THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Thursday, even though oil prices did too, as financial markets moved more modestly a day after surging on optimism about a ceasefire in the war with Iran.

The morning began with modest losses for Wall Street following drops for Asian and European stocks. But the S&P 500 erased its dip and was up by 0.5% in late trading after Israel's prime minister authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon. That eased worries that the two-week ceasefire announced late Tuesday may already be in trouble because of Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by 273 points, or 0.5%, with an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher after both indexes likewise recovered from early losses.

Crude oil prices pared some of their gains, but they nevertheless remained higher for the day on continued uncertainty about when oil tankers can start fully flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway has been at the center of President Donald Trump’s demands of Iran, and blockages there have kept oil and natural gas stuck in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide.

The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 3.7% to settle at $97.87 after briefly nearing $103 in the morning. Brent crude, the international standard, added 1.2% to $95.92 per barrel.

Given how far apart the United States and Iran seem to be in their demands, upward pressure on oil prices may be “here to stay for a while” according to strategists at Macquarie led by Thierry Wizman. Risks remain for renewed fighting, which could cause customers worldwide to hoard whatever oil supplies they do get. That could itself keep oil off the market, much like actual fighting targeting pipelines or oil tankers.

Oil prices have been swinging through sharp and sudden reversals for weeks with hopes for the Strait of Hormuz to fully reopen and allow production of oil and natural gas to kick back into gear. Brent oil has gone from roughly $70 per barrel before the war in late February to more than $119 at times.

Despite all the swings, the U.S. stock index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts isn't far from its all-time high. The S&P 500 is just 2.3% below its record set in January.

Constellation Brands climbed 7.9% for one of the index's biggest gains on Thursday after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, which sells Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wines, said it saw encouraging trends heading into its new fiscal year. But it pulled its financial forecasts for the following fiscal year because of “limited near-term visibility” and other factors.

CoreWeave rallied 3.1% after announcing an expanded, $21 billion deal with Meta Platforms to provide AI cloud capacity through December 2032. Meta rose 2.5%.

On the losing end of Wall Street was Simply Good Foods, which sank 20.7% after reporting a worse drop in revenue than analysts expected. CEO Joe Scalzo called the results unsatisfactory and said the company behind the Quest and Atkins brands is making immediate changes to turn around its performance.

Mixed reports on the U.S. economy also helped keep Wall Street in check. One said an underlying measure of inflation that the Federal Reserve considers important was slightly hotter in February than economists expected. It decelerated before the war with Iran began, but not by as much as economists expected.

A separate report said that more U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. The number was not very high compared with history, but it could indicate an acceleration in layoffs.

Treasury yields swiveled up and down in the bond market following the reports before pulling back close to where they were the day before.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.29%, where it late Wednesday. It's still well above its 3.97% level from before the war, which has sent rates up for mortgages and other kinds of loans going to U.S. households and businesses.

If oil prices stay high and keep upward pressure on inflation, the Federal Reserve would have a tough time resuming its cuts to interest rates to help the slowing economy, even if the job market weakens. A growing number of Fed officials seem to be considering the possibility of a hike in rates, according to minutes of their latest meeting released on Wednesday.

In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.6%, and Germany’s DAX lost 1.1% for two of the world’s biggest moves.

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AP Writers Chan Ho-him, Matt Ott and Aniruddha Ghosal contributed to this report.

McIlroy spent the rest of the day proving him right.

The 36-year-old McIlroy opened his title defense with a 5-under 67 to claim a share of the early lead with Sam Burns at Augusta National and position himself for a run at becoming only the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters.

“Rory’s got the monkey off his back, and I think he has a very, very good chance to repeat,” Nicklaus said early Thursday after serving as the Masters' honorary starter.

After years of heartbreak and close calls at Augusta National, McIlroy beat Justin Rose in a playoff last April to complete the career Grand Slam in his 17th Masters start. So the pressure to win has dissipated.

McIlroy said earlier this week he was much more relaxed ahead of this year's tournament after years of putting too much pressure on himself.

He played like it.

He shot 34 on the front nine and then kicked it into overdrive on the 13th hole. After his tee shot sailed right and well into the pine straw, McIlroy spent more than 10 minutes trying to clear patrons out of his way before delivering a perfectly placed punch out between the tall pines into the middle of the fairway.

He followed with a pitching wedge just past the hole and then rolled in a lengthy downhill putt for a birdie. Two more birdies followed on Nos. 14 and 15, moving him into a familiar spot atop the leaderboard.

He finished with six birdies and one bogey.

Nicklaus was the first to repeat at the Masters, winning in 1965 and 1966. Nick Faldo (1989–90) and Tiger Woods (2001–02) matched his feat, but nobody has been able to repeat since.

Nicklaus said repeating is not easy.

He broke the Masters scoring record with a 17-under 271 in 1965, then returned the following year to find a course with a much different feel.

Nicklaus finished 17 shots worse at even-par 288, but still won in a playoff.

“You had totally different conditions, and that’s what you put up with,” said Nicklaus, who has won a record six Masters. “If you’re going to win two years in a row, you’ll find conditions you like and maybe you don’t find conditions you like, but you’ve got to adjust to both of those. I was fortunate enough to be able to do that.”

On Tuesday, McIlroy said this year feels “completely different” than the pressure he endured at previous Masters.

“I feel so much more relaxed,” McIlroy said. "I know that I’m going to be coming back here for a lot of years, going to enjoy the perks that the champions get here. It doesn’t make me any less motivated to go out there and play well and try to win the tournament, but yeah, just more relaxed about it all.”

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

The two countries have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them. In a video statement, he said Israel will keep striking Hezbollah until security is restored in northern Israel.

There was no immediate response from Lebanese authorities. But Israel-Lebanon negotiations were expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a U.S. official and a person familiar with the plans who both spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the matter.

The prospect of talks appeared to bolster the tentative ceasefire in the Iran war that has staggered under the weight of Israel’s bombardment of Beirut, Tehran’s continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty over whether planned peace talks can find common ground.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he was “very optimistic” about the prospects of reaching a peace deal, saying Iranian leaders are more amenable in private conversations than in their public statements.

Netanyahu's announcement came amid disagreement over whether the ceasefire deal included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and a day after Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes that resulted in the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began on Feb. 28.

Israel has fought multiple wars and launched several major invasions over the years, most recently sending in large numbers of troops last month in response to Hezbollah fire on Israel’s northern border communities.

The launch of direct peace talks is a significant achievement, though reaching an agreement will be difficult after decades of hostilities, Hezbollah’s continued presence and longstanding disagreements over the exact route of their shared border.

The talks in Washington are expected to be handled on the American side by the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, and on the Israeli side by the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, according to the person familiar with the planning.

It was not immediately clear who would represent Lebanon.

The timing and location of the talks was first reported by Axios.

After declaring victory with the ceasefire announcement, both Iran and the U.S. appeared to apply pressure on each other. Semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil that Tehran has closed. Trump warned that U.S. forces would hit Iran harder than before if it did not fulfill the agreement.

Questions also remained over what will happen to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium at the heart of tensions, how and when normal traffic will resume through the strait, and what happens to Iran’s ability to launch future missile attacks and support armed proxies in the region.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a message on Telegram that the decision to accept a ceasefire was made unanimously by senior government leaders and approved by the supreme leader. He said the ceasefire “is not a sign of weakness but a way to solidify Iran’s proud victories."

Despite the fragile and disputed nature of the ceasefire, it appeared to have halted weeks of missile and drone attacks by Iran on its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel, with no new launches reported Thursday. There were no reports of strikes by the U.S. or Israel targeting Iran.

Israel vows to continue striking Hezbollah in Lebanon

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, warned Thursday that continued Israeli attacks on the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon would bring “explicit costs and STRONG responses” in a social media post.

Qalibaf has been discussed as a possible negotiator who could meet U.S. Vice President JD Vance this weekend in Islamabad. The White House has said Vance would lead the delegation for talks starting Saturday.

Iran had said Israel's ongoing attacks on Hezbollah were violating the ceasefire agreement. Netanyahu and Trump have said it was not.

Trump said Thursday that he asked Netanyahu to dial back the strikes in Lebanon.

“I spoke with Bibi, and he’s going to low-key it. I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview.

Hours before Netanyahu authorized the negotiations with Lebanon, he said Israel would continue striking militants in the country “with force, precision and determination."

Lebanon’s health ministry said more than 300 people were killed and more than 1,100 wounded Wednesday in Israeli strikes in central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah, which joined the war in support of Tehran.

Israel said Thursday it killed an aide to Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, Ali Yusuf Harshi. Hezbollah did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A New York-based think tank warned that the ceasefire “ hovers on the verge of collapse ” following Israel's strikes Wednesday.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike overnight killed at least seven people in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military did not immediately acknowledge the strike.

Threat of mines looms over the strait

Semiofficial news agencies in Iran published a chart Thursday suggesting the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard put sea mines into the Strait of Hormuz during the war — a message that may be intended to pressure the United States.

The chart, released by the ISNA news agency and Tasnim, showed a large circle marked “danger zone” in Farsi over the route ships take through the strait, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas once passed.

Only a trickle of ships have transited since the war began after several were attacked, and Iran threatened to hit any that it deemed connected to the U.S. or Israel. Ships appeared to continue to avoid the strait even after the ceasefire.

The chart suggested that ships travel through waters closer to Iran’s mainland near Larak Island, a route that some ships were observed taking during the war. It was dated from Feb. 28 until April 9, and it was unclear if the Guard had cleared any mines since then.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, told the BBC that his country will allow ships to pass through the strait in accordance with “international norms and international law” once the United States ends its “aggression” in the Middle East and Israel stops attacking Lebanon.

The head of the United Arab Emirates’ major oil company, Sultan al-Jaber, said some 230 ships loaded with oil were waiting to get through the strait and must be allowed "to navigate this corridor without condition.”

The strait’s de facto closure has caused oil prices to skyrocket — affecting the cost of gasoline, food and other basics far beyond the Middle East. The spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was around $98 Thursday, up about 35% since the war began.

Fate of Iran’s enriched uranium remains a question

The fate of Iran’s missile and nuclear programs — which the U.S. and Israel sought to eliminate in going to war — was unclear. The U.S. insists Iran must never be able to build nuclear weapons and wants to remove Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which could be used to build them. Iran insists its program is peaceful.

Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. would work with Iran to remove the uranium, buried in last year's U.S. and Israeli strikes, though Iran did not confirm that. In one version of the ceasefire deal that Iran published, it said it would be allowed to continue enrichment.

The chief of Iran’s nuclear agency, Mohammad Eslami, said Thursday that protecting Tehran’s right to enrich uranium is “necessary” for any ceasefire talks.

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Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writers Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong, Zeke Miller and Matthew Lee in Washington, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Kareem Chehayeb and Hussein Malla in Beirut contributed to this report.

In the 17-minute video posted Wednesday, the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets tell how Lt. Col. Brandon Shah lunged at the shooter during the March 12 incident at the Norfolk school, placing himself between the gunman and the class.

Cadet Jah-Ire Urtarte said Shah, who was shot and did not survive, saved lives that day.

“If he didn’t lunge at him, you know, I wouldn’t be here right now,” he said. “There’s a possibility he could’ve turned his gun and I could’ve been next.”

The shooter, Army National Guard veteran Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, also died. He had pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to aid the Islamic State and was sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was on supervised release at the time of the attack.

The students say Jalloh walked into their classroom and nervously asked if it was an ROTC class. When someone confirmed that, they say he pulled a pistol from his waist, shouted 'Allahu akbar,’ and fired toward Shah.

Students dived for cover. As Shah struggled with Jalloh, Cadet Louis Ancheta said he pulled out his pocket knife, moved toward them and was hit in the chest by a round.

“It really didn’t feel like it hit me,” he said, pointing toward his sternum. “It felt like a graze. After that, I’m like, `I can keep on going.' ”

When Shah got the man turned around, Ancheta said he took action with the folding tactical knife that most cadets carry with them.

“So, I just go in there, just start stabbing him,” he said. “As I’m stabbing, other cadets jump in.”

Cadet Jeremy Rawlinson said he took out his knife, too, to help stop the threat.

Despite having several people on top of him, Jalloh still had the gun. Cadet Wesley Myers said he made that his priority, squeezing his fingers between Jalloh's hand and the weapon to pry it away and clear the final round from the chamber.

With the shooter disarmed, the cadets said they turned their attention to the wounded: Cadet Samuel Reineberg found a gunshot wound to Shah’s upper right thigh. Rawlinson handed him his belt for a tourniquet.

“On an instant, we switched over to doing combat care,” Rawlinson said.

Myers went to Ancheta.

“It’s different when it’s not a mannequin and it’s your friend,” Myers said. “So, myself and another cadet pull him to the side and lay him on his back and begin performing first aid.”

Ancheta said he asked them to call his mother.

He received the Purple Heart — one of several cadets awarded medals for their response.

They praised Shah for taking action to protect them and for preparing them for the moment.

“So, he got to see all the training that he and the rest of Cadre had been giving us for the past years. He got to see us instantly do that in action,” Rawlinson said. “He got see right then and there, like, hey, these guys didn’t panic. They immediately switched over."

Shah attended Old Dominion University as an ROTC student, according to his biography on the university’s website, and had returned in 2022 as a leader for the program. In the Army, Shah had flown helicopters over Iraq, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe as a pilot.

Two days before the shooting, Shah had told cadets not to wear their uniforms around campus as a precaution, another cadet previously told The Associated Press.

“Because of all the situation that’s happening with Iran and all of that stuff in the Middle East,” said Cadet Brandon Rebolledo, who was in the nearby ROTC building when the shooting occurred. “To make sure that we did not become a target and to make sure that we were keeping a low profile.”

The students say Shah was the real hero that day.

“So, he has a saying: 'Be bold, be quick, be gone,’ ” Rawlinson said.

Added Cadet Oshea Bego: “Col. Shah really set that example for what it means, not just as a warrior, leader and soldier, but also just as a human being.”

On Wednesday, The Associated Press reported that at least 50 brand new accounts on Polymarket placed substantial bets on a U.S.-Iran ceasefire in the hours, even minutes, before President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire late Tuesday on social media. These were the sole bets made on Polymarket through these accounts.

In January, an anonymous Polymarket user made a $400,000 profit by betting that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro would be out of office, hours before Maduro was captured. In the hours before the start of the Iran war, another account made roughly $550,000 in a series of trades effectively betting that the U.S. would strike Iran and that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would be removed from office.

Such prescient wagers have raised eyebrows — and accusations that prediction markets are ripe for insider trading. And the issue goes beyond these three geopolitical events, according to at least one report. Researchers at Harvard University released a paper last month where, using public blockchain data, they estimated that $143 million in profits have been made on Polymarket by individuals who potentially had insider information about events ranging from Taylor Swift's engagement to the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y who sits on the House Financial Services Committee as well as the subcommittee on digital assets and financial technology, sent a letter Thursday to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission demanding the regulator review and investigate these well-timed trades. The CFTC regulates the derivatives markets, which includes prediction markets.

“This pattern raises serious concerns that certain market participants may have had access to material nonpublic information regarding a market-moving geopolitical event,” Torres wrote. The letter was shared exclusively with The AP.

“What is the statistical likelihood that of anyone other than an insider trader placing a winning bet 12 minutes before a market-moving presidential announcement,” Torres said in an interview with AP. “There are two answers: God, or an insider trader. And something tells me that God it not placing bets around Donald Trump’s posts on Truth Social. "

Prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket allow their users to bet on everything from whether it will rain in Phoenix, Arizona next week to whether the Federal Reserve will raise or lower interest rates.

At this time, U.S. residents have limited access to Polymarket, which was banned from the U.S. in 2022. The company has moved to reenter the country by acquiring a CFTC-licensed exchange and clearinghouse, giving it a legal pathway to start offering contracts domestically. The company has begun a limited rollout in the U.S.

Polymarket also operates a separate, crypto-based platform offshore that remains outside U.S. jurisdiction. That platform accounts for most of its activity.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, sent a letter to Polymarket on Thursday demanding the company explain why it continues to allow trades on war and violence as well as whether the company is making any efforts to keep insiders from trading on the platform.

“Polymarket has become an illicit market to sell and exploit national security secrets unlike any in history, and by extension a potential honeypot for foreign intelligence services watching for those same suspicious bets and wagers,” Blumenthal wrote.

Republicans have also criticized these platforms and called for bans on these sorts of bets. There are at least two bills pending in Congress co-signed by both parties, one in the House and one in the Senate.

“We don’t want to imagine a world where America’s adversaries use prediction markets to anticipate our next move,” said Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, after the release of the AP’s findings on the ceasefire wagers.

Polymarket did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The stakes are high for both Kalshi and Polymarket as they seek approval to operate in the U.S. and nationwide, particularly in the lucrative sports betting market.

Kalshi, which is already regulated in the U.S., and its executives have a goal of making the company the nation's dominant prediction market. Kalshi has also leaned heavily into sports, which critics have said effectively makes it a sports betting platform that dabbles in event-based contracts on the side. Both companies have also announced partnerships with sports teams and even news organizations to broaden their reach as well. The AP has an agreement to sell U.S. elections data to Kalshi.

The competition also carries political overtones. Donald Trump Jr. is an investor in Polymarket through his venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, and separately serves as a paid strategic adviser to Kalshi.

Reading an extraordinary statement at the White House, Melania Trump said she and her attorneys were fighting back against “unfound and baseless lies” in regards to her connections to the late financier, a convicted sex offender who leveraged connections to the rich, powerful and famous to recruit his victims and cover up his crimes.

“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect. I do not object to their ignorance, but rather I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation,” she said.

The extraordinary and seemingly out-of-the-blue message came as her husband, President Donald Trump, and his administration had finally seemed to move past more than a year of controversy surrounding Epstein, especially as the Iran war had become all-consuming in Washington. The first lady’s comments almost assuredly served to push the story back into the political spotlight even as the president urged the public and media to move on from the case.

The White House account on X reshared a video of the event posted by the first lady's account, but without added comment.

Melania Trump also called on Congress to hold a public hearing centered on survivors of Epstein’s crimes, with a chance to testify before lawmakers and have their stories entered into the congressional record.

“Each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public if she wishes,” she said. “Then, and only then, we will have the truth.”

Democrats jumped on Melania Trump's comments, saying they agreed with her call for a congressional hearing. In a social media post, Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee that is investigating Epstein, called on the Republican chair of the committee, Rep. James Comer, to schedule a public hearing “immediately.”

It was not immediately clear what prompted the first lady to speak out about this issue now.

Her calls for the issue to go back to Congress came after federal authorities released millions of pages of documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law enacted after months of public and political pressure that requires the government to open its files on the late financier and his confidant and onetime girlfriend, Maxwell.

Lawmakers complained when the Justice Department made only a limited release last month, but officials said more time was needed to review additional documents that were discovered and to ensure no sensitive information about victims was released.

Melania Trump said in her statement that she was not friends with Epstein or his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, but was in overlapping social circles in New York and Florida. She described an email reply she sent to Maxwell as “casual correspondence” without elaborating.

“My polite reply to her email doesn’t amount to anything more than a trifle,” she said.

Among the documents released by the Justice Department was a brief email from 2002 with the sender and recipient blacked out. It begins, “Dear G!” and ends “Love, Melania,” and compliments the recipient on a magazine article about “JE.”

“I know you are very busy flying all over the world,” it says. “How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you are back in NY.”

That email was sent the same month that a New York Magazine article was published about Epstein in which Trump called the financier a “terrific guy.”

Among other documents released was an image from Epstein’s home showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein’s longtime Maxwell.

In her comments, the first lady mentioned her husband several times. She said, contrary to some rumors, Epstein did not introduce her to Trump and that she met her future husband at a New York City party in 1998.

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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.

Erik Duran, 38, was convicted of manslaughter in the 2023 death of 30-year-old Eric Duprey. The ex-sergeant said he was trying to protect other officers from the approaching scooter. He is the first former NYPD officer sentenced to prison for an on-duty death in at least two decades.

“I took this job to save lives. I felt terrible once I saw Eric Duprey crash," Duran told a Bronx judge, saying he “did everything he could” to attend to the man's injuries.

“I never wanted this to happen,” he added, apologizing to Duprey's family in Spanish as a court interpreter translated.

Duprey's mother, Gretchen Soto, wept as Duran spoke. Earlier, she told the court: "There are no words to express what I feel.”

Judge Guy Mitchell said he did not accept the ex-sergeant’s defense that his actions were justified, concluding that Duran hurled the cooler because he “was upset that Mr. Duprey was getting away.” If there was no cooler, the judge said, Duprey “would have driven by” Duran and “could’ve been captured another day.”

Duran was immediately taken into custody after sentencing. His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said he will ask a court to free him on bail while he appeals.

"Nobody’s above the law” a woman shouted in a courthouse hallway after the sentence was announced.

Afterward, Soto and Duprey's partner, Pearl Velez, said they did not accept Duran’s apology.

“How you gonna say sorry now?” Velez said.

Duran's union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said thousands of officers signed an online petition calling for him to be spared prison.

“Today will forever be the darkest day of our profession,” union president Vincent Vallelong said. Duran’s prison sentence, he said, “puts in the back of a police officer's mind that they can lose their freedom” for making a split-second decision.

Officers in NYPD jackets packed the courtroom gallery, while a couple dozen protesters outside demanded justice for Duprey.

Prosecutors with state Attorney General Letitia James’ office sought a three-to-nine-year prison sentence for Duran, saying he recklessly caused Duprey's death.

“He did that while on duty,” then attempted to cover up his actions, prosecutor Joseph Bianco told the court.

Defense lawyer Andrew Quinn argued for no prison time, calling Duprey’s death the “unintended and tragic consequences” of a “reckless decision” Duran made in a span of 2.5 seconds.

Duran grew up in the Bronx and led a “model, exemplary life” prior to Duprey's death. A married father of three, he joined the NYPD because he wanted to make the borough “cleaner and safer for the kids who came after him,” Quinn said.

“He is now the cooler cop,” Quinn said.

Duran was part of a narcotics policing unit that conducted a “buy-and-bust” operation in the Bronx on Aug. 23, 2023. Police said Duprey sold drugs to an undercover officer, then tried to flee on a scooter.

Surveillance video showed Duprey driving the motorized scooter on a sidewalk toward a group of people. As he approached, the then-sergeant — who wasn't in uniform — picked up a bystander's cooler and threw it.

The container struck Duprey, who lost control of the scooter, slammed into a tree and crashed onto the pavement. Duprey was not wearing a helmet. He sustained fatal head injuries and died almost instantly, according to prosecutors.

They argued Duran had enough time to warn others to move but instead hurled the cooler because he was angry.

Duran, however, testified at his trial that he made a split-second decision to keep other officers safe from the scooter speeding toward them.

“He was gonna crash into us,” Duran said then, adding “all I had time for was to try again to stop or to try to get him to change directions.”

Duran opted to have Judge Mitchell, not a jury, decide the case.

Duran had worked for the NYPD for 13 years. He was suspended after the crash and fired after his conviction in February.

Duprey was a delivery driver and had three young children. Soto, who said she was on a video call with him right before he died, has disputed the police claims that he sold drugs and fled from officers.

She told the judge Thursday her son “is not just a name, not just one more case.”

“It is an unjust incident," Soto said through a Spanish interpreter. "As a mother, I have to miss him now every day.”

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Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.

The Postal Service also wants to increase postage rates, including raising the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 78 cents to 82 cents. USPS filed notice Friday with regulators, who still need to approve the changes.

The step taken by the Postal Board of Governors to forgo the pension payments is meant to preserve cash and liquidity due to the Postal Service's "ongoing, severe financial crisis," Postal Service Chief Financial Officer Luke Grossmann said in an internal message to USPS employees. Officials have warned the USPS is on course to run out of cash by around February 2027.

Despite the suspension of employer contributions, effective Friday, current and future retirees will not be immediately impacted, Grossman said.

“The risk to the Postal Service and the American public from insufficient liquidity for postal operations dramatically outweighs any longer-term risk to the pension funds from not making the currently due payments,” he said in the statement. USPS deferred payments in 2011 during another financial crisis.

The Postal Service said it will continue transmitting employees’ retirement contributions to the federal Office of Personnel Management, along with Thrift Savings Plan contributions, including employer automatic and matching funds, and will also maintain its employer contributions to Social Security.

Brian Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said the temporary suspension of annuity payments is “not ideal" but it doesn't immediately impact his members, who he said understand the Postal Service's financial challenges.

“Given a menu of options, none of which are overall positive, they would certainly prefer the Postal Service making a move like this as opposed to something that immediately impacts them or immediately impacts in a negative way the service that we provide to the American people.”

Ninety-nine percent of career USPS employees are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System.

In a related matter, the Postal Regulatory Commission on Thursday granted the Postal Service a temporary, multi-year waiver allowing it to redirect billions of dollars in revenue previously earmarked for retiree benefits, providing “some breathing room and flexibility” to execute contingency plans and avoid running out of cash.

Last month, Postmaster General David Steiner told The Associated Press and later a congressional committee that the 250-year-old service needs to have a decades-old $15 billion cap on borrowing raised to $34.5 billion so the independent agency can have access to more cash.

“That will buy us the time to make the fixes we need to make, and we can sail on down the road,” he told the AP. Steiner has called for other changes as well, including greater flexibility in how retirement funds are invested and the authority for USPS to raise postage prices high enough to cover losses.

Keep Us Posted, an advocacy group representing consumers, catalogs, greeting card publishers and others, has urged Congress to ensure any rate increases would be limited to once a year. The group also wants to ensure six-day-a-week mail service remains and that USPS regulators have greater control over any service changes.

USPS said the proposed price increases requested Thursday, which also affect postcards and international letters, will still make rates among the most affordable in the world. The Postal Service relies mostly on the sale of postage, products and services to finance its operations.

The Postal Service has seen annual volume plummet from about 220 billion pieces in 2006 to about 110 billion today as more people pay bills and communicate online.

USPS’s net losses for the 2025 fiscal year totaled $9 billion, even though total operating revenue increased by $916 million or 1.2%, due largely to its Ground Advantage shipping service. Net losses in fiscal year 2024 were $9.5 billion.

Jaren Lawson died from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in February, the medical examiner’s office told KSAT on Thursday. His manner of death was natural.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic disorder that causes a heart to “become thicker and stiff.”

A thickened heart can lead to a blocked blood flow in the muscle and sudden death, the CDC said.

A Northside Independent School District (NISD) spokesperson previously said that Lawson’s health records indicated no known medical conditions.

‘In and out of consciousness’

Lawson was assessed by athletic trainers since he could not hold himself up at the practice on Feb. 10, a San Antonio police report said.

He was “in and out of consciousness” while talking with EMS officials. Records show Lawson was lethargic and sweating profusely, records show.

Lawson was taken to a local hospital after he passed out. He was later pronounced dead shortly after midnight on Feb. 11, a NISD spokesperson said.

In a Feb. 13 email, the district dismissed allegations that a Stevens High School coach allegedly made Lawson participate in a prolonged exercise after the teen said he wasn’t feeling well.

“Our ongoing investigation has found ZERO evidence that these allegations are true,” the district said.

The district spokesperson also noted that its early findings did not indicate that Lawson informed coaching staff of “an inability to participate in practice.”

The spokesperson said the coaching staff reminded Lawson that he could opt out of the exercise. NISD also acknowledged that the coaches knew that Lawson had been ill the day before.

District officials said it did not find evidence that Lawson was denied access to water during the practice.

More coverage on this story on KSAT:

• Stevens HS football player who died after practice was ‘in and out of consciousness,’ police report says
• NISD identifies 16-year-old Stevens HS football player who died after passing out during athletic practice
• 16-year-old Stevens HS football player dies after passing out during athletic practice, district says

The official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday, said the investigation is “about affordability for consumers and creating an even playing field for providers.”

The investigation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The NFL has not received a notification that the league is being investigated, according to two other people with knowledge of the situation. Those people spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on possible legal matters.

The investigation comes amid increasing federal scrutiny of the amount of money fans are paying to watch sports on television. The Federal Communications Commission, for example, is seeking public comments on the ongoing shift of live sports from broadcast channels to streaming services.

The NFL said in a statement Thursday that over 87% of its games are available on broadcast television, including all that are played in a team's local market.

“The NFL’s media distribution model is the most fan and broadcaster-friendly in the entire sports and entertainment industry. The 2025 season was our most viewed since 1989 and reflects the strength of the NFL distribution model and its wide availability to all fans," the league said in its statement.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee, chair of the Senate judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy, and consumer rights, wrote a letter to the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission on March 3 urging them to review whether the NFL’s distribution methods are in line with the Sports Broadcasting Act, which grants limited antitrust immunity to allow teams to collectively license game broadcasts to national networks.

"The modern distribution environment differs substantially from the conditions that precipitated this exemption. Instead of a small number of free broadcast networks, the NFL now licenses games simultaneously to subscription streaming platforms, premium cable networks, and technology companies operating under different business models,” the Republican senator wrote. “To the extent collectively licensed game packages are placed behind subscription paywalls, these arrangements may no longer align with the statutory concept of sponsored telecasting or the consumer-access rationale underlying the antitrust exemption.”

Lee said in his letter that football fans spent almost $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions. Forbes estimated the cost of watching every NFL game via streaming last season at $765.

The NFL aired games last season on CBS, NBC, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+, Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and YouTube TV.

The Sports Broadcasting Act exemption passed in 1961 applies only to broadcast television. Courts have ruled in the past that it does not apply to other media, including cable, satellite and streaming.

The Sports Broadcasting Act includes a rule allowing blackouts of local games, which still applies to out-of-market packages sold by the league. The NFL ended local TV blackouts, which applied to games within 75 miles of a team’s market if they did not sell out 72 hours before kickoff, after the 2014 season.

Last year, the House Judiciary Committee requested briefings from the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB on whether antitrust exemptions should still be granted for coordinating their broadcast television rights.

All four of the major North American professional sports leagues have deals with streaming platforms.

In 2024, a jury in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles ruled the NFL violated antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service and awarded $4.7 billion in damages.

A federal judge overturned the verdict in the class-action lawsuit because the testimony of two witnesses for the subscribers had flawed methodologies and should have been excluded.

The lawsuit covered 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses in the United States who paid for the “Sunday Ticket” package on DirecTV of out-of-market games from the 2011 through 2022 seasons.

Because damages can be tripled under federal antitrust laws, the NFL could have been liable for $14,121,779,833.92.

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Reedy reported from Cleveland and Tucker from Washington.

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

Springs walked Giancarlo Stanton after catcher Austin Wynns lost an ABS challenge on the previous pitch that was called a ball. On his 84th pitch, Rice hit an 83 mph slider for a clean single to right field.

The A's held a 1-0 lead when Springs allowed Rice's hit.

Springs allowed two baserunners in the third and ended the inning by getting a called third strike on Aaron Judge with his changeup. He ended the fifth by getting José Caballero on a flyball to deep left field.

In the sixth, Springs won an ABS challenge that resulted in a called third strike to Ryan McMahon. He ended the sixth at 73 pitches after Judge softly grounded out to third.

The A’s have thrown 13 no-hitters in franchise history. The last was achieved by Mike Fiers on May 7, 2019, in Oakland against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Yankees have been no-hit eight times in team history. The last was a combined no-hitter by Houston’s Cristian Javier, Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly on June 25, 2022, at Yankee Stadium.

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

The settlement in principle was reached with Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, owner and operator of the M/V Dali, Attorney General Anthony Brown said. The settlement resolves a portion of the state's claims arising from the ship's March 26, 2024, crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

“For two years, Maryland workers, families, and communities have carried the weight of a disaster that should never have happened," Brown said in a news release. It did not give details of the settlement.

The attorney general noted that the Dali's crash into the bridge "disrupted the Port of Baltimore, devastated livelihoods, and sent economic shockwaves across our State that are still being felt today.”

“Our work is not finished, but this settlement is an important step toward making Maryland whole," Brown said.

The companies confirmed in a joint statement that significant progress has been made in resolving claims. Within the past week, the statement said, they have reached “two pivotal settlement agreements with the State of Maryland and ACE American Insurance Company that underscore their commitment to a reasonable and structured outcome to this unfortunate incident.”

The $350 million settlement with the insurance company matched the amount ACE paid to Maryland, an amount that represented the limit of the state's policy.

“These agreements represent a significant step towards resolving the complex litigation surrounding this event and Owners and Managers remain open to negotiating in good faith to reach equitable settlements with other involved parties holding meritorious claims,” the joint statement said.

The Maryland Transportation Authority late last year estimated the price range of a new bridge alone to be between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion, with an anticipated open-to-traffic date in late 2030.

The settlement does not resolve any claims the state may have against the shipbuilder, Hyundai, the attorney general's office said.

The ship was leaving Baltimore for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of a power loss. Six men on a road crew, who were filling potholes during an overnight shift, fell to their deaths when the bridge collapsed.

The state’s claims, filed in federal court in Maryland in September 2024, alleged that the disaster was the result of negligence, mismanagement, and the reckless operation of a vessel that was not seaworthy and should never have left port.

The state sought damages on behalf of its agencies for the destruction of the bridge, harm to the Patapsco River and surrounding environment, lost revenues, and the wide-ranging economic losses sustained by Maryland and its residents.

The collapse brought shipping at the Port of Baltimore to a complete halt, disrupted the livelihoods of thousands of workers, rerouted traffic through communities already bearing disproportionate burdens, and triggered economic ripple effects still being felt across the state, the attorney general's office noted.

The bridge, a longstanding Baltimore landmark, was a vital piece of transportation infrastructure that allowed drivers to easily bypass downtown. The original 1.6-mile (2.6-kilometer) steel span took five years to construct and opened to traffic in 1977. It was particularly important for the city’s port operations.

The Health Ministry said that 1,150 people were also wounded in the widespread strikes that rocked Lebanon on Wednesday, including in busy parts of Beirut.

There was no immediate response to the Israeli announcement from Lebanon, which had repeatedly proposed talks to end the war, or from Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that talks would focus on disarming Hezbollah and “establishing peaceful relations” between the countries.

Negotiations are expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a person familiar with the plans. The talks are expected to be handled on the American side by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, and on the Israeli side by Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the situation.

A Lebanese diplomatic official familiar with the developments said that the country has not yet appointed someone to lead talks from Beirut, but Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is keen to have a temporary ceasefire when talks commence in parallel with those taking place between the United States and Iran mediated by Pakistan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Israel's announcement came hours after it had warned of escalation and said that it had killed an aide and nephew of Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem, Ali Yusuf Harshi.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, earlier said that continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon would bring “explicit costs and STRONG responses,” while insisting that a two-week ceasefire in the Iran war extended to Lebanon. Israel has disagreed.

Israeli strikes on Wednesday, without warning, killed at least 203 people and wounded more than 1,000, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. Israel's military said that it targeted Hezbollah sites, but several strikes hit densely packed commercial and residential areas during rush hour, leading to widespread civilian casualties. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the attacks “barbaric.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday said that Washington asked Israel to scale back attacks on Lebanon to ensure negotiations with Iran are successful.

‘I thought I was dead’

In Beirut, people waited anxiously on the ragged edges of search and rescue work, shielding their faces from the dust. Exhausted firefighters sat on a charred car amid collapsed buildings.

Lebanese Civil Defense spokesperson Elie Khairallah told The Associated Press that a wounded woman was found alive overnight in the seaside neighborhood of Ain Mreisseh, and a man was found alive in his collapsed apartment building in the southern suburbs.

Mohammad Chehab, a Syrian man from Deir el-Zour, said that six of his 10 family members had been found dead in a destroyed building.

“They’ve been searching all day” for the rest, he said.

At hospitals, survivors and doctors described the carnage, while relatives gathered to identify bodies.

Abdul Rahman Mohammad, a Syrian who lost five relatives in the Hay al-Sellom neighborhood, waited at Rafik Hariri Hospital to retrieve the bodies of his mother, two sisters, brother and brother-in-law.

“They were struck without any warning. This is Israeli brutality,” he said.

Dr. Mohamad El Zaatari, director of the public hospital, said that it had treated 45 wounded people, including 10 cases in intensive care.

At the Makassed hospital, Rabee Koshok lay on his bed.

“I thought I was dead. What happened?" he recalled. “A big flash of light struck my face and eyes, and I found someone flying over and landing next to me. He was dead.”

Koshok had been in the commercial district of Corniche al Mazraa when a strike hit a nearby building.

Dr. Wael Jarrosh said that the hospital received around 70 wounded patients within 10 minutes of the blasts. Two people died and five remained hospitalized, including three in intensive care.

“This has destroyed us psychologically,” the doctor said.

Lebanon alleges ‘blatant violation’ of international law

Netanyahu earlier had said that strikes would proceed “with force, precision and determination." Israel's military has accused Hezbollah members of moving out of the group’s main areas of influence in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, and blending into civilian areas.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said that his country would file an urgent complaint with the U.N. Security Council, calling the attacks a “blatant violation” of international and humanitarian law.

In a Cabinet session earlier Thursday, the Lebanese government announced a plan to demilitarize Beirut and deploy larger numbers of security patrols.

Even before the renewed war, Lebanon's government had sought Hezbollah's disarmament. The issue has inflamed tensions among Lebanese who are deeply divided over Hezbollah and its arsenal.

Melhem Khalaf, a reformist legislator representing Beirut, was critical of Israel’s strikes, but also of Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon back into war.

“All the targeted areas are safe residential Lebanese areas,” Khalaf said, while watching a bulldozer clear rubble. “What we are witnessing is a massacre against civilians."

More than a million people have been displaced by the war, many from the south and Dahiyeh. Israel's military has issued warnings for the population to leave those areas, followed by heavy bombardment.

Israel has also launched a ground invasion in the border region. The death toll in Lebanon has reached 1,739, the health ministry said, with 5,873 wounded.

Meanwhile, the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria returned to service Thursday, five days after the Israeli military warned of plans to strike it, alleging that Hezbollah was using it to smuggle military equipment. Lebanese and Syrian authorities denied the claim.

More than 200,000 people have fled Lebanon into Syria since the war resumed.

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Sally Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Ali Sharafeddine and Hussein Malla in Beirut, and Ghaith AlSayed in Jdeidet Yabous, Syria, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

The Trump administration proposed easing standards for monitoring and protecting groundwater near some coal ash sites, rolling back rules forcing the cleanup of entire coal properties instead of just places where ash was dumped. The revisions would also make it easier to reuse coal ash for other purposes.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the proposal reflects the agency's "commitment to restoring American energy dominance, strengthening cooperative federalism, and accommodating unique circumstances at certain (coal ash) facilities.”

Burning coal produces tremendous amounts of ash, a waste product that contains heavy metals. If not stored properly, coal ash can contaminate groundwater. Coal plants are often situated on the banks of rivers or other waterways, with waste ash sitting nearby.

The EPA first set standards for coal ash during the Obama administration. They included requirements for companies to line new storage sites, monitor water and close leaky ponds, often requiring the material to be moved elsewhere. In 2024, then-President Joe Biden’s administration eliminated exemptions that had been granted to some older coal ash sites.

The move is the latest in a series of Trump administration efforts to weaken clean air and water standards as part of regulatory relief for the fossil fuel industry. It's also in line with Republican President Donald Trump's efforts to boost U.S. coal and suppress cleaner alternatives.

“The toxic metals and pollutants leach out into the surrounding waters," said Nicholas Torrey, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, a nonprofit. “That’s the pollution threat that’s happening every day.”

Environmental groups and community advocates warned that the changes will mean more dangerous pollutants contaminating water, and expose more people living near coal plants to toxic waste.

The coal industry has argued that a host of stringent rules raising the cost of running a coal plant prematurely pushes them into retirement. The industry has previously asked the EPA for changes.

A coalition of coal and energy associations wrote last year: “EPA's recent unprecedented expansion of the federal (coal ash) regulations has needlessly diverted funds from the power sector's efforts to meet the Nation's growing energy needs; increased costs for power companies and consumers without corresponding benefits to public health or the environment."

Disasters first prompted the EPA to regulate coal ash. The agency started looking into the problem after a dike failed in Tennessee in 2008, spreading coal ash over 300 acres or 120 hectares and forcing a massive cleanup. Workers involved in that effort said the ash exposure caused cancers. In 2014, tens of thousands of tons spilled in North Carolina.

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

Síclovía on Broadway Street launched in 2011 as a free annual event led by the YMCA of Greater San Antonio and takes over many streets.

The event was previously scheduled for Sunday, April 12, but it has now been rescheduled to May 3.

>> Rain chances begin today, continue into weekend

“Due to anticipated severe weather conditions, and with the safety of our community, partners, and attendees as our top priority, the event has been rescheduled,” the YMCA of Greater San Antonio said in a news release.

The event stretches for about two miles from Mulberry Avenue, by Brackenridge Park, and heads south to McCullough Avenue. It includes pop-up fitness classes, food, music and activities for families.

Read more:

• Broadway goes car-free this weekend for annual Siclovia event

Both Tehran and Washington are claiming victory and exerting pressure, with talks on a permanent deal set to begin soon in Islamabad and U.S. Vice President JD Vance set to lead the U.S. delegation.

Israeli strikes made Wednesday the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began, with more than 300 people killed. There are lingering disagreements over whether the ceasefire covers the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Iran is warning of “STRONG responses” if attacks on its militant ally don’t stop.

Israel-Lebanon negotiations are expected next week in Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had approved direct talks, while the Lebanese government did not immediately respond. Netanyahu said there is no ceasefire in Lebanon and his country will keep striking Hezbollah.

Although the Strait of Hormuz is closed, there were no reports of strikes inside Iran or attacks against Israel or neighboring Gulf Arab nations, leaving Lebanon as the only country where the conflict is still burning.

Here is the latest:

Timeline of decades of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah

The ongoing war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is far from the first conflict between them. The two have an enmity that goes back more than four decades, with outbursts of fighting or outright war punctuated by periods of tense calm.

Here is a timeline of some significant events in the hostilities between the two:

▶ Read more

Well-timed bets on Polymarket tied to the Iran war draw calls for investigations from lawmakers

A group of new accounts on the prediction market Polymarket made highly specific, well-timed bets on whether the U.S. and Iran would reach a ceasefire on April 7, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits for these new customers.

Calls are increasing in Congress for investigations into the prediction market platform Polymarket after the latest instance where groups of anonymous traders made strategic, well-timed bets on a major geopolitical event hours before it occurred.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from New York who sits on the House Financial Services Committee as well as the subcommittee on digital assets and financial technology, sent a letter Thursday to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission demanding the regulator review and investigate these well-timed trades.

“This pattern raises serious concerns that certain market participants may have had access to material nonpublic information regarding a market-moving geopolitical event,” Torres wrote. The letter was shared exclusively with the AP.

▶ Read more

Trump says he asked Netanyahu to dial back strikes in Lebanon

The U.S. president said Netanyahu agreed to dial back Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon ahead of peace talks in Pakistan.

“I spoke with Bibi and he’s going to low-key it. I just think we have to be sort of a little more low-key,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview.

Wednesday was the deadliest day of Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the war began.

Netanyahu on Thursday said there’s no ceasefire in Lebanon, and Israel will keep striking Iran-backed Hezbollah militants there until security is restored in northern Israel. But he said he authorized direct negotiations with Lebanon “as soon as possible” aimed at disarming Hezbollah.

The Israeli military also said it had begun striking Hezbollah launch sites in Lebanon on Thursday evening.

Trump expresses optimism about peace talks

Trump says Iranian leaders are more amendable to dealmaking in private conversations than they are in their public statements.

The Iranians “talk much differently when you’re at a meeting than they do to the press. They’re much more reasonable,” Trump told NBC News during a phone interview. “They’re agreeing to all the things that they have to agree to. Remember, they’ve been conquered. They have no military.”

He added: “If they don’t make a deal, it’s going to be very painful.”

The president also said he’s “very optimistic” about the prospects of reaching a peace deal during talks in Pakistan.

Iran’s supreme leader declares victory over US and Israel

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei says the Iranian people are the “definitive victors” in the conflict.

“Today, it is clear before everyone’s eyes, the dawn of the Islamic Republic’s emergence as a great power while the evil is facing the downhill slope of weakness,” he said in a statement read by an anchor on state TV.

Khamenei has not been seen or heard in public since he replaced his father, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the war.

The younger Khamenei also mentioned the upcoming ceasefire talks with the U.S. and pledged there would be a “new era” in the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. has demanded that Iran reopen the strategic waterway as part of the ceasefire.

The head of Israel’s military says the mission is to keep weakening Hezbollah

Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, speaking to troops inside Lebanon, said the army’s mission is to “continue deepening the damage and to continue weakening Hezbollah.” He said the objective is to remove the direct threat to residents of northern Israel.

UN health chief urges reversal of Israel’s evacuation orders in Beirut

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, issued a statement Thursday outlining the dire access issues for medical assistance in Beirut’s Jnah area after a series of deadly Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours.

He said that the Israeli military evacuation order covers two major hospitals including Rafik Hariri, the main public hospital in Beirut. These facilities, according to Ghebreyesus, have been crucial for the hundreds of civilians who need assistance. The order also includes five shelters that are currently accommodating more than 5,000 people.

“At this time, no alternative medical facilities are available to receive approximately 450 patients from the two hospitals (including 40 patients in the ICU), rendering their evacuation operationally unfeasible,” he posted on X. “Both facilities are operating at full capacity, including treating the injured from the strikes of 8 April.”

UN warns that fighting in Lebanon poses a ‘grave risk’ to the ceasefire

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and welcomed potential Israel-Lebanon talks, saying there is “no military solution” to the conflict, according to his spokesman.

Ongoing Israeli military activity jeopardizes the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, adding that Israeli evacuation orders in Beirut’s southern suburbs cover U.N. sites, refugee camps, aid hubs, a major public hospital, and 13 shelters hosting over 6,000 displaced people.

Pakistani envoy says Lebanon's inclusion in ceasefire agreement was clear to both sides

Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Islamabad’s representative at the U.N., told a group of reporters Thursday that he doesn’t know why there was confusion about Lebanon being included in the ceasefire deal agreed to by U.S., Israel and Iran, when it was “clearly” cited in the prime minister’s statement.

“I believe this will be addressed also as part of these discussions, because there are many points on the agenda,” Ahmad said about the planned talks in Islamabad this weekend. “I think we should not let anything come in the way of these talks, which are very important.”

Iran war may bite shipping sector harder than COVID, expert says

Increased risks to shipping in the Mideast have forced vessels to change their routes, making trips 14 days longer on average, according to ALIS, an Italy-based logistics services association of 2,500 companies globally.

The ordinary insurance costs related to a ship’s value have also gone up by about 10% during the war, ALIS vice president Marcello Di Caterina told The Associated Press.

He warned that the Iran crisis could have a more devastating impact on the shipping industry than the COVID-19 pandemic.

Netanyahu says there is no ceasefire with Lebanon

In a video statement, the Israeli leader says his country will keep striking Hezbollah until security is restored in northern Israel.

He confirmed that he is opening direct negotiations with Lebanon, the aim or which are Hezbollah’s disarmament and a sustainable peace agreement.

UN special envoy meets with top Iranian officials and humanitarian groups in Tehran

Jean Arnault, the U.N. secretary-general’s personal envoy for the Iran war, met Thursday with an Iranian deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, as the diplomat makes his way through countries impacted by the conflict.

Stephane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesperson, said Arnault heard Iranian officials’ “views on the way forward” as a shaky day-old ceasefire holds. He also met with representatives from the Iranian Red Crescent, who took him on a tour of some of the sites damaged by weeks of U.S.-Israeli strikes, including a university that was destroyed and an apartment block.

Asked if Arnault or any U.N. personnel will be playing a role in the upcoming negotiations in Pakistan, Dujarric said that world body is currently discussing with all parties “the structural role that we can play” in bringing an end to this conflict.

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Correction: This post has been updated to correct that the U.N. misidentified one of Iran’s deputy foreign ministers. He is Kazem Gharibabadi, not Majid Takht-Ravanchi.

Iran’s president says the ceasefire was approved at the highest levels

President Masoud Pezeshkian said the decision to accept a ceasefire was made unanimously by top officials and approved by the supreme leader.

In a statement posted Thursday on the Telegram messaging app, he said the ceasefire “is not a sign of weakness but a way to solidify Iran’s proud victories,” adding that the pause in fighting followed more than a month of Iranian public resilience and support.

Democrats vow to keep trying to stop Trump’s war with Iran

House Democrats gathered at the U.S. Capitol and lambasted the Trump administration’s ceasefire negotiations with Iran as chaotic and unworkable, and characterized the president’s threats about wiping out a civilization as the musings of madness.

The lawmakers warned they would keep proposing resolutions to end the war, and use their votes to block any requests from the administration for more money to fund it.

“It’s clear that their ability to negotiate with Iran is nonexistent,” said Rep. Glenn Ivey of Maryland.

He called Trump’s plans for tolls on the strait particularly outrageous.

“How did we end up at a point where he’s talking about a joint venture with Iran with respect to charging tolls at the Strait of Hormuz?” he asked.

Rep. Madeleine Dean from Pennsylvania, who supports efforts to force Trump to step aside under the Constitution’s 25th Amendment, pointed back to the president’s days of escalatory rhetoric.

“The president brought the entire globe to watch his madness,” she said.

Death toll from wave of heavy Israeli strikes in Lebanon rises above 300, health officials say

Israel said it launched 100 strikes in 10 minutes across Lebanon on Wednesday, targeting what they said were Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure. The strikes hit busy residential and commercial areas without warning.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said the death toll is likely to rise as search and rescue teams continue to find remains under the rubble, and as more people identify dozens of bodies at hospitals.

It was the deadliest day in over a month of war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group. Around 1,150 people were wounded.

New details on expected talks between Israel and Lebanon

Israel-Lebanon negotiations are expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington, according to a person familiar with the plans.

The talks are expected to be handled on the American side by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa, and on the Israeli side by Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the situation.

It was not immediately clear whom Lebanon was sending.

Axios first reported the timing and location of the talks.

— By Matthew Lee

House Democrats fail to pass a resolution on Iran

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives made a quick but unsuccessful effort Thursday to pass a bill that would force Trump to get congressional approval before carrying out any more attacks on Iran.

The effort had no chance of passage during a short, minutes-long “pro forma session” of the House during which legislative business is rarely conducted.

But that didn’t stop Democrats from trying to make the point that they oppose the war in Iran.

Rep. Glenn Ivey, a Democrat from Maryland, tried to force a vote on the resolution, but Rep. Christopher Smith, a Republican from New Jersey, declared the House was adjourned.

“Let us vote!” yelled Rep. James Walkinshaw, a Democrat from Virginia.

“The time has come. The time has come,” Ivey said.

Democrats will look to force a vote on the measure again next week, when the full House has returned from a two-week stint back in their congressional districts.

NATO chief says Iran and Russia are ‘absolutely cooperating’

The NATO secretary-general said Tehran and Moscow have been working together on military technology, and alleged Iran has been sowing chaos in the region.

“Particularly when it comes to Iran and Russia, it is drone technology, it is other military technology,” Rutte said while giving a talk at the Reagan Center in Washington. “And the Russians are returning with money. And the money is being spent for Iran to create utter chaos.”

Turkey’s top diplomat is upbeat about Iran peace talks

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey sees signs both sides are willing to compromise, including on Iran’s nuclear program and uranium enrichment.

Speaking in Ankara, he said there had been “certain changes” in negotiating positions and cited a global consensus that attacks on Iran were a “mistake” as reason for cautious optimism.

He warned that Israeli “provocations,” including its invasion of Lebanon, could threaten talks that are due to start Saturday in Pakistan.

Fidan said the region is “tired of occupations and wars,” urged reconciliation between Iran and Gulf states and said “international players” should be ready to curb Israel’s “expansionism.”

He also suggested the two-week ceasefire could be extended to allow talks to continue.

Ahead of talks, Pakistan’s prime minister meets with army chief credited in Iran-US ceasefire

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Thursday with the army chief, Asim Munir, ahead of further talks in Islamabad.

Sharif’s office said both men stressed the need for all parties to maintain the ceasefire.

More than 80 countries strongly condemn ‘persistent attacks’ in Lebanon and killing of UN peacekeepers

In a joint statement, the countries also condemned “the unacceptable aggressive behavior” toward the soldiers and leaders of the U.N. force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL.

The statement was read by Indonesia’s U.N. Ambassador Umar Hadi, whose country recently had three of its peacekeepers killed in southern Lebanon.

The statement said those responsible for attacks on peacekeepers must be held accountable, but did not identify any parties. A preliminary U.N. report blamed Israel for two of the killings and Hezbollah for one of them.

Noticeably missing from the list of signatories to the statement was the United States, Israel’s closest ally, which pushed for the U.N. Security Council to end the UNIFIL mission at the end of 2026.

The signatories reaffirmed support for UNIFIL, said attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes, and called on the parties to urgently return to the 2024 ceasefire,

NATO chief sensed Trump’s ‘disappointment’ that allies didn’t back Iran strikes

The NATO secretary-general said his meeting with Trump a day earlier included a “frank” and “candid” exchange.

Rutte acknowledged that European allies “were a bit slow” to provide logistical support.

“In fairness, they were also a bit surprised,” Rutte said. “To maintain the element of surprise for the initial strikes, President Trump opted not to inform allies ahead of time, and I understand that.”

He said some European countries have since provided support, including bases and logistics, to assist the U.S. military.

NATO chief says allies aren’t ignoring threats, and they accept the need for Trump’s changes

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said allies are not “whistling past the graveyard” and understand the need for major changes demanded by Trump, amid his threats of a U.S. withdrawal from the alliance.

Rutte, speaking at the Reagan Center a day after meeting Trump, said Europe is taking on a greater share of defense and moving toward a more balanced partnership.

He also acknowledged some allies were slow to assist in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and said they were caught off guard because Trump did not notify them in advance.

Israel’s Netanyahu authorizes direct negotiations with Lebanon

The Israeli prime minister says he gave the order in response to requests from Lebanon and that talks would focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between the neighboring countries.

He welcomed a call by Lebanon’s prime minister to demilitarize Beirut.

There was no immediate response from the Lebanese government to the announcement.

Russia’s foreign minister welcomes ceasefire announcement

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, the ministry said.

Lavrov welcomed the news of the Iran-U.S. ceasefire and “emphasized that Moscow firmly believes that these agreements, as announced by Pakistani mediators, have a regional dimension and, in particular, extend to Lebanon,” according to the ministry’s readout of the call.

Lavrov also expressed hope for successful peace talks and reiterated “Russia’s readiness to assist in finding solutions.”

Araghchi “thanked the Russian Federation for its principled position in the U.N. Security Council during the discussion of the situation in the Persian Gulf,” the readout said.

Relatives gather at Beirut hospitals to identify family members

A day after Israel’s deadliest strikes killed over 200 people in Lebanon, Abdul Rahman Mohammad, a Syrian who lost family members in the Hay al-Sellom neighborhood, waited at Rafic Hariri Hospital morgue to retrieve the bodies of his mother, two sisters, brother and brother-in-law.

“They were struck without any warning. This is Israeli brutality,” he said. “I’m just waiting for the Syrian embassy procedures so I can take them back to Syria.”

Dr. Mohamad El Zaatari, director of the public hospital, said the facility had treated 45 people, including 10 critical cases in intensive care.

“The situation is difficult and the numbers are large, but things are gradually taking the right path,” he said.

Members of the board of regents had said little publicly until Thursday about the surprise dismissal Tuesday of Jay Rothman as head of the 165,000-student university system. Regents voted unanimously with no public discussion to fire Rothman after a closed-door meeting.

Rothman told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday that he was kept in the dark about why he was being fired and his dismissal “blindsided” him.

But two regents who testified at a state Senate committee hearing on Thursday said Rothman knew more than he is letting on. They also said there were “substantial” reasons for his being fired, and Rothman was aware of them.

“That decision was not made lightly,” Regent President Amy Bogost said. “It was not political. It was not retaliatory. It was unanimous. ... We made a difficult decision for the right reasons, and I firmly stand by it.”

Republican lawmakers upset over Rothman's surprise firing called the public hearing to question regents about the reasons behind the move.

Rothman lacked urgency to address critical issues like AI, was not fully aligned with the board, tried to limit public board discussions and open records, limited board members’ interactions with lawmakers and took credit for accomplishments that were part of a “massive team effort,” Regent Timothy Nixon said.

Nixon also said he has been pushing for the UW system to justify why it has 579 employees, something he said Rothman did not address.

Rothman “doesn’t want to upset either the Legislature, the governor or the faculty or anybody else,” Nixon testified. “He didn’t want to upset the apple cart and, quite frankly, I think the apple cart needs some upsetting."

Regents also told lawmakers that Rothman could waive his right to confidentiality over personnel decisions if he chose, but he knows that means board members could share more than they can now. Instead, Rothman is using that confidentiality as a shield to craft a narrative “that is deliberately one-sided" and harming he university, Bogost said.

“That is not a search for truth,” she said. “That is strategy. ... To do the media circuit that he’s on denigrates our great universities, and that makes me sad."

Nixon said the way Rothman’s departure was handled, including the rejected offer that he retire or resign, is similar to what is done for CEOs of large corporations.

“This is no different than moving on to a new quarterback, no matter what you thought of the previous quarterback and what they did," Nixon said.

Tony Cavallaro sued the state Department of Environmental Conservation after officers met him with a warrant in the driveway of his home in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg in March 2024. The officers sedated the 12-foot (3.6-meter), 750-pound (340-kilogram) alligator and drove him away in a van.

Albert, who lived in an indoor swimming pool, eventually ended up in a sanctuary in Texas.

Cavallaro sued over the state's denial of a license to keep Albert. But the 66-year-old said Thursday that the legal action had consumed his life for two years. With no quick end in sight, he decided last month that he couldn't deal with the exhausting battle anymore.

“They were never going to give me this alligator back, and it was going to cost me a ton more money. Another year and a half — at least — of stress,” Cavallaro said in a phone interview.

Cavallaro’s license to keep Albert had expired in 2021, according to the department. But even if it had been renewed, Cavallaro had let other people pet the alligator and even get in the pool with him, providing grounds for the removal under the rules for keeping animals classified as dangerous, the agency said after the seizure.

The seized alligator had blindness in both eyes and spinal complications, among other health issues, according to the state.

Cavallaro has insisted that Albert was “just a big baby” who had never shown signs of aggression. He bought the alligator at an Ohio reptile show when it was two months old and considered him an “emotional support animal.”

Cavallaro said he has not seen Albert since the animal was taken away, though he has seen photographs.

“I’m not at peace. I don’t think I ever will be,” he said. “I’m very angry about the whole thing.”

Today on Texas Eats NOW:

TRYST. KITCHEN + COCKTAILS

1915 Broadway, Ste 111, San Antonio, TX 78215

Tryst. Kitchen + Cocktails is an elevated Southern restaurant and lounge located near the Pearl, offering a modern dining experience with bold flavors and a lively atmosphere. Founded by Bruce Chambliss and Joshua Green, the Black-owned concept blends upscale cuisine with a social setting, featuring brunch, dinner, and handcrafted cocktails in a stylish space.

The menu highlights dishes like braised oxtails, catfish and grits, chicken and waffles, and Cajun-inspired pasta, alongside small plates, and shareable sides. With a focus on both food and ambiance, Tryst has become a popular destination for guests looking to enjoy a high-quality meal paired with music, cocktails, and a vibrant night out.

POTEET STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL

9199 N State Hwy 16, Poteet, TX 78065

The Poteet Strawberry Festival is a longtime South Texas tradition celebrating the region’s rich agricultural roots and its reputation as the Strawberry Capital of Texas. Held annually in April, the multi-day event draws thousands of visitors with fresh local strawberries, live entertainment, and a wide range of family-friendly activities.

Festivalgoers can enjoy strawberry-themed treats like shortcake, ice cream, and beverages, along with carnival rides, rodeo events, and music performances. With its mix of food, entertainment, and community spirit, the festival continues to be a highlight event that supports local farmers, scholarships, and regional culture.

Follow Texas Eats and David Elder on Facebook and Instagram for more food info, pictures, videos and giveaways.

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The trio lead a star-studded field vying for the green jacket at the 90th Masters, which began Thursday with the first tee time at 7:40 a.m. EDT amid the azaleas and dogwoods at Augusta National.

“It’s been an amazing 12 months, bringing this thing all around the world, the excitement on people’s faces when they see it — and the excitement that I still get putting it on,” McIlroy said of his green jacket, which he earned last April following a dramatic playoff win over Justin Rose that allowed him to become the sixth golfer to win the career grand slam.

Instead of sweating out another year of answering questions about when — or even if — he'd ever complete golf's career grand slam, McIlroy spent a portion of this week enjoying a round of golf with his father and reflecting on his achievement.

He'd like to repeat, but the Masters isn't often kind to defending champions. Only three players have won back-to-back championships, the last being Tiger Woods nearly a quarter century ago.

McIlroy isn't allowing himself to succumb to pressure at Augusta after ending years of heartbreak with the 2025 win.

“I feel so much more relaxed,” McIlroy said. “I know that I’m going to be coming back here for a lot of years, going to enjoy the perks that the champions get here. It doesn’t make me any less motivated to go out there and play well and try to win the tournament."

The 36-year-old Northern Irishman, now with slight tinges of gray hair escaping from underneath his golf cap, will have plenty of competition from the world's best players, including Scheffler, who remains No. 1.

The Texan is seeking his third Masters championship, with the other two coming in even-numbered years (2022 and 2024).

He remains the overall favorite per BetMGM Sportsbook, despite not having cracked the top 10 in his last three tournaments.

Prior to that he had three top 5s to start the season, including a win at American Express to join Jack Nicklaus and Woods as the only players with 20 PGA Tour titles and four majors before turning 30.

Like McIlroy, he hasn't played competitively since the Players Championship nearly a month ago and he and his wife, Meredith, recently welcomed their second son, Remy, to the world.

“I’m getting plenty of sleep,” Scheffler said. “My wife’s a trooper.”

As for his game, Scheffler said he feels like he “is in a good spot” as he seeks to become the ninth player to win at least three Masters.

Nobody is feeling better about their game than DeChambeau, who has won his last two tournaments on the LIV Tour.

DeChambeau is seeking his first Masters championship after twice winning the U.S. Open. He pulled into a tie with McIlroy for the lead in Sunday's final round a year ago before faltering down the stretch and shooting 75 to finish tied for fifth.

The disappointment has stuck with him.

“It was a great learning lesson,” DeChambeau said.

The field is loaded with long hitters, but with a sunny, low humidity week in the forecast, it'll likely come down to who can tame Augusta National's firm and fast greens.

“This is the best forecast I’ve seen for this tournament in a while," Scheffler said. "Definitely excited to get the week going on the greens. ... I’m excited to see how it will play.”

One thing this tournament won't have for the first time since 1994 is Woods or Phil Mickelson.

Woods pleaded not guilty last week to a DUI charge following a rollover crash near his home in Jupiter Island, Florida. He later issued a statement saying he was taking an indefinite leave to seek treatment.

Mickelson is not playing the Masters for only the third time as a pro. He said his family is navigating through a personal health matter.

___

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

Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the fund will downgrade its forecast for the world economy next week.

“Had it not been for this shock, we would have been upgrading global growth,” Georgieva said in remarks before next week's IMF-World Bank spring meetings. "But now, even our most hopeful scenario involves a growth downgrade.''

The world economy had proved resilient in the face of President Donald Trump's decision to impose sweeping taxes last year on imports from most the world's countries. In January, the 191-country IMF had upgraded the global growth outlook to 3.3% and was poised to do so again when its new forecasts came out next Tuesday.

But the war, which began Feb. 28, changed everything. The conflict has driven up the price of oil and natural gas; damaged oil refineries, tanker terminals and other energy infrastructure; disrupted shipments of fertilizer the world's farmers depend on; and damaged the confidence of businesses and consumers.

The United States and Iran announced Tuesday they'd reached a ceasefire — after Trump warned that otherwise "a whole civilization will die tonight.''

Still, Georgieva said Thursday that "growth will be slower — even if the new peace is durable.''

Sub-Saharan Africa and small island countries are most vulnerable to the energy shock, Georgieva said. Around the world, governments have only a limited ability to support their economies with spending increases and tax cuts because their debts are already so high.

She noted that many countries have taken steps to limit the damage from the energy shock such as urging or requiring people to work from home; encouraging more use of public transportation; and limiting travel by public officials.

Georgieva pleaded that policymakers “be careful not to make things worse'' with ”go-it-alone'' moves such as limiting exports and imposing price controls. "Don’t pour gasoline on the fire,'' she said.

Jordan is a four-year member and captain of the varsity basketball team.

She earned All-District Honors, Academic All-District Honors and All-State Honors four years in a row.

Jordan was named Offensive Player of the Year in 2025 and holds numerous school records, including her 2,322 career points to become the school’s all-time leading scorer.

She’s a member of the National Honor Society, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, maintains a 4.0 grade point average and performs community service through Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.

Jordan has committed to play college basketball for Lamar University and will major in engineering.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate dropped to 6.37% from 6.46% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 6.62%.

This week’s decline in rates follows five straight increases. When mortgage rates rise, they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for home shoppers, limiting what they can afford to buy.

The average rate is now back to roughly where it was two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also eased this week. That average rate dropped to 5.74% from 5.77% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.82%, Freddie Mac said.

Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation.

Only six weeks ago, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage had dropped to just under 6% for the first time since late 2022, an encouraging move for home shoppers just as the spring homebuying season was about to begin. But then the war with Iran began, sending oil prices surging higher and stoking worries about higher inflation.

Those expectations of higher inflation helped push up the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds, which banks use as a guide to pricing home loans.

The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.28% in midday trading on the bond market Thursday, down slightly from 4.3% a week ago. The yield was at just 3.97% in late February, before the war with Iran broke out.

Higher inflation could also keep the Fed from cutting interest rates. The central bank doesn’t set mortgage rates, but its decisions to raise or lower its short-term rate are watched closely by bond investors and can ultimately affect the yield on 10-year Treasurys.

Bond yields began to ease this week after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, but any relief to mortgage rates may prove short-lived, said Jiayi Xu, an economist at Realtor.com.

“Until a more permanent resolution emerges, the fog of uncertainty is unlikely to fully lift from the housing market,” Xu said.

The U.S. housing market has been in a slump since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last year, stuck at a 30-year low. They have remained sluggish so far this year, declining in January and February versus a year earlier.

While mortgage rates are down slightly from a year ago, their recent upward trend has discouraged some would-be homebuyers and homeowners seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate.

Mortgage applications overall fell 0.8% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Further mortgage rate increases threaten to put a damper on home sales during what’s traditionally the busiest time of the year for the housing market.

A court ruling this week in a lawsuit the Louisiana attorney general brought against Trump's Food and Drug Administration cast a spotlight on the simmering tension. The judge said the state has a strong case while declining to block telehealth prescriptions to the pill mifepristone for now.

Anti-abortion groups are pushing the FDA to move faster with a review that they hope will result in restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, including blocking its prescribing via telehealth platforms. The administration says the work takes time.

The groups have focused mostly on the health agency and not the Republican president whose three U.S. Supreme Court appointees were instrumental in the 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed the state bans in the first place. But the administration's requests in the Louisiana lawsuit and similar ones elsewhere to delay rulings until it finishes a review have sparked anger for some activists.

“The stall tactics are beyond frustrating,” Kristi Hamrick, a spokesperson for Students for Life of America, said in an interview. Hamrick said the administration could also block the pills from being mailed by changing its interpretation of a 19th century law and enforcing it.

A judge opened the door to pushing the administration

U.S. District Judge David Joseph, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, gave a mixed ruling Tuesday in a case brought by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and a woman who says her boyfriend coerced her into taking mifepristone to end a pregnancy.

Their overall aim is to roll back FDA rules that have made the pills more accessible. Murrill, like officials in other states that have filed similar lawsuits, contends that the availability of the pills via online providers takes the teeth out of the bans in the 13 states that bar abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions.

Surveys of abortion providers have suggested that its availability through telehealth is a reason the number of abortions in the U.S. has not dropped since the overturn of Roe. While state abortion bans include prohibitions on abortion using the pills, some Democratic-controlled states have adopted laws that seek to protect medical providers who prescribe them over telehealth and mail the pills to states with bans. Those so-called shield laws are being tested through civil and criminal cases.

In the Louisiana case, Joseph declined to grant Murrill's request to block telehealth prescriptions to the pills while the case moves through the courts. But he said he could do that eventually and the plaintiffs in the case are likely to succeed on the merits of their arguments because the state has demonstrated it's suffered “irreparable harm.”

He also ordered the FDA to report to him within six months on the status of its review of the drug.

On Wednesday, Murrill filed a notice that she's taking the case to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in hopes of forcing faster action.

The politics aren't simple

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, an influential conservative voice who is also a former Louisiana lawmaker, applauded Murrill's step.

He said people he meets are often shocked to learn that the number of abortions has not dropped since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling.

“Bewilderment sets in,” he said. “We’re already seeing an enthusiasm gap between the parties. What the Republicans do not need is a dampening of enthusiasm in their base.”

He's hoping the administration will restrict abortion pills rather than risk losing support from conservative, anti-abortion voters in November's midterm elections.

Other groups are being more cautions.

Madison LaClare, director of federal government affairs at National Right to Life, said her group trusts the administration to review mifepristone. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, avoided harsh words for the president: “The Trump-Vance administration has an important opportunity right now to prioritize women’s safety,” she said in a statement.

Still, recent electoral results suggest that voters seeking to keep abortion available have the political momentum. Since Roe was overturned, abortion has been on the ballot directly in 17 states. Voters have sided with the abortion-rights side in 14 of those questions.

“There seems to be an emerging consensus in the country that people don’t want to ban abortion,” said Rachel Rebouche, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law who studies abortion.

The FDA says it's working on it

In a statement Wednesday in response to questions from The Associated Press, the FDA said it's reviewing the safety of mifepristone, “including the collection of robust and timely data, evaluation of data integrity, and implementation of the analyses, validation, and peer-review.”

After that, the agency said, it will decide whether to make changes to the rules about how the drug can be prescribed.

It said this kind of study can take a year or more to complete by academics but the agency is trying to move faster than that. A spokesperson did not answer questions about when the work began.

Mifepristone has been a political priority for anti-abortion activists and their allies in Congress since Trump returned to office last year. In his January 2025 confirmation hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was repeatedly asked about the drug by Republican lawmakers and said the president had requested a safety review.

Frustration over signs that the FDA isn't prioritizing curbing abortions flared last fall when the FDA approved an additional generic version of mifepristone.

The drug is most often used for abortion in combination with another drug, misoprostol.

Mifepristone was approved in 2000 as a safe and effective way to end early pregnancies.

Because of rare cases of excessive bleeding, the FDA initially imposed strict limits on who could prescribe and distribute the pill — only specially certified physicians and only after an in-person appointment where the person would receive the pill.

Both those requirements were dropped during the COVID years. At the time, FDA officials said that after more than 20 years of monitoring mifepristone use, and reviewing dozens of studies involving thousands of women, it was clear that women could safely use the pill without direct supervision.

Spurs Sports & Entertainment said a limited pop-up shop will open at 5 p.m. on April 14 at 333 West Commerce Street.

Afterward, the pop-up shop will remain open from noon to 8 p.m. daily. Free tacos from Taco Palenque will be available for the first 200 customers at the event, the release states.

Fans can also earn digital points to redeem for game tickets, retail credits, concessions credits and fan giveaways by participating in the “Spurs Spot It Challenge” beginning on April 17. More information can be found here.

The weekend of April 17-19 brings more opportunities for gifts, including more free tacos and free T-shirts.

A pep rally for Game 1 of the Spurs’ playoff matchup is scheduled to take place at the Red McCombs Community Court at Hemisfair. The first 200 fans can grab free Taco Palenque coffee and tacos, free car flags, and more. The date will be determined by the NBA playoff schedule.

Fans at all first-round games at the Frost Bank Center will receive a free T-shirt on their seat. Game 1’s T-shirts are designed by local artist Shek Vega, while Game 2 is presented by H-E-B.

Can’t make it to a game? Watch parties for all Spurs games are held at the Rock at La Cantera for free. The Coyote will be present along with photobooths and giveaway opportunities for free T-shirts, the release said.

More details for playoff schedules can be found online. Event information can be found on the Spurs’ website.

O’Brien Automotive will host its fifth annual Heels in Wheels Car Care Clinic on Saturday. The event teaches the basics such as checking filters, jump-starting a battery and changing a flat tire.

Owner Nannette Neugart said the event has grown from about 40 or 50 participants to around 150, with some families bringing daughters and granddaughters to learn together.

“I want women to feel empowered. I don’t ever want women to feel scared,” Neugart said.

The clinic runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 8990 Huebner Road near Babcock Road. Organizers said prizes and giveaways will be offered, including a raffle for a classic vehicle.

Neugart said she often hears from people who return to the event and share how they used what they learned to handle car trouble on their own.

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The proposal, which mirrors language written in the executive order issued by President Donald Trump last week, would give athletes five years of eligibility with the clock starting when an athlete turns 19 or graduates from high school, whichever is earliest. There would be limited exceptions but they would not include injuries, which has been a common reason for players to ask for and receive extra eligibility.

The details will be reviewed and discussed by the Division I Cabinet next week, but not voted on for implementation, according to the two people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the NCAA hasn’t publicly discussed the proposal. Yahoo Sports was first to report the details.

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.

Speaking at the Final Four over the weekend, NCAA President Charlie Baker said Trump wanted to figure out a way to “get something on the books that works and represents what most people are looking for at this point, which is a much simpler eligibility process, which we’ve been talking to our committees about.”

Still unknown is whether the rule would shield the NCAA from lawsuits over eligibility. Dozens of players have sued for extra years, claiming injuries and other circumstances made them candidates for extra eligibility.

Heisman Trophy runner-up and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia remains the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging an NCAA rule counting seasons spent at junior colleges against players' Division I eligibility time. That case is slated for trial in February.

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who led his team to the College Football Playoff last season, went to court after the NCAA denied a waiver request to play in the 2026 season after he was healthy enough to play in just three of his five seasons. A three-judge panel of the Mississippi Supreme Court recently denied an NCAA appeal.

While Ole Miss could have the dynamic Chambliss back this fall, at fellow SEC school Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar’s bid for an injunction that would have enabled him to keep playing for the Volunteers this fall was denied by a Knox County judge.

“I think it would be great if we got to five years of eligibility for our players," New Mexico football coach Jason Eck said. “So much is in flux by what kind of judge you get and things like that. I think getting away from that, where there’s a lot of subjectivity, having a really objective criteria would be great.”

Some of the players who have gone to court contend the NCAA has no right to limit their ability to earn money with eligibility caps. The NCAA is seeking a limited antitrust exemption from Congress, saying it needs the help to clear up the confusing landscape.

Attorney Mit Winter, who specializes in sports law, called the five-year proposal tied to an age limit “a very sensible rule" in offering a “more black and white” evaluation to player eligibility, particularly for schools navigating a complicated waiver process determined on a case-by-case basis.

Yet the same hurdles would remain when it comes to holding up against lawsuits, such as players still not being considered employees or having collective bargaining to establish agreed-upon standards.

“To the legal aspect, yes, I would imagine there would still be legal challenges to it,” Winter said of the proposal. "It might be a little easier to defend than the current rules we have. But when you just look at it from a broad point of view, it's still essentially limiting how long someone can work as a college athlete and be paid as a college athlete.

“Now that athletes are being paid in many cases millions of dollars per year, you could see why someone would want to challenge a rule that says you can only be paid as a college athlete for five years.”

___

AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee contributed.

___

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

“We got our butts kicked,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor.

He was referring to Democratic victories in campaigns for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the mayor's office in Waukesha, a conservative suburb outside Milwaukee. But some Republicans were also rattled by a special election in Georgia, where their candidate to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress won by a much slimmer margin than the party enjoyed in the past.

Taken together, the swings added more data points to an increasingly clear picture of Democratic momentum heading into the November midterms, when control of Congress and state governments is up for grabs.

“In rural, urban, red, blue, Democrats have overperformed everywhere,” said Jared Leopold, a Democratic consultant whose clients include Keisha Lance Bottoms, a candidate for Georgia governor. “That is a significant canary in the coal mine about what November of ’26 is going to look like.”

Some Republicans insisted there was no need to panic, and their fundraising remains stronger than Democrats'. Stephen Lawson, a Georgia strategist, said “the sky is not falling.”

But he also said his party is running behind where it has been in the past, and Republicans need to be “looking at these results carefully.”

‘A red alarm for Republicans’

Special elections are no guarantee about the future, but Democrats are showing surprising strength. They flipped a Texas state Senate district. They won a state House seat in a Florida district that includes President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.

Then they gained ground Tuesday in the election to replace Greene, who resigned from Congress in January after a falling out with Trump.

Republican Clay Fuller, who won by 12 percentage points, “CRUSHED” his opponent in a race that “wasn't close,” according to a social media post by Josh McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.

But two years ago, Greene won by 29 percentage points and Trump carried the district by almost 37 percentage points.

“That’s a red alarm for Republicans,” said Democratic strategist Meredith Brasher.

Democrat Shawn Harris plans to challenge Fuller again in November.

Jackie Harling, the district's Republican chairwoman, said she believed that Greene’s resignation energized Democrats while her party is suffering from “election fatigue.”

“Marjorie Taylor Greene was like a freight train that you couldn’t stop, and when she pulled out, it gave Democrats hope and it gave them a shot at winning something they believed was unwinnable,” Harling said.

‘Slightly bluer side of purple’

Georgia has key races this year, including an open contest for the governor's office. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, is trying to defend his seat as well.

There's reason to think that simmering discontent could boomerang on Republicans just two years after Trump harnessed voters' anger with his comeback presidential campaign.

In November, Democrats defeated two Republican incumbents in statewide races for seats on the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities. Rising electricity rates have been a fault line in recent campaigns, especially as enormous data centers are built to power artificial intelligence.

But Georgia Democratic Party Chair Charlie Bailey is trying to maintain modest expectations.

“We could cement ourselves, put ourselves, on the slightly bluer side of purple,” he said. ”We’re not going to overnight turn into Colorado.”

‘A very clear sign of momentum’

Wisconsin holds statewide elections for Supreme Court seats, and liberals expanded their majority with a 20-percentage-point blowout victory on Tuesday.

Democrats saw gains in red, blue and purple counties when compared with another judicial race last year, which was also won by the liberal candidate.

“This to me was a very clear sign of momentum and enthusiasm for Democrats in the fall,” said Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Devin Remiker.

The state has its own open race for governor this year, and Democrats are hoping to take control of the state Legislature and oust Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

“It’s time for us to put this thing in overdrive,” said Mandela Barnes, a Democratic former lieutenant governor who is running for governor.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, another Democratic candidate for governor, said it’s clear that “people are really upset with the Republican Party and their brand right now.”

“But that doesn’t mean that they’re automatically going to come over to the Democrats,” Crowley said. “And that’s why we have to continue to focus on the issues and speak to the values of all the voters here in the state of Wisconsin.”

‘A lot of anxiety’

Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin, cautioned against reading too much into Tuesday’s results.

He said “every election is unique,” and he wasn’t making any changes to his campaign. He said the key to winning will be to “paint that clear contrast of how we are going to help everyday Wisconsinites.”

But Democrats seemed to be making inroads, including in Waukesha, in a county that's a Republican.

Democrat Alicia Halvensleben, president of the city’s Common Council, defeated Republican Scott Allen, one of the most conservative members of the state Assembly.

She said Trump came up “a lot” when she was campaigning, although she thinks her victory came down to local issues and how the state legislature wasn't addressing them.

“There’s so much uncertainty at the national level,” Halvensleben said. “I think that level of uncertainty is causing people a lot of anxiety, all the way down to the local level.”

___

Amy reported from Atlanta and Cooper from Phoenix.

That changed when Ershad, a New York graduate student who grew up in Tehran, saw how many of the players he had adored since childhood failed to speak out following its theocratic leadership’s deadly crackdown on protesters in January.

“It feels so bad that I do not want them to succeed. They were like my icons, my legends," he lamented during a recent pickup soccer game on Long Island. “I know playing a World Cup is the biggest thing a soccer player can achieve in his life, but how can you just be silent?”

Ershad is one of many diehard soccer fans in the Iranian diaspora with conflicting emotions as Team Melli — the Persian nickname for Iran's national squad — prepares for its seventh World Cup. Iran is set to begin its campaign against New Zealand on June 15 near Los Angeles, a region that's home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran, including many who fled the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Some view the men's team as complicit in whitewashing the Iranian government's repression and can’t bear to watch the competition. Others plan to attend Iran's games to show their love for the country and sport, but bearing signs of protest. Still others say they’ll set politics aside and just enjoy seeing Iran compete on soccer's biggest stage.

All of this is assuming the team actually takes part, which Iranian officials called into question because of the country's war with the United States and Israel. Iranian soccer officials recently met with the head of FIFA, international soccer's governing body, who has insisted that Iran stick to the schedule.

The Iranian team often finds itself unable to avoid political issues. Before a recent match in Turkey, players held small backpacks honoring the Iranian children who were killed in a U.S. missile strike on an elementary school — a move Iranian American fans said showed their allegiance to the government and the political pressure it places on them.

Iranian athletes have faced serious consequences for speaking out. In 2022, a prominent former member of the national team was arrested for allegedly protesting against the country's leadership. This year, star striker Sardar Azmoun wasn't selected for World Cup warmup games, reportedly because of a social media post that angered the authorities.

Worries that Iran won't take part

Nader Adeli, who manages Iranian American club team Arya FC's over-60 squad in Los Angeles, is worried the war might keep Iran from attending the World Cup.

Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump discouraged the Iranian team from taking part, citing safety concerns. In response, Iran asked to move its matches to Mexico, which is co-hosting the event along with the U.S. and Canada, though the head of FIFA has repeatedly rejected such a move.

Adeli, who didn’t win the ticket lottery to attend one of Iran's two Los Angeles-area matches, said the World Cup should be a moment to enjoy the sport without outside distractions.

But with war raging, he doesn't think the team will travel. And if it does, he doubts the players would be able to fully focus on competing.

“Sports should never become a political issue,” he said. “As people, we have nothing against any Americans, we have nothing against any Iranians. It is just the governments.”

Former women's team player says Iran shouldn't play

Iran's women's team made headlines last month when several members didn't sing along to the country's national anthem before their opening match at the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia.

Although they sang it before Iran's next two fixtures, some commenters saw their initial silence as a protest against their government — though others saw it as a display of mourning about the war. The team and players — two of whom accepted asylum offers to remain in Australia — didn't comment on the matter.

Shiva Amini, who used to play for the national team but now lives in New York City, is among the Iranian ex-pats calling on the Trump administration not to grant visas to the men's team to play in the World Cup.

The 36-year-old player, who left Iran in 2017 after being photographed not wearing a headscarf while in Europe, said many Iranians soured on the men’s squad during the 2022 World Cup, when players stayed silent as Iran was roiled by street demonstrations over the country's mandatory headscarf laws following the death of Mahsa Amini.

“They had a big platform, and instead of talking about that, they were laughing, they were so happy, and it was honestly a slap on the face,” she said. “So those are not the Iranian national soccer team. Those are the regime’s national soccer team.”

The few players who have spoken out paid dearly, Amini acknowledged, including Amir Nasr-Azadani, who faces years behind bars for his involvement in the 2022 protests.

Azmoun, the Dubai-based star striker who played for Iran's past two World Cup teams, wasn't picked to play in the team's warmups for this year's tournament, reportedly because he posted a photo on social media of himself greeting United Arab Emirates political leaders.

Plans to cheer on — and protest — Iran

Masoud Ahmadi, a 62-year-old interior designer who plays for another largely Iranian American over-60 club team, Sina FC, said he's trying to get a ticket to see Iran play. If he does, he said he'll take a stand against the Iranian leadership by carrying the country's lion-and-sun flag, which predates the Islamic Revolution.

Ahmadi said he was detained in Iran as a teenager before he fled to Turkey on foot. The U.S. granted him political asylum.

“We’re going to definitely raise our voice,” said Ahmadi, who is proud of his Iranian heritage but critical of the men's squad. “This team is not an Iranian people’s team. This is a government team."

Sasan Sadri, who manages the team, said if he scores a ticket, he'll try to wear a shirt calling for leadership change in Iran.

“As my countrymen, I like them to achieve,” he said. “I don’t support the regime, but soccer is soccer.”

As for Ershad, the New York grad student, he plans to support the Iranian team if the government is overthrown before the tournament starts. If not, he'll back soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo's side to win it all.

“It's so hard to not cheer for your national team, but let’s go Portugal," he said.

___

Taxin reported from Irvine, California.

By the dozens, Democrats came out to say that Trump should no longer serve in the White House, either through the impeachment process or the 25th Amendment, which allows the vice president and the Cabinet to declare that a president is no longer able to perform the job.

While Trump eventually pulled back on his threat and agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, the episode highlighted the growing demands for Democrats to oppose the Republican president in the strongest possible terms. Calls about Iran flooded into congressional offices, lawmakers said.

The breadth of the Democratic pushback underscored the gravity of Trump's apocalyptic threat to a country of more than 91 million people. It also served to raise the domestic political stakes for a conflict that is far from over. The Trump administration faces mounting calls to testify about the war and justify its demands for hundreds of billions of dollars in new military spending.

“We cannot excuse what the president said as a negotiating tactic," Rep. Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat told reporters at the Capitol Thursday.

“It is important that even though we were able to get this ceasefire, which I pray holds, that we hold this president accountable for what he threatened because threatening genocide is not just against international law, it’s against our federal law, too,” she added.

Still, Democratic leaders and many moderates in the party have steered clear of endorsing impeachment, and any attempt to remove Trump from office is doomed to fail so long as Republicans control Congress.

In the near term, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are instead pushing Republicans to join them and pass legislation that would force Trump to get congressional approval before carrying out any more attacks on Iran.

A few Democrats attempted during a brief session of the House on Thursday to pass what's known as a war powers resolution on Iran, but Republicans, who control the chamber, did not acknowledge their request.

“We need Speaker Johnson to call us into session,” said Democratic Rep Emily Randall of Washington. “The American people deserve that.”

At the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt has defended Trump's rhetoric as effective.

“I think it was a very, very strong threat from the president of the United States that led the Iranian regime to cave to their knees and ask for a ceasefire and agree to reopening the Strait of Hormuz,” she said at a Wednesday White House press briefing.

Callers jam congressional phone lines

As they press their case against Trump, Democrats are responding to the worries of their own base and constituents. Congressional offices were bombarded with phone calls and emails this week, largely from people alarmed by the president’s rhetoric.

In the House, the office of Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., received a “ton” of calls and emails Monday and Tuesday, mostly about Iran but also about impeaching Trump or removing him by deploying the 25th Amendment, said one aide who was not authorized to discuss the internal office situation and insisted on anonymity.

When her district staffers in the state office took a break Tuesday, they returned to 75 voicemails on Iran an hour later, the aide said.

“My office phones have not stopped ringing,” said Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., at a press conference in Portland, urging House colleagues to immediately return to Washington.

Dexter’s office received more calls on Tuesday, 257, than it has ever received in a 24-hour period since the first-term lawmaker’s team began keeping track.

The groundswell appeared to be organic, rather than an orchestrated campaign to pressure lawmakers to act.

While outside groups have been circulating some discussion points, including the legal details around invoking the 25th Amendment, there has not been an organized effort to flood the congressional offices with a strategic message, said one Democratic strategist familiar with the situation who insisted on anonymity to discuss the private conversations.

It was simply the “horror” of what Trump was saying, the strategist said, and the scale of the president’s threats, that appeared to have sparked the mobilization.

On the political right, several prominent figures including former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, also suggested Trump should be removed from office through the 25th Amendment.

Will Democrats make an impeachment push?

Democrats twice impeached Trump for actions taken during his first term, but he was acquitted each time. They have tried to avoid such debates for the last 16 months as they tried to center their midterm message on kitchen table issues rather than opposing a president who narrowly won the popular vote.

Republicans also have the majority in the House and have easily fended off two previous efforts to impeach Trump in his second term. A significant number of Democrats have either joined with Republicans or voted “present” as the House blocked impeachment resolutions sponsored by Rep. Al Green, D-Texas.

Then came Trump's threat on Tuesday morning to wipe out “an entire civilization.”

“Temporary ceasefire or not, Trump already committed an impeachable offense. Congress needs to get back to work and remove him from office before he does more damage to our country and the world,” said Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, a veteran of the war in Iraq.

It’s unclear how House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries will handle the demands for another impeachment push. But Democratic leaders are holding a call on Friday with members of the House Judiciary Committee that is focused on “Trump administration accountability and the 25th Amendment.”

Standing on the Capitol steps Thursday, Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., said she supports impeachment, but nevertheless hit the brakes on it for now, as the Democrats are in the minority. Instead, she called on Republicans to stand up to Trump’s threats, including by invoking the 25th Amendment.

She predicted the imperative to remove Trump from office could only grow as negotiators navigate a fragile framework for a peace deal. Dean and other Democrats criticized the plan as “chaotic” and unworkable.

Yet Dean said Trump's threat to destroy Iranian civilization should have already been enough. “The president brought the entire globe to watch his madness,” she said.

The San Antonio City Council voted 7-4 Thursday morning to approve a contract amendment allowing a $5 gate fee for Fiesta de los Reyes at Market Square during some of the busiest times of the 10-day event.

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5), and Councilman Ric Galvan (D6) voted against it.

Fiesta de los Reyes brings in more than 250,000 visitors. Though entry has traditionally been free, the organizer — nonprofit Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation — makes money from sponsorships, booth rentals and drink sales.

The Consejos said they also need an entry fee to cover the costs of enhanced security that began last year after a fatal shootout in 2024 and another shooting in 2023.

Interim Director Elaine De Los Santos told KSAT the extra security measures, which included closing off the perimeter and screening attendees with private security, came with a price tag. Instead of being able to raise money for scholarships through the 2025 event, her group ended up losing approximately $143,000.

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 new, $5 gate fee would be charged to attendees 13 or older arriving after 6 p.m. on most weekdays, 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.

Opponents to the fee, who included businesses from the Farmers Market Plaza at the western edge of the Market Square, said the fee would reduce foot traffic through Market Square and limit access for families and people with stretched budgets.

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

The Consejos will get all the revenue up to $250,000. The city and nonprofit would split the revenue above that point.

For 2026 and 2027, the city would get a 25% cut. That share would increase for 2028 through 2030 to include a 50% cut for ticket revenue above $350,000.

More than 250,000 people attend the event at Market Square over 10 days. Although entry has previously been free, the Consejos 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.

Fiesta starts on Thursday, April 16.

Read also:

• Fiesta parades: How to choose where to sit?
• From free to a $5 fee: Pushback against Fiesta de los Reyes plan to charge for entry

The three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan did not immediately rule after hearing two hours of arguments.

At the conclusion, Circuit Judge William J. Nardini called it an “exceptionally difficult case” that raises questions of first impression “not only for this court but for any federal court in the country.”

Throughout the arguments, judges questioned whether a judge improperly considered elements of acquitted charges to sentence Combs to what his lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, said was the most prison time ever given someone convicted of the same charges with a similar criminal history.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christy Slavik, arguing for the government, challenged Shapiro's claim, saying the four-year, two-month prison term given to Combs was below what federal sentencing guidelines called for and was in line with similar convictions in the 2nd Circuit.

Combs, currently in federal prison in New Jersey, is challenging his conviction and prison sentence. He was convicted last July under the federal Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for any sexual crime.

But he was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that carried the potential for a life sentence.

In sentencing Combs, Judge Arun Subramanian said: “Mr. Combs, you’re being sentenced for the offenses of conviction, NOT the crimes he was acquitted of. However, under law, the court ‘shall consider’ the nature of the offense and characteristics of the defendant.”

The judge also cited law which states that no limitation shall be placed on the “background, character and conduct” that a judge can consider.

During Thursday's arguments, Shapiro asked the appeals panel for a speedy decision.

Combs, 56, has been behind bars since his September 2024 arrest. The Federal Bureau of Prisons says he is scheduled for release in April 2028.

His attorneys say Combs' conviction should be reversed, or he should at least be freed and resentenced to less time.

Despite extensive written arguments on the subject, there was no discussion Thursday about claims by Combs' lawyers that his conviction should be reversed on grounds that the First Amendment protects sexual encounters between his girlfriends and male sex workers because they were sometimes filmed and amounted to “amateur pornography.”

There was extensive discussion, though, about his lawyers' arguments that Subramanian wrongly considered evidence of fraud and coercion that they said the jury rejected as it exonerated him on the most serious charges.

Combs' trial last year exposed the sordid private life of one of the most influential figures in music. The case featured harrowing testimony about violence, drugs and sexual performances that witnesses said he called “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”

He did not testify. His defense team acknowledged that he could be violent but argued that prosecutors were straining to make a federal crime out of his personal life.

In December 2023, the U.S. Justice Department sued a Texas land developer it accused of duping tens of thousands of Hispanic residents into predatory mortgages, a landmark case for the Biden administration.

Colony Ridge, which sold plots in massive subdivisions north of Houston, had become a “one-stop shop for discriminatory lending,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit. The developer targeted Hispanic applicants through false advertising and persuaded them to take out high-interest loans that many could not afford, then benefited when it foreclosed on their properties, the lawsuit alleged.

“Our goal at the end of the day is to ensure that victims are compensated for their loss,” Clarke declared.

Three years later, the Trump administration and Colony Ridge are on the verge of resolving the case. But the $68 million proposed settlement provides no money for victims of the alleged scheme. Instead, it sets aside $20 million for policing and immigration enforcement — a provision that may be used to target the very people who were victimized by the developer, according to former government officials who worked on such cases.

“I’ve never seen a settlement like this, with a complete misalignment between what you’re settling and what the resolution is,” said Elena Babinecz, who led fair lending investigations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for 12 years under the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, before leaving in October.

“It’s a slap in the face to the individuals that were harmed; that the Justice Department acknowledges were harmed,” said Babinecz, who was at the bureau when it joined the Justice Department in filing suit against Colony Ridge. “It’s a complete misjustice, and it’s not at all why these civil rights laws were passed.”

Seven other attorneys and investigators who formerly enforced the federal government’s lending and housing civil rights laws also told ProPublica and The Texas Tribune that they were stunned by the agreement, which a U.S. district judge must still approve. Indeed, Colony Ridge is the largest Justice Department case since at least 2018 in which the settlement includes no monetary compensation for victims. The judge has scheduled a hearing on Friday over the proposal.

A coalition of fair housing and civil rights groups has urged the court to reject the settlement, arguing the lawsuit is the only realistic prospect for many consumers to get recompense because they cannot afford private attorneys.

The Justice Department had built a case against Colony Ridge with “stark and overwhelming evidence,” Clarke told the news organizations. Prosecutors said Colony Ridge repeatedly misled consumers about the condition of lots they purchased, forcing them to spend hundreds or thousands on drainage improvements and utility connections they hadn’t known the land needed. This contributed to consumers defaulting on high-interest loans, according to the lawsuit. Colony Ridge then benefited from the improvements made to the land it foreclosed on and resold the lots at higher prices.

In the end, tens of thousands of victims were exploited through the developer’s predatory practices in a span of eight years, the government argued. Colony Ridge repossessed more than 15,000 lots, many owned by immigrants, a 2023 investigation by the Houston Landing found.

Of the 183 housing and civil enforcement Justice Department settlements since 2018, only 6% did not include money for victims. Each of those cases was smaller in scope than Colony Ridge. They included a suburban Maryland car dealership accused of racial discrimination in loan offers over a seven-month period and a California landlord who allegedly refused to provide handicapped parking to one tenant.

None of the settlements — except for Colony Ridge — includes funding for police or immigration enforcement.

As federal investigators built a case around how Colony Ridge had treated its largely immigrant customers, conservative media and politicians aligned with Trump — who had made immigration enforcement a cornerstone of his campaign — did not focus on how consumers had been harmed. They instead accused the development of being a haven for immigrants.

They claimed, without providing evidence, that the development was a base for Mexican drug cartels and a “no-go” zone for police. Local law enforcement disputed the assertions, saying that violent crime there was no different from other neighborhoods in and around Houston. State legislative panels convened to investigate the allegations also fizzled out after they were unable to substantiate such claims.

Neither the federal government nor a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton months later raised public safety concerns or a need for more policing or immigration enforcement.

The Justice Department declined to comment and did not respond to the concerns raised by former employees and people involved in the case. Paxton’s office did not respond to multiple emails. But while announcing the settlement in February, Harmeet K. Dhillon, who leads the department’s Civil Rights Division, argued that Colony Ridge had encouraged illegal immigration by targeting Hispanic consumers with the bait of affordable homeownership. “This DOJ will go after all lenders, financiers, and land developers who participate in schemes which ultimately encourage illegal immigration,” she said. In his own news release about the settlement, which would also resolve the Texas suit, Paxton focused primarily on funding set aside for immigration enforcement. “Under my watch, Texas will never be a sanctuary for illegals,” he said.

The focus on immigration makes the lives of those who were harmed more difficult, said Catherine Bendor, a manager in the Justice Department’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section for eight years until 2024.

“Even if they’re citizens, they’ll likely be hassled by immigration agents who target people based on appearance or accent,” she said.

John Harris, Colony Ridge’s CEO, declined to be interviewed. The settlement does not include an admission of wrongdoing. He has long maintained that his company, which started in 2011 and offered mortgages for as little as a 1% down payment, has not preyed on its customers.

The financing terms helped the development grow rapidly, albeit inconsistently, with neat modular homes, trailers and abandoned or vacant lots across more than 33,000 acres. Matt Rascon, a spokesperson for Colony Ridge, said the company “found success offering a path to land ownership through flexible financing options with no credit checks.” His comments echoed the company’s argument in court that it created a path to homeownership for thousands of lower-income consumers whom risk-averse banks reject.

Offering loans when others wouldn’t is the most common argument predatory lenders make to justify their practices, said Nathalie Martin, a University of New Mexico law professor who has studied high-cost loans.

“You can see from this situation, it doesn’t help people to get them into loans that are more costly than they need to be,” Martin said.

Former federal officials and Colony Ridge property owners acknowledge that the settlement includes some provisions to protect consumers in the future. It would require Colony Ridge to adopt stricter lending standards and allow buyers to back out of purchases without penalty within two months. The developer would also make $48 million in infrastructure upgrades and provide transparent, bilingual marketing and communication.

Another provision bars Colony Ridge from developing new lots to sell for three years. But the agreement exempts 674 acres that the developer has already subdivided.

The concessions are helpful but inadequate because they miss a clear opportunity to help victims recover money they lost, which is a key reason such cases are filed, said Jon Seward, who was principal deputy chief for the Justice Department when he left in May 2023 after 17 years in its Housing and Civil Enforcement Section.

One such victim was Maria Acevedo, who describes herself as a lifelong Republican and U.S. citizen who said she voted for Trump three times.

A former land developer herself, Acevedo took out a high-interest $40,000 loan in 2018 to buy a half-acre of land where she planned to retire. She then spent an additional $60,000 on surveying, engineering and adding dirt to protect against flooding.

Acevedo said she planned to refinance her loan but learned that she couldn’t because the property had a lien from a previous owner. Colony Ridge foreclosed on the property three years later, even though Acevedo said she was making payments. Colony Ridge did not comment on Acevedo’s case or those of other individuals in this story. The foreclosure ruined her retirement plans, Acevedo said, adding that the challenges strained her marriage and eventually led to divorce.

She considered finding a lawyer to sue. But she said she decided to “become a team player” and serve as a government witness after federal investigators pledged to help victims like her recover what they lost.

Now, Acevedo said, she feels betrayed by a settlement that ignores Hispanic consumers like her.

“I know we were targeted. A blind man could see it,” Acevedo said. 

She added that the lawsuit was “going smooth, but once the Trump administration came in and took it over, it changed.”

Even if she could now find a lawyer, her window to file a lawsuit has expired because state and federal laws require they be brought within five years.

Since returning to office, the Trump administration has abandoned an $80 million settlement with Navy Federal Credit Union over illegal overdraft fees, which allowed the bank to continue operating without penalty, and halted dozens of investigations, including a case accusing a major Pennsylvania lender of defrauding student borrowers. Both defendants have denied wrongdoing.

The Trump administration and White House budget director Russell Vought have taken aim at the CFPB, which was formed to protect consumers from getting ripped off by businesses. For Vought, the agency was an example of government overreach. It was also one of the first targets for Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. In April, in response to a lawsuit by bureau employees over the CFPB’s attempt to lay off 90% of its staff, the administration offered a compromise proposal: slashing two-thirds.

The White House and Vought’s office declined to comment, but the administration has argued the agency was needlessly aggressive and wasteful.

The shift away from pursuing consumer protection cases gives the impression that the federal government is no longer serious about protecting regular people from unscrupulous businesses,  former Justice Department and CFPB employees said.

Investigators spent months gathering stories and building trust with residents who were wary of cooperating, said Johnathan Smith, a former deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights during the Biden administration, who visited the development before the lawsuit. The team worked to ensure that the community “believed something was going to be different because the Justice Department got involved.”

“It’s just heartbreaking how the settlement failed to meet that mark,” he said.

SuEllen Sanchez and her sister, Keilah Sanchez, were among those who shared their stories with investigators, expecting the government would help them reclaim what they lost. They also provided investigators with hundreds of records from neighbors who said they’d been scammed.

A U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico, SuEllen Sanchez had purchased five lots in Colony Ridge in 2020. She saw it as a way to invest money she’d earned as an aesthetician and perhaps open a business there.

Sanchez said the advertisements and sales representatives for Colony Ridge led her to believe the lots would be ready to build on. They weren’t. Clearing the land for development, acquiring permits and connecting utilities cost her more than $10,000. Colony Ridge foreclosed on one of the lots in 2021, according to Sanchez, who disputes the developer’s claims that she had missed loan payments.

Sanchez wondered if others also believed they’d been scammed. That’s when she and her sister, a web developer who also had purchased Colony Ridge properties, launched a website asking residents to share their experiences with the developer.

Sanchez said she was dismayed that all of their efforts resulted in the proposed settlement.

“These were consumer-based lawsuits, so you would think they’d actually do something for consumers with everything that they stipulated that this company did wrong,” Sanchez said. “There’s no way somebody who has all these violations should still be operating.”

Acevedo feels the same way, and she wants the judge to know it as he mulls the settlement. She doesn’t have a lawyer, but after the Justice Department proposed it, she filed a legal brief in the case demanding compensation as a victim. She offered to testify and present evidence.

“I want the court to hear me directly,” she wrote to Judge Alfred H. Bennett. “I am willing to swear to my experience.”

On Friday, she plans to drive 30 miles to Courtroom 9A in the Houston federal building for the settlement hearing, hoping for the judge to grant her request to be heard.

Misty Harris contributed research.

Newly published research concludes that fossilized remains listed by Guinness World Records as the earliest known octopus belong instead to a relative of a nautilus, a cephalopod with both tentacles and a shell.

University of Reading zoologist Thomas Clements, the lead researcher behind the new findings, said the fossil, Pohlsepia mazonensis, has long been the subject of scientific debate.

“It’s a very difficult fossil to interpret,” he said. “To look at it, it kind of just looks like a white mush.

“If you look at it and you are a cephalopod researcher and you’re interested in everything octopus, it does superficially look a lot like a deep-water octopus.”

The creature, a blob about the size of a human hand, was found in the Mazon Creek area of Illinois, about 50 miles southwest of Chicago, that is rich in fossils from a period before dinosaurs walked the Earth.

Its identification by paleontologists as an octopus in 2000 upended ideas about the evolution of the eight-tentacled cephalopods, suggesting they emerged much earlier than previously thought. The next oldest-known octopus fossil is only about 90 million years old.

“It’s a huge gap,” Clements said. “And so that big gap got researchers sort of questioning, ‘Is this thing actually an octopus?”

To solve the mystery of the “weird blob,” Clements and his team used a synchrotron — which uses fast-moving electrons to create beams of light brighter than the sun — to look inside the fossil rock. They found a ribbon of teeth known as a radula that is common to all mollusks, including nautiluses and octopuses. Each row had 11 teeth. Octopuses have either seven or nine.

“This has too many teeth, so it can’t be an octopus,” Clements said. “And that’s how we realize that the world’s oldest octopus is actually a fossil nautilus, not an octopus.”

The teeth matched those of a fossil nautiloid called Paleocadmus pohli that had been found in the same area. Clements said the mistaken identification may have happened because the creature decomposed and lost its telltale shell before it was fossilized, complicating identification.

As a result of the findings published this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Guinness World Records said it will no longer list Pohlsepia mazonensis as the earliest known octopus.

Managing Editor Adam Millward said the scientists had made “a fascinating discovery.”

“We will be resting the original ‘oldest octopus fossil’ title and look forward to reviewing this new evidence,” he said.

Pohlsepia mazonensis is named for its discoverer James Pohl, and is in the collection of the Field Museum in Chicago.

Paul Mayer, manager of the museum's collection of fossil invertebrates, said he was “a little surprised” by its new classification as a nautiloid, but noted that "people have been questioning whether it was an octopus ever since the original paper was first published in 2000.”

He said new technologies for scientific investigation had brought renewed interest in the Mazon Creek fossils.

“(That) is great for our collections and hopefully new discoveries will be made and new stories will be revealed,” Mayer said.

Clements said the museum should not be disappointed by the new evidence, which means it now has “the oldest soft tissue nautilus in the world.

“The Field Museum have a small collection of these ancient nautiluses, which I think as a cephalopod worker is probably the best thing ever,” he said.

Councilmembers will take up the ordinance during their regular meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday. The meeting will be livestreamed in this article. Delays are possible; if there’s not a livestream available, check back at a later time.

The Fiesta event, which has traditionally been free, is a fundraiser for Rey Feo Consejo Educational Foundation, which uses the money for scholarships.

Organizers say a proposed $5 gate fee for the busiest times is necessary to cover the costs of enhanced security that began last year. Those were put in place after a fatal shootout in 2024 and another shooting in 2023.

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 can 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 in 2026 and 2027.

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

More than 250,000 people attend the event at Market Square over 10 days. Although entry has previously been free, the Consejo makes 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.

Fiesta starts on Thursday, April 16.

Read also:

• Fiesta parades: How to choose where to sit?
• From free to a $5 fee: Pushback against Fiesta de los Reyes plan to charge for entry

The legislation, approved by the Senate in February, was passed with 137 votes in favor, 111 against and three abstentions.

According to mining sector estimates, the new regulatory framework could unlock over $30 billion in investments over the next decade. Approximately 70% of those funds are slated for new copper, gold and silver projects.

Milei is expected to sign the legislation in the coming days.

On his X account, Milei shared a statement from his party hailing the new framework as a “significant improvement” that will help “strike a balance between environmental protection and economic development, moving away from an approach that tended to stifle investment, job creation and growth.”

Environmental advocates are shifting to legal action to prevent the law from taking effect.

Groups including Greenpeace and the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation are organizing a public class-action lawsuit describing the bill’s passage as a flawed process that dismissed public concerns over water safety.

“If they refuse to listen in Congress, they will be forced to listen in the courts,” the organizations said in a statement, urging citizens to join a lawsuit that argues the reform threatens water access and the fragile ecosystems surrounding glaciers.

Opposition lawmakers have labeled the legislation unconstitutional, contending that it rolls back essential environmental protections.

Mining Secretary Luis Lucero told a local radio station that the previous regulation featured “absolute prohibitions without room for exceptions or environmental impact studies.” He noted that the rigid rules and imprecise definitions of “protected areas” discouraged investment in large-scale mining projects, which typically require investments of up to $3 billion.

In 2010, Argentina passed a landmark law banning all mining activity on glaciers and within periglacial zones — areas of frozen ground that act as vital water regulators.

The most significant shift in the Milei administration’s reform is a narrowing of these protections. Under the new framework, only glaciers and land forms with “specific hydrological functions” would be shielded, with each province responsible for making that determination.

Argentina is home to 16,968 glaciers distributed across the Andes Mountain Range and the South Atlantic Islands, covering a total surface area of ​​8,484 square kilometers (3,276 square miles).

Glaciology experts have warned that climate change is already causing glaciers to retreat at an accelerated pace. Scientists caution that weakening these protections could jeopardize water security in arid regions and deplete the reserves that sustain river flows.

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

As the next-to-last day of their flight dawned Thursday, humanity's first lunar explorers in more than half a century were less than 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers) from home with the odometer clicking down.

“We have to get back. There’s so much data that you’ve seen already, but all the good stuff is coming back with us. There are so many more pictures, so many more stories," said pilot Victor Glover, adding that "riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound as well.”

Being cut off from all of humanity for nearly an hour while behind the moon was especially “surreal,” according to commander Reid Wiseman.

“There’s a lot that our brains have to process ... and it is a true gift," Wiseman said late Wednesday during the crew's first news conference since before liftoff.

While out of contact behind the moon Monday, Wiseman, Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen became the most distant humans ever, clocking in at a record 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers) from Earth before heading back. As they emerged from behind the moon, they experienced a wondrous total solar eclipse as the orb blocked the sun from their perspective.

Launching from Florida on April 1 diminished the amount of illumination on the lunar far side, Glover noted, but the eclipse was the consolation prize “and it was one of the greatest gifts."

Friday's reentry and Pacific splashdown off the coast of San Diego — as dynamic and dangerous as liftoff — now topped everyone's minds. The recovery ship, USS John P. Murtha, was already at sea, with a squadron of military planes and helicopters poised to join the operation.

It's the first time that NASA and the Defense Department have teamed up for a lunar crew's reentry since Apollo 17 in 1972. Their Orion capsule will come screaming back, hitting the atmosphere at a predicted 34,965 feet (10,657 meters) per second — or 23,840 mph (38,367 kph) — not a record but still mind-bogglingly fast.

Mission Control will be paying close attention to how the capsule's heat shield holds up. During the only other Orion test flight to the moon — in 2022 without a crew — the heat shield suffered considerably more damage than expected from the 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius) of reentry.

Instead of replacing Artemis II's heat shield, which would have forced another lengthy delay, NASA tweaked the capsule's descent through the atmosphere to reduce the blisteringly hot exposure. Next year's Artemis III and beyond will fly with redesigned heat shields.

Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV in 2028 will attempt to land two astronauts near the moon's south pole, setting the stage for what NASA hopes will be a sustainable lunar base.

NASA officials have been loath to provide their risk assessment numbers for the nearly 10-day mission, acknowledging launch and entry as the biggest threats.

“We’re down to the wire now,” said NASA's Lakiesha Hawkins. "We’re down to the end of the mission, and obviously getting the crew back home and getting them landed safely, is a significant part of the risk that’s still in front of us.”

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

Organizers for the South of France festival, which runs May 12-23, laid out a lineup heavy on big-name international auteurs at a news conference Thursday in Paris.

Cannes’ most sought-after slots are in its competition lineup. This year, 21 films will vie for the Palme d’Or. That includes “Fatherland,” a Cold War drama starring Sandra Hüller by Pawlikowski (“Ida,” “Cold War” ); “All of a Sudden,” the French language debut for Hamaguchi ( “Drive My Car” ); and Almodovar’s “Bitter Christmas,” which has already opened in Spain.

Cannes is so far light on Hollywood releases and American filmmakers. One exception in competition is Ira Sachs' “The Man I Love,” a New York tale starring Rami Malek set during the 1980s AIDS crisis. In the Un Certain Regard sidebar, Jane Schoenbrun will unveil their follow-up to 2014’s “I Saw the TV Glow”: “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” about the making of a slasher movie. It stars Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson.

Previous Palme d’Or winners will be represented

A number of former Palme winners are in the mix. That includes Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu’s Norway-set “Fjord,” starring the recently Oscar-nominated Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan. Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” won the Palme in 2007.

Also returning is Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose 2018 drama “Shoplifters” won the Palme. He’ll debut the sci-fi “Sheep in the Box,” about a grieving couple in the near future who bring home a humanoid boy as their son.

The specialty distributor Neon has already boarded “Fjord,” “Sheep in the Box” and “All of a Sudden,” giving it a chance to extend its historic record of six Palme winners in a row. Last year, the Neon release “It Was Just an Accident,” by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, won the Palme.

Neon is also behind an out of competition selection in “Her Private Hell” by Nicolas Winding Refn, the “Drive” filmmaker. A thriller starring Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton, it's Refn's first feature film since 2016's “The Neon Demon.”

Festival defends the ‘ability to dream and think freely’

The Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev is also back in the Cannes competition lineup with “Minotaur.” Zvyagintsev's last two films, “Loveless” and “Leviathan,” both debuted at Cannes and went on to land Oscar nominations.

Other competition entries include films by Asghar Farhadi (“Parallel Stories”), Lukas Dhont (“Coward”) and Lazlo Nemes (“Moulin”).

Thierry Fremaux, Cannes’ artistic director, announced the selections in a news conference alongside festival president Iris Knobloch. Fremaux said that 2,541 feature films were submitted for inclusion. Fremaux estimated that Thursday's announcement encompassed 95% of the selection, so a handful more films will be announced in the coming weeks.

“In this moment, bringing together films and artists from around the world is not a luxury, it’s a necessity,” Knobloch said. “Because when the world darkens, we lose our bearings. Showcasing films from all horizons is not a trivial act. It is defending what is most precious to humanity, its ability to dream and think freely.”

Cannes is coming off a 2025 festival that produced a number of Oscar contenders, including two best-picture nominees in Joachim Tier’s “Sentimental Value” and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent.” This year’s Cannes appears well positioned to continue the festival’s stature as the global launching pad of many of the year’s best international films, some of which are bound to show up at next year’s Oscars.

Hollywood studios are less present at Cannes this year

But Hollywood studios appear to be a no-show. Fremaux has said not to expect red carpet premieres like “Top Gun: Maverick” or “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” — both of which made splashy premieres in recent years. This year, Cannes announced ahead of the Paris news conference that John Travolta's directorial debut “Propeller One-Way Night Coach” will debut in the Cannes Premiere section.

“The United States will be present, but the studios will be a bit less so,” Fremaux said. “It’s important to know that when studios are less present at Cannes, it means they are generally less present with the type of cinema that used to allow them to thrive.”

Two prominent American directors will debut documentaries in special screenings: Steven Soderbergh with “John Lennon: The Last Interview” and Ron Howard with “Avedon,” about the photographer Richard Avedon.

Opening the festival, out of competition, is the 1920s French film “The Electric Kiss.” Cannes requires its opening movie to release the same week in French cinemas. And entry to its prestigious competition lineup requires theatrical distribution, a stipulation that — given France’s laws guarding theatrical windows — has excluded Netflix movies and other streaming titles since 2017.

This year, the Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook will preside over the nine-member jury that will decide the Palme. And a pair of honorary Palmes will be handed out, to Barbra Streisand and to Peter Jackson.

The culprit is volatile oil and jet fuel prices, which have spiked sharply since the war in the Middle East began and fighting near the narrow Strait of Hormuz created a chokepoint for global oil supplies.

“Volatility is the real story here,” said Shye Gilad, a former airline captain who now teaches at Georgetown University's business school. “Right now, the airlines are trying to make bets on what they think will happen in the future."

Airlines are responding cautiously, trimming schedules and adjusting prices in ways that experts say will ripple unevenly across the market but ultimately affect nearly every type of traveler.

Budget airlines and the price-conscious customers who rely on them are likely to feel the pinch first and most acutely, experts say, but even travelers in premium cabins won’t escape the higher prices and less convenient schedules.

Oil prices have swung wildly in recent weeks, briefly topping $119 a barrel at one point, plunging Wednesday below $95 on news of a two-week ceasefire that temporarily reopened the Strait of Hormuz, and then climbing back toward $100 on Thursday as uncertainty over the fragile deal grew. Iran again closed the key artery for global oil shipments in response to Israeli strikes Wednesday in Lebanon.

“When prices move quickly in both directions, it’s very hard for airlines to make predictions,” Gilad said. "That’s why there’s a lag between oil market moves and what passengers see in ticket prices.”

In other words, even when oil prices drop, travelers may not see relief right away. Gilad said airlines can take months, sometimes even up to a year, to adjust prices as they wait for energy markets to stabilize.

“At this level of fuel, it’s hard to call anything temporary," Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told reporters this week after the Atlanta-based carrier raised its checked baggage fees.

Global squeeze, local effects

Bastian said Wednesday as Delta kicked off the earnings season for U.S. airlines that the higher fuel prices are expected to add $2 billion in operating expenses in the second quarter alone. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said in a recent memo to staff that if jet fuel prices stay elevated, it would mean an additional $11 billion in annual costs. That’s more than double what United earned in its most profitable year.

“For perspective,” Kirby wrote, “in United’s best year ever, we made less than $5B.”

According to the International Air Transport Association, the average global jet fuel price rose to $209 per barrel last week, up from roughly $99 at the end of February when the war started.

Travelers from the U.S. to Hong Kong and New Delhi are paying the price.

U.S. carriers are embedding the higher operating costs into ticket prices and add-on fees. Delta, United, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue have all increased their checked baggage fees.

United has moved beyond add-ons to adjust pricing in its front cabins. The carrier said last week it is bringing the “pay for what you want” approach already standard in economy to its premium cabins, turning perks like advanced seat selection and fully refundable tickets into optional extras.

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific recently bumped fuel surcharges by roughly 34% across all routes, while Air India on Monday added up to $280 in fees to some flights. Emirates, Lufthansa and KLM have also adjusted fees or fares to keep pace with the price volatility.

Experts say flexibility — and careful monitoring — can help offset the rising fares. Fare-tracking tools can alert travelers to price changes and compare multiple options in one place. Booking early and checking nearby airports can lock in better prices, while refundable tickets make it easier to cancel and rebook if fares drop. Traveling light with just a carry-on can also help avoid the rising bag fees.

Flight cuts to cut costs

For some travelers, it’s not just the cost — it’s the uncertainty that’s changing how they're planning trips.

Bill Moorehouse, 50, a solutions director at a global provider of business and technology services, routinely travels for work every four to six weeks.

“When you have business trips and you have a carefully coordinated schedule, you don’t want unknowns and disruptions. And right now, it just feels like it’s more likely that things could go wrong and throw your trip off course,” the Cupertino, California, resident said.

For now, he’s staying closer to home.

“I think it’s a good time to do your spring cleaning and reconnect with friends locally,” Moorehouse said.

Airlines, meanwhile, are also adjusting how much they fly.

BNP Paribas estimates that global schedules for April have been cut roughly 5% compared with earlier plans. Most reductions are in the Middle East, the global investment bank said, though smaller cuts were also emerging in Europe, Asia and North America.

United Airlines is cutting about 5% of its planned flights in the near term, trimming less profitable routes and suspending some international service temporarily rather than “burning cash” on trips that can’t absorb the more expensive fuel costs. The airline's CEO said the cuts will target redeye flights and routes on historically slower travel days such as Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.

Delta is scrapping plans to add more flights and seats in June, leaving about 3.5% fewer seats than originally planned.

Travel plans upended

These moves show why major carriers are better positioned to weather the spike in fuel prices than budget carriers, whose “no frills” model leaves them with less flexibility. Bigger airlines can lean on dynamic pricing, sell more seats at higher fares or swap in larger planes on certain routes, letting them cut flights without losing overall capacity.

“Leisure travelers and budget conscious travelers are going to absolutely feel it first because it may make the difference between going and not going,” Gilad said.

It's already made the difference for Anna Del Vecchio. The 36-year-old Seattle resident has made it an annual springtime tradition to visit family in Philadelphia before flying to Paris to see friends she met as a teenager during a volunteer internship.

Her credit card points typically cover the roundtrip flight, but ticket prices now hover around $1,400 — about double what she has paid in past years.

“It wasn’t even scratching the surface for the flight this time," she said, “so I decided to delay the trip.”

But if airfare tops $1,500, she might not be able to make a journey she hasn't missed in years.

“It might be the kind of thing where it just ends up being that I have to travel less.”

Defense Secretary John Healey said a Royal Navy frigate, aircraft and hundreds of personnel were involved in tracking a Russian attack sub and two spy submarines operating north of the U.K., and prevented the spy vessels from carrying out “nefarious” activities against underwater infrastructure.

He said the Russian vessels eventually left after the operation that lasted more than a month. There is no evidence of damage to any cables or pipes, he said.

The U.K. said other allies were also involved in the operation, but didn't name them.

NATO countries have repeatedly expressed concern that Russia could use its fleet of spy ships to sabotage underwater cables on which global communications depend. Russia has dismissed those claims.

Healey said his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin was was “we see your activity over our cables and our pipelines and you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.”

Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik said in a statement that Russia’s operation occurred in and near Norwegian and British maritime areas in recent weeks.

Norway and the U.K. said the activity was coordinated by Russia’s Main Directorate of Deep Sea Research, known as GUGI, which is part of Russian armed forces. The activity is a reminder that Russia is further developing its abilities to map and sabotage critical Western infrastructure at ocean depths, Norway's Defense Ministry said.

Healey said the subs are “designed to survey underwater infrastructure during peacetime and sabotage it in conflict.”

In November, Britain told Russia it was ready to deal with any incursion into its territory after the spy ship Yantar was detected on the edge of U.K. waters north of Scotland.

Healey said the submarine activity occurred in the U.K.’s exclusive economic zone, which extends for 200 nautical miles (230 miles, 370 kilometers) from shore, but not its narrower territorial waters.

British officials have tried to keep Russia in the international spotlight even as the world’s attention is focused on conflict in the Middle East. They have also stressed the overlap between conflicts there and in Ukraine, saying Russia has supplied Iran with drone parts and other support.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has shed light on the reduced state of Britain’s military, which has been shrinking for decades. U.S. President Donald Trump has derided the Royal Navy, which has sent one destroyer to the eastern Mediterranean to help defend Cyprus.

Healey told a news conference that “Putin would want us to be distracted by the Middle East,” but Russia is the main threat to the U.K. and its allies.

“We will not take our eyes off Putin,” he said.

In late March, the U.K. said its military was ready to seize ships suspected to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” of vessels shipping oil in violation of international sanctions over Moscow’s war on Ukraine. Previously, Britain had only helped France and the U.S. monitor ships before they were boarded.

Katja Bego, a senior research fellow at international affairs think tank Chatham House, said “calling out" Russian operations as Healey had done could be an effective deterrent.

“But there are urgent conversations to be had as well about what European countries can do to inflict a far higher cost on Russia in response to these increasingly brazen incursions," she said.

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Associated Press writer Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

The “Neighborhood Fishin’” lakes will be stocked with catfish at Southside Lions Park (3100 Hiawatha Street) and Millers Pond (6075 Old Pearsall Road).

The program allows anglers and families the opportunity to experience fishing close to home.

The lakes will be stocked with catfish through the end of October with a brief pause in August.

A fishing license is required for visitors ages 17 and up. People under 17 do not need a license.

Additional catfish-stocked lakes are available in various Texas cities, including Austin, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and others.

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The stabbing happened just after 5:35 a.m. at the Circle K on Southwest Military Drive and Commercial Avenue, located on the South Side.

The teen walked into the store alongside another male and attempted to take a beer, SAPD said.

However, the employee, 43, told the teen that he couldn’t purchase the alcohol at that time. The boy responded by saying, “I’m going to take it regardless,” police stated.

The employee attempted to take the beverage away, which prompted the teen to hit him on the upper body, police said.

SAPD said the employee pulled out a knife at some point and stabbed the teen in “self-defense.”

The teenager suffered a stab wound to his lower body and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. His injuries were non-life-threatening, police said.

No arrests have been made in the incident. Authorities are in the process of reviewing the store’s surveillance footage.

SAPD said the investigation is ongoing.

An inflation gauge monitored by the Federal Reserve rose 0.4% in February from January, up slightly from the previous month. Compared with a year ago, prices rose 2.8%, the same as January. Thursday's data was delayed by a backlog of economic reports created by the six-week government shutdown last fall.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation also rose 0.4% in February from January, and it was 3% higher than a year earlier. The annual figure is slightly below January's reading of 3.1%.

Still, the monthly increases are at a pace that if continued for a whole year, would easily top the Fed's 2% inflation target.

“Consumer inflation was firming even prior to the outbreak of war in the Middle East, and it is primed to jump sharply higher in March,” Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide, wrote in a client note. “Even if a long-lasting deal to end the war is reached and the Strait of Hormuz is fully reopened, it would take months for oil, gasoline, diesel and other commodity supplies to snap back to prewar levels and thus for prices to settle back to preconflict levels.”

Thursday's report is largely a warm-up for the more important inflation data to be released Friday, when the government will publish the higher-profile consumer price index for March. The Friday report will be the first to reflect the impact of the gas price spike from the Iran war. Economists forecast it will show a big increase of 0.9% just in March from February, and a 3.4% gain from a year earlier. The annual figure would be a big increase from 2.4% in February.

The large jump in inflation in March will heighten concerns at the Fed that prices are moving further away from their inflation target and make it much less likely the central bank will cut rates anytime soon. At their most recent meeting last month, some Fed officials supported opening the door to the potential for rate hikes if inflation didn't show signs of improving.

Thursday's report from the Commerce Department also showed that Americans' incomes slipped 0.1% in February, the first decline since October, while spending after adjusting for inflation barely increased.

Higher inflation is sapping Americans' purchasing power. Spending rose a solid 0.5% in February from the previous month before adjusting for higher prices. Bostjancic expects consumer spending, adjusted for inflation, will rise a modest 1.2% at an annual rate in the first three months of this year, below the 1.9% reached in last year's fourth quarter.

The economy may still grow a decent 2% in the first quarter, Bostjancic said, driven by investments in artificial intelligence and a bounceback in government spending after last year's shutdown. The government said Thursday growth was just 0.5% at the end of last year.

Separately, police in Moscow raided the offices of the prominent independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose chief editor Dmitry Muratov was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2021. The newspaper said its lawyers were not allowed inside the office.

The ruling against the human rights group followed a closed hearing on a petition from the Justice Ministry to designate what it called “the Memorial international civic movement” as extremist and ban its activities in Russia.

Memorial said in a statement issued earlier in the day that there is no such entity but that the ruling still “would allow the authorities to crack down on any Memorial projects, their participants and supporters.”

A long history of human rights activism

Memorial is one of the oldest and the most renowned Russian human rights organizations. It was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, less than a year after President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, alongside Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski, who was imprisoned at the time, and the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee condemned the actions against the group, calling them “an affront to the fundamental values of human dignity and freedom of expression" and urged Russia to “cease all harassment of Memorial and its members.”

Amnesty International's Eastern Europe and Central Asia deputy regional director Denis Krivosheev said in a statement that the court ruling was targeting not just Memorial but “criminalizing human rights work itself.”

Memorial was founded in the late 1980s to ensure that the victims of the Soviet Union's political repression would be remembered, and grew to a network of smaller organizations both in Russia and abroad.

The group had been declared a “foreign agent,” a designation that brought additional government scrutiny and carried strong pejorative connotations, and over the years was ordered to pay massive fines for alleged violations of the ”foreign agent” law. Russian courts ordered its two main entities — the human rights center and the International Memorial — to shut down in December 2021.

Undeterred, the group continued to operate. In 2023, its members founded an international Memorial association in Geneva. Earlier this year, that association was banned in Russia as “undesirable,” a label that exposes anyone involved with it to prosecution.

In February 2024, Memorial's co-chair Oleg Orlov was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for speaking out against the war in Ukraine. He was released in a massive East-West prisoner exchange in August 2024 along with other imprisoned dissidents.

Increasing pressure on Memorial

An extremist designation puts even more pressure on the group, as involvement with extremist activities is a criminal offense in Russia punishable by prison terms.

Jan Raczynski, chair of the International Memorial that was forced to shut down in 2021, told The Associated Press that he was surprised and bewildered to learn from the news about the Justice Ministry's petition.

He said Memorial has been well-known for many years on par with “perestroika" and “glasnost” — Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of political reform and openness. Raczynski noted that Soviet physicist and human rights advocate Andrei Sakharov, a 1975 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was its first chairman.

Raczynski likened the Supreme Court's closed hearing to the repressions studied by the group.

“This is very similar to what we’ve been doing for almost 40 years now, these closed trials of people, in absentia, usually without a defense," he said, adding that it was difficult to predict what would happen next.

"I just know that for many hundreds of thousands of people in Russia, this is a very anxious time, because Memorial has helped a lot of people, and now they don’t understand what is happening,” Razcynski said.

He denounced allegations that Memorial was extremist, saying the group has always stood against violence, and vowed that its work will continue “one way or another.”

The Russian state news agency Tass cited the Supreme Court’s press service as saying Memorial’s activities “are clearly anti-Russian in nature, aimed at destroying the fundamental foundations of Russian statehood, violating territorial integrity, and eroding historical, cultural, spiritual, and moral values.”

Memorial said the case against the group “is yet another attempt to intimidate all dissent in the country and silence civil society" that will not succeed.

“Memorial and other civil society organizations, which are being destroyed in Russia, will continue their work abroad,” it said. “Memorial will outlive the Putin regime and will be able to openly return to Russia.”

A criminal case reported against Novaya Gazeta

After news emerged about the police raid against Novaya Gazeta, the Russian news agency Interfax, citing law enforcement officials, reported that a criminal case has been launched against the renowned newspaper on charges of illegal collection and use of personal data.

Tass cited law enforcement as saying the raid was connected to a case against Novaya Gazeta journalist Oleg Roldugin, who also co-founded another independent Russian newspaper, Sobesednik. Novaya Gazeta on social media said it couldn't confirm or deny whether this is the case, but noted that Roldugin's home also was raided, he has been taken in for questioning, and a lawyer was later allowed to see him.

The newspaper has faced growing pressure since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Its website has been blocked in Russia, its media license was revoked in 2022, and many of its journalists fled abroad and regrouped in a separate publication called Novaya Gazeta Europe. That publication has been banned in Russia as “undesirable.”

Muratov, Novaya Gazeta's longtime editor who still lives in Russia, shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Ressa, a journalist from the Philippines. He was declared a “foreign agent” by Russian authorities.

The newspaper was itself born from the legacy of Gorbachev's Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. He used part of his prize money to fund what later became Novaya Gazeta, which launched in 1993.

Returning to the stage after a nearly four-year hiatus, RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook will perform a set drawing from both their catalog and new fifth album, “ARIRANG," their first since band members completed South Korea's mandatory military service.

Despite pouring rain, the band's fans — including some hailing from Russia, the United States and Brazil — packed a stadium with a capacity for over 40,000 for the show, which marks the group’s first headline tour performance since their 2021–22 Permission to Dance on Stage tour.

Over a hundred fans, including some who had failed to get tickets, stood outside the stadium with umbrellas to listen to the band perform.

Kim Eunhee, a South Korean fan who came with her 30-year-old daughter, said the hope of attending a live BTS concert helped her power through her battle with cancer.

“Even during my hardest times last year while fighting it, this was the one thing I kept waiting for,” she said. "Coming to an actual concert venue and seeing them in person for the first time — it was just so meaningful.”

The shows in South Korea, running through April 12, launch a global tour spanning dozens of shows across the United States, Europe and Asia, which analysts say could generate hundreds of million s of dollars in revenue per quarter.

The concert comes less than a month after BTS marked their comeback with a free concert at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square.

All seven members of BTS completed their mandatory military service, with Suga being the last to be discharged in June 2025. He reportedly served at government-related facilities and organizations instead of military camps due to a shoulder injury.

In South Korea, all able-bodied men between 18 and 28 years old are required by law to perform up to 21 months of military service under a conscription system meant to deter aggression from rival North Korea.

“ARIRANG” — named after a centuries-old Korean folk song regarded as an unofficial anthem across the Korean peninsula — debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The single “Swim” also made it to the top of the charts.

BTS — short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, or “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” in Korean — debuted in June 2013. The seven-member group launched in 2013 with the hip-hop heavy single album “2 Cool 4 Skool,” releasing three full-length projects before gaining momentum with their 2016 album “Wings.”

Their global breakthrough came in 2017 when “DNA” entered the Billboard Hot 100, making BTS the first Korean boy band to achieve such a feat. The song’s success was followed by a performance at the American Music Awards, further fueling their international fan base called “Army.”

The band's world tour heads to Tokyo next, before moving through North America, Europe, South America and Asia. BTS is set to play Australian in early 2027, with a final stop in Manila next March.​

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This version corrects that all seven members completed their military service, instead of six of seven members.

Well, mostly down the first fairway.

After the 90-year-old Player hit his shot down the middle, and celebrated with a big leg kick, the 86-year-old Nicklaus stepped up. His son, Jackie, placed his ball on the tee, and the Golden Bear offered a tongue-in-cheek warning to the patrons lining the tee box — “Oh, boy, watch out,” Nicklaus said, “and I don't mean that facetiously” — and proceeded to hit a low hook right at them.

“I said, ‘Spread out on both sides because I don’t want to kill anybody,'” he relayed afterward. “If it'd been a little closer I might have.”

The ball cleared the heads of the patrons down the left side by a couple of feet.

Last up was the 76-year-old Watson, who used the tee Nicklaus had left stuck in the ground. “May I use your tee,” Watson asked? “It's why I left it,” the six-time Masters champion replied, and Watson proceeded to strike his drive right down the middle.

With that, the 90th edition of the Masters was underway.

The honorary starter has been a tradition at Augusta National since 1963, when Jock Hutchinson and Fred McLeod hit their opening shots of the tournament. The idea had come to club founder Bobby Jones years earlier, and over time, it has become a treasured part of the Masters mystique, with 11 dignitaries and past champions having served in the role.

Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead were the longest-serving, performing the duty throughout most of the 1980s and '90s, while Arnold Palmer was joined by Nicklaus and Player for many years. When the King died in 2016, it left just Nicklaus and Player in a twosome, so Watson was asked to join them, and the trio continues to this day.

“When I first played the Masters as an amateur in 1970, I teed off early in the morning, playing with Doug Ford. I went to the honorary starters, and it was very special,” Watson said. “I remember seeing Gene Sarazen tee off. Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack and Gary. It's something very special. I thought it was just part of the aura of the tournament, and I wanted to witness it.”

How much longer Player, Nicklaus and Watson take part is a big question surrounding the Masters these days.

So is who might take on the role next.

“I was a little worried. I had carpal tunnel surgery about five, six weeks ago, and I was worried about being able to hold onto the golf club and hurt somebody," Nicklaus said. “I’m fortunate that I got it over somebody’s head. I didn’t hit it very well, but I got it over their heads and didn’t hurt anybody. As long as I can still hit the golf ball.”

Nicklaus said he doesn't really play anymore. He did once all of last year, and once more this past February.

“But it’s such a nice ceremony, and it’s a real honor to be invited,” he said. “I hope to be able to do it as long as I can not kill anybody.”

___

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

• GRAB AN UMBRELLA: Isolated to scattered afternoon rain today, tomorrow
• STAYS WARM: Despite rain chances, it’ll be humid & warm
• SEVERE: Strong storms possible Sunday

FORECAST

TODAY

Temperatures are running much warmer than previous mornings thanks to an influx of moisture. We’ll see cloudy skies to start, with a mix of sun and clouds this afternoon. As a disturbance rolls in from Mexico, a scattering of showers and a few storms are possible during the late afternoon hours. It won’t be for everyone, but after-school activities and the evening commutes may be affected.

FRIDAY

Rain chances may pick up a bit more on Friday. We’ll need to watch any clusters of storms that come out of Mexico tonight, as they may last into the wee hours of Friday morning. By the afternoon, activity will pick up, with another round of scattered showers and storms. Widespread severe weather is NOT expected, but a strong storm or two can’t be ruled out.

THIS WEEKEND

Rain chances drop on Saturday, with the higher odds being across parts of West Texas. These storms will drift towards the Hill Country and Edwards Plateau Saturday night. On Sunday, storms may develop closer to San Antonio. Should we see storms, severe weather would be possible. The weekend will NOT be a washout, but you will want to be weather-aware if you plan to be outdoors.

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.

The 25-year-old IndyCar star — who became the series' youngest race winner at the age of 18 in 2019 — made the move to F2 this season with an eye on the super license points needed to race in F1 with Cadillac as its first American driver.

F2 has scheduled two extra rounds of its championship alongside F1's Miami Grand Prix and the Canadian Grand Prix, both next month. The race in Montreal clashes with the Indianapolis 500 on May 24. The original schedule didn't have any F2 races in May at all.

They replace rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia which were called off along with the F1 races there because of the war in Iran.

Herta had been in contention for a fourth car at the Indianapolis 500 from Andretti Global, which shares an ownership group with the Cadillac F1 team in Dan Towriss and the TWG Motorsports conglomeration.

“We’re planning on a fourth car. But there are no shortage of people, and not just from IndyCar,” Towriss said in February at the IndyCar season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida.

But now that Herta is not available, Andretti Global said Thursday it will focus on its current three-driver lineup for the Indy 500 and not enter a fourth car. The team fields cars for previous Indy 500 winners Will Power and Marcus Ericsson, as well as Kyle Kirkwood.

Herta is 10th in the F2 standings following the opening round in Australia last month.

“I think it’s great if it gets me to Formula 1 and I would be incredibly grateful I took the leap," Herta told The Associated Press in January of his F2 move. "I think a lot of people feel it would be embarrassing if I fail, but I don’t care what everybody thinks or if its going to tarnish my career.”

___

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

Over the next year, the five newsrooms — Big Bend Sentinel, the Houston Chronicle, KRIS 6 News in Corpus Christi, KXAN Investigates in Austin and the Texas Observer — will report on state and federal efforts to restrict local control, in collaboration with the Texas investigative unit housed at ProPublica and the Tribune.

In the first year of the program, state partners published deep dives into a controversial campaign to overhaul Dallas city government and the growing political power of a North Texas church called Mercy Culture; examined one of the state’s most influential lobbying groups; broke down El Paso’s struggles to build its aerospace industry; and explored Elon Musk’s increasing sway over state government. Two partners, The Texas Newsroom and the Houston Chronicle, collaborated to reveal efforts by Musk’s The Boring Company to build a flood tunnel in Houston with the help of an area congressman.

“The first year of our Texas investigative initiative demonstrated the critical role local newsrooms play in holding accountable the powerful officials of this very influential state. We are eager to keep working with local partners, so together we can be force multipliers and produce strong investigative journalism,” said Vianna Davila, deputy editor of the ProPublica-Tribune investigative unit.

The ProPublica-Tribune investigative unit started in 2020, when the newsrooms launched a first-of-its-kind collaboration to produce investigative reporting for and about Texas. Both organizations publish the team’s stories, which are distributed for free to other news outlets in Texas and beyond.

Big Bend Sentinel

Big Bend Sentinel is a weekly nonprofit print publication, with daily online stories, covering Far West Texas. The Big Bend spans three counties: Presidio, Brewster and Jeff Davis — a mountainous high desert area about the size of Switzerland.

Based in Marfa, Big Bend Sentinel focuses on in-depth reporting of local news, people and the arts in Marfa, Presidio, Alpine, Terlingua, Fort Davis, other Big Bend communities and Ojinaga, Mexico. Spanish-language stories are included each week to meet the needs of readers who prefer their news in their native language.

The news organization has emerged as a leading source of information on the federal government’s plan to build a border wall along the Rio Grande in the Big Bend region.

Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle is the largest newsroom in Texas, covering the nation’s fourth-largest city. It has won the Pulitzer Prize three times.

Recent investigations have spurred reforms to utility practices at CenterPoint, the region’s energy provider; prompted the governor to call for an investigation into a $95 million Texas Lottery jackpot scheme; and exposed the risks of “zombie” oil and gas wells that can spread toxic wastewater. As part of the Chronicle’s coverage of July 4 floods that killed more than 130 people, it revealed that local officials chose to cut property taxes rather than modernize a flood warning system and that buildings were removed from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood maps, including some in the camp where 27 girls and their counselors died. Legislators later passed laws requiring camp safety plans and limiting development in floodplains, and local officials pledged $1.5 million for an enhanced warning system.

KRIS 6 News

KRIS 6 News in Corpus Christi has served South Texas as the Coastal Bend’s NBC affiliate since 1956. The newsroom was recognized for Overall Texas Broadcast Excellence at the 2025 Texas Broadcast News Awards and has won multiple awards for public records reporting.

In its “Facing Danger” series, the newsroom exposed design flaws in the ramps to the Harbor Bridge that contributed to eight deaths in seven years from wrong-way drivers. It also uncovered $350 million in potentially illegal workforce housing deals with the Corpus Christi Housing Authority, revealed problems inside the Nueces County medical examiner’s office and uncovered lavish public spending by the Port of Corpus Christi’s executive director. Since August, KRIS 6 has been covering Corpus Christi’s intensifying water crisis through its “Running Dry” series.

KXAN Investigates

KXAN Investigates is a team of Austin-based journalists who tackle stories that spark policy change, hold leaders accountable and make communities safer. Its investigative work has received many honors, including seven national Edward R. Murrow Awards.

In 2019, KXAN Investigates launched the station’s digital-first unit, “Catalyst,” which uses innovative storytelling methods to investigate complex topics like flaws in the state’s missing persons system, mental competency challenges among Texas inmates and people dying in police custody. Since early 2025, the team has also led a larger group of 20 journalists in a multiplatform crowdsourcing project called “Undocumented: Texas’ Immigration Impact in a New Trump Era,” which explores the community impact of a new presidential administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement.

Texas Observer

The Texas Observer is a nonprofit news outlet and print magazine that strives to make Texas a more equitable place through investigative reporting, narrative storytelling, and political and cultural coverage. Since its founding in 1954, the Observer has focused on communities whose stories are too often ignored or poorly told. It seeks not only to inform but to empower its readers, as it works to hold public officials and corporations accountable.

Recent award-winning investigations from the Observer include stories that unraveled government claims about Venezuelan gang membership, identified an Immigration and Customs Enforcement prosecutor operating a racist X account, probed a death row conviction and revealed the full extent of an Austin overdose disaster.

• 📍 Location: IDEA Ingram Hills
• 📅 Date: April 11th
• ⏱️ Line starts: 9:00 a.m.
• 🎁 Medal giveaway starts: 10:00 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 Texas Eats medal. Once they’re gone, they’re gone - so dust off your flower crowns, throw on your brightest Fiesta gear, and meet David Elder at IDEA Ingram Hills for Fiesta vibes and KSAT fun!

You can read the Official Rules & Regulations here.

General. By appearing in person at the designated location and time, an entry to the Texas Eats Medal Giveaway at IDEA Ingram Hills sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”), brought to you by KSAT12 (“Sponsor”) and IDEA Public Schools (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 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 11, 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 Saturday, April 11, 2026.

Odds. The odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries.

Winner Notification and Verification. Potential winners will be awarded the Texas Eats Medal on Saturday, April 11, 2026, beginning at 10:00 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 Texas Eats 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: IDEA Ingram Hills - 3115 Majestic Dr., San Antonio, TX 78228

U.S. gross domestic product — the nation's output of goods and services — decelerated in the fourth quarter after registering impressive growth of 4.4% from July through September and 3.8% from April through June. The latest number was marked down from the Commerce Department's previous estimate of 0.7% fourth-quarter growth.

Federal government spending and investment fell at a 16.6% annual pace because of the shutdown, lopping 1.16 percentage points off fourth-quarter GDP growth. Consumer spending expanded 1.9%, down a notch from the previous estimate and from 3.5% in the second quarter. Spending on goods — such as cars and clothing — grew just 0.3%, down from 3% in the July-September period.

For all of 2025, the economy grew 2.1% last year, slower than 2.8% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2023.

Business investment, excluding housing, increased at a 2.4% pace, likely reflecting money being poured into artificial intelligence, but the increase was down from 3.2% in the third quarter.

A category within the GDP data that measures the economy’s underlying strength weakened from October through December, growing at a 1.8% clip, down from 2.9% in the third quarter. This category includes consumer spending and private investment, but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending.

The economic outlook for this year is hazy after the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran drove up energy prices and disrupted global commerce.

America's job market slumped last year — recording the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002 — but has been up and down so far in 2026: Employers added a healthy 160,000 jobs in January, slashed 133,000 in February, then created a surprising 178,000 in March.

Thursday's report was the Commerce Department's third and final estimate of fourth-quarter GDP. The first look at January-March economic growth is due April 30.

It's been like this ever since the Department of Homeland Security bought an 825,000-square-foot (76,645-square-meter) building in Washington County as part of a plan to transform warehouses across the U.S. into detention facilities for tens of thousands of immigrants.

“This is a facility built for packages, not people,” Patrick Dattilio, the founder of an anti- Immigration and Customs Enforcement group called Hagerstown Rapid Response, said as he stood outside the county commission meeting.

The federal government has faced fierce opposition in communities where it spent a total of $1.074 billion for 11 warehouses under a plan that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is reviewing. Washington County is the most welcoming community — a place where officials said they supported ICE, albeit amid whistles and jeers. The processing center there was supposed to be one of the first to open in a facilities project hatched under Mullin’s predecessor, Kristi Noem.

But now DHS' plan for the Washington County building is paused — mired in a court battle like some of the other warehouse-to-detention projects across the U.S. Questions swirl about whether Mullin will move ahead with the facilities project or chart another course as he pursues President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda.

County commissioners proclaimed their ‘unwavering support’ for ICE

The sprawling blue-and-white warehouse in Washington County has been the subject of intense debate in part because of the way commissioners voiced their support for ICE.

While repeatedly insisting that their hands were tied because the federal government already bought the building, the commissioners also approved a proclamation during their Feb. 10 meeting declaring their “unwavering support” for DHS and ICE.

The proclamation, which didn’t specifically mention the warehouse purchase, was met with so much booing and yelling that the commission president cleared the room.

The county wanted something, too. It forwarded the proclamation to Noem the next day in an email identifying hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of sewer, airport and highway upgrades that it said were needed, according to a public records request received by local resident Ethan Wechtaluk, who's running for Congress in the district that includes the warehouse.

ICE, flush with cash from a massive congressional appropriation, has since signed a contract worth $113 million to renovate the building for 500 to 1,500 detainees, but a judge temporarily halted work after Maryland's attorney general sued. A hearing is scheduled for April 15.

County commissioners did not respond to email or telephone requests for comment. County administrator Michelle Gordon in a statement said the commissioners were declining all interview requests.

Many residents of the county — a place Civil War buffs come to visit the Antietam battlefield before making their way to nearby Gettysburg — are outraged both because they have moral objections to the facility and because they didn't find out about the purchase beforehand.

“We have had no voice in this,” Carroll Sager said over the din of protesters and honking cars. Behind her, the sheriff's department had cordoned off part of the county building with crime scene tape to deter protesters. Two deputies watched the demonstrators.

During the meeting, Sager sat quietly, holding a sign that read: “Disenfranchised in Washington County.”

Other communities across the US have also balked at DHS' plans

The pushback in other communities has included a New Jersey lawsuit that alleges an “utter lack of communication” and a lawsuit in Michigan questioning why DHS didn’t look at using empty state prisons. Officials in Salt Lake City and Pennsylvania have threatened to withhold or limit water. In Georgia, the town of Social Circle placed a lock on the water meter at a warehouse DHS purchased.

Meanwhile, questions also have come up about how much DHS paid for some warehouses. It paid double what the New Jersey warehouse was valued at in tax records and nearly five times more than the assessed value of the Social Circle warehouse.

Mullin was pressed during his confirmation hearing about whether he would continue Noem's policy of turning these warehouses into detention facilities. Without committing to anything, Mullin said the department wanted to “be good partners” with communities.

Days after he was sworn in, DHS paused the purchase of new warehouses intended to house immigrants. It's scrutinizing all contracts signed under Noem.

The federal government also said in a recent court filing in Maryland's lawsuit that “ICE is reconsidering the plans and scope of the warehouse.”

Asked whether any changes were afoot for the Maryland facility, DHS said in a statement: “As with any transition, we are reviewing agency policies and proposals.”

Washington County residents are waiting to see what happens

The plan was to turn the Maryland warehouse into an ICE processing facility that would hold recently arrested immigrants before they go to other facilities for long-term detention.

ICE officials have said the Washington County warehouse would serve the Baltimore ICE office's needs for detention space. State lawmakers have expressed concerns about the George H. Fallon Federal Building that houses ICE detainees in downtown Baltimore in part because a bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease was found in the water.

Activists and people who live near the Washington County warehouse are watching.

For nearly three decades Nica Sutch has had a home in the rolling hills of western Maryland, where she raised children and entertained grandchildren.

When the warehouse was built a few years ago to meet the demand for distribution centers, fueled by a growth in online shopping, she rationalized that it could be an economic boon for the region.

Now that ICE has purchased the building, she's eyeing a move.

“I love the area,” she said during an interview in her backyard. “I love everything. This has been my home for 28 years.”

__

Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Missouri.

He was a 2000s teen heartthrob from the series “Making the Band,” star of broadway productions Wicked and Hairspray. Ashely Parker is here to talk about High Level Science, supplements to support energy, recovery and long-term health.

April is Child Abuse Prevention month and if you want to impact the life of a child by becoming a CASA Volunteer Advocate sign up for an information session or make a donation here.

Graze and Wine is bringing us a Fiesta Feast live in studio this morning. This is just some of the delicious eats they cater to San Antonio.

It’s national Public Health Day and we’re learning how to stay protected against STI’s from Metro Health.

Joseph Anthony Jimenez, 20, fired a stolen nine-millimeter pistol equipped with a machine gun conversion device into a field near the JBSA Lackland Air Force Base two separate times on Aug. 17, 2024, the DOJ said.

No injuries were reported in the shooting at the military installation, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

The machine gun conversion device, however, altered the gun to fire as a fully automatic weapon, federal officials stated.

Jimenez later admitted to accidentally shooting his friend at a party on the same day as the JBSA Lackland Air Force Base incident.

Jimenez shot a male victim who happened to be holding a 6-month-old child at the party, an arrest affidavit said. The male victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Evidence at the scene of the party matched those found at the scene of the shootings at the JBSA Lackland Air Force Base, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar previously said.

Jimenez later threw the modified gun over a fence of an apartment complex, the DOJ stated.

He was arrested on a state warrant on Aug. 29, 2024, and federally indicted on possession of a machine gun and possession of an unregistered firearm charges on Nov. 6, 2024. He was transferred to federal custody 15 days later.

Jimenez pleaded guilty to both of the charges on Dec. 3, 2025, federal officials said.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Accidental shooting at child’s birthday party leads to two arrests in JBSA-Lackland shootings
• Shell casings from shootings at JBSA-Lackland gate linked to separate shooting, BCSO says
• No injuries reported following separate shootings near JBSA-Lackland training annex entry gate, SAPD says

Mets outfielder Juan Soto is the highest-paid player for the second consecutive season at $61.9 million and was followed by New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger at $42.5 million.

Philadelphia pitcher Zack Wheeler and Mets third baseman Bo Bichette tied for third at $42 million. Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was fifth at $40.2 million, just ahead of Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge at $40 million.

The Mets' payroll of $352.2 million was just below the record $355.4 million they set in 2023 and up from $322.6 million last year. The Mets' total is more than five times that of Cleveland, the lowest-spending team at $62.3 million.

The two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers were second at $316.6 million, down from $319.5 million last year. The Dodgers' total would be $395.2 million if deals for nine players with deferred money had not been discounted to present-day value. The Mets have deals with deferred money with just three players and their total would be $360 million without discounting.

MLB's average of $5,335,966 increased from $5,160,245 at the start of last season and has risen 28% under the five-year collective bargaining agreement that expires in December, an average of 5.6% annually.

The top five spenders were unchanged from last year, with the Yankees third ($297.2 million), followed by Philadelphia ($282 million) and Toronto ($269 million).

Six clubs had $250 million payrolls, up from four; and 10 teams had $200 million payrolls, an increase from nine.

Eight teams were under $100 million, up from five.

Detroit had the biggest increase, up $64.2 million to $206.7 million after signing pitcher Framber Valdez, re-signing Gleyber Torres with a qualifying offer and giving a big raise to ace Tarik Skubal via arbitration. Atlanta increased by $44.1 million, and the Chicago Cubs, Toronto and the Mets by just under $30 million.

Minnesota slashed payroll by $46.3 million from opening day last year to $96.5 million.

St. Louis cut its opening day payroll from $141.5 million to $100.4 million. The Cardinals' spending includes $44 million it is paying Arizona and Boston as part of trades to get rid of Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, plus just under $3.4 million to Arenado as the present-day value of a $6 million assignment bonus that originally had been deferred money owed in his contract and remains payable by the Cardinals in 2040 and '41.

Other teams with big cuts included the Guardians ($40.2 million), Texas ($37.3 million) and Washington ($23.3 million).

Payrolls include the 942 players on opening day rosters and injured lists. They do not include players on the restricted list such as Cleveland pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, Atlanta outfielder Jurickson Profar and Philadelphia outfielder Johan Rojas.

They also don't reflect players who started the season assigned to minor league teams such as Dodgers second baseman Hyeseong Kim and Toronto pitcher Yariel Rodríguez.

Baseball’s median salary, the point at which an equal number of players are above and below, rose to $1.4 million from $1.35 million and remained below the record high of $1.65 million at the start of 2015. Active rosters expanded to 26 players in 2021.

Average and median salaries decline over the course of the season as veterans are released and replaced by younger players making closer to the minimum. MLB calculated the 2025 final average at $4.61 million and the players’ association at $4.72 million.

There were 519 players earning $1 million or more, at 55% the same as last year.

Nineteen players earned $30 million or more, an increase of four; 74 were at $20 million, up from 66; and 168 at $10 million, down from 177.

Thirty-one players made the $780,000 minimum.

The top 50 players make 30% of the salaries, up from 29% in the prior two years, and the top 100 earn 49%, up from 48% last year.

The AP’s figures include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses and other guaranteed income. Payroll figures factor in adjustments for cash transactions in trades, signing bonuses that are the responsibility of the club agreeing to the contract, option buyouts and termination pay for released players.

MLB's payrolls are based on 40-man rosters and fluctuate each day depending on roster moves.

___

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

And every Game 1 the Thunder play this season — along with every Game 7, if necessary — will be on their home floor once again.

The defending NBA champion Thunder will be the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs for the second consecutive year — and the No. 1 seed on the Western Conference bracket for the third straight season. The Thunder wrapped up the top spot with a 128-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.

OKC clinching the No. 1 seed in the West locked the San Antonio Spurs into the No. 2 seed. The Spurs would have home-court advantage in any playoff series except a Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City.

Other seeds now wrapped up:

— Detroit will be No. 1 in the Eastern Conference.

— Minnesota will be No. 6 in the West.

— Phoenix will be the No. 7 seed going into the West play-in tournament, meaning the Suns will get two chances — both at home — to win one game and earn a playoff berth.

— Golden State will be the No. 10 seed going into the West play-in tournament.

Boston could join the group of seed-clinched clubs on Thursday. The Celtics would wrap up No. 2 in the East with a win over New York.

Stories of note

— Cade Cunningham returns to Pistons' lineup

— NBC says more 'On The Bench’ game coverage likely

— Doc Rivers hints at retirement

— The playoffs, thankfully, are coming

— Miami returning to the play-in tournament

— Jayson Tatum set for return to New York

— The Bulls want to keep Billy Donovan

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 has locked up the No. 1 seed and will open the postseason on April 19. Boston, New York, Cleveland are in. At this point, Atlanta and Toronto would get the other two guaranteed spots, but those are not clinched.

— East play-in teams: Miami is locked into the play-in for the fourth consecutive year. Entering Thursday, the other three teams headed there would be Philadelphia, Orlando and Charlotte.

— East eliminated teams: Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Brooklyn and Washington.

— Western Conference playoff teams: Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Denver, the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston and Minnesota are in. Denver, the Lakers and Houston are still jostling to see who'll be the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.

— West play-in teams: Phoenix, the Los Angeles Clippers, Portland and Golden State are in. The Suns will be the No. 7 seed, the Clippers and Trail Blazers are battling for No. 8, and the Warriors will be the No. 10 seed.

— West eliminated teams: Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Utah and Sacramento.

Wednesday recap

— Cavaliers 122, Hawks 116: If Cavs-Hawks will be a first-round series, some fun awaits.

— Magic 132, Timberwolves 120: Orlando surges back into the East No. 7 spot, for now.

— Pistons 137, Bucks 111: Cade Cunningham, back from collapsed lung, played 26 minutes.

— Nuggets 136, Grizzlies 119: Denver has won 10 straight for 1st time in Nikola Jokic’s career.

— Spurs 112, Trail Blazers 101: San Antonio had a game-defining 48-10 edge in bench scoring.

— Thunder 128, Clippers 110: Clippers played well — and still trailed by as many as 25 points.

— Suns 112, Mavericks 107: 37 for Devin Booker, 28 for Dillon Brooks and Suns dug deep late.

Thursday's schedule

— Miami at Toronto: Raptors looking to sweep teams' four-game season series.

— Chicago at Washington: Bulls led the Wizards by as many as 37 on Tuesday.

— Indiana at Brooklyn: Pacers' Rick Carlisle (family reasons) out next two games.

— Boston at New York: Jayson Tatum returns to MSG, where he got hurt last spring.

— Philadelphia at Houston: Rockets charging toward home-court edge for Round 1.

— LA Lakers at Golden State: Injuries crushing Lakers, who have lost three straight.

Friday's schedule

— Detroit at Charlotte: Game might mean a lot to Hornets’ play-in seed.

— Miami at Washington: Another chance to reflect on Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game.

— Cleveland at Atlanta: The teams could wind up meeting nine times in like 3-1/2 weeks.

— New Orleans at Boston: Celtics won’t be on road again until Game 3 of Round 1.

— Philadelphia at Indiana: 76ers still trying to get out of the play-in tournament.

— Toronto at New York: Major implications likely for Raptors.

— Orlando at Chicago: Magic could still get out of the play-in.

— Brooklyn at Milwaukee: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s home finale with Bucks? (And will he play?)

— Dallas at San Antonio: Victor Wembanyama needs one more game to qualify for award ballots.

— Oklahoma City at Denver: Lots of meaning for Nuggets, not for Thunder, so advantage, Denver.

— Minnesota at Houston: Rockets could get home-court in Round 1, playing best ball of season.

— Memphis at Utah: The Jazz have worked hard to keep their top-eight protected draft pick.

— LA Clippers at Portland: Could this be a playoff to decide the No. 8 seed for the play-in?

— Golden State at Sacramento: Warriors keep building toward road play-in challenge that awaits.

— Phoenix at LA Lakers: Lakers just need to get healthy, Suns know they’ll host play-in games.

National TV schedule

Thursday on Prime Video: Boston-New York (7:30 p.m. Eastern) and LA Lakers-Golden State (10 p.m.)

Friday on Prime Video: Cleveland-Atlanta (7 p.m. Eastern) and Minnesota-Houston (9:30 p.m.)

Sunday on ESPN: Orlando-Boston (6 p.m. Eastern) and Denver-San Antonio (8:30 p.m.)

Betting odds

Oklahoma City (+130) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by San Antonio (+450), Boston (+550), Denver (+1000), Cleveland (+1300) and New York (+2000). Detroit, the No. 1 seed in the East, is +2200. The Los Angeles Lakers were +2500 before Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves got hurt; they're +30000 now.

Play-in schedule

Some of the NBA's play-in tournament schedule is now known:

— Phoenix will play host to either the LA Clippers or Portland on Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern. (The winner of that game will play No. 2 San Antonio in Round 1, the loser will play a home game on Friday for the right to play No. 1 Oklahoma City in Round 1).

— Golden State will visit either the LA Clippers or Portland on Wednesday at 10 p.m. Eastern. (The loser of that game is eliminated, the winner moves on to Friday.)

All games in the play-in tournament will be shown on Prime Video.

Key dates

— Friday: All 30 teams play their 81st games of the season.

— Saturday: No games.

— Sunday: 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

— Denver's Nikola Jokic is going to lead the NBA in both assists per game and rebounds per game this season. He'll be the first person to win both an assist-per-game and rebound-per-game title; Wilt Chamberlain led the league in both total assists and total rebounds in 1967-68, but Oscar Robertson won the assist-per-game title that season.

— The NBA remains on pace to see more points this season than ever before. The current pace is about 284,300; the record total for a season is 282,137, set in 2022-23.

Stats of the day

— Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn't make a free throw for the first time all season in the Thunder win over the LA Clippers on Thursday night. He was 0 for 1.

— Denver has scored at least 136 points in three consecutive games. Only three other teams (Phoenix in February 2009, Dallas in November 2019 and Atlanta in November 2023) have done that in the last 25 years.

___

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

Davonta Dantrell Love Jones is accused of fatally shooting Devin Farias, 19, on March 11 in the 7600 block of West U.S. Highway 90, the affidavit said.

Farias had allowed a man, who was not identified in the affidavit, to enter an apartment. The warrant stated that Farias also let two additional men inside.

A witness told an investigator with the San Antonio Police Department Homicide Unit that all three men then pulled out guns in the apartment, according to the affidavit.

The witness also said that Jones had one gun in each of his hands and stood just inside the apartment door, court documents show.

One of the men took items from Farias and assaulted him while the two other suspects held the witnesses at gunpoint, the warrant stated.

Farias followed the three men out of the apartment’s front door at some point. Then, according to the warrant, Jones and the two other men shot Farias.

Farias was pronounced dead at the scene.

The unidentified man who had been in contact with Farias was later questioned about the shooting. When the interview ended, the affidavit said the suspect called his mother.

The man told his mother to call Jones and inform him to “delete everything from his Instagram” and get “as far away as he can,” according to the warrant.

Both of the witnesses identified Jones as one of the shooters in a six-photo lineup, court documents stated.

Jones was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on a $500,000 bond, jail records show.

More coverage of this story on KSAT:

• Man fatally shot at far West Side apartment complex, SAPD says
• SAPD, Crime Stoppers seek tips in connection with capital murder of 19-year-old man

The number of Americans applying for jobless aid for the week ending April 4 jumped by 16,000 to 219,000 from the previous week’s 203,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s more than the 210,000 new filings analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting but within the range of the past several years.

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

Tuesday night’s ceasefire announcement sent oil prices plummeting to $95 a barrel, though they jumped back up near $100 early Thursday over skepticism about the durability of the deal after Israel launched a wave of attacks on Lebanon and Iran re-closed the crucial Strait of Hormuz, where 20% of the world’s oil passes.

Financial markets also retreated Thursday following big gains a day earlier.

A barrel of U.S. crude had reached $112 dollars before the ceasefire was announced, up from about $67 in the days leading up to the conflict. Even with Wednesday’s big decline, businesses and consumers are still saddled with higher energy costs as the price of oil and gas remain elevated.

This comes at a time when U.S. inflation was already above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, further diminishing the chances of an interest rate cut by central bank officials any time soon. The government issues its March consumer prices report on Friday.

Also Thursday, in a report delayed due to the federal shutdown, government data showed that a key inflation gauge remained elevated in February, even before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran.

Fed officials voted to raise the rate three times to close 2025 out of concern for a weakening job market but have held off lowering rates further this year.

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

A number of high-profile companies have cut jobs recently, including the software maker Oracle, which according to media reports cut thousands of workers last week. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that The Walt Disney Co. is preparing to cull 1,000 positions from its workforce.

Others that have recently announced job cuts include Morgan Stanley,Block, UPSand Amazon.

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

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

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

The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 1,500 to 209,500.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending March 28 fell by 38,000 to 1.79 million, the fewest in nearly two years.

Thursday, April 9

A crash on U.S. Highway 90 eastbound at Alamo Canyon has prompted traffic delays on Thursday morning, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

Drivers should take an alternate route to avoid delays.

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

Although Vice President JD Vance campaigned for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán this week, such a display has become the exception rather than the rule among conservatives and far-right leaders in Europe.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni refused to let the United States use an air base in Sicily to launch attacks on Iran. France’s National Rally leader Marine Le Pen described his war goals as “erratic." And the head of Germany’s Alternative for Germany party called for American troops to leave their bases in the country.

Even with a fragile ceasefire in place with Iran, Trump's support for Orbán may not work out for the autocratic Hungarian leader, who faces a tough election this weekend. He's long been an icon for the global right and many American conservatives who have hoped the Trump administration could replicate the Hungarian leader’s effort to choke off immigration and restructure government to ensure his Fidesz party stays in power.

That longstanding connection could insulate Orbán from some of the anti-Trump blowback rattling the rest of Europe, but that's not guaranteed, said Charles Kupchan, a professor of international relations at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“Getting a blessing from Donald Trump is now a mixed blessing,” he said.

Iran adds to friction over Greenland

The backlash over the war follows European broad revulsion at Trump's threats earlier this year against NATO ally Denmark over his demand that the country give Greenland to the United States.

Trump tied the two issues together on Wednesday, complaining that NATO didn't help more in recent weeks.

“NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,” he wrote on social media. "REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!"

Daniel Baer, a former ambassador and State Department official in President Barack Obama's administration, said the latest round of tension with Europe's far right shows the limits of Trump's hope of helping nationalist leaders worldwide.

“Building some sort of international coalition around national chauvinism is very difficult,” said Baer, now with the Carnegie Endowment for Peace. “It's clear the majority of people in these countries, if not anti-American, have turned anti-Trump.”

Orbán has stood out for not shifting with the anti-Trump political tide in Europe.

In an interview with conservative British broadcaster GB News last month, Orbán argued that when it came to the war with Iran, “the question is whether (Trump) has started a war or a peace.”

“It hasn’t (been) decided yet, historians will make a decision on that,” Orbán said. “I think we need some time to understand whether we are moving to the peace by these strikes, or just the opposite. It’s too early to say.”

Orbán’s caution toward raising any critical word toward Trump goes beyond shared ideology. The Hungarian leader has for years sought to convince voters that his close ties with Trump — as well as with other global figures such as Russian President Vladimir Putin — make him uniquely suited to represent Hungary’s interests abroad.

Consequently, he has played up Trump’s praise of him to his base, and campaigned for reelection by assuring Hungarians that his alliance with Trump’s administration is a guarantee of security and prosperity.

Orbán risks backlash with Trump ties

Orbán reveled in the attention from Vance this week. The vice president slammed Orbán critics in the European Union for what he called “foreign interference” in the election, even as he stumped for the Hungarian leader.

On Wednesday, Vance briefly discussed what he called a “fragile truce” in the Iran war during an appearance at an elite higher education institution in Hungary, which has received generous funding from Orbán's government and is run by the prime minister's political director.

Vance praised the school for being “an institution that tries to build up the foundations of Western civilization." The Trump administration has tried to exert more influence over elite universities in the U.S., echoing Orbán's agenda in Hungary.

Some analysts are unconvinced of Orbán's strategy, noting that perceptions of the current U.S. administration have been turning more negative even in Hungary.

“Vance’s visit could have the opposite effect on Orbán's popularity than the one intended,” said Mario Bikarsku, senior Europe analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

Kupchan said most European far-right parties have established political staying power independent of any American influence, and may not have an incentive to go along with Trump's agenda.

“Trump's effort to create a transnational movement of far-right populists may affect the margins, but the main reason you're seeing Reform U.K. and AfD and National Rally and other far-right parties prosper has little to do with Trump and more to do with national factors,” he said.

Part of that is a global backlash against any party in power. In Europe, that's mainly benefited the out-of-power far right. But in Hungary, that's put Orbán's future in jeopardy — he's been in power for 16 years.

“We're living in an age,” Kupchan said, “where being an incumbent sucks.”

___

Riccardi reported from Denver.

Debbie Dingell, a longtime Democratic congresswoman, was there to watch progressive U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed campaign with Hasan Piker, a popular yet controversial online streamer.

Dingell has often served as an early warning system for her party, cautioning that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was on track to win Michigan in 2016 and 2024. Now she was once again scoping out the shifting political landscape, and something caught her eye.

“Quite frankly, I haven’t seen that many people outside an event yet this year,” said Dingell, whose district includes Ann Arbor and who said her attendance wasn't an endorsement.

A line of mostly young people stretched out the door and down the street, hundreds waiting in the cold evening air on Tuesday. Some had backpacks slung over their shoulders after coming from class, while others had traveled from afar.

Although they were there to see a progressive candidate, attendees didn't fit neatly into any ideological box. Instead, they shared a common dissatisfaction with both major political parties. Their frustration was a reminder of the anger that has coursed through modern American politics and now appears to be simmering within a new generation ahead of the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Born into an era of Trump

Liam Koenig was in third grade when Trump was first elected president — a moment that has shaped his generation's understanding of politics.

“It's just become increasingly more inflammatory,” he said.

Now a high school senior in Oakland County, a longtime political bellwether in Michigan, Koenig described an era of constant conflict and anxiety. The mood among his peers, he said, is often somber and frustrated.

"I think a lot of us have lost hope in, like, tangible change,” he said.

Younger adults are more likely than older Americans to have an unfavorable view of both the Republican and Democratic parties, according to AP-NORC polling from February.

Still, that frustration hasn’t led to disengagement for Koenig. He waited for hours to see El-Sayed. He described the campaign as different from what he's used to seeing, something more like Zohran Mamdani's successful run for mayor in New York City. He wanted that kind of energy in Michigan.

“You’re not going to get people out with business as usual,” Koenig said.

Karol Molina, an artist who recently moved from New York City, said she had been hunting for a candidate in Mamdani's mold when she arrived in Michigan. She settled on El-Sayed, who is facing U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in the state's primary.

“We want to be able to live and, like, afford life without constantly scraping by,” she said.

Molina was looking for a clean break with the past.

“I think the Democratic Party is losing because they’re not really listening to what the people really want,” she said. “They’re trying to keep a party that existed before Donald Trump. And that party doesn’t exist anymore.”

Frustration — but not apathy — from young voters

Ethan Schneider, a third-year student at the University of Michigan, described today’s politics as “a little unserious.”

“It's difficult to remain positive or not be jaded at a young age,” said Schneider.

Schneider said he voted for Democrat Kamala Harris two years ago but, like many in line to see Piker and El-Sayed, was critical of her and her party.

“Hate them,” he said of Democrats. “They feel very complicit, in terms of all the issues going on now. If not complicit, they're just doing nothing,”

Younger people are rejecting both parties at much higher rates than older generations, according to recent Gallup polling. More than half of Generation Z and Millennials identify as political independents, while a majority of older generations side with a party.

The Gallup polling found that this growing group of independents tends to be motivated by unhappiness with the party in power — a dynamic that could benefit Democrats this year but doesn’t promise lasting loyalty.

Jacob Abbott, an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, said he feels that the Democratic Party has strayed toward "corporate interest politics.”

He dismissed concerns about El-Sayed's decision to campaign with Piker. The 34-year-old streamer has 3.1 million followers on Twitch and 1.8 million on YouTube, and he's said "Hamas is a thousand times better” than Israel, described some Orthodox Jews as “inbred” and claimed that “America deserved 9/11.”

For Abbott, the controversy underscores a broader vacuum in American politics — a lack of people who can command attention and speak to their frustrations, even if they're flawed.

“So is Hasan perfect? Probably not," Abbott said. "But he's much better than the alternative the Democratic Party has had.”

Progressives struggle to turn enthusiasm into victories

Over decades in politics, Dingell has seen long lines and packed rooms before. She was trying to gauge whether there's something more durable at the event with El-Sayed and Piker.

After all, progressive candidates have long generated excitement without winning electoral victories. El-Sayed himself finished a distant second in Michigan's Democratic primary for governor in 2018. In addition, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a leading face of the progressive movement, fell short in two Democratic presidential campaigns.

But some Democrats argue this moment may be different, pointing to recent victories by Mamdani in New York and Analilia Mejia, who won a crowded Democratic primary in a special U.S. House election in New Jersey.

“There should be a progressive running everywhere that one exists,” said Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee, who also appeared with El-Sayed.

“Every year, every race," she added. "We might not be victorious, but every single time we have to call the question.”

Dingell said she'll be looking to see what happens next.

“Is it something for the kids to do, or is it going to connect?” she said.

___

Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report.

San Antonio (61-19) is 28-3 since Feb. 1 and has its best record since 2017, its last appearance in the Western Conference finals during a 22-year postseason run that included five NBA championships.

Deni Avdija scored 27 points and Scoot Henderson added 20 for the Trail Blazers, who have lost two straight after a three-game winning streak.

Portland (40-40) remains ninth in the West, just 2 1/2 games ahead of Golden State (37-42) heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

San Antonio had six players in double figures to offset the absence of the NBA’s past two Rookie of the Year winners. Keldon Johnson scored 20 points and rookie forward Carter Bryant added a season-high 17.

Wembanyama bruised a rib Monday and Castle is out with right knee soreness. San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said the Spurs are hopeful both will play in Friday’s home game against Dallas.

Wembanyama needs to play at least 20 minutes in one more game to reach the league-required minimum of 65 games for award eligibility.

The Spurs got off to a sluggish start, missing their first three shots and committing a turnover in the opening two minutes.

Fox got them rolling, scoring 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting in the first 4:13 to stake the Spurs to a 12-8 lead. Fox finished 10 for 20 from the field in leading San Antonio in scoring for the first time since March 1.

San Antonio closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run to set up its first double-digit lead in the opening seconds of the second.

San Antonio closed the third quarter on a 13-2 spurt to expand a four-point lead and roll to its second straight victory.

Up next

Trail Blazers: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

Spurs: Host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.

___

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

ODESSA — Texas produced nearly half of all U.S. oil last year despite having drilled fewer new oil wells in 2025, a trend that analysts and industry groups said is possible due to the state’s geological makeup, a network of pipelines and transportation, and the ability to work on multiple production sites in less time.

And that West Texas oil has helped keep U.S. supply steady as oil supply across the world has been squeezed during the Iran war, experts said.

American oil companies produced 13.6 million barrels of oil daily last year, once again breaking their own record, according to a report by the Energy Information Administration. Almost half — 6.6 million barrels a day — came from the Permian Basin, the vast stretch of oil-rich deposits spanning tens of thousands of square miles between western Texas and southeastern New Mexico.

Oil companies accomplished the record with a fraction of available drilling rigs, which the industry historically relied on to search for, find and lift fossil fuels from the ground. The EIA, in its report, said fewer rigs could lead to a 2% drop in production in 2027, marking the first time oil could dip since 2021.

And in light of the U.S. war on Iran, domestic oil production — particularly in West Texas — has taken on a new meaning.

The war pushed gas prices sky high as the global supply of oil has been slashed during the conflict. Texas oil leaders said the situation could have been worse had it not been for their work.

“Without the millions of barrels produced a day in the Permian Basin there’s no question we’d be in much more volatile times,” said Ben Shepperd, president of Permian Basin Petroleum Association, the largest regional trade group in the country. “The strong production coming out of the Permian Basin, however, helps provide a stable source of energy for the United States and our allies, which can reduce volatility when conflicts arise in other parts of the world.”

The report’s findings aren’t a first for Texas oil companies. For at least the past six years, industry groups have announced record production levels. Industry and political leaders alike have celebrated the production as a win for the state’s economy, saying royalties and taxes from the industry translate to billions of dollars for the state’s coffers and school districts.

Texas Oil and Gas Association President Todd Staples said that 10 years ago, oil companies drilled 9.2 million barrels of oil using 1,543 rigs. In 2025, oil companies produced more than 13 million barrels with only 582 rigs.

The agile infrastructure — and geology beneath — affords operators in the Permian to adapt quickly when the market is under duress.

Different layers of rock underground allow operators to extract more fossil fuels at varying depths. Operators can also transit between wells within hours rather than days, drill multiple wells from a single site, or drill in multiple directions and at multiple depths.

“While we are not immune from what’s happening around the world, we occupy a position of strength far beyond most other nations,” Staples said. “The Permian’s … consistently demonstrated ability to adapt quickly to market shifts make it one of the most competitive oil-producing areas in the world.”

Some experts cautioned that declining rig counts, if sustained, could hinder production, if not stop it altogether.

“Depressed rig counts raise legitimate concerns about future production sustainability,” said Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association. “If the trend continues without offset, operators risk slower inventory replacement and a potential plateau or gradual decline in output over the medium term, particularly if new drilling fails to keep pace with natural decline rates in existing wells.”

The conflict in the Middle East has, Longanecker and other experts argued, given oil companies short-term economic windfalls. Gas prices have shot up with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which cut 20% of the world’s oil.

On Tuesday, oil prices soared to at least $114 a barrel prior to the ceasefire.

Experts suggested it could be worse. A mix of experts and groups representing oil companies’ interests in Texas said the U.S. has been insulated from more devastating economic consequences of the war. The amount of oil West Texas produces can determine the severity of the impact to the U.S. economy, they said.

“West Texas serves as a partial counterweight to disruptions in the Middle East,” said Stephen Sagriff, director of intelligence at Enverus, an energy analytics company. “It is also a source of geopolitical leverage for the U.S., a region whose own investment decisions are shaped by the volatility.”

In addition to stabilizing oil demand in the U.S., the Permian lessens its dependence on oil from other nations, said Don Murchison, director of global strategy at RINA North America, an engineering consulting firm. The West Texas oil patch can also produce more oil than other states at a lower cost, Hutchinson said.

“We often see a significant uptick in production in West Texas when there is conflict in other parts of the world,” he said, while adding that when the industry booms, new challenges arise surrounding finding equipment, materials and employees.

Disclosure: Ben Shepperd, Permian Basin Petroleum Association and Texas Oil & Gas Association 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.

Her friends and family formed a circle around her, some mouthing lyrics as they filmed on their phones and danced to the live performance from Bobby Pulido, the Tejano music star who is running for Congress in South Texas.

It was one of a dozen quinceañeras the Democrat and first-time political candidate has gone to since mid-March, an effort aimed at spinning a dig from his opponent — who said the election “isn’t about who you want performing at your niece’s quinceañera” — into an offbeat way of reaching new voters.

At Sáenz’s quinceañera, Pulido started the evening singing “Hermoso Cariño” by Mexican singer Vicente Fernández and later performed “Desvelado,” the title track of his 1995 album that propelled him to fame and reached the top 10 on Billboard’s chart of top Latin albums.

It’s also a favorite for Jimena Sáenz’s sisters.

“I know it’s basic, but ‘Desvelado’ is definitely just one of those bangers that you cannot get rid of this family at all,” said Janie Sáenz, Jimena’s 20-year-old sister.

Pulido’s quinceañera circuit was inspired by a March 4 video posted on social media by his Republican opponent, incumbent U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, in which she referred to Pulido as a “scandal-plagued celebrity” and questioned his fitness for office.

“This election isn’t about who you want performing at your niece’s quinceañera,” said De La Cruz, R-Edinburg. “It’s about who you trust with your family’s future. After years of neglect, South Texas finally has a seat at the table, and we’re not going to jeopardize that.”

Pulido fired back, saying the celebration — which celebrates a girl’s 15th birthday and transition into womanhood — is a rite of passage in South Texas that brings the community together.

“Quinceaneras are a part of our culture here,” he said in an interview. “She tried to make it an insult, and I take it as a badge of honor.”

Pulido put out an open call for invitations to perform at quinceañeras across Texas’ 15th Congressional District, which stretches from east of San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley and is Democrats’ top target in Texas. His campaign received more than 1,000 requests in the first 24 hours, and in the weeks since, people have also been asking Pulido to perform at birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and graduations, he said, noting that the requests now number more than 2,700.

Amy Sáenz, Jimena Sáenz’s 18-year-old sister who filled out the form inviting Pulido, said she heard about his performances from her high school coaches and classmates and filled out the form after encouragement from her mom. She said her family planned Pulido’s appearance as a surprise for the roughly 250 guests they expected.

At the quinceañera, Pulido gave Jimena Sáenz a pink hat labeled “Make Quinceañeras Great Again” and autographed by the Tejano singer.

“We decided to invite Bobby Pulido to not only showcase what a quinceañera is, but to also have the memory of him being able to come,” said Amy, who is a senior in high school. She said her family is politically engaged and already held a positive opinion of the singer before his performance.

But Álvaro Corral, a political science assistant professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, said Pulido’s strategy is not just about appealing to people attending the quinceañeras, but also those seeing the videos and photos from the events that have been shared across social media — a relatively low-cost way to reach more voters.

“It’s a way to reach a lot of people … a lot of folks who may not necessarily be super plugged into politics, especially in a midterm election,” he said, adding that it also helps Pulido capitalize further on his positive image as a famous musician and present himself as a political outsider rather than a “politician.”

Jackie Bastard, executive director of Jolt Initiative, a Texas-based nonprofit that aims to increase civic participation among Latinos, said quinceañeras are a sacred cultural milestone in the Latino community that represent a young woman stepping into leadership and responsibility. Pulido’s strategy puts him in touch with voters where they are and introduces him to their communities and the issues they face, she added.

“It’s more than just singing,” said Bastard, whose group runs a program that registers people to vote at quinceañeras. “[When] celebrities or even politicians use that power to visit people … they tend to talk to these individuals a lot closer and and really tell them the issues that are impacting them.”

National Democrats are bullish on Pulido’s chances of reclaiming the 15th Congressional District, which covers a massive geographic area but has most of its population in Hidalgo County, a border community that includes McAllen. De La Cruz has held the seat since she flipped it in 2022, marking the first time in history a Republican won the district.

Democrats are gunning for the seat this election cycle, hoping to win back Latino voters amid growing dissatisfaction with the Trump administration over the economy and immigration. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee put De La Cruz’s seat — where about three-quarters of registered voters are Hispanic — on a list of 35 Republican-held districts they’re targeting across the country as they try to win control of the U.S. House this fall.

But Pulido’s congressional run has also attracted criticism as a growing number of his old social media posts have resurfaced and been used as fodder by De La Cruz and Republican allies to argue the musician is unfit for Congress. They have also pointed to reports that Pulido performed with a bandmate who is a registered sex offender. Pulido’s campaign has said he was unaware of the bandmate’s criminal history, which includes a conviction for indecent contact with an 8-year-old girl.

Pulido’s unearthed posts, meanwhile, include ones with misogynistic jokes and links to pornographic websites. His political foes have also circulated a music video from 2010 in which he played the role of a pervert. Pulido defended the video, saying it was satirical and “based on a real singer that was caught in a lewd act.”

In a March 22 video posted on X, Pulido called the criticism “cheap tabloid attacks” and said they stem from translating posts from Spanish to English, which doesn’t properly convey the original humor.

A spokesperson for De La Cruz’s campaign noted in a statement that Pulido also shared an explicit photo of a woman unintentionally exposing herself at his concert in a 2023 post.

“While he’s busy explaining his predatory behavior,” the spokesperson said, “Congresswoman De La Cruz is focused on delivering for working-class families in South Texas, because she’s actually one of them.”

As of Wednesday evening, Pulido also had yet to file a financial disclosure with the House Clerk providing details about his income, assets and other financial information. The report was due within 30 days of the start of Pulido’s campaign; candidates may request extensions before that initial deadline, though Pulido did not do so.

Pulido’s campaign said they were working as quickly as possible to finalize the report and would file it soon, adding that the candidate’s background as a musician makes financial disclosures more complex.

“Some of the jokes, I wish I could take back,” Pulido said in an interview. “I’m not going to apologize for acting in a music video. I’m an actor, I’m a singer, I’m part of the entertainment industry, and I think that they’re just grasping at straws.”

Before he launched his campaign for Texas, Pulido became a household name in Tejano music, which is a fusion of Mexican and American sounds that originated in Texas. He’s gotten five Latin Grammy nominations and has more than 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Janie Sáenz said Tejano music has impacted her and her family’s lives, adding that quinceañeras are important to her family as a marker of both the start of adulthood and a celebration of the childhood that is ending.

“Bobby Pulido’s music has been a major part of our family growing up,” Janie Sáenz said. “We’re very proud, not only of our last name, but everything we’ve inherited.”

Disclosure: University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley 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.

U.S. President Donald Trump told PBS News Hour that Lebanon was not included in the deal because of the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group. When asked about Israel’s latest strikes, he said, “That’s a separate skirmish.” Israel had said the agreement does not extend to its war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah, although Iran and mediator Pakistan said it does.

The fleeting sense of relief among Lebanese after the ceasefire announcement turned into panic with what Israel’s military called its largest coordinated strike in the current war, saying it had hit more than 100 Hezbollah targets within 10 minutes in Beirut, southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Black smoke towered over several parts of the seaside capital, where a huge number of people displaced by war have taken shelter. Explosions interrupted the honking of traffic on what had been a bustling, blue-sky afternoon. Ambulances raced toward open flames. Apartment buildings were struck.

Associated Press journalists saw charred bodies in vehicles and on the ground at one of Beirut’s busiest intersections in the central Corniche al Mazraa neighborhood, a mixed commercial and residential area. Using forklifts, rescue workers removed smoldering debris and sifted through ruins for survivors.

There was no sign of Hezbollah launching strikes against Israel in the first couple of hours after the attacks.

In response to the attacks on Lebanon, Iran later Wednesday said it was again halting the movement of oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, the country's state-run media reported.

A deadly midday barrage

Central Beirut has been targeted before, but not by so many strikes at once and in the middle of the day. Israel had rarely struck central Beirut since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war on March 2 but has regularly struck southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Lebanon's Minister of Social Affairs, Haneen Sayed, in an interview with The Associated Press condemned Israel’s wide range of strikes, calling it a “very dangerous turning point.”

“These hits are now at the heart of Beirut … Half of the sheltered (internally displaced people) are in Beirut in this area,” she said, adding that she had just driven by areas hit.

She said Lebanon's government is ready to enter into negotiations with Israel for an end to hostilities, an offer that the Lebanese president previously made. Israel has not responded. “There are calls and efforts being made as we speak," Sayed said.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam in a statement accused Israel of escalating at a moment when Lebanese officials were seeking to negotiate a solution, and of hitting civilian areas in “utter disregard for the principles of international law and international humanitarian law — principles it has, in any case, never respected.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the Israeli attacks “barbaric.” Lebanon's health ministry said that along with the 182 killed, at least 890 people were wounded in the strikes. Altogether, 1,739 people have been killed and 5,873 wounded in Lebanon in just over five weeks since the outbreak of the war.

Israel's military said it had targeted missile launchers, command centers and intelligence infrastructure. It accused Hezbollah fighters of trying to “blend into” non-Shiite Muslim areas beyond their traditional strongholds.

Residents and local officials denied that the buildings hit were military sites.

“Look at these crimes,” said Mohammed Balouza, a member of Beirut’s municipal council, at the scene of a strike in Corniche al Mazraa. An apartment building behind a popular shop selling nuts and dried fruit had been hit. “This is a residential area. There is nothing (military) here.”

An Israeli warning and a defiant Hezbollah

As the smoke rose Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem that “his turn will come.” In 2024, Israel killed Hezbollah's previous leader, Hassan Nasrallah, with an airstrike.

Katz called Wednesday's strikes the largest blow against Hezbollah since the attack that caused pagers used by hundreds of its members to explode almost simultaneously in September 2024.

Before the new strikes, a Hezbollah official told the AP that the group was giving a chance for mediators to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon, but “we have not announced our adherence to the ceasefire since the Israelis are not adhering to it.” He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.

The Hezbollah official said the group will not accept a return to the pre-March 2 status quo, when Israel carried out near-daily strikes in Lebanon despite a ceasefire being nominally in place since the last full-blown Israel-Hezbollah war ended in November 2024.

“We will not accept for the Israelis to continue behaving as they did before this war with regards to attacks,” he said.

Hezbollah had fired missiles across the border days after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, sparking a regional war. Israel responded with widespread bombardment of Lebanon and a ground invasion.

The Israeli military chief of staff, Lt Gen. Eyal Zamir, said the attacks are to protect Israel’s northern residents, who have come under heavy fire.

The Israeli military has said it has killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters. More than 1 million people have been displaced in Lebanon.

Early Wednesday, after the Iran ceasefire was announced and before Israel struck, many displaced people sleeping in tents on the streets of Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon had begun packing their belongings in preparation to return home.

Families at a sprawling displacement camp on Beirut’s waterfront later expressed confusion and despair.

“We can’t take this anymore, sleeping in a tent, not showering, the uncertainty,” said Fadi Zaydan, 35. He and his parents had prepared to head back to the southern city of Nabatieh. Instead, they decided to wait things out in Sidon, a bit closer to home.

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Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre and AP journalists Hussein Mallah and Fadi Tawil in Beirut, Michelle Price in Washington and Melanie Lidman in Eilat, Israel, contributed to this report.

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This story corrects the first name of the social affairs minister to Haneen Sayed, not Haneed Sayed.

In a letter provided to The Texas Tribune, Democrats raised concerns about a 2024 tax filing showing that the Texas Public Policy Foundation awarded $70,000 to the Texas Center at Schreiner University in Kerrville for the purposes of developing state learning standards, which outline what students should know before they graduate.

Donald Frazier, a Texas historian, is director of the Texas Center. Last year, State Board of Education members appointed him as one of nine expert advisers responsible for helping guide the state as it rewrites how public schools will teach social studies for years to come.

In the letter signed by all five Democrats on the board, members called for “a comprehensive and independent investigation” into the conditions of the $70,000 grant, agreements between Frazier and the conservative think tank and actions taken by Frazier during Texas’ social studies rewrite that may have influenced decisions.

“Given the scope and significance of this work, which impacts more than 5.5 million public school students across Texas, it is essential that the process remain transparent, objective, and free from undue influence,” the letter states.

“Board members have devoted significant time to hearing public testimony and reviewing extensive input from Texans across the state, many of whom have already expressed concern about the pace and transparency of this process,” the letter continues. “Proceeding without resolving these issues risks undermining public trust and calls into question the validity of any final decisions.

In emails to the Tribune, Frazier defended the grant, saying his private university works with organizations from across the state. Frazier noted that as an adviser to the State Board of Education, he provides recommendations but that the board maintains final say on what students will be required to learn.

“Texas Public Policy hired us to discuss Texas ideas, which is what we do,” Frazier said. “Apparently, we are good enough at it that our time is valuable. The idea that I am some Great Oz figure with huge influence on this state board process, while flattering, is wishful thinking.”

“Clearly someone doesn’t like what I have to say, which is lamentable, but not surprising in today’s environment,” he added. “I’d love to visit with the aggravated folks one-on-one, or even face-to-face, but these accusers and insinuators have not reached out.”

Asked what he produced for the conservative organization, Frazier directed the Tribune to his department’s website, saying his passion is “demonstrating the connections between the world, US, and national story.”

The Texas Public Policy Foundation said in a statement, “This is obviously a delaying tactic by certain members of the SBOE.”

“They should focus on the quality and merits of the curriculum and ensure that Texas students are getting the best possible education,” said Brian Phillips, a spokesperson for the Austin-based conservative think tank.

Phillips did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about what Frazier’s team produced under the agreement.

The State Board of Education began last year to redesign Texas’ social studies standards. The board plans to vote on the standards this summer, with classroom implementation expected in 2030.

Up to this point, a Republican majority of the group has approved plans to center Texas and U.S. history in social studies while deemphasizing world cultures, world history and geography. The panel of nine advisers has helped guide the process, almost all of whom have no K-12 classroom experience in Texas and several of whom have ties to conservative activism.

Critics say the panel has assumed full control of Texas’ social studies rewrite and undermined teacher expertise, when in previous years, teachers have normally guided the process. Draft proposals of the social studies changes, critics argue, prioritize memorization over critical thinking and simplification over accuracy. They also say the current plan focuses heavily on Western civilization at the expense of other cultures, lacks historical perspective of people of color and prioritizes Christianity over other major world religions.

Frazier previously served as chair of Texas’ 1836 Project advisory committee — the state’s counter to The 1619 Project, a collection of essays from the New York Times that examined the foundational role slavery played in the forming of the U.S.

He was appointed a social studies adviser to the State Board of Education last year. Since then, he has become a vocal leader of the group, often one of the first to provide his thoughts and perspective in public meetings.

“I am pleased by the move toward a narrative approach to history, and an emphasis on Western

Civilization as shaping the bedrock principles of our nation. I am glad to see an open discussion

of Christianity as an influential force in shaping the American character,” Frazier recently wrote. “Other world religions are treated with respect in most cases, yet the single most important shaper of American culture is sometimes treated with trepidation. Mentioning Christianity is not proselytizing, but rather an admission of the reality of the history of the United States.”

The Texas Public Policy Foundation, meanwhile, holds significant influence in state politics, often hosting events with top Republican leaders, including Gov. Greg Abbott, and leading conservative policy debates at the Legislature. In the past year, the organization has been a strong advocate for a Texas-centric approach to social studies instruction.

During a September board meeting, Matthew McCormick, the organization’s education director, was asked directly by a board member if the group had any involvement in the development of the current social studies framework.

“TPPF was not involved,” McCormick responded.

On Tuesday, Democratic board member Marisa B. Pérez-Díaz asked Republican board chair Aaron Kinsey when the board could discuss the working relationship between Frazier and the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Several Republican board members objected to Pérez-Díaz asking questions about the connection, saying the board needed to instead focus on social studies content.

“One of the challenges with the question is she made an assertion that it was for a certain purpose — whatever she was talking about — some payment. I haven’t seen that,” Kinsey said of Pérez-Díaz’s inquiry. “I don’t know anything about any private contracts. I know about SBOE contracts; I know about my business contracts. I don’t know anything else, so I can’t tell you when I can advise on that, because I don’t have information on that. Nor do I anticipate giving information.”

Tom Maynard, one of two Republicans who appointed Frazier as an adviser on social studies standards — referred to as Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS — called insinuations that Frazier engaged in wrongdoing “troubling.”

“I think the implication is that there’s some sort of quid pro quo,” Maynard said. “There’s no evidence, and it’s just a smear tactic, and I think it’s not productive. And I think we need to stay focused on what we’re doing here and move forward and get TEKS done and not play political games with this thing.”

Democrats, however, said they consider the process “too important to continue under a cloud of uncertainty.”

“We must ensure that any standards adopted by this board reflect the highest level of integrity,” their statement said, “and serve the best interests of all Texas students.”

Disclosure: New York Times, Schreiner University and Texas Public Policy Foundation 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.

Speaking at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s annual conference in Austin, Patrick said it is imperative for the loser of Republicans’ rancorous Senate primary runoff — whether it’s U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton — to support the winner against Democratic candidate James Talarico. The Austin state representative locked up his party’s nomination in March and will face whoever emerges from the May 26 GOP election, which has already seen both candidates resume their mudslinging after a vicious first round.

Without a unifying endorsement from the runoff loser, Patrick cautioned, Republicans could lose the Senate seat, an outcome he said would guarantee Democratic control of the upper chamber in Washington. A divided GOP also could imperil down-ballot candidates, he added, pointing to the 2018 midterms when U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz narrowly defeated former El Paso congressman Beto O’Rourke and a recent special election for a ruby red Texas Senate seat won by a Democrat in a district President Donald Trump had carried by 17 points in 2024.

“Get over it and come together as one,” Patrick said, aiming his comments at Cornyn and Paxton. “We’re going to have a tough time holding the Texas House.”

Patrick, the presiding officer of the Texas Senate, said he thinks his own chamber ”is in good shape,” then repeated his point that Cornyn and Paxton are “going to have to help House members.”

In 2018, when Trump was first in office, Texas Democrats flipped 12 seats in the state House. Republicans have controlled the lower chamber since 2003 and currently hold 88 of its 150 seats. Democrats would need to flip at least 14 seats to win a majority.

In the state Senate, the GOP has a 20-11 advantage.

House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, responded to Patrick’s remark on social media without mentioning his counterpart by name.

“We will not lose the Texas House. We will fight to retain every Republican seat,” Burrows said. “I look forward to the fall campaign where we get to talk about Texas’ prosperity under Republican leadership; and, I trust the voters of Texas to continue to vote for conservative government up and down the ballot!”

The warning from Patrick, the state’s second-ranking elected official, is the latest to suggest Republicans are worried about backlash to President Donald Trump’s policies. No Democrat has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994, and Republicans are coming off a 2024 cycle in which Trump carried Texas by nearly 14 points.

Patrick is up for reelection himself, seeking a fourth four-year term. He won his March primary, easily fending off three lesser-known opponents, and will face the winner of the Democratic runoff between state Rep. Vikki Goodwin of Austin and union leader Marcos Vélez.

Disclosure: Texas Public Policy Foundation 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.

Customers checking one bag will pay $45 starting on Thursday, while a second will now cost $55, according to Southwest. Some travelers will still receive a free first checked bag, including certain loyalty-tier members, eligible co-branded credit card holders and active-duty military members.

The move was made “as part of an ongoing analysis of the business and against the evolving global backdrop,” the Texas-based carrier said in a statement.

Southwest ended its generous, decades-old policy of allowing passengers to check two bags for free in May 2025, a move that marked a major shift for the carrier after years of marketing the perk as a key differentiator.

The airline now joins a growing list of U.S. carriers that have increased fees since the war in the Middle East began Feb. 28, sending oil prices swinging as fighting near the Strait of Hormuz disrupted global supplies. Threats to the narrow waterway, where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil typically passes, have pushed up prices for jet fuel, which are refined from crude.

Delta Air Lines’ higher baggage fees took effect Wednesday. JetBlue and United Airlines also raised their bag fees last week.

Oil prices on Wednesday were plunging toward $95 per barrel after President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran just before a deadline he had set for Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf. But prices remain well above pre-war levels amid ongoing risks that the conflict could continue.

Adding to the uncertainty, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, casting doubt on whether the fragile ceasefire will hold.

The average price for a gallon of jet fuel in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York was $4.81 on Tuesday, up from $2.50 the day before the war started, according to Argus Media. The energy market intelligence company’s U.S. Jet Fuel Index tracks average prices across those major hubs.

Outside of the U.S., a number of carriers are responding by adding or increasing fuel surcharges, a tool that U.S. airlines don’t typically rely on.

One night after his team squandered three separate leads in an overtime defeat at Utah, McDavid delivered the kind of performance Edmonton needed.

He scored three goals for his 15th career hat trick and added two assists in a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday that moved the Oilers into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division.

“He knows our team needed a win,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We’re playing a little short-handed and he’s going to be the guy. Tonight every shift he was really dialed in and played extremely well. I’ve seen him play a lot of good games and that was one of his best.”

McDavid was sharp right from the start, scoring a power-play goal on his third shift. He assisted on a power-play goal by Vasily Podkolzin late in the first period and then added two more goals and an assist on his first seven shifts of the second to put away the game.

When McDavid is playing the way he did against the Sharks, the strategy for his teammates is simple.

“Get him the puck,” Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard said. “When you see him playing the way he was tonight, and honestly, most of the season, you want to get him the puck. He makes things happen when not many other people can.”

McDavid got the best of his matchup against his Canadian Olympic teammate and fellow Hart Trophy contender Macklin Celebrini, who scored on the power play to give San Jose a 1-0 lead.

McDavid answered that goal less than two minutes later, and the Sharks couldn't slow him down the rest of the night.

“He’s the best player in the league and he’s also the fastest so if you don’t really slow him down or get in his way he’s just going to skate by you,” Celebrini said. “It’s simple as that. You’ve seen it his whole career. I loved watching it when I was a fan but it’s super frustrating when you play against it.”

McDavid's 133 points this season are six more than Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov in the race for Art Ross Trophy and the second-most McDavid has had in a season to his 153 in 2022-23.

He needs three goals in the final three games for his second career 50-goal season, although his focus remains on bigger goals. Edmonton is two points ahead of Vegas in the division race, but the Golden Knights have a game in hand.

“We've got to punch our ticket,” McDavid said. “We've got three games left. We've still got to punch our ticket to the playoffs. Those individual things are nice but not at the top of mind.”

After making back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final the past two springs, the Oilers have sputtered their way through much of this season. But Edmonton has gone 6-1-1 over the past eight games to move into first place in the Pacific Division.

With high-scoring teammate Leon Draisaitl possibly returning from injury for the start of the postseason, the Oilers are trying to get back into top form in time to make another deep run.

“It’s been kind of an up-and-down year for us, honestly,” McDavid said. “We still feel like our best hockey is ahead of us. We’re kind of finding it right now, which is a good time to do it.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The people were lodging complaints about the government's intensifying crackdown on the internet that has seen regular shutdowns of cellphone internet connections, blocked popular messaging apps and cut access to thousands of other websites and digital services.

It was the latest sign of the growing anger and frustration over the restrictions that have disrupted the daily lives of Russians, hurt businesses and drawn criticism even from Kremlin supporters.

Knowing that any unauthorized demonstrations are harshly suppressed, activists have tried to organize authorized rallies, plastered posters on walls and notice boards, and filed lawsuits. Industry leaders pleaded with authorities to repeal the measures.

Even the leader of Armenia delivered a not-so-veiled barb at Russia during a televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin on April 1. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted that in Armenia, “our social media, for example, is 100% free. There are no restrictions whatsoever.”

An unsmiling Putin stared at Pashinyan with slightly raised eyebrows.

The clampdown not only serves to control what websites Russians can see, but also has thrown digital life into disarray, making it difficult to order taxis and deliveries, pay for goods and services electronically, and stay in touch with friends and family.

Politician and Kremlin critic Boris Nadezhdin spoke for many Russians who are upset about the internet clampdown when he said in an interview with The Associated Press: “This infuriates a huge number of people.”

Moves toward internet control

For years, Russia has sought to take the internet under total government control and potentially cut it off from the rest of the world, blocking tens of thousands of websites, messaging apps and social media platforms that refuse to cooperate with the authorities.

Internet users have gotten used to circumventing the restrictions by using virtual private networks, or VPNs, even as the government has been actively blocking those, too.

But last year, the restrictions reached a whole new level: sweeping shutdowns of cellphone internet connections -– and sometimes broadband, too -– leaving only a handful of websites and apps on government-approved “white lists.”

Officials claimed the drastic measures were needed to thwart Ukrainian drones relying on Russian cellphone internet for navigation as Kyiv tries to strike back during Moscow's 4-year-old full-scale invasion.

But the shutdowns hit remote regions that have never been targeted by Ukraine's drones, with ordinary people and businesses decrying the measures as detrimental.

The Kremlin has gone after the country's two most popular messaging apps — WhatsApp and Telegram — while simultaneously promoting a state-backed “national” app called MAX, widely seen as a surveillance tool.

At first, voice and video calls on WhatsApp and Telegram were blocked. Then, sending messages became effectively impossible, too, without using a VPN.

Last week, Digital and Communications Minister Maksut Shadayev said his ministry received orders to further decrease the use of VPNs. Unconfirmed media reports said his ministry proposed a flurry of new measures against VPNs. The ministry did not respond to a request for comment sent by AP.

Lawyer Sarkis Darbinyan, co-founder of the RKS Global digital rights group, told AP the goal of the authorities is to drive internet users into a “digital ghetto” of Russian, government-controlled apps and platforms.

“The internet is no longer this universal digital good,” he said.

Business leaders seek moderation

In recent weeks, a growing number of business leaders in Russia have voiced concern about the sweeping restrictions and urged authorities to take a more moderate approach.

Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, told Putin at a recent forum of the group that cellphone internet shutdowns “made life difficult for both businesses and citizens.”

“Given the high level of mobile technology penetration in our lives, we hope that a systemic, balanced solution will be found,” said Shokhin, a government minister in the 1990s and a member of the ruling United Russia party since the 2000s.

Putin was onstage with Shokhin and spoke immediately after him but didn't address the issue.

A similar plea came from CEOs of two of Russia’s four cellphone operators at a telecommunications conference last week. Sergei Anokhin of Beeline and Khachatur Pombukhchan of Megafon said that instead of cellphone internet shutdowns, operators could just identify suspicious users and restrict them, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

“This would make life significantly easier for people, for clients,” Pombukhchan said.

Prominent IT entrepreneur Natalya Kasperskaya lambasted Roskomnadzor, blaming its intensifying efforts to block VPNs for a brief outage last weekend of banking and other services.

“There’s no technical way to block VPNs without disrupting the entire internet,” she wrote in a post on Telegram. “So, comrades, take screenshots of interesting websites, withdraw as much cash as possible, and get ready to listen to radio reports about foreign enemies who have blocked our once-beloved RuNet,” — referring to the Russian internet.

Roskomnadzor denied involvement, and Kasperskaya later apologized in a separate post, but she called for dialogue between the authorities and the IT sector, stressing that “technical decisions sometimes cause downright shock and a desire to at least get an explanation.”

Cautious steps toward protest

Activists from Moscow to Vladivostok in the Far East have tried to organize rallies against internet restrictions since late February.

Knowing that unauthorized demonstrations are harshly suppressed and government critics are routinely jailed, they acted cautiously and sought authorization for the gatherings in accordance with strict protest laws. In most cases, those were rejected, and some activists were even arrested on various charges.

But people managed to hold small pickets in a few cities. In others, activists plastered flyers and banners on walls and public notice boards decrying the restrictions.

Opposition politician Nadezhdin, his supporters and other activist groups have filed for permission to hold rallies in dozens of cities on April 12, when Russia marks Cosmonautics Day, honoring the 1961 flight of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space.

“We’re filing for authorization (and saying) we’re marking Cosmonautics Day,” Nadezhdin says with a subtle smile. “Our slogans will be (about the fact that) cosmonautics is impossible without science, technology and progress, and progress, science and technology development is impossible without connectivity, without communication, without the internet.”

Nadezhdin says he is determined to increase pressure on authorities despite the crackdown. Public frustration over the restrictions is “enormous,” and people are ready to take part in protests that are authorized and safe, he added.

Moscow-based opposition politician Yulia Galyamina echoed his sentiment in a video she recorded last weekend near the presidential administration, where she and others filed their formal complaints, saying the discontent “is truly widespread.”

“The more there is public outcry over the blocking of the internet, Telegram in particular, and depriving us of the possibility to communicate with each other, interact, express our political position, the bigger the effect will be,” she said.

A Honolulu jury returned the verdict against Gerhardt Konig, 47, on Wednesday after a day of deliberations. He was convicted of attempted manslaughter based on extreme mental or emotional disturbance, which carries up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing was set for Aug. 13.

Thomas Otake, his attorney, said he planned to appeal. Nevertheless, Otake said the defense respected the jury's verdict.

“We are thankful that they did not convict him of attempted murder, which would have been life in prison,” Otake said. “We look forward to an appeal related to some of the judge's rulings throughout the case.”

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the national domestic violence hotline: 1-800-799-7233 in the U.S.

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Distraught over her relationship with a coworker, Konig planned to kill his wife, Arielle Konig, during a weekend trip to Honolulu for her birthday in March 2025, prosecutors said. They said he tried to push her off a cliff and stab her with a syringe, and when that didn't work, he struck her with a rock. The attack was interrupted by two hikers who heard her cries for help.

The defendant testified that it was his wife who first hit him with a rock, and he hit her back in self-defense.

Konig stood as the jury’s foreperson announced the verdict, then closed his eyes and lowered his face. His parents declined to comment to reporters afterward. Arielle Konig was not in court.

Jurors explain conviction on lesser charge

Jury foreperson Makalapua Atkins said deliberations focused on what transpired on the trail. She said jurors examined the testimony of those who were at the scene to see where they matched up and where there were inconsistencies.

“At the end of the day when it comes down to it, she was hit in the head. And a head injury can be serious. And that’s a very deadly part of the body," Atkins told reporters after the verdict was read.

Jurors believed the relationship Arielle Konig had with a coworker was sufficient to cause “an emotional disturbance” and this affected their verdict, she said.

Under Hawaii law, if jurors believe a defendant committed attempted murder but was under the influence of an extreme mental or emotional disturbance at the time, they must reduce the charge to attempted manslaughter if they believe there was a reasonable explanation for the disturbance.

The defense's arguments

During closing arguments, the doctor’s lawyer repeatedly sought to cast doubt on Arielle Konig’s account.

If Gerhardt Konig had wanted to kill his wife and had access to a syringe in a remote area, attorney Thomas Otake suggested to jurors during closing arguments, wouldn’t he have drugged her and then thrown her from the cliff, rather than having started a scuffle before attempting to fill the syringe as he was wrestling with her?

“You would use the syringe first,” Otake said. “It makes no sense.”

The trial started last month, nearly a year after Gerhardt and Arielle Konig went on a hike on the Pali Puka trail in Honolulu that ended with her bloodied and screaming that he had tried to kill her.

Their two young sons stayed home on Maui while the Konigs were on the trip.

The Pali Puka trail has long been closed by the state of Hawaii due to its danger but social media sites feature it. People trespass on state land to take in its views and snap photos. Arielle Konig described it as having “narrow ridge sections with steep drop-offs on both sides.”

Gerhardt and Arielle Konig testify

The trial, with testimony livestreamed by Court TV, has aired the couple’s marital problems leading up to the hike, along with their versions of what happened on the trail.

Gerhardt Konig testified that his wife was having an affair, which he confirmed by unlocking her phone while she slept. The relationship, which Arielle Konig characterized as an “emotional affair” involving flirty messages with a coworker, came up during the hike.

Arielle Konig testified that her husband grabbed her and moved her toward the cliff’s edge, but she threw herself on the ground in an attempt to hold on. He straddled her and had a syringe in his hand, she said, but she batted it away. She bit his forearm and squeezed his testicles in an attempt to get him off her, she said.

Her husband denied pushing her toward the edge and testified that she hit him with a rock on the side of his face. He wrestled the rock away and hit her with it twice in self-defense, he said.

Gerhardt Konig also denied having any syringes on the mountain or trying to stab his wife. His defense attorney said no syringe was found at the scene because he never had one.

Otake said Gerhardt Konig was not someone who would try to commit murder, but someone who was struggling with infidelity and trying to do his best. Otake quoted from a heart-shaped birthday card Gerhardt Konig had written to his wife, calling her “the heart of our family” and saying, “The kids and I hit the jackpot with you.”

Gerhardt Konig testified that as he watched his wife crawl away, he believed his marriage and career were over, and he decided to jump to his death. But first, he called his adult son from a previous marriage. The son told authorities that his father said he “tried to kill your stepmom” — a confession Gerhardt Konig denied having made.

Konig testified that he called his son to say good-bye.

During that call, the defendant made no reference to having struck his wife in self-defense, deputy prosecutor Joel Garner said.

He spent about eight hours hiding on the mountain before deciding to come down, and even then, he tried to flee when confronted by police, Garner said.

His wife has since filed for divorce.

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Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.

The Department of Homeland Security said ICE agents fired defensive shots at Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez after he tried to drive into them on Tuesday. DHS said they were conducting an enforcement stop targeting Mendoza, 36, in Patterson, a city about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco. Officials described him as a suspected gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection to a murder.

Attorney Patrick Kolasinski, who is representing Mendoza and his family, said during a news conference that his client has been stopped for minor traffic infractions but has no criminal record in the U.S. and is not the subject of an arrest warrant in El Salvador, where he was acquitted of murder.

Kolasinski said he has found no evidence his client was part of any street gang but he added he has not had the chance to talk to him to confirm that.

“If he was released after being acquitted, with no other holds on him, he cannot have a warrant,” Kolasinski said. “So that information must be either erroneous or completely made up. And only DHS knows what they’re looking at.”

According to a Oct. 25, 2019 court document from a judge in El Salvador, Mendoza, who was 29 at the time, was acquitted after being accused of murder and ordered immediately released. The document lists 10 others who were convicted of various crimes from aggravated robbery to murder, and mentions at least one of them was a member of the 18th Street Gang. But there is no mention of Mendoza belonging to a gang or being accused of carrying out gang activity in the document.

Tuesday's encounter was among a string of shootings that have happened during the Trump administration's aggressive push to detain and deport illegal immigrants in which questions have been raised about the accounts by federal immigration officials.

DHS did not immediately respond to requests for comments about the lawyer's statements.

“He’s a good guy. He’s a hardworking person,” said Mendoza’s fiancée, Cindy, who did not provide her last name out of fear for her safety because of attention of his case. She said the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is hurting families.

She said in Spanish that Mendoza was recently stopped for a cracked windshield in another town.

Dashcam footage obtained by KCRA-TV shows three officers standing around a vehicle stopped on the side of a road. One of the officers appears to be touching the driver-side window when the car begins to back up and turn, hitting a vehicle behind it. At least two of the agents have weapons drawn, pointing at the car. The driver then pulls forward toward where the men are standing and turns sharply, driving over the roadway median.

The video has no sound and it's unclear when the shots were fired and if words were said.

“He is doing everything he can to not run them over,” the attorney said of his client’s reaction during the arrest. He said he believes his client panicked and tried to flee. DHS said ICE agents were acting as trained.

Mendoza’s fiancée was able to speak with him Wednesday and learned that he was going into surgery and is stable, Kolasinski said.

Kolasinski said Mendoza, a dual citizen of El Salvador and Mexico, came to the U.S. in 2019 but he said he did not know his legal status nor how he arrived to the country and hoped to talk to him to get those details. He said federal officials haven't said if Mendoza has been arrested for a crime or if he's being held by authorities as a victim of a shooting.

Kolasinski said his client works as a laborer to repair fire damage. He has a 2-year-old daughter and is engaged to a U.S. citizen, he said.

Kolasinski said officers endangered everyone by opening the car door when Mendoza tried to flee. “That may well be ICE training, but if it is it’s horrible training," he said.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said they were not involved in the incident and the FBI is leading the investigation.

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Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalist Julie Watson contributed from San Diego.

Up first was Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who warned that “everyone is less safe” because of President Donald Trump's leadership and blamed him for a nationwide surge in antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism and bigotry.

“There’s more chaos, there’s more cruelty in our world,” Shapiro said. “Even if we disagree on health care policy or tax policy or whatever, we should at least, at a baseline, have an honorable president of the United States. We do not have that right now."

The Democratic governor, already considered a top-tier 2028 presidential prospect with a clear path to reelection in his battleground state this year, delivered a scathing criticism of the Republican president on the opening day of the National Action Network's four-day conference. More than a half-dozen potential candidates are speaking here to make inroads among Black leaders, one of Democrats' most powerful voting blocs.

The presidential primary is already underway

The presidential primary season won't begin in earnest until after November's midterm elections, but this week's conference is showcasing a collection of Democrats already jockeying for position in what promises to be a crowded primary fight.

For now, at least, there is no clear early favorite.

“Everybody's talking about who may run for president,” said Sharpton, the National Action Network's founder and president. “I want to first know what their vision is now, and what they’re doing now. So I’ve invited all of the people that could run.”

In addition to Shapiro, the speaking program features Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, and Arizona Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris, the last Democratic presidential nominee, is also scheduled to speak. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, another likely contender, won't be in attendance because of a previously scheduled family commitment, his team said, noting that he met with Sharpton earlier in the year.

Black voters have critical influence

One doesn't have to look far to see the outsized influence that Black voters wield in Democratic nomination contests.

In 2020, Buttigieg was a top vote-getter in the Iowa caucus and scored a strong second place in New Hampshire — both overwhelmingly white states — before Joe Biden dominated South Carolina on the strength of the Black vote.

Biden's long-established relationship with the African American community, backed by his perceived electability advantage, ultimately helped him beat back a strong push by progressive favorite Sen. Bernie Sanders.

All of the 2028 prospects are quick to criticize Trump, although there is broad agreement that Democrats also need to highlight what they stand for — instead of solely what they're against.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the conference.

Khanna, a Sanders ally who also addressed activists on Wednesday, told The Associated Press that progressive candidates in 2028 could make greater inroads with Black voters “by speaking to the Civil Rights tradition and offering a vision rooted in Black history.”

“A 2028 contender needs to articulate and run on a new moral vision for America,” Khanna said. Any presidential candidate’s platform, he added, “must be as much inspired by the greats of Douglass and King” — referring to abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. — while “offering a new vision for racial justice, economic justice, peace in the world, against militarism, against racism, against wealth inequality.”

Shapiro, who was a finalist in Harris' search for a running mate in 2024, highlighted both his electability and his commitment to African American priorities while on stage.

He described Pennsylvania as “the ultimate swing state,” while defending diversity, equity and inclusion programs and insisting that police must be “held to account” if they do something wrong.

He also went after Trump again and again, suggesting that the looming midterm elections should be “a national referendum on Donald Trump and on what is happening in Washington, D.C.”

Ashley Sharpton, Rev. Sharpton’s youngest daughter, said she was surprised by the audience's enthusiasm and engagement while Shapiro and Khanna were on stage on the conference's first day. She said she's looking forward to hearing from Moore, Harris and Buttigieg.

"That’s why people come," she said. "They want to get some of that energy, that consistency, that base.”

That means the utility could miss Nevada's clean energy targets requiring 50% renewable power by 2030.

“I can’t remember a time in the history of the industry where we’ve seen as much interest in adding load, which is primarily driven by data centers,” said Shawn Elicegui, senior vice president of regulatory and resource planning for NV Energy, which provides electricity to 90% of the state.

It's one of many utilities across the country grappling with how to meet the exploding electricity demand for data centers to power artificial intelligence without sacrificing long-term plans to move away from fossil fuels in favor of renewable and zero-carbon sources.

In North Carolina, which is also seeing a surge of data centers, the largest utility is revising its long-term plans to delay the retirement of coal plants and to build more natural gas plants. Legislators removed an interim goal for utilities to cut carbon emissions, spurring concern from environmentalists that the state might miss its goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.

NextEra Energy, which serve commercial electricity in over a dozen states, completely dropped its goal to reach zero emissions by 2045 due to the “demand for all forms of power generation,” the company said in a recent business filing.

The Trump administration has encouraged states to use coal to meet the demands from manufacturing and data centers. Tech companies are also slowing down on their own climate goals to meet the consumer demands for artificial intelligence.

“It’s very alarming, and it’s probably the single largest natural resource issue of our time,” said Olivia Tanager, director of the Sierra Club’s Toiyabe chapter covering Nevada.

Nevada is one of the fastest-growing data center markets in the U.S. thanks to its lack of a corporate income tax, cheap land and tax breaks for data centers. There are dozens already with more on the way. Now lawmakers are eyeing more regulations and debating how to balance both the state's clean energy goals with the economic benefits data centers bring.

Some data centers say they want to be part of the solution; the industry was responsible for half of all corporate clean energy procurement in 2024, said Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy for the Data Center Coalition.

But renewable energy’s contribution to the power grid is not growing fast enough. Nationally, orders for gas turbines are backlogged and processing renewable energy projects take time, industry experts say.

One Vegas data center built its own solar fields

South of the Las Vegas Strip, the Switch data center stretches for nearly a square mile (kilometer). It’s the largest data center in Southern Nevada, and it runs entirely on renewable energy, according to Jason Hoffman, chief strategy officer. Unlike other data centers, Switch is licensed to build its own sources of renewable energy at the scale of a utility company. It has built 1 gigawatt of solar energy and is in the process of building more solar fields, he said. The company only uses NV Energy's grid for the delivery of electricity, and it sources its own power from third-party suppliers.

Inside of the massive buildings, hundreds of servers hum within gigantic soundproof and waterproof chambers. They contain vital information for Switch’s clients, including major banks, streaming services, online shopping websites, casinos and state and local governments.

During the summer heat, when more energy is required to keep the equipment cool, Switch can remove itself from the grid and be self-sufficient, Hoffman said. The data center is designed to require minimal air conditioning during the rest of the year.

Many other utilities and tech companies are turning to gas-fired generation to power data centers, including the controversial xAI data center near Memphis that is using mobile gas turbines strapped to semitrucks.”

Tanager, of the Sierra Club, said multiple proposed data centers in Northern Nevada would use hundreds of low-quality diesel-powered backup generators that will worsen air quality. Data centers have backup generators in case the power goes out and are not used often.

At a recent seven-hour legislative meeting, Nevadans complained to lawmakers about the noise data centers produce, and their worries about how the centers will affect water supply and energy bills. Residents of Boulder City, home of the Hoover Dam, are also opposing a proposed center for similar concerns.

State provides financial incentives for clean power

NV Energy requires data center developers to agree to fund their own infrastructure and energy needs — but it doesn't have to be renewable.

Nevada designed a volunteer funding model that allows companies to put up money for NV Energy's clean energy development then count it toward their corporate energy goals. It was the first such model of its kind in the country and led to the development of a geothermal plant in Northern Nevada with Google as a partner.

Environmental groups want the state to make that model mandatory, but still worry it wouldn't bring enough clean energy to meet demand. They also worry NV Energy could expand its reliance on fossil fuel without the guarantee that all the proposed data centers will be built.

NV Energy will require companies to sign contracts ensuring their commitment to the state before energy is built, Elicegui said. The utility's philosophy is that “growth is welcomed,” but that companies need to be responsible for power load added on their behalf “whether they show up or not.”

The public utilities commission in Nevada may impose a fine, grant an exemption or take some other action if it determines NV Energy failed to meet the state’s clean energy goals. The utility is set to publish a report with more specifics by the end of the month.

Democratic Assemblymember Howard Watts of Las Vegas said it is “unacceptable” to bring forward projects that will threaten the state's renewable energy portfolio. Watts wants to see it required that data centers take on the costs of clean energy development. While many companies are already taking those steps, putting those guardrails in statute is necessary, he said.

“Building more gas plants seems like going in the exact opposite direction of what we need to do as a state," he said, noting the state has “tremendous solar and geothermal energy potential.”

Her emotions were heavy, ranging from anxiety and fear to even loneliness as others seemed to be going about their lives as normal despite what could have been pending doom. Ultimately, Trump did not make good on his threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” instead agreeing to a two-week ceasefire in the war.

It was another moment of whiplash for Haider and the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living in the U.S. who have been thrust into a seemingly constant state of uncertainty over the future of Iran and their relatives and friends who still live there.

For many, the tenor of the latest discourse around the conflict has consumed their thoughts, often preventing them from getting work done or focusing on anything else. Some are protesting the war, while others guard their opinions about what is happening in their homeland, anxiously watching and wondering what the future might hold.

Haider was among those protesting Wednesday in Austin, Texas, calling for an end to the war. Gatherings also were held in New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities.

Aside from speaking out against the war, Haider thinks that mobilizing will create “the kind of pressure that makes it harder for Trump to swing back to this aggressive posturing.”

“It’s a huge country,” she said of Iran. “Trump is not going to ever be able to defeat it or wipe it out, but it is possible to do damage. It is possible to do something that affects millions of people, millions of lives.”

Worries for family members back home

Haider, a municipal planner and an organizer with the Austin for Palestine Coalition, said hearing Trump offer such an ultimatum was frightening.

She does not support regime change, saying that was something for the Iranian people to settle, not the United States. Still, she wanted to speak out even though she came to the U.S. by way of Pakistan with her parents when she was young. She has memories of the neighborhood bakeries and the juice shops she used to visit with her mother and their neighbors.

Iranian-American Sheila Amir said that Trump’s social media posts made her fearful on multiple levels.

Her first concern was for her Iranian relatives. She has not been able to confirm that they're OK in the past week amid an internet blackout that has blanketed the country.

But the North Carolina-based writer said she also was concerned that an escalation in the war could put her U.S. relatives who are in the military at risk. Their duty, she said, is to “serve and protect the United States of America," not to destroy the people of Iran.

Complex feelings for those who support the war

Even those who are supportive of U.S. attacks that directly weaken the Iranian government are struggling to reckon with the most recent threats against civilians.

In recent weeks, Roya Rastegar has had many difficult conversations with her family about the conflict. Rastegar and her wife are both Iranian-American. Rastegar said people in her family have been killed by the Iranian government in the decades since the Islamic Republic took power, and the majority of her wife’s family is still in the country.

Rastegar, a filmmaker and cofounder of a pro-democracy nonprofit called the Iranian Diaspora Collective, said the frequent reversals have made it more difficult to explain the conflict to their children.

“It’s very hard to hold on to the idea that we do not know what’s going to happen,” she said.

Rastegar said that the war has presented an impossible moral dilemma. She is deeply concerned that intensified attacks on Iran could cause even more harm to civilians. But she also believes that de-escalating the war without dismantling the Islamic Republic will pose the greatest risk to Iranians inside the country, who would continue to face severe and deadly repression.

“It’s really nauseating to just think about my people as being stuck between a regime that’s still killing them and an administration — the U.S. — that is issuing these kinds of threats,” Rastegar said.

This was one of two community listening sessions being held this week. The City of San Antonio said this feedback, in addition to a recent survey, will be used by the city council to determine what happens next.

Conversations about renaming César E. Chávez Boulevard come after recent allegations that the labor unionist sexually abused girls and the co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America union, Dolores Huerta, decades ago.

KSAT first reported the citywide survey results on Tuesday regarding this discussion. According to the city news release, more than 18,000 people participated in the survey from all city districts.

Sixty-four percent of survey respondents supported returning the street name to Durango Boulevard. Additionally, a city spokesperson said 79% of respondents who live on César E. Chávez Boulevard would also like to see the street reverted back to Durango Boulevard.

Thirty-six percent of people suggested multiple alternative names for the street, the city said, including the following:

• Farmworker Movement/civil rights leaders (example: Dolores Huerta)
• Spurs/sports-themed names (example: Spurs Boulevard)
• Keep current name/no change
• Other public figures (example: Selena Quintanilla)
• Non-serious/pop-culture responses

Ernest Martinez, whose father founded the Cesar E. Chavez Legacy Educational Foundation, attended Wednesday’s meeting. After the allegations, KSAT reported that the foundation dissolved, but Martinez said the community should be at the center of this conversation.

“I am leaning towards a farm worker-related naming,” Martinez said. “Why not uplift farm workers who ultimately bring that food to our table?”

Jesus Ramirez said she worries about the unexpected costs of renaming the street.

“Not everybody can get up and go and get in line and have all their paperwork changed,” Ramirez said. “Everyone on that street is going to have to.”

The next listening session will be held on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Tony G’s Soul Food, 915 S. Hackberry St.

After all of this feedback is collected, the city said the council will analyze and debrief.

The city said a council member will then have to file a formal renaming request to start this process. Then it could take several months before the name is officially changed.

Read also:

• Most survey respondents support changing César E. Chávez Blvd. name back to Durango, city says
• ‘My silence ends here’: Labor, civil rights activist accuses César Chávez of sexual abuse

Now hurtling home from the moon, the Artemis II astronauts took a poignant page from Apollo 8 earlier this week, proposing deeply personal names for a pair of lunar craters.

Commander Reid Wiseman and his crew asked permission to name one small, fresh crater after their capsule called Integrity and another after his late wife, Carroll. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen made the request right before Monday's lunar fly-around. Wiseman was too emotional to talk.

Carroll Wiseman, a neonatal nurse, died of cancer in 2020.

“Just for me personally, that was kind of the pinnacle moment of the mission for me,” Wiseman said from space Wednesday night.

During Apollo 8 in 1968, astronaut Jim Lovell bestowed his wife’s name upon a prominent lunar peak: Mount Marilyn. It was humanity's first trip to the moon and she anxiously awaited his return back home in Houston.

The three Americans and one Canadian of Artemis II are the first lunar visitors since Apollo 17 closed out that grand epoch in 1972, and their crater-naming request temporarily left ground controllers speechless.

“It was definitely a very emotional moment. I don’t think most of us knew it was coming,” NASA lunar scientist Ryan Watkins told The Associated Press on Wednesday from Johnson Space Center in Houston. “There was not a single dry eye.”

Mission Control’s lead scientist Kelsey Young worked with the Artemis II astronauts before launch, quietly helping them choose the two bright, relatively young craters, which they quickly spied once they were close enough to the moon through zoom lenses as well as their naked eyes.

Wiseman said his crewmates came up with the idea and approached him about it while they were in quarantine a few days before liftoff. His response: “Absolutely, I would love that, I think that's just the best. And I said, 'But I can't give the speech, I can't give the talk,'" he recalled during a crew news conference, saying he was too overwhelmed.

Proposed Carroll Crater is at the moon's left limb on the boundary of the moon’s near and far sides, and occasionally visible from Earth. It's rather shallow and approximately 3 miles (5 kilometers) across, according to Watkins. The slightly bigger Integrity crater is completely on the lunar far side.

Their request came shortly after they broke Apollo 13’s distance record for deep-space travelers. All four astronauts wept as they embraced in a group hug.

“We lost a loved one. Her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie,” Hansen radioed, his voice breaking. “It’s a bright spot on the moon and we would like to call it Carroll.”

Mission Control fell silent for nearly a minute before replying: “Integrity and Carroll crater, loud and clear.”

The emotion-drenched scene was vastly different from the 1960s and 1970s Apollo moonshots in more ways than one. NASA's Apollo all-male test pilots were for the most part all business and tear-free.

“This is no fault of Apollo,” Watkins said. “I think we're seeing just a more human aspect."

Once back on Earth later this week, the crew will submit the two proposed names to the International Astronomical Union.

Nearly a half century passed between Apollo 8 and the union's sign-off of Mount Marilyn in 2017.

The IAU's Ramasamy Venugopal promised a decision on Carroll and Integrity in about a month, the norm “for straightforward requests.”

There already are 81 astronaut-named lunar features on the group's approved list, including Apollo 16's Baby Ray and Gator, and Apollo 17's Lara named for the lead female character in the 1965 film “Doctor Zhivago.”

Some Apollo-era nicknames didn't make the cut.

Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan, the last astronaut to walk on the moon, dubbed a split boulder “Tracy’s Rock,” after his young daughter in 1972.

And in 1969, Apollo 12 commander Pete Conrad nicknamed his touchdown spot “Pete’s Parking Lot.”

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Louie Jay Villagonza, 29, pled guilty on March 16 and was sentenced to 32 years in prison, the district attorney’s office said.

The New Braunfels Police Department began an investigation after the mother of a 12-year-old found inappropriate messages on their social media account on Jan. 3, 2024. The mother contacted police and turned the phone in for evidence.

Investigators determined the abuse allegedly happened on multiple occasions when the child stayed overnight at a friend’s home where Villagonza, a relative of one of the victim’s schoolmates, lived.

During an interview with investigators, Villagonza admitted to the abuse, the district attorney’s office said.

A search warrant was issued for Villagonza’s cellphone, which later revealed messages from his ongoing communication with the victim and corroborated the abuse allegations, officials said.

Villagonza and the victim initially communicated through Snapchat before he asked the child to switch to Instagram, believing it to be a “safer option,” the district attorney’s office said.

A DA’s office spokesperson said Villagonza will not eligible for parole and is required to serve the entire 32-year sentence in prison.

Read also:

• Man sentenced to 3+ years in federal prison for firing gunshots outside JBSA Lackland Air Force Base

Albert Casanova, 43, was convicted of the May 2023 murder of 30-year-old Briann Hernandez on March 27, according to a Bexar County District Attorney’s Office news release.

According to Casanova’s arrest affidavit, he and Hernandez checked into the OYO Hotel in the 2400 block of Southwest Loop 410.

Hernandez was seen briefly on surveillance cameras standing in a breezeway outside the shared hotel room, court documents show. The DA’s office said Casanova shot Hernandez in her head and fled the scene in her car.

A hotel employee called police after finding Hernandez’s body while conducting check-out procedures, the affidavit states.

“This was a calculated and senseless act of violence,” Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said in a Wednesday news release. “Today’s sentence ensures the defendant is held accountable for taking a life and reinforces our commitment to justice.”

Read also:

• Man found guilty of 2023 murder at San Antonio hotel, DA’s office says

The government had agreed to terms with Australia’s largest suppliers Ampol and Viva Energy to underwrite contracts for gasoline and diesel bought on the spot market for prices above normal commercial rates, Albanese said.

The government would also have the power to direct how that fuel was distributed, with a focus on regional and farming areas where gas stations have run dry in recent weeks, Albanese said.

“This will have a long tail, which is why after this we will travel to Singapore,” Albanese told reporters at an Ampol refinery in Australian city of Brisbane.

“I’m looking forward to a constructive meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong tomorrow,” Albanese said.

“We don’t preempt one-on-one meetings at leaders’ levels, but the fact that we’re being welcomed at relatively short notice to Singapore speaks about the strength of the relationship,” he added.

Albanese’s visit would continue Singapore’s regional engagements to keep fuel supply flowing by strengthening fuel access for Australia, a Singaporean government statement said.

Australia was Singapore’s second-largest supplier of liquefied natural gas and Singapore was Australia’s largest supplier of refined petroleum products.

“This visit follows Australia and Singapore’s joint commitment to keep fuel flowing between both countries and to work together to strengthen energy supply chain resilience,” Singapore said.

Albanese said his government was moving quickly to increase Australia’s fuel supply.

He described the announcement this week of a two-week ceasefire in the Middle East war as an important step forward.

“If the ceasefire holds, that doesn’t mean that the world global capacity comes online in a week or a month. It will take as considerable period of time. This will have a long tail. That is very, very clear,” Albanese said.

The rotary club believes it owns the Poteet Strawberry trademark, records show. The Strawberry Festival Association disputes that claim.

The judge ruled the dispute belongs in state court rather than federal court.

After Wednesday’s ruling, the rotary club will not be allowed at the Poteet Strawberry Festival this weekend, which takes place from April 10-12.

“Everything I’ve seen is that it’s crystal clear, it belongs to the Strawberry Festival Association,“ said Melissa Casey, an attorney for the Poteet Strawberry Festival Association. ”It has belonged to them for more than 30 years.”

After the hearing, the rotary club told KSAT it plans to pursue legal action in Atascosa County Court.

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The Dodgers were informed of his death by his former wife, Lin Lopes. She told the team Lopes had Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and died at a hospital in his hometown of East Providence, Rhode Island.

Lopes was a four-time All-Star during his 10 years with the Dodgers. He played in four World Series, winning the 1981 championship. He holds the franchise record for most games played at second base with 1,134. His 1,145 games batting leadoff are second in the organization's history to Maury Wills (1,279).

Lopes was 27 years old when he made his MLB debut on Sept. 22, 1972.

The next season, Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Ron Cey and Lopes began the first of 8 1/2 consecutive years starting together in the infield.

Lopes established himself as one of the most prolific base stealers in baseball. He stole 418 bases as a Dodger, the second-highest career total in franchise history behind Wills (490). Lopes holds the franchise record with an 83.1% career success rate (minimum 100 steals).

On Aug. 4, 1974, Lopes became the first Dodger since Wills to steal four bases in a game, and 20 days later, he tied the NL record with five steals against the Cardinals. In 1975, Lopes recorded a then-MLB record 28 consecutive steals without being caught.

He led the majors in 1975 with 77 steals and the National League in 1976 with 63. In 1978, he stole 45 bases in 49 attempts.

In 1978, Lopes had the best World Series of his career, starting with two home runs in Game 1 against the New York Yankees. He also won a Gold Glove that season.

After leaving the Dodgers, he played for the Oakland Athletics (1982-84), Chicago Cubs (1984-86) and Houston Astros (1986-87). He stole 557 career bases — 26th in MLB history — while hitting .263 in 1,812 regular-season games with 155 home runs, 614 RBI, 232 doubles and 50 triples.

“He was one of the greatest competitors I had the privilege to play with in Chicago, and against when he was with the Dodgers. RIP my friend,” five-time All-Star shortstop Larry Bowa posted on X.

After his playing days, Lopes managed the Milwaukee Brewers from 2000-02. He coached with the Orioles, Padres, Nationals, Phillies and Dodgers.

He won a second World Series as the Phillies’ first-base coach.

Ruben Amaro Jr., an assistant general manager on that 2008 title team, posted on X: “Davey Lopes, the best base stealing coach we've ever had. And a great base stealer in his own right. So sad to hear of his passing. Thank you, Davey, for bringing joy to all of us. RIP.”

Lopes returned to the Dodgers as the baserunning and first-base coach from 2011-15. He spent his final two seasons in the majors as the Nationals first-base coach from 2016-17.

Lopes is survived by his brothers, Patrick and John, and sisters, Jean, Judith, Mary and Nina.

___

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

All sides have presented vastly different versions of the terms. Iran said the deal would allow it to formalize its new practice of charging ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said the U.S. would work with Iran to remove buried enriched uranium, though Iran did not confirm that.

Pakistan and others said fighting would pause in Lebanon, which Israel has invaded to fight Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Wednesday that the deal doesn’t cover fighting against Hezbollah. Israeli strikes hit several dense commercial and residential areas in central Beirut Wednesday afternoon without warning, killing dozens and wounding hundreds of people.

Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz again Wednesday in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.

The ceasefire may formalize a system of charging fees in the Strait of Hormuz that Iran instituted — and give it a new source of revenue. Iranian attacks and threats deterred many commercial ships from passing through the waterway, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas passes in peacetime.

Here is the latest:

UN chief condemns Israeli strikes in Lebanon

In unusually strong language, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned Israeli strikes in Lebanon that killed and injured hundreds Wednesday, according to a statement by his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric.

The statement said Guterres “condemns the loss of civilian lives and is deeply alarmed by the mounting toll on civilians,” and added the ongoing strikes pose “a grave risk to the ceasefire and the efforts toward a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.”

Guterres called on all parties to immediately cease hostilities.

The strikes targeting central Beirut Wednesday killed more than 180 people, and wounded hundreds, making it the deadliest day in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.

Australia says Lebanon must be included in Middle East ceasefire

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters Thursday that the two-week ceasefire announced this week “is an important step forward.”

“Of course it is a fragile peace, but we want it to lead to an agreement,” Albanese said.

“The Australian government also firmly believes that this has to apply to Lebanon as well. We want to see peace in this region,” Albanese added.

Hezbollah claims attacks as sirens sound in northern Israel

Sirens went off early Thursday morning in a few Israeli communities along the border with Lebanon, near the city of Kiryat Shmona, which has been targeted by Hezbollah rockets repeatedly during the war.

In a statement, Hezbollah claimed attacking Manara in northern Israel early Thursday morning with rocket fire.

“This response will continue until the Israeli-American aggression against our country and our people ceases,” it said.

Israeli strikes kill Al Jazeera correspondent and 2 Lebanese journalists

Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed an Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza, according to the network and health officials there, as well as two Lebanese journalists in that country, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists and one of their networks.

Mohammed Wishah was targeted in a drone strike in west Gaza City. The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on X that Wishah was a member of Hamas, reposting a 2024 tweet that described him as a “prominent commander” in its military wing, among other positions.

In Lebanon, where Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah killed more than 180 people Wednesday, Ghada Dayekh, a presenter with Sawt Al-Farah, and Suzan Khalil, a reporter and presenter on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV and Al-Nour Radio, also died.

Newly created Polymarket accounts bet big on US-Iran ceasefire in hours before Trump’s announcement

A group of new accounts on the prediction market Polymarket made highly specific, well-timed bets on whether the U.S. and Iran would reach a ceasefire on April 7, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits for these new customers.

These bets were made even though, in the hours before a two-week ceasefire was announced on Tuesday, Trump’s rhetoric had escalated sharply and there were few signals that a ceasefire deal was imminent.

An analysis of publicly available blockchain data from Polymarket, using the crypto analytics platform Dune, shows that at least 50 accounts, or wallets, placed substantial “Yes” bets Tuesday before Trump announced the ceasefire in a Truth Social post at around 6:30 p.m. ET.

▶ Read more about polymarket accounts

Israelis celebrate ceasefire and mimouna holiday

Israelis marked the Moroccan Jewish holiday of Mimouna, which celebrates the end of Passover, on Wednesday night without worrying about running for cover from of Iranian missiles for the first time in a month and a half.

In the southern resort city of Eilat, a local bar served the traditional fried foods, including the fried dough of mufleta, while wearing Moroccan inspired garb.

“I feel like I can finally go out and celebrate, it’s hard to celebrate anything during the war,” said Tair Elkaim, a 27-year-old personal trainer visiting from Netanya. “I feel more relaxed and happy, but also I’m sad about the families broken up by this war.”

Avi Zion, 30, a municipality worker from Jerusalem, said he was looking forward to returning to his routine and finally sending his kids back to school.

“I’m really happy there’s a ceasefire and we’re here to celebrate this feeling of release.”

At least 182 killed as Israel strikes central Beirut after saying Iran truce doesn’t apply there

Lebanon’s health ministry said that Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed 182 people, the highest single-day death toll in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Israel launched a barrage of strikes in central Beirut and elsewhere in the country as a shaky ceasefire took effect between the U.S. and Iran. Iranian officials have maintained that the deal was supposed to include Lebanon, while Israel and the U.S. have insisted that it does not.

Another 890 people were wounded in the strikes, the ministry said. Altogether, 1,739 people have been killed and 5,873 wounded in Lebanon in just over five weeks since the outbreak of the war.

▶ Read more

US moves to draw down diplomatic staff in Nigeria over security concerns related to Iran war, terrorism, crime

The State Department is moving to reduce the U.S. diplomatic footprint in Nigeria due to security concerns related to terrorism and crime even as a ceasefire in the Iran war comes into effect.

The department said Wednesday it had authorized nonessential American personnel and the families of all government staffers at the U.S. embassy in Abuja to leave the country “due to the deteriorating security situation.”

“There is risk of terrorist violence, including terrorist attacks and other activity in Nigeria,” it said. “Terrorists continue plotting and carrying out attacks in Nigeria. Terrorists collaborate with local gangs to expand their reach. They may attack with little or no warning.”

Nigeria is just the latest in a series of U.S. diplomatic missions to draw down staff with either ordered or authorized departures since the war with Iran began at the end of February.

American offensive operations remain paused, US official says

When asked about an oil refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island that Iranian state television said came under attack Wednesday, the U.S. official said the pause in American attacks on Iran that went into effect Tuesday with the ceasefire was still effect.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani also said Israel wasn’t involved in the Lavan Island strike.

—- Konstantin Toropin

Vance suggests the US and Iran agree on more about a peace deal than they disagree on

Speaking to reporters before leaving Hungary, the vice president said Iran questioning the workability of a ceasefire because it disagrees with the U.S. on three key points “must mean there’s a lot of points of agreement.”

Frustration on three issues “actually means that there’s a lot of agreements,” Vance said.

The vice president, who is set to participate in negotiations in Pakistan this weekend, said “ceasefires are always messy” and often feature “a little bit of choppiness.”

It wasn’t all positive, though. Vance also questioned the English skills of Iran parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and his comments on the fragile nature of the ceasefire.

“I actually wonder how good he is at understanding English,” Vance said “because there are things that he said that just didn’t make sense in the context of the negotiations that we’ve had.”

Independent analysts say they have seen no change in traffic through the Strait of Hormuz

That’s despite claims from the White House on Wednesday there had been an uptick in the number of ships transiting the strategic waterway since a U.S.-announced ceasefire with Iran.

Windward, a maritime intelligence firm that tracks international shipping, said only 11 vessels transited the strait on Wednesday — roughly the same number from prior days.

Windward said all ships transiting the strait must still coordinate safe passage with Iranian authorities, who are requiring shippers to pay hefty tolls amounting of up to $1 a barrel for outbound oil, paid in cryptocurrency. For context, the largest supertankers carry up to 3 million barrels of crude.

Windward said radio broadcasts from Iran to tankers in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday warned that those transiting without approval would be attacked.

Israel strikes key bridge in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military has struck the last direct crossing carrying most of the traffic to the key coastal city of Tyre over Lebanon’s Litani River, the strategic demarcation line separating southern Lebanon from the rest of the country.

The attack late Wednesday on the Qasmieh bridge further isolates southern Lebanon as the Israeli army pushes ahead with its ground invasion and bombardment following the announcement of a ceasefire in the Iran war.

Israel has bombed several bridges over the Litani, accusing Hezbollah of using them to bring fighters and military equipment to the border area. But the crossings are also crucial for Lebanese civilians and for those carrying humanitarian aid.

The strike comes as Israel seeks to create a “buffer zone” that it says is necessary to protect its northern towns from Hezbollah rockets. Lebanese civilians fear long-term occupation and displacement.

House Democrats to force a war powers resolution vote over Iran

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said they will demand passage of the resolution to halt further U.S. military action in Iran during Thursday’s session, seeking to force Republicans, who have been largely silent on Trump’s strategy, to speak up.

He said in a letter to colleagues that the Democrats will “unleash maximum pressure on Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and join Democrats in stopping the madness.”

Congress is on recess, but the House and Senate are meeting for perfunctory sessions on Thursday.

Under the proposal, Democrats would seek to have the resolution approved by unanimous consent. But as the minority party, they may not even be recognized by the presiding officer, a Republican.

Bolivia terminates military cooperation agreement with Iran in latest geopolitical shift

The center-right government of Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz said Wednesday it has terminated a military cooperation agreement signed with Iran three years ago, during the administration of leftist leader Luis Arce.

The announcement was confirmed by Defense Minister Raúl Salinas, who didn’t provide further details.

It comes on the heels of the Paz administration’s dramatic shift away from the foreign policy maintained by Bolivia throughout the administrations of the Movement Towards Socialism, or MAS, a party that held power for nearly 20 years.

It is also the latest sign of a sharp geopolitical realignment underway in the South American country that was once among the most vocal critics of Israeli policies toward Palestinians.

UN says 1.1 million Lebanese, an unprecedented number, have been displaced since early March conflict

And that number, representing nearly one-fifth of Lebanon’s population, is expected to rise following the wave of over 100 Israeli airstrikes on the country on Wednesday, the U.N. humanitarian chief in Lebanon said.

Imran Riza told U.N. correspondents in a video briefing that Israeli orders for Lebanese to leave their homes now affect 15.5% of the country’s territory.

He also pointed to rising attacks on health care facilities during the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict, with over 106 incidents reported resulting in 57 deaths and 158 injuries.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator urged donations to last month’s $308 million U.N. emergency appeal for Lebanon which has only received about $95 million.

Iran accuses US of violating 3 clauses of framework for a deal, says ceasefire, negotiations with US are ‘unreasonable’

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Wednesday that a ceasefire and negotiations with the U.S. on ending the war is “unreasonable” as he accused the U.S. violating three of Tehran’s 10 conditions for an end to the fighting.

Qalibaf, a key figure in the Pakistan-brokered negotiations to end the conflict, objected in a social media post to the continuation of Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, an alleged drone incursion into Iranian airspace after the ceasefire was in effect and the Trump administration’s assertion that it won’t accept any Iranian enrichment capabilities as part of an agreement to end the conflict.

It comes as the not yet day old ceasefire appears at risk of fraying over significant disagreements between the parties who each are claiming victory in the conflict. Qalibaf’s comments come an hour after the White House announced that US Vice President JD Vance would lead the U.S. delegation to talks in Islamabad starting Saturday on bringing about an end to the war.

Spain condemns Israeli strikes on Lebanon

Spanish Prime Minster Pedro Sánchez condemned Israel’s strikes Wednesday on Lebanon, criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“His contempt for life and international law is intolerable,” Sánchez wrote on X.

The Spanish leader, who has been Europe’s loudest critic of the U.S. and Israel’s military actions in the region, called on the European Union to suspend its association agreement with Israel.

White House says Trump is clear that ceasefire is subject to no tolls through the Strait of Hormuz

The ceasefire requires a “free” reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which includes no tolls imposed by Iran, said Leavitt, describing Trump’s thinking.

A regional official had said on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations that the ceasefire plans included allowing both Iran and Oman to charge new fees to ships transiting through the strait.

Leavitt referenced Trump’s Truth Social post from Tuesday in which he said the agreement was conditional on the “COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING” of the strait. She added that “that’s very plain language and it should be taken at face value.”

Iranian envoy asks China, Russia and UN for security guarantees as part of ceasefire

At a press conference in Beijing early Wednesday, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran’s ambassador to China, requested that its two closest allies and the world body help guarantee Tehran’s long-term security as part of the recent deal to end hostilities between U.S and Iran.

The Islamic Republic has made similar requests in the past but they have not come to fruition.

When asked if China would be willing to guarantee such security, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning demurred Wednesday, telling reporters: “We hope that all parties will resolve their disputes through dialogue and negotiation.”

Vance will return to US from his visit to Hungary before heading to Pakistan

The vice president’s office gave the update Wednesday as Vance was wrapping up a trip in Budapest.

His office did not offer any details about his planned trip to Islamabad to lead the U.S. negotiating team that included Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Trump expected to raise possibility of US leaving NATO in meeting with Rutte

The president earlier this month said that he was considering withdrawing the U.S. from NATO as he grumbled about the lack of support from members of the alliance in his war of choice against Iran.

The criticism from Trump follows years of complaining that the alliance’s member countries aren’t paying enough for their own defense. Trump is set to host Secretary-General Mark Rutte for talks at the White House later this afternoon.

“It’s something the president has discussed, and I think it’s something the president will be discussing in a couple of hours with Secretary General Rutte,” said Leavitt, when asked if Trump is still considering leaving the 32-member alliance.

Ceasefire is threatened as Israel expands Lebanon strikes and Iran closes strait again

The United States demanded Wednesday that Iran immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the Islamic Republic closed the waterway in response to Israeli attacks against the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. Iran’s move cast doubt over whether an already precarious ceasefire to end more than a month of war would hold.

The United States and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and missiles hit Iran and Gulf Arab countries. Israel also intensified its attacks in Lebanon, hitting several commercial and residential areas in Beirut without warning. At least 112 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in one of the deadliest days in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war.

The fresh violence threatened to scuttle what U.S. Vice President JD Vance called a “fragile” deal.

White House defends Trump’s language threatening ‘a whole civilization’

Asked about Trump’s threat to annihilate Iranian civilization, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended it as a “very strong threat that led to results.”

“I think it was a very, very strong threat from the president of the United States that led the Iranian regime to cave to their knees and ask for a ceasefire and agree to reopening the Strait of Hormuz,” Leavitt said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

She said any suggestion that Iran had the moral high ground was “insulting.”

Before a ceasefire was announced, Trump had threatened destruction in Iran if it did not reopen the strait, saying “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

White House shrugs off NATO’s pledge to ensure freedom of navigation through a reopened Strait of Hormuz

Leavitt was asked about NATO allies offering to contribute to keeping the strait open, but said the alliance hasn’t done enough to support U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran.

“They were tested and they failed,” Levitt said, reading from a past Trump quote on NATO.

She added: “NATO turned their backs on the American people over the course of the last six weeks.”

Those comments came as Trump was meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House later Wednesday.

Israel’s airport restarts full operations

Israel’s main airport will resume full operations as of midnight on Wednesday, after the Iran war stranded tens of thousands of people, including both Israelis abroad and tourists inside Israel.

Israel’s airspace has been open but severely limited during the war, limiting flights to once an hour and just 50 people per flight. Israel joins several other countries in the region in reopening its airspace as the ceasefire with Iran appeared to hold.

The White House defends Trump’s threat that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’

“His very tough rhetoric and his tough negotiating style is what has led to the result that you are all witnessing today,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, adding that Iran said they wanted a ceasefire because “they no longer could tolerate being bombed.”

Trump’s threats against Iran escalated over the past weeks, culminating in his Tuesday warning that a “whole civilization” could “die” in the lead up to an 8 p.m. deadline, which was later suspended after an agreement was reached.

“The world should take his word very seriously,” Leavitt said.

Not only was it the hottest March on record for the U.S., but the amount it was above normal beat any other month in history for the Lower 48 states. March’s average temperature of 50.85 degrees Fahrenheit (10.47 degrees Celsius) was 9.35 F (5.19 C) above the 20th century normal for March. That easily passed the old record of 8.9 F (4.9 C) set in March 2012 as the most abnormally hot month on record — regardless of the month of the year — according to records released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The average maximum temperature for March was especially high at 11.4 F (6.3 C) above the 20th century average and was almost a degree warmer than the average daytime high for April, NOAA said.

Six of the nation’s top 10 most abnormally hot months have been in the last 10 years. This February, which was 6.57 F (3.65 C) above 20th century normal, was the tenth highest above normal.

“What we experienced in March across the United States was unprecedented,” said Shel Winkley, a meteorologist with Climate Central, a nonprofit science research group.

“One reason that’s so concerning is just the sheer volume of records, all-time records that were set and broken during that time period,” Winkley said. “But also this is coming on the heels of what was the worst snow year. And the hottest winter of record.”

Records keep being broken

April 2025 to March 2026 was the warmest 12-month period on record in the continental United States, according to NOAA.

On March 20 and 21, about one-third of the nation felt unseasonable heat that would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change, Climate Central calculated.

More than 19,800 daily temperature records were broken for heat across the country, according to meteorologist Guy Walton, who analyzes NOAA data. More than 2,000 places set monthly records for heat — harder to break than daily records — Walton calculated. That’s more March heat records set just last month than in entire decades in the past.

All those broken records “tells us that climate change is kicking our butts,” said meteorologist Jeff Masters of Yale Climate Connections.

“January through March period was the driest on record for the contiguous U.S. So not only was it hot, it was record dry as well,” Masters said. “And that’s a bad combination for water availability, for agriculture, for river levels, for navigation.”

Here comes a whopping El Nino

The European climate and weather service Copernicus and NOAA are both forecasting a “super” strong El Niño to form in a few months and intensify into the winter. Meteorologists expect that to increase already warm temperatures across the globe, likely pushing past the hottest year mark set by 2024.

An El Niño is a natural temporary and cyclical warming of parts of the central Pacific that alters weather across the planet. An El Niño is formed when a specific part of the ocean is 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 F) warmer than normal. It is considered moderate at 1 degree Celsius and strong at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Both NOAA and the Europeans are forecasting this one to be well above 2 degrees Celsius into an area that is informally called super sized and perhaps rivaling records set in 2015 and 2016.

An El Niño releases heat stored in the upper ocean into the air, which causes global temperatures to rise, but with a few months lag time, said Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini.

“A strong El Niño could plausibly push global temperatures to new record levels in late 2026 and into 2027,” Gensini said.

El Nino could alter weather patterns for years

Super-sized El Niños often trigger a “climate regime shift,” which pushes normal conditions into a different pattern for years or decades, according to a study last December in the journal Nature Communications. The study said after the 2015-2016 El Niño, the Gulf of Mexico jumped to a new sustained level of warmth that may have contributed to stronger hurricanes along the Gulf Coast in the years after.

Growing research seems to indicate that a warming world from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas could be making El Niños stronger, but climate scientists said that’s not quite a consensus yet.

“Global warming is supercharging El Niños and the atmospheric warming they drive,” said University of Michigan environment dean and climate scientist Jonathan Overpeck. “We saw this in 2016 and more recently in 2023. We’re likely to see another jump in global temperatures if a strong El Niño develops later this year as being predicted.”

El Niños tend to tamp down hurricane activity in the Atlantic, but ramp it up in the Pacific and could help ease the southwestern drought, Masters said.

___

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.

Wednesday’s protest was planned immediately after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die” on Tuesday while referencing the need for the Strait of Hormuz to reopen.

“We’re spending a billion dollars a day on this war, yet we can’t afford universal health care,” protester TJ Cantwell said.

Several people at the protest mentioned Trump’s post, saying they were disappointed and angered.

Another protester, Tori Ramirez, who is a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said it’s important to show that they are “confident to stand up against this war.”

“This is one of the most unpopular wars we’ve ever had in history,” Ramirez said.

Tom Wetzler is a veteran and protested the war in Iran to express his disapproval.

“As an American veteran, I think it’s important for us to raise our voices against an illegal and immoral war,” Wetzler said.

“Everyone who’s been through basic training and has gotten a review of the Uniform Code of Military Justice knows that when they get an order that’s illegal, it is their responsibility to say no and get clarification and to not obey a law that is clearly illegal,” Wetzler said.

One woman, who did not want to share her name or be on camera, told KSAT she is from Iran and agrees with the war.

“If Trump didn’t attack now, they would attack in two years to your country,” the woman said. “We’re thankful (for) President Trump. We’re thankful to (the) U.S. and U.S. military.”

People at the protest said despite there being a two-week agreed upon ceasefire, they are still protesting because they want the war to end entirely.

“We are not angry enough,” Cantwell said. “I don’t see how we’re not marching on the White House right now or in Mar-a-Lago.”

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The U.S. and Iran both claimed victory after reaching the agreement, and world leaders expressed relief, even as more drones and missiles hit Iran and Gulf Arab countries. At the same time, Israel intensified its attacks on the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, hitting commercial and residential areas in Beirut. At least 182 people were killed Wednesday in the deadliest day of fighting there.

The fresh violence threatened to scuttle what U.S. Vice President JD Vance called a “fragile” deal.

Parliament speaker accuses US of breaking Iran's conditions

The Iranian parliament speaker said planned talks were “unreasonable” because Washington broke three of Tehran’s 10 conditions for an end to the fighting. In a social media post, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf objected to Israeli attacks on Hezbollah, an alleged drone incursion into Iranian airspace after the ceasefire took effect and U.S. refusal to accept any Iranian enrichment capabilities in a final agreement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted that an end to the war in Lebanon was part of the ceasefire deal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump said the truce did not cover Lebanon. When the deal was announced, Pakistan's prime minister, whose country served as a mediator, said in a social media post that it applied to “everywhere including Lebanon and elsewhere.”

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed 182 people on Wednesday, the highest single-day death toll in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

“The world sees the massacres in Lebanon,” Iran's Araghchi said in a post on X. “The ball is in the U.S. court, and the world is watching whether it will act on its commitments.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, reported in Iranian state media, was “completely unacceptable.” She repeated Trump’s “expectation and demand” that the channel be reopened.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said American and Israeli forces had achieved a “capital V military victory” and that the Iranian military no longer posed a significant threat to U.S. forces or the region. The Iranian military said the country forced Israel and the U.S. to accept its "proposed conditions and surrender.”

Much about the agreement was unclear as the sides presented vastly different visions of the terms.

Iran said the deal would allow it to formalize its new practice of charging ships passing through the strait, a crucial transit lane for oil. The White House said Trump is opposed to tolls for ship passage through the strait.

Only 11 vessels moved through the strait Wednesday, roughly the same as in prior days, according to Windward, a maritime intelligence firm. Iran was requiring shippers to pay tolls of up to $1 a barrel for outbound oil, it said. The largest supertankers carry up to 3 million barrels of crude.

The fate of Iran's missile and nuclear programs — the elimination of which were major objectives for the U.S. and Israel in going to war — also remained unclear. Trump said the U.S. would work with Iran to remove buried enriched uranium, though Iran did not confirm that.

White House looks ahead to peace talks

Trump initially said Iran proposed a “workable” plan that could help end the war that the U.S. and Israel launched on Feb. 28. But when a version in Farsi emerged indicating Iran would be allowed to continue enriching uranium — key to building a nuclear weapon — Trump called it fraudulent.

Leavitt said a plan that Iran presented Tuesday could “align with our own” proposal for peace.

The White House said Vance would lead American negotiators at upcoming peace talks, which could begin in Pakistan as soon as Friday.

Iran’s demands for ending the war include a withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the region, the lifting of sanctions and the release of its frozen assets.

Meanwhile, Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Israel will continue to “utilize every operational opportunity” to strike Hezbollah. The Israeli military said it struck more than 100 targets within 10 minutes Wednesday across Lebanon, the largest wave of strikes since March 1.

Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit accused Israel of “persistently seeking to sabotage” the ceasefire deal.

Hezbollah has not confirmed if it will abide by the ceasefire, though the group has said it was open to giving mediators a chance to secure an agreement.

Early on Thursday Hezbollah said it had fired rockets at northern Israel and would continue doing so “until the Israeli-American aggression against our country and our people ceases."

Iran and Oman could collect shipping fees in Strait of Hormuz

Iranian attacks and threats deterred many commercial ships from using the strait, through which 20% of all traded oil and natural gas passes in peacetime. That roiled the world economy and raised the pressure on Trump both at home and abroad to find a way out of the standoff.

The ceasefire may formalize a system of charging fees in the strait that Iran instituted — and give it a new source of revenue.

That would upend decades of precedent treating the strait as an international waterway that was free to transit. Such a shift would likely be unacceptable to the Gulf Arab states, which also need to rebuild after repeated Iranian attacks targeting their oil fields.

Iran’s nuclear and missile threats survive

U.S.-Israeli strikes have battered Iran and its leadership, but they have not eliminated the threats posed by Tehran's nuclear program, its ballistic missiles or its support for regional proxies, like Hezbollah. The U.S. and Israel said addressing those threats was a key justification for going to war.

Trump said the U.S. would work with Iran to “dig up and remove” enriched uranium. There was no confirmation from Iran.

Hegseth told a Pentagon briefing Wednesday that the U.S. would do “something like” last June's joint strikes with Israel on Iranian nuclear sites if Iran refuses to surrender its enriched uranium voluntarily.

Netanyahu warned in a televised address that Israel was “ready to return to fighting at any time. Our finger is on the trigger.”

Tehran has insisted for years that its nuclear program was peaceful, although it has enriched uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.

Airstrikes reported despite ceasefire announcement

Shortly after the ceasefire announcement, Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates all issued warnings about incoming missiles from Iran. That fire stopped for a time, then hostilities appeared to restart.

An oil refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island came under attack, according to Iranian state television. A short time later, the UAE's air defenses fired at an incoming Iranian missile barrage.

More than 1,900 people had been killed in Iran as of late March, but the government has not updated the toll for days.

In Lebanon, more than 1,700 people have been killed, and 1 million people have been displaced. Twelve Israeli soldiers have died.

In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 23 have been reported dead in Israel, and 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Magdy from Cairo and Metz from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem, Abby Sewell and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut, Mike Catalini in Trenton, N.J., and Michelle L. Price, Aamer Madhani, Zeke Miller, Michael Biesecker and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

——

This story corrects overall death toll in Lebanon on Wednesday to 182.

But were they also a crime?

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) on Tuesday confirmed the Texas Rangers are assisting the Texas Department of State Health Services “in an investigation regarding complaints of neglect by Camp Mystic in Kerr Co. during the July 4, 2025, floods.”

Though DPS did not say it outright, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick referred to the Rangers’ involvement as a “criminal investigation.”

Former Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood draws a similar conclusion.

“Without a doubt,” LaHood told KSAT. “If Texas Rangers are involved, it’s a criminal investigation."

When it comes to children 14 years old or younger, LaHood said an investigation regarding “neglect” could mean looking at possible charges for injury to a child or endangering a child.

“In my opinion, they’re going to look at who had knowledge of a substantial risk and did any individual with authority ignore the substantial risk that led to these unfortunate results,” LaHood said.

The July 4 floods killed at least 136 people along a several-mile stretch of the Guadalupe River, including 25 campers, two counselors and the director of Camp Mystic.

Families of several of the girls who died have sued the camp’s operators, arguing that camp officials failed to take necessary steps to protect the campers as life-threatening floodwaters approached. A district judge last month ordered the camp owners to preserve damaged cabins and other parts of the grounds in the flooded area as the lawsuits proceed.

On the criminal side, LaHood said charges don’t necessarily depend on intentionally causing injury or putting a child in danger. It could also be through reckless or criminally negligent behavior.

“When you say you placed someone in danger, you’ve neglected them to a point to where they could have been seriously injured or passed away,” he said.

Department of State Health Services (DSHS) spokeswoman Lara Anton told KSAT in an email Wednesday the agency has received more than 600 messages about Camp Mystic from the public. While most include complaints or allegations, she said, some just indicate opposition to the camp’s license being renewed.

“DSHS is investigating the complaints that fall under the agency’s authority to investigate and sharing information with the Department of Public Safety,” she wrote. “You’ll need to ask DPS about their investigation.”

A DPS spokesman did not respond to a KSAT email Wednesday asking for further details on the nature of their investigation.

“All they need is probable cause,” LaHood said. “Probability that these things happened, these allegations were true, and then you can get an arrest warrant for that, and you can get an indictment with probable cause as well.”

Camp Mystic has requested a renewal of its license for the 2026 camp season, though Anton confirmed it is only for the nearby Cypress Lake portion of the camp, which was undamaged by the July 4 flooding.

Representatives for Camp Mystic told KSAT in an emailed statement the camp has “worked closely” with the Texas Rangers since the flood and they “look forward to cooperating with the Texas Rangers and supporting them in their efforts to gain a thorough and accurate understanding of what happened on the South Fork of the Guadalupe River during the early hours of July 4.”

“Camp Mystic has cooperated with every investigative request we have received, including our thorough cooperation with the work of the Senate and House General Investigating Committees. We have worked closely with the Texas Rangers since the tragic events of July 4, assisting them in their search and recovery efforts, which are ongoing. We look forward to cooperating with the Texas Rangers and supporting them in their efforts to gain a thorough and accurate understanding of what happened on the South Fork of the Guadalupe River during the early hours of July 4.”

Camp Mystic statement

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wrote to DSHS Commissioner Jennifer Shuford on Tuesday, urging the agency to not renew the camp’s license in the face of investigations by DSHS, the Texas Rangers, and committees in the Texas Senate and House of Representatives.

“You should not renew or approve a camp license for Camp Mystic, or any other camp the same operators intend to run, until your investigation, and all criminal and legislative investigations are complete and necessary corrective actions are taken,” Patrick wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Read also:

• Texas Rangers join ‘criminal investigation’ into Camp Mystic neglect allegations, Lt. Gov. Patrick says
• Alamo Heights playground named in honor of Camp Mystic camper who died in Hill Country floods
• Mission to reunite people with belongings swept away in Hill Country flood enters new phase

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., rejected Anthropic's request for an order that would shield the San Francisco company from the fallout stemming from a dispute over how the Pentagon could deploy its Claude chatbot in fully autonomous weapons and potential surveillance of Americans while the panel is still collecting evidence about the case.

But the setback in Washington came after Anthropic already had prevailed in separate case focused on the same issues in San Francisco federal court. In that case, a judge forced President Donald Trump’s administration to remove a label tainting the company as a national security risk.

Anthropic filed the two separate lawsuits in San Francisco and the Washington appeals court last month, asserting the Trump administration was engaging in an “unlawful campaign of retaliation” because of its attempt to impose limits on how its AI technology can be deployed. The Trump administration blasted Anthropic as a liberal-leaning company trying to dictate U.S. military policy.

In the San Francisco case, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled that the Trump administration had overstepped its bounds by labeling Anthropic a supply chain risk unqualified to work with military contractors and issuing other directives that could cripple a company locked in a race for AI supremacy against rivals such as ChatGPT maker Open AI and Google.

That decision prompted the Trump administration to remove the stigmatizing labels from Anthropic and take other steps clearing the way for government employees and contractors to continue using Claude and other chatbots, according to court filing made in San Francisco earlier this week.

The appeals court in Washington didn't see things the same way, even though it conceded the company would “likely suffer some degree of irreparable harm” if it's deemed a supply chain risk. But the appeals court didn't see sufficient reason to issue its own order revoking the Trump administration's actions, partly because “the precise amount of Anthropic’s financial harm is not fully clear.”

Further evidence in the case is scheduled to be presented before the appeals court in a hearing scheduled for May 19.

“We’re grateful the court recognized these issues need to be resolved quickly and remain confident the courts will ultimately agree that these supply chain designations were unlawful," Anthropic said in a statement.

Matt Schruers, the CEO of the technology trade group Computer & Communications Industry Association, expressed worries that the conflicting court decisions issued so far in the standoff between Anthropic and the Trump administration will muddle the business landscape at a pivotal time.

“The Pentagon’s actions and the DC Circuit’s ruling create substantial business uncertainty at a time when U.S. companies are competing with global counterparts to lead in AI," Schruers said.

Whittaker, who also served as the first full-time employee of the outdoor retailer REI and later as its president and CEO, died Tuesday at his home in Port Townsend, Washington, according to a statement from his family.

“Whether at home, in the mountains, or at sea, he sought to share adventure, joy, and optimism with those around him,” said the statement, which was emailed by Leif Whittaker, one of his sons. “His warmth, humility, and belief in the power of nature to bring people together left an enduring legacy of care for our planet and for one another.”

Whittaker’s 1963 ascent of Everest alongside Nawang Gombu came 10 years after the pioneering climb of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. The feat helped spawn interest — and an industry — in mountaineering in the U.S., and it made the once-shy, rangy climber an instant celebrity. He was featured on magazine covers and in demand for public appearances.

Whittaker had been working for REI since 1955, when he was hired by the co-op's co-founder, Lloyd Anderson. The company's popularity surged after Whittaker's Everest climb, and Whittaker went on to lead the business from 1971 to 1979. Its membership grew from nearly 250,000 to more than 900,000 during his tenure, REI noted in a statement Wednesday.

The co-op credited his congressional testimony and other efforts with helping to establish North Cascades National Park and the Pasayten Wilderness in Washington, as well as and Redwood National Park in California.

“Long before outdoor advocacy was commonplace, Jim gave his voice — and his leadership — to protecting the places we love, reminding us that wild places endure only if we choose to care for them,” the statement said.

Whittaker's celebrity also brought him into the orbit of the Kennedy clan, and he became a close friend of Robert Kennedy, with whom he climbed a 14,000-foot (4,267 meters) Canadian peak. The peak was later named Mount Kennedy after the presidential contender's murder in 1968.

Whittaker was at Kennedy's bedside when he died and was devastated by the assassination.

Whittaker grew up in Seattle and began climbing with his twin brother Lou Whittaker in the 1940s with the Boy Scouts. At 16, they summited 7,965-foot (2,428-meter) Mount Olympus, the highest peak in the Olympic Mountains west of Seattle, Jim Whittaker recounted in his memoir, “A Life on the Edge.” When they reached the town of Port Angeles on their way home, they found cars honking and people celebrating: World War II had ended.

Jim Whittaker once reflected that the beauty and danger of his sport sharpened the senses: “When you live on the edge, you can see a little farther,” he once reflected.

His achievements on the remote, snowy slopes of Mount Everest and nearby K2, the world's second-tallest peak, assured him a niche in the record books. He was shocked when Lou decided to skip the 1963 Everest expedition in favor of opening a sporting goods store in Tacoma.

But Lou Whittaker wrote in his own book, “Lou Whittaker: Memoirs of a Mountain Guide,” that he still got to share in some of his twin’s glory by filling in when Jim got tired of attending parades or other events in his honor.

“Only our families and closest friends ever knew the difference,” he wrote.

Lou Whittaker died in 2024 at age 95.

Jim Whittaker led many additional climbs, including the 1990 Mount Everest International Peace Climb, which brought together climbers from the U.S., the Soviet Union and China “to demonstrate what could be accomplished through cooperation and goodwill,” the family statement said.

“Jim was a lifelong advocate for peace and believed deeply in the ability of shared challenges in the natural world to unite people across borders and ideologies,” it said.

Whittaker himself said one of his proudest moments came in 1981, when he led 10 handicapped climbers up 14,410-foot Mount Rainier. For them, he said later, "that was Mount Everest."

Whittaker scaled Mount Rainier more than 100 times but did not take its familiar flanks for granted. The caprices of the weather, even on a comparatively modest mountain, "can turn a good climber into a beginner" in a matter of hours, he once noted.

Former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called Whittaker’s legacy “just as impressive, and just as lasting, as Mount Rainier itself."

“He pulled many a climber up the peak,” Inslee wrote in a social media post Wednesday. "He did the same for all our spirits. He still does.”

After years of risk on the world's most dizzying pinnacles, Whittaker said in a 1980 interview that he hoped to “die in my sleep with the television on.”

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Dianne Roberts; sons Bob, Joss and Leif Whittaker; three grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Wembanyama is out after suffering a rib contusion on Monday and Castle is out with right knee soreness, the team announced.

Wembanyama needs to play at least 20 minutes in one more game to reach the league-required minimum of 65 games for award eligibility.

The Spurs have two games left in the regular season after Wednesday night: Friday against the Dallas Mavericks and Sunday against the Denver Nuggets.

The Spurs said they are hopeful Wembanyama and Castle will play Friday.

They both participated in shootaround on Wednesday.

“I can’t tell you too much of how (Wembanyama) looked, but he heals fast,” Spurs veteran Harrison Barnes said.

Wembanyama suffered the injury in the first half of a 115-102 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Castle had 17 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in that game.

Wembanyama had 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks in just under 16 minutes. That time constituted an official game played per the NBA guidelines, which allow two exceptions of 15 to 19:59 minutes to count toward the league-required minimum.

San Antonio (60-19) has clinched the Southwest Division title and is assured of finishing no worse than second in the Western Conference. It trails the conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder (63-16) by three games.

___

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

KSAT Sports had a sit-down interview with Jenny Carnes, the president and CEO of San Antonio Sports.

Watch the interview in the video players above.

Read also:

• San Antonio Sports announces rosters for 2026 All-Star Basketball Game

Courtney Williams, 40, of Wagram, North Carolina, is accused of violating federal law, as well as multiple nondisclosure agreements by sharing details of her work with a “special military unit” at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

"Anyone divulging information they vowed to protect to a reporter for publication is reckless, self-serving and damages our nation’s security,” Reid Davis, the FBI special agent in charge in North Carolina, said in a U.S. Justice Department news release.

Williams "swore an oath to safeguard our nation’s secrets as an employee supporting a Special Military Unit of the Army, but she allegedly betrayed that oath by sharing classified information with a media outlet and putting our nation, our warfighters, and our allies at risk,” Roman Rozhavsky, an assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, said in the statement.

Williams, who is specifically charged with violating a provision of the Espionage Act, appeared Wednesday in Raleigh federal court, where a magistrate judge unsealed the case against her, initially filed late last week, according to online court records. She was ordered held by the U.S. Marshals Service pending hearings set for early next week.

Court records didn’t immediately name Williams’ lawyer. A man who answered a phone and identified himself as a family member of Williams declined to comment on the charges Wednesday.

Although the reporter and unit are not named in the court filings, dates and details match an article and book about the Army’s secretive Delta Force written by Seth Harp.

Williams was the focus of a 2025 Politico article with the headline: “My Life Became a Living Hell: One Woman’s Career in Delta Force, the Army’s Most Elite Unit.” It coincided with the release of Harp’s book, “The Fort Bragg Cartel,” which alleges sexual harassment and discrimination.

In a statement published by WRAL-TV, Harp called Williams “a brave whistleblower and truth-teller.”

“Former Delta Force operators disclose `national defense information’ on podcasts and YouTube shows every day, but the government is going after Courtney for the sole reason that she exposed sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the unit,” Harp's statement read. “This is a vindictive act of retaliation, plain and simple.”

According to an FBI affidavit attached to the complaint, Williams was cleared as a defense contractor in April 2010 and became a Department of Defense employee in November 2010.

She performed duties within the special military unit as an operational support technician responsible for "Tactics, Techniques and Procedures" used in preparation for and during "sensitive missions,” Special Agent Jocelyn Fox wrote in the affidavit.

According to Fox, Williams’ access to classified information was suspended “based on an internal investigation.” Fox said Williams was debriefed in September 2015 and signed a nondisclosure agreement.

The government alleges that Williams had been in contact with the unnamed journalist between 2022 and 2025.

“During this period, Williams and the Journalist had over 10 hours of telephone calls and exchanged more than 180 messages,” the news release said.

Fox cited a text between the two she said occurred on or about the day the book and article were published.

“Other than a few factual errors, I would definitely have been concerned with the amount of classified information being disclosed,” Williams' text read, according to the affidavit. “I thought things I was telling you so you could have a better general understanding of how the (SMU) was set up or operated would not be published and it feels like an entire TTP (Tactics, Techniques and Procedures) was sent out in my name giving them a chance to legally persecute me.”

Fox also cited an alleged exchange between Williams and her mother.

”`I might actually get arrested, and I don’t even get a free copy of the book,’” the affidavit read. “When her mother asked why she may be arrested, Williams responded `for disclosing classified information.’”

Fox wrote that the investigation so far has identified at least 10 batches of documents gathered that Williams intended to provide to the journalist.

__

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

Pooh Shiesty, whose legal name is Lontrell Williams Jr., appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Harris Toliver during a hearing in Dallas. Prosecutors have also charged eight others over the alleged January confrontation at a music studio, where the victims were allegedly robbed at gunpoint.

Prosecutors have declined to name the victims, and an FBI affidavit attached to a criminal complaint only refers to them by their initials. One victim, R.D., is described as the owner of 1017 Records, the label belonging to Gucci Mane, whose legal name is Radric Delantic Davis.

“I find that the weight of the evidence against you is strong,” Toliver told Pooh Shiesty during the hearing.

She noted that the rapper had a criminal history and had violated a home confinement order following a prior firearms conspiracy conviction in Florida.

During the hearing, Bradford Cohen, the rapper's attorney, raised questions about much of the prosecution's evidence. “The FBI doesn’t take three months to arrest someone if they believe everything that was said on the night that it occurred,” Cohen said.

Prosecutors have accused the rapper, who was arrested last week, of arranging the music studio meeting in Dallas to discuss the terms of his contract with 1017 Records.

According to an affidavit attached to a criminal complaint, Pooh Shiesty had asked to speak with the record label owner in a recording room. He then allegedly produced contract termination paperwork and pulled out what appeared to be an AK-style pistol while forcing the label owner to sign.

The rapper then took the man’s wedding ring, watch, earrings and cash, according to the affidavit.

Pooh Shiesty is from Memphis, Tennessee, but he is believed to have been recently living in a high-rise apartment in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, according to the affidavit. Several of the defendants traveled from Memphis to Dallas ahead of the meeting, according to the affidavit.

Gucci Mane is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta rappers T.I. and Jeezy. He emerged in the mid-2000s with his breakout single “Icy” and went on to build a vast catalog.

Anystasia April Mireles was located, according to an updated SAPD Facebook post.

ORIGINAL STORY: The San Antonio Police Department is searching for a missing 20-year-old woman last seen three days ago.

Anystasia April Mireles was last seen on April 4 in the 70000 Block of Rustic Park near the Medical Center on the Northwest Side.

Mireles is believed to be in danger, according to an SAPD missing persons report.

She is 4 feet, 11 inches tall with brown eyes and brown dyed red hair. She also has tattoos on her left finger, her hand, her left ear, along with a scar on her nose.

Mireles was last seen wearing a dark colored matching sweat suit, the report said.

If you have any information on Mireles’ whereabouts, contact SAPD’s Missing Persons Unit at 210-207-7660 or call 911.

• Taft High School administrator bitten by Northside ISD Police Department K-9, district says
• Former Windcrest police chief dismisses lawsuit against city

The opinion said Customs and Border Protection officers have limited authority to cancel visas and can't do so for suspected smuggling of biological samples. The cancellation of Kseniia Petrova 's visa was arbitrary and capricious, U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss said in her written ruling.

“The undisputed facts reveal that Ms. Petrova’s visa was impermissibly canceled because of the frog embryo samples and for no other reason,” Reiss wrote.

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in an emailed statement Wednesday that Petrova was "lawfully detained after lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country." President Donald Trump's administration was committed to “restoring the rule of law and common sense to our immigration system,” the statement said. The department includes Customs and Border Protection.

In February last year, Petrova was returning from a vacation in France, where she had stopped at a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos and obtained a package of samples for research. She was questioned about the samples while passing through a customs checkpoint at Boston Logan International Airport.

After an interrogation, Petrova was told her visa was being canceled.

Petrova was briefly detained by immigration officials in Vermont, where she filed a petition seeking her release. She was later sent to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana.

She told The Associated Press in an interview last year that she did not realize the samples needed to be declared and was not trying to sneak anything into the country. Petrova has been back in her Harvard lab since January after successfully petitioning a court for the right to return to work, her attorney, Gregory Romanovsky, said.

Tuesday's ruling was an important step toward “correcting what should never have happened in the first place,” Romanovsky said in a statement.

Petrova’s case is being closely watched by the scientific community, with some fearing it could impact recruiting and retaining foreign scientists at U.S. universities.

Daniel Zavala Ramos, 42, faces a possible sentence of life in prison following his guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Laredo, Texas, to a single charge of conspiring to bring migrants without documents from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. and placing lives in jeopardy and causing serious injury and deaths, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Sentencing is set for July 7.

Ramos was among six Guatemalans charged over the crash of the semitrailer truck and the first to be convicted. The other five have a final pretrial conference on June 3, according to court records. Ramos' attorney did not immediately return an email Wednesday evening seeking comment.

At least 160 migrants, many from Guatemala, were packed into the truck that hit the support base for a pedestrian bridge on Dec. 9, 2021, and overturned, authorities said. At least 53 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, officials said, and video footage at the time of the crash showed dead and injured migrants in a jumbled pile inside the truck's collapsed freight container.

The Justice Department statement said the dead included unaccompanied children.

The crash occurred on a highway leading toward the Chiapas state capital, some 160 miles (260 kilometers) from Mexico's border with Guatemala and about 1,400 miles (2,300 kilometers) south of the Mexican border with Texas.

Authorities announced the arrests of Ramos and the five other defendants in Guatemala and Texas in 2024, on the third anniversary of the accident. Ramos was extradited in 2025 from Guatemala to face charges, the DOJ statement said.

Prosecutors said the Guatemalans conspired to smuggle migrants from Guatemala through Mexico to the U.S. for payment. In cases of unaccompanied children being smuggled, the defendants would provide scripts of what to say if they were apprehended, authorities said.

The smugglers would move migrants on foot, inside microbuses, cattle trucks and tractor trailers and use Facebook Messenger to request and deliver identification documents to the migrants to get them into the U.S., according to authorities.

The news conference was held in conjunction with criminal justice reform organization FWD.us and Families Belong Together, a campaign to “permanently end family separation and detention” as well as reuniting separated families, according to its website.

Watch the full Wednesday afternoon news conference in the below video player.

The congressmen discussed what they witnessed during their Wednesday tour of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) family detention center, which Castro called “unlike any I’ve been to before in Dilley, and in many ways, worse.”

The San Antonio-area congressman made the comment in reference to how he believes Markwayne Mullin, the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary sworn in last month, is running the agency.

“It’s the same cruelty, but there’s more secrecy now,” Castro said on Wednesday.

According to Castro, upon his Wednesday arrival in Dilley, ICE officers began reading from “scripts that they had been commanded to read by ICE leadership in Washington, D.C.” while ICE leadership monitored his visit.

Over the last week, Castro said the number of families detained in Dilley has increased from about 100 to 138.

‘Free the children’

Casar, whose congressional district includes portions of San Antonio and Austin, said President Donald Trump’s administration has “arrested and detained 6,200 kids.”

“We are here to say: ‘Free the children,’” Casar said.

The congressman shared several letters from detainees at the Dilley facility, including one from a 19-year-old who said she was separated from her family.

“I feel lost, alone and many times, I feel like I no longer have the strength to keep going,” a detained college student from Maine wrote in the letter to Casar.

While the 19-year-old’s mother and siblings were released from the facility, the college student remains in Dilley.

“Since I was detained, everything stopped,” the 19-year-old wrote.

In a second letter, an Austin-area teenager wrote about how ICE officers entered their home, “handcuffed” and pointed guns at he and his family in the early morning hours of March 2.

“We no longer want to be here (at the ICE detention facility in Dilley),” the teenager wrote.

According to Casar, in lieu of high schoolers getting an education at the facility, they “sit in a room and draw all day.” He also learned detainees seeking free online legal advice cannot because “they haven’t had internet for weeks.”

“Trump and ICE lie and lie and lie about what they’re doing to immigrant families and to our kids,” Casar said. “And that’s why it’s so important for everyone all over this country to know what’s really happening at Dilley, what’s happening on our watch and what the Trump administration is doing with your tax dollars.”

Casar and Castro have previously advocated for the release of immigrants detained in Dilley. Castro assisted in the release of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos in February, as well as a family of five from McAllen.

More related coverage on KSAT:

• Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, and father released from Dilley immigration detention center
• 2 measles cases reported inside Dilley immigration detention center, DHS says
• 2-month-old with bronchitis, family held at Dilley ICE facility deported to Mexico, Rep. Castro says
• McAllen ISD family detained by ICE, high school mariachi student separated from family, relative says

All the parties also agreed to keep the dialogue after seven days of peace talks mediated by China in the western Chinese city of Urumqi under China mediation, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.

“The three parties agreed to explore a comprehensive solution to the issues in the relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and clarified the core and priority issues that need to be addressed,” Mao said during the daily briefing in Beijing.

She said that they acknowledged that “terrorism is the core issue affecting the relationship.”

Afghanistan and Pakistan said that they won't “take actions that would escalate or complicate the situation.”

There was no comment from Islamabad about the weeklong talks.

But Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, said on Wednesday that the talks between the Afghan and Pakistani delegations, hosted and mediated by China in Urumqi, have concluded.

In a post on X, he said that the talks were held in a “constructive atmosphere,” with discussions focusing on bilateral relations, security issues and regional stability. Balkhi thanked Beijing for hosting the talks and expressed hope that the process would help strengthen trust, deepen relations and promote effective cooperation in the region.

The talks began last week in Urumqi at the invitation of China, in an effort to stop the conflict that began between the two countries in February.

Pakistan, which declared it was in “open war” with its neighbor, has also carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan, including in the capital Kabul.

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that the talks had been constructive.

The United Nations’ office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in Afghanistan said on Tuesday that the conflict had displaced 94,000 people overall, while 100,000 people in two Afghan districts near the border have been completely cut off by the fighting since February.

Even during the talks, Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of carrying out shelling across its border on several occasions.

Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of providing a safe haven to militants who carry out deadly attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan 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 the charge.

____

Abdul Qahar Afghan contributed to this story from Kabul, Afghanistan.