it tougher for smaller guards,” Lendeborg said. “Because we’re so versatile ... we can switch and guard point guards, make their life a little harder. And you know, we’re all strong bodies too. So we try to wear down teams.

“And then, toward the end of the game, that’s when we usually make our runs when we need it.”

Michigan will be tested against the Wildcats with 7-2 center Motiejus Krivas (10.4 points, 8.2 rebounds) and Peat, a 6-8, 235-pound freshman considered a strong NBA prospect.

“If you don't have the big to defend other bigs, you can't compete at this level in my opinion,” Hancock said.

“How do you make it so you're really tough to guard and you have an advantage? It’s the 4-men in this Final Four who are just so talented and the diversity of their skill sets — they can do so many things. That is the ultimate to me.”

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

The Salitrillo Wastewater Treatment Plant, operated by the San Antonio River Authority, handles the wastewater from about 33,000 people in northeast and eastern Bexar County.

The process starts with raw wastewater flowing into the facility.

“This is the beginning part of the treatment aspect, where raw wastewater is coming in” Travis Krueger, superintendent of plant operations for the San Antonio River Authority, said.

From there, wastewater is pumped through the facility.

“Each of these pumps will do 5,000 gallons a minute, 15,000 gallons a minute total max,” Krueger explained.

Officials said one of the most important parts of the process is something that may not look very appealing.

“This is the heart and soul of the process, is that fluid right there,” Krueger said. “It does look very nasty, but what it is, is a population of microorganisms.”

Those microorganisms play a major role in cleaning the water.

“The bacteria feed off of the organic compounds that are found in the wastewater, and so they break those compounds down, and they help break them down to clean it out,” Krueger said.

The microbes and wastewater are then sent into one of five aeration basins.

“All the microbes, along with the raw wastewater, are introduced into any one of the five aeration basins,” Krueger said. “And this is where everything is broken down.”

Once that process is complete, the water moves to final disinfection.

“After that, on the outside launder, the outside trough, all that water is ready for its final disinfection,” Krueger said.

Rather than chlorine, the plant uses ultraviolet light.

“This is where our final disinfection is happening,” Krueger said. “So we utilize ultraviolet light for the final disinfections versus alternative disinfections such as chlorine.”

After being disinfected, the treated water is discharged into Salitrillo Creek.

“This water discharges into the Salitrillo Creek that will eventually make its way to the Martinez Creek and then to the Cibolo Creek and eventually to the San Antonio River,” Krueger said.

Because of growing debate surrounding proposed wastewater treatment plants near the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, KSAT asked how close this plant is to sensitive groundwater areas.

“We are a good distance away from the recharge zone. We don’t discharge close to it,” Krueger said. “Now this water does infiltrate groundwater sources though downstream, through the natural earth process. But none of it is done for a direct ground injection at all.”

Plant officials also said the water leaving the facility is often cleaner than some natural bodies of water.

“As it’s coming in, it’s getting polluted already because of the natural resource of, you know, you’ve got algae growth, fish, minnows, turtles, birds,” Krueger said. “What we’re discharging into it is a far better quality.”

Read also:

• Tropical fish are thriving in San Antonio creeks. Here’s why it matters.

The announcement said the pardons were a “humanitarian gesture” in connection with Holy Week and didn’t mention mounting pressures with the U.S.

The government said the prisoners affected are foreigners and Cubans, including women, the elderly and young people. It didn't say when they were being released or under what conditions, nor did it mention the crimes they were accused of committing.

Authorities also provided no details on whether any of those pardoned were protesters convicted and sentenced for terrorism, contempt or public disorder.

Cuba’s government denies holding political prisoners, but the activist group Prisoners Defended registered 1,214 people imprisoned for political reasons in Cuba as of February.

Cuban authorities said the decision “was based on a careful analysis of the characteristics of the crimes committed by those sanctioned, their good behavior in prison, having served a significant portion of their sentence, and their health status,” according to a statement published in state media.

The release comes as the Trump administration has placed extreme pressure on Cuba’s government, imposing an oil blockade for months that has fueled blackouts and left many civilians suffering.

Cuba periodically frees prisoners at key moments.

In January last year, Cuba’s government released 553 prisoners as part of talks with the Vatican, a day after the Biden administration announced its intent to lift the U.S. designation of the island nation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Last month, Cuba released 51 people from the island’s prisons in an unexpected move that officials said stems from a spirit of goodwill and close relations with the Vatican.

The government said Thursday's announcement was the fifth prisoner release since 2011, and that it has freed more than 11,000 people.

The announcement come just months after the U.S. deposed ex-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and pressured that nation's government to make radical changes, including releasing prisoners detained for political reasons and passing an amnesty law.

He has played in 59 games, but just 58 count toward the league's record of games and Minnesota has six games left in the regular season.

Edwards did not play in Detroit, one game after he scored 17 points in 23 minutes in a win over Dallas in his first game in two weeks. He returned against the Mavericks after missing six games due to his right knee ailment.

Following Detroit's 113-108 win, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said Edwards' illness is what kept him out of the game.

The four-time All-Star, and two-time all-league guard finished seventh in NBA MVP voting in each of the last two seasons.

Edwards is averaging a career high with 29.3 points per game, but won't play 70-plus games as he did in each of his first five seasons in the league.

___

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

Tehran continued to demonstrate its ability to strike its neighbors even as U.S. President Donald Trump claimed the threat from the country was nearly eliminated and cheered the collapse of the bridge on Thursday, reportedly the tallest in the Middle East.

Iran decried the strike on the bridge, which also injured 95 people celebrating Nature Day, when Iranians gather for picnics and other celebrations outdoors on the last day of Nowruz, the Persian new year.

“Striking civilian infrastructure only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote Thursday in a post on X.

Iran’s attacks on Gulf states along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world’s energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. That has proved to be Iran’s greatest strategic advantage in the war. Britain held a call with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait once the fighting is over.

Trump has insisted the strait can be taken by force — but said it is not up to the U.S. to do that. In an address to the American people Wednesday night, he encouraged countries that depend on oil from Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”

Before the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb. 28 with strikes on Iran, the waterway was open to traffic and 20% of all traded oil passed through it.

Iran continues to strike Israel and Gulf countries

Iran responded defiantly to Trump’s speech, in which the American president claimed U.S. military action had been so decisive that “one of the most powerful countries” is “really no longer a threat.”

A spokesman for Iran’s military, Lt. Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, insisted Thursday that Tehran maintains hidden stockpiles of arms, munitions and production facilities. He said facilities targeted so far by U.S. strikes are “insignificant.”

Trump, in his address, said U.S. “core strategic objectives are nearing completion.”

Iran state media reported the attack on the B1 bridge, which was still under construction, citing authorities in Alborz province.

Trump posted footage on social media showing what he said was the collapse of Iran's biggest bridge and threatening, “Much more to follow.” It was not immediately clear if the footage Trump shared was the B1 bridge.

In Lebanon — where Israel has launched a ground invasion against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants — Israeli strikes killed 27 people over 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.

Nearly three dozen nations talk about securing the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian attacks on about two dozen commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.

Since March 1, traffic through the strait has dropped 94% over the same period last year, according to the Lloyds List Intelligence shipping data firm. Two ships are confirmed to have paid a fee, the firm said, while others were allowed through based on agreements with their home governments.

Saudi Arabia piped about 1 billion barrels of oil away from the Strait of Hormuz in March, according to maritime data firm Kpler, while Iraq said Thursday that it had started to truck oil across Syria to avoid the strait.

The 35 countries that spoke Thursday, including all G7 industrialized democracies except the U.S., as well as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, signed a declaration last month demanding Iran stop blocking the strait.

Thursday’s talks were focused on political and diplomatic measures, but British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said military planners from an unspecified number of countries will also plot ways to ensure security once fighting ends, including potential mine-clearing work and “reassurance” for commercial shipping.

No country appears willing to try to open the strait by force while the war is raging. French President Emmanuel Macron, while on a visit to South Korea, called a military operation to secure the waterway “unrealistic.”

But there is a concern that Iran might limit traffic through the waterway even after U.S. and Israeli attacks cease.

Oil prices rise again even as Trump suggests the war could end soon

The conflict is driving up prices for oil and natural gas, roiling stock markets, pushing up the cost of gasoline and threatening to make a range of goods, including food, more expensive.

Oil prices remained elevated, however, at $111.54 for a barrel of U.S. crude, having soared following Trump’s address. That's up about 50% from Feb. 28.

Though the oil and gas that typically transits the strait is primarily sold to Asian nations, Japan and South Korea were the only two countries from the region joining Thursday's call about the strait. The supply of jet fuel has also been interrupted, with consequences for travel worldwide.

___

Rising from Bangkok and Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo contributed to this story.

Meissner endured wet conditions on Day 1 at TPC San Antonio, posting a 1-under-par 71 with four birdies and three bogeys.

“I had a lot of good shots from the fairway that didn’t end up how I was hoping they would,” Meissner said. “So, pretty frustrated with how it turned out. Don’t love bogeying the last hole, but anything under par is still a good round out here, so I’ll take it.”

Emotions were fresh for Meissner right after his round, but being back in San Antonio remained special.

“I grew up watching this one, my parents live 30 minutes from here,” Meissner said. “It’s very special to be able to play in front of, in front of the home crowd.”

“I went to high school here,” Meissner continued, “and I still try and come back down here as much as I can.”

“I love playing at home. Texas is obviously home for me,” Meissner said. “Any chance we get to play in Texas—I’m really happy.”

Meissner teed off in the morning grouping with Ryan Palmer and Dylan Wu.

He expressed frustration with several approach shots that did not yield expected results despite solid fairway play.

The Valero Texas Open continues Friday at TPC San Antonio.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said they are responding to Americans who have worried about plastics and pharmaceuticals in their drinking water. The gesture also aims to hand a win to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s MAHA movement, which for months has pressured Zeldin to further crack down on environmental contaminants.

The EPA’s Contaminant Candidate List identifies contaminants in drinking water not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The agency is publishing the draft of the sixth version of the list, which opens a 60-day public comment period. It expects to finalize the list by mid-November.

“I can’t think of an issue that hits closer to home for American families than the safety of their drinking water,” Zeldin said at EPA Headquarters.

Studies have looked at the prevalence of microplastics in drinking water and in people’s hearts, brains and testicles. Doctors and scientists are still assessing what it means in terms of human health threats, but say there's cause for concern. There is also growing worry about pharmaceutical drugs that get into the water supply because humans excrete them and conventional wastewater treatment plants fail to remove them.

The EPA uses the list to prioritize research, funding and regulatory decision making, but rarely moves pollutants off the list to set limits for how much is allowed in public drinking water. The EPA said in March that it will not develop regulations for any of the nine pollutants from the list it most recently examined.

“It’s the beginning of a very long process that routinely ends in nothing,” said Erik Olson, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council who works on drinking water protection.

Still, some who are urging the government to do more to stop plastic pollution say the announcement is a good start.

“Including it in the list would be the first step toward eventually regulating microplastics in public water supplies and hopefully this is not the last step,” said Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator who now heads up Beyond Plastics.

Dr. Philip Landrigan, director of the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at Boston College, said that while the EPA is moving in the right direction, if the United States does not rein in the accelerating growth in plastic production, which leads to plastic pollution, it will make little difference. The U.S. is participating in talks on a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution, but strongly opposes limits on plastic production.

Food & Water Watch says the listing is important but it ultimately falls short of their call for monitoring. EPA uses the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule to collect data for contaminants that are suspected to be present in drinking water.

The American Chemistry Council, an industry group, said it supports monitoring of microplastics in drinking water and research to better understand potential impacts, as long as the monitoring is standardized and consistent nationwide.

Plastic pollution is part of the MAHA agenda

The joint move from Kennedy and Zeldin comes as activists from Kennedy’s MAHA movement have forged fragile political ties with the EPA but expressed frustration with lack of action on their priorities, including pesticide regulation.

The movement erupted earlier this year over an executive order from President Donald Trump that is aimed in part at boosting the production of a controversial herbicide ingredient known as glyphosate. Kennedy has said he was disappointed by the executive order but sees it as necessary for agricultural stability and national security.

The EPA has teased a forthcoming MAHA agenda that it says will address issues such as forever chemicals, plastic pollution, food quality, Superfund cleanups and lead pipes. In February, EPA press secretary Brigit Hirsch told The Associated Press that the agenda was in its “final stages.”

Kennedy, whose 2024 independent presidential campaign focused in part on tackling plastic pollution, also announced a $144 million effort to better measure, understand and remove microplastics that have made their way into human bodies.

Called STOMP, or Systematic Targeting of Microplastics, it will involve building tools to detect and quantify microplastics, mapping how they move through the body, and ultimately removing microplastics from the human body, he said.

“We can’t treat what we cannot measure, we cannot regulate what we don’t understand,” Kennedy said at the EPA on Thursday. “Together, we’re going to define the risk, build the tools and act on the evidence regarding microplastics.”

MAHA leaders, farmers and organizations told Zeldin in a letter Tuesday to tackle the health impacts of pesticides, plastics and PFAS chemicals. On plastics, they said the agenda must include monitoring for microplastics, establishing new limits on microplastics exposure and placing a moratorium on permitting for new or expanding plastic production facilities.

David Murphy, a former fundraiser for Kennedy’s presidential campaign, now works with the MAHA movement on its priorities as the founder of United We Eat. Murphy said it’s encouraging to see progress on microplastics, but criticized Zeldin for approving new pesticides during his tenure.

“It’s one step forward, two steps back at the EPA,” he said Thursday.

EPA publishes the list every five years

The Safe Drinking Water Act, as amended in 1996, directed the EPA to publish the Contaminant Candidate List every five years. Afterward, the agency must determine whether to regulate at least five contaminants from the list. In five cycles of the process, the EPA has determined that no regulatory action is appropriate or necessary for most of the contaminants it considered.

Trump has sought fewer environmental rules. In May, the EPA announced plans to rescind limits on some less common “forever chemicals” in drinking water, roughly a year after the Biden administration finalized the first-ever national standards. The NRDC and other environmental advocates are fighting to keep the entire Biden-era rule in place.

The new draft list includes four contaminant groups — microplastics, pharmaceuticals,  PFAS and disinfection byproducts — as well as 75 chemicals and nine microbes that may be found in drinking water, the EPA said.

___

Associated Press writers Michael Phillis and Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this report.

___

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

Blanche, whom Trump elevated Thursday from deputy attorney general to acting U.S. attorney general, rose to prominence representing the president in criminal cases that consumed the four years between his first and second terms.

Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and law firm partner, led Trump's criminal defense team, representing the Republican in matters including his New York hush money case, which ended in his conviction on 34 felony counts, and a pair of federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith, both of which have been abandoned.

In a social media post, Trump called Blanche “a very talented and respected Legal Mind.”

As deputy attorney general, Blanche was the Justice Department’s second-in-command.

Working under Attorney General Pam Bondi, he managed the department’s day-to-day operations and became one of its most vocal defenders and visible public faces. He oversaw the release of government files on Jeffrey Epstein and appeared frequently on TV news programs.

Here's a look at Blanche's career and his rise to running the Justice Department:

Paralegal by day, law school student by night

Blanche, 51, attended Brooklyn Law School at night while working as a paralegal at the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, and graduated cum laude. Originally from the Denver suburbs, he completed his undergraduate studies at American University in Washington, D.C.

Blanche served as a law clerk for federal judges Denny Chin and Joseph Bianco, both now members of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and was a federal prosecutor for eight years in the same U.S. attorney’s office where he had started as a paralegal.

He spent two years as co-chief of the office’s violent crimes unit, overseeing about two dozen prosecutors and cases involving killings, kidnappings, and other violent crimes.

Entering private practice and Trump's inner circle

Blanche left the U.S. attorney's office in 2014, taking a job in the Manhattan office of the law firm WilmerHale. In September 2017, he moved to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, where he was a partner in the White Collar Defense and Investigations practice.

In a prelude to his work defending Trump, Blanche represented the president's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and in 2019 succeeded in getting a mortgage fraud case against him dismissed in the same New York court where Trump was convicted.

Blanche argued that the case, brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office that later prosecuted Trump, was too similar to one that landed Manafort in federal prison and therefore amounted to double jeopardy.

‘An opportunity I should not pass up’

Blanche left Cadwalader in 2023, telling colleagues he was resigning to represent Trump. He joined the president's defense team just prior to his arraignment in the hush money case.

In an email announcing his departure, he wrote: “I have been asked to represent Trump in the recently charged DA case, and after much thought/consideration, I have decided it is the best thing for me to do and an opportunity I should not pass up.”

Despite his conviction, Trump came away from the hush money case impressed with Blanche’s tenacity, his willingness to spar with witnesses and judges, and the poise he showed in speaking in front of TV cameras.

Trump rewarded Blanche and another of his defense lawyers, Emil Bove, with prominent roles in his new administration's Justice Department, and last summer nominated Bove to be a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Defending Trump in a slew of criminal cases

In addition to the hush money matter, Blanche represented Trump in the two cases brought by the special counsel, his 2020 election interference case in Washington and the Florida case accusing the former president of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

In both cases, Trump's Blanche-led defense team successfully mounted a legal strategy focused heavily on delaying the cases until after the 2024 presidential election. When Trump won, Smith moved to abandon the cases, acknowledging a longstanding Justice Department policy that says sitting presidents cannot be indicted or prosecuted while in office.

Ten days before Trump returned to office, Blanche sat alongside him at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, appearing by video together as a Manhattan judge sentenced the president-elect to no punishment in the hush-money case.

“The majority of the American people also agree that this case should not have been brought,” Blanche told the judge, citing the election results as a verdict of its own.

“The American voters got a chance to see and decide for themselves whether this was the kind of case that should’ve been brought," Blanche said. "And they decided.”

A trio of council members had pushed to get a non-binding resolution to support adding 65 officers in the Fiscal Year 2027 budget onto Thursday’s agenda.

But after apparently failing to sway their council colleagues on the early show of support, the group joined in the unanimous vote to push discussion of the issue to the first Public Safety Committee meeting in May.

One of the three council members, Councilman Marc Whyte (D10), told KSAT he wasn’t concerned.

“I believe that the data is clear. Everyone knows we need the officers, right? And so we just have to get it done,” Whyte said after the vote.

Other council members want the addition of new officers to be considered within a wider view of the budget.

“So there’s trade-offs when we decide to fund one thing over the other, and we just have to make sure we very well understand what those tradeoffs are if we move forward with continuing with more officers,” said Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1), the chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee.

Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2) said council members might end up supporting the addition of “however many officers, but we’ll do it alongside a handful of other challenging decisions.”

“The reality is that we don’t know what our financial outlook is, but have a sense that it’s bleak,” he said. “We don’t know how many cuts we’ll have to make to Public Works, to Metro Health, to (Parks and Recreation), to libraries, Animal Care Services, our fire department, our housing programs, Code Enforcement, the nonprofits who provide essential and wraparound services to our community.”

“We don’t know if we’re going to have to raise property taxes alongside utility rates to afford any of this growth,” he said.

The city has been trying to follow a recommendation from a 2023 staffing analysis to add 360 patrol officers over a three- to five-year period. The idea is to give officers more time for proactive policing, like checking on regular trouble spots, traffic enforcement, or patrolling for car burglars, instead of running from call to call.

The city added 100 new patrol officers in FY 2024 and another 65 in FY 2025.

At one point, city staff planned to add 65 officers in FY 2026. However, in the face of a yawning budget deficit, council members only ended up adding 40.

That in itself was still more than what staff had suggested.

Whyte, Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), and Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9) were all part of unsuccessful pushes to raise that final number for FY 2026 and signed onto a memo to force Thursday’s resolution discussion.

Whyte said he “100%” agreed that the city needs to address the root causes of crime “but this is not an either/or.”

“We can address root causes of crime; we can fund various programs that will help us do that. But that does not alleviate the need to put officers on the street,” he said.

Councilman Ric Galvan (D6) pushed back against that idea during Thursday’s discussion.

“These are not one-time dollars that we can just throw out. They’re permanent dollars. They require revenue. They require permanent cuts to programs too if we don’t get any more revenue into it,” Galvan said. “And so it is either/or. It’s easy to say it’s not, but that’s just fiscally irresponsible to say that — and unrealistic.”

Council members are scheduled to consider a mid-year adjustment to the FY 2026 budget in early to mid-May.

They will discuss their goals for the FY 2027 budget on May 22, but they won’t pass a final spending plan until September.

Read also:

• Would more SAPD officers mean less crime? Councilman says violent crime plan results show need for more

Gen. Randy George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately,” said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman. George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023 under the Biden administration.

The ouster, reported earlier by CBS News, is just the latest of more than a dozen firings of top generals and admirals by Hegseth since he took office last year. Like many of those other firings, Pentagon officials are not offering a reason for George's departure, which comes nearly five weeks into U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and with no clear timeline from President Donald Trump on when the war may end.

Hegseth also has ousted Army Gen. David Hodne and Army Maj. Gen. William Green, according to a Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive leadership changes. A reason for their departures also was not given.

General who rose rapidly under Hegseth will fill in

Gen. Christopher LaNeve will be stepping in as acting Army chief of staff, the Pentagon official said. LaNeve was serving as Hegseth’s top military aide when Trump suddenly nominated him to be the Army's vice chief of staff last October. It is a meteoric rise for an officer who was only a two-star general two years ago.

He would take over for George, who is a graduate of West Point Military Academy and an infantry officer who served in the first Gulf War as well as Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s top military aide from 2021 to 2022 during the Biden administration before taking on top leadership roles in the Army.

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

Since then, more than a dozen other top military generals and admirals have either retired early or been removed from their posts.

Among those departures was George’s deputy, Gen. James Mingus, who was vice chief of staff of the Army for less than two years. LaNeve was nominated to that post after earlier being plucked from commanding the Eighth Army in South Korea after less than a year in the job to be Hegseth’s top military aide.

A spokesman for George could not be reached for comment.

Two other Army generals are fired

Of the other generals who were fired, Hodne had been head of the Army Transformation and Training Command, a unit that was only stood up in December as part of George’s effort to modernize the Army and amid Hegseth’s push to reduce the number of general officers in the military.

Green had been the Army’s chief of chaplains. Hegseth announced two major reforms to the military’s chaplain corps a little over a week ago.

In a video message last week, Hegseth said he wanted chaplains to focus more on God and less on therapeutic “self-help and self-care.” In recent years, the military has become increasingly dependent on chaplains to help address the growing numbers of troops in mental health distress. Hegseth also said chaplains would no longer wear their rank on their uniform but instead would be identified by religious insignia.

The changes come as Iran war grinds on

The leadership shakeup comes as Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne division are heading to the Middle East along with thousands of Marines and other assets. The Trump administration has avoided questions about whether or not the U.S. military will deploy ground troops against Iran.

In a prime-time address Wednesday about the war, Trump offered no end date for the conflict and few details on his strategy going forward but did forecast more military action.

“We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump said of Iran, before adding that “we’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong.”

Hegseth echoed that sentiment after the speech, with a post on social media that simply read, “Back to the Stone Age.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on X that Trump’s comment “reflects ignorance, not strength,” noting that Iran’s civilization spans over 7,000 years.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Gen. Jim Slife’s name was misspelled Silfe.