The high court's ruling has led to a flurry of redistricting efforts in Southern states as Republicans seek to capitalize on a weakened federal Voting Rights Act. While most of those efforts are voluntary, Louisiana must redraw its U.S. House map in response to the ruling that it had illegally used race to gerrymander a majority-Black district.

The debate over the shape of Louisiana's new districts is playing out as South Carolina's governor is ramping up pressure on lawmakers to also redistrict ahead of the midterms. President Donald Trump has encouraged numerous Republican-led states to redraw House voting districts to their advantage in a bid to hold on to control of the closely divided chamber in November.

Republicans think they could win as many as 15 additional House seats in seven states that already have adopted new voting districts. Democrats think they could gain up to six seats from two other states because of new House districts. But there's no guarantee those seats will all turn out as expected. Litigation is continuing in some states, and voters will have the ultimate say on who wins.

Louisiana map scraps snaking district

Legislation in Louisiana seeks to address the Supreme Court ruling by scrapping a district that snakes well over 200 miles (321 kilometers) northwest from the capital, Baton Rouge, to Shreveport, creating a voting bloc with a majority of Black residents. Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields represents the current 6th District.

Under the new plan, that district would instead be clustered around predominantly white communities in the Baton Rouge area and southern Louisiana.

The new plan keeps a New Orleans-based, majority-Black district represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter while also adding a portion of Baton Rouge to it.

Fields, a Baton Rouge resident, said he won’t decide whether to seek reelection until the maps are finalized. But he said he won’t challenge Carter in a primary.

The newly proposed House map is similar to one used in 2022 that resulted in five Republicans and one Democrat winning election.

A federal judge struck down the 2022 map for violating the Voting Rights Act. Then in 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Alabama had to create its own second largely Black congressional district. In light of the Alabama ruling, the Louisiana Legislature passed a revised map, creating a second majority-Black district that was used in the 2024 elections. That map also was challenged, leading to an April 29 Supreme Court ruling that Louisiana’s districts relied too heavily on race.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has postponed Louisiana’s U.S. House primaries, scheduled for Saturday, until either July 15 or a date to be determined by the Legislature to allow time for new districts to be put in place.

South Carolina likely to work overtime on redistricting

Leaders in the South Carolina House said they expect to take up a bill drawing a new congressional map Friday after Republican Gov. Henry McMaster calls them into special session. The regular legislative session is supposed to end Thursday, but McMaster's call would extend the session.

It could be next week before the House can finish the redistricting bill, which would also move congressional primaries to August, Republican House Majority Leader Davey Hiott said. All primaries are currently scheduled for June 9. Early voting begins May 26, and that’s likely the deadline to get redistricting finished, he said.

The redistricting work “will be long. It will be boring. It will be confrontational,” Hiott told reporters.

If the proposal passes the House, it then heads to a more skeptical Senate, where Republican Judiciary Committee Chairman Luke Rankin has said he will “demand the process” without giving details. During the last regular redistricting at the start of the decade, Rankin’s committee held a month of meetings across the state and encouraged the public to submit its own maps.

Only one of South Carolina's seven U.S. House seats currently is held by a Democrat — longtime U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn. Some Republicans worry it is impossible to ensure seven GOP districts in a state where the Democratic presidential candidate has gotten more than 40% of the vote every election this century. There are also concerns about holding two statewide elections in a little over two months. South Carolina’s elections leader said it may require employees to work 24 hours a day.

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Brook reported from Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Collins from Columbia, South Carolina; and Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri.

The White House and Chinese state media said the leaders concluded their meeting Thursday morning after about two hours. Trump is expected to leave just after midday Friday after a final private meeting with Xi. But few breakthroughs are expected on divisive issues ranging from the Iran war, trade, technology and Taiwan.

Trump hopes to focus the summit talks on trade and deals for China to buy more agricultural products and passenger planes, setting up a board to address their differences and avoid a repeat of the trade war ignited last year after Trump’s tariff hikes.

In their closed-door meeting, Xi told Trump that if Taiwan is handled well, U.S.-China relations “will enjoy overall stability.” If not, the two countries risk “clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” Xi said, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

Trump in December authorized an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan, a self-governed island that Beijing claims as its own territory. The U.S. has not yet moved forward with delivery.

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US Central Command commander says Iran is still able to impact merchant shipping

The top U.S. commander in the Middle East said that while he believes Iran’s military capabilities are “dramatically degraded,” he noted that Iran’s able to influence shipping with rhetoric alone.

“Their voice is very loud, and the threats are clearly heard by the merchant industry and the insurance industry,” Adm. Brad Cooper told lawmakers Thursday.

Cooper also said the US military has wide range of contingencies and retains the ability to escort shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. However, he deferred to policy makers about the best path forward amid the “time of sensitive negotiations.”

China fetes Trump with one of his favorite songs, The Village People’s ‘Y.M.C.A’

At the state banquet in Beijing, the Chinese military band broke into a tune the president has made his signature walk-off song, the disco hit, “Y.M.C.A.”

The song was played during a private portion of the dinner, a White House official confirmed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details of the private portion of the dinner.

Trump closes his campaign rallies and most official events with the song, which he dances to while throwing slight fist pumps into the air.

In 2017, “The Stars and Stripes Forever” was played when Trump and Xi inspected Chinese honor guards at the welcome ceremony, an unusual choice intended to impress Trump.

— Michelle L. Price and Didi Tang

Military leader in Middle East says US no longer using high-end munitions to take out Iran’s drones

Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that American forces have stopped using high-end munitions to shoot down Iran’s drones.

The nation’s limited stockpiles of expensive weapon systems, including advanced missile interceptors, have become a lightning rod during the Iran war. American forces were using them to defend against Iranian drones. But Cooper says the U.S. military is now using lower-cost munitions.

The admiral said Iran only has 10% of its drones left. Despite a fragile month-long ceasefire, skirmishes have flared between Iranian and American forces.

Congressional leaders begin hearing on military posture in the Middle East and Africa

Senators opened the hearing into the state of forces in the Middle East and Africa by expressing concern about the future of the Iran war and the American presence in Africa.

“We are 75 days into this war with Iran and I am concerned the president does not have a credible strategy to win,” Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the committee, also said Africa has “increasingly become the epicenter of global terrorism” and stressed that he felt U.S. Africa Command should remain an independent combatant command.

Selfie-taking moment between tech CEOs Elon Musk and Lei Jun is going viral on Weibo

The hashtag “Lei Jun and Musk photo together “ drew more than 20 million views on the Chinese social media platform.

Musk is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, while Lei is CEO of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.

Some users said Musk’s wink while taking the picture stole the spotlight, with others saying Lei nailed his celebrity chase.

Discussion of US weapons sales to Taiwan ‘did not feature prominently’ in talks, Rubio says

Rubio said Xi has raised the issue with Trump in the past, however.

Rubio also told NBC that the U.S. laid out its position on Taiwan with “strategic ambiguity” because they won’t want to see a conflict over the island, which China wants to reunify with the mainland. It hasn’t ruled out using force to do so.

“We think it would be a terrible mistake to force that through force or anything of that nature. There would be repercussions for that, globally, not just in the United States. And we kind of leave it there,” Rubio said.

Rubio says Trump won’t let the Iranians use US gasoline prices as ‘leverage’ for ending the war

He tried to clarify Trump’s comments that he wasn’t thinking about gasoline prices and U.S. consumers with regard to the Iran war.

“We’re not going to let Iran use that as leverage,” Rubio told NBC News in an interview. “I think what the president is making clear is, if the Iranians think that they are going to use our domestic politics to pressure him into a bad deal, that’s not going to happen.”

Rubio said the U.S. is taking “extraordinary measures” to keep gasoline prices lower than in other parts of the world.

Rubio says nothing changed in US policy toward Taiwan

He said in an interview with NBC news that China always raises the issue of the self-governing island, but the U.S. stance did not change in Trump’s meeting with Xi.

“U.S. policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today and as of the meeting that we had here today. It was raised. They always raise it on their side. We always make clear our position and we move on to the other topics,” Rubio said.

US treasury secretary says the public will hear from Trump this evening or tomorrow on Taiwan

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked in a CNBC interview about whether China was pushing the U.S. to limit arm sales to Taiwan, the self-governing island China considers to be part of its own territory.

Bessent said he’s confident Trump “understands the issues” and will be “very resolute” in his response.

The treasury secretary did not preview what that response would be as the administration has authorized an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan.

“I’m not going to get out ahead of the president,” Bessent said. “You’ll be hearing more from him either this evening, tomorrow.”

Rubio says Trump raised Iran in talks with Xi but ‘he didn’t ask him for anything’

“We’re not asking for China’s help. We don’t need their help,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with NBC News.

He said China agreed with the U.S. that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon and brought that up in their meetings.

He said the Chinese told the U.S. team in meetings that, “they are not in favor of militarizing the straits of Hormuz, and they’re not in favor of a tolling system.”

“It’s good that we have alliance, or at least agreement on that point,” Rubio said.

Wall Street heads for gains before the bell as Trump and Xi meet

Wall Street is poised to open with gains Thursday following another record-setting day and developments emerging from President Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

S&P futures rose 0.3%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7%. Nasdaq futures gained 0.2% early. The S&P and Nasdaq both hit record highs Wednesday.

Oil prices were effectively unchanged, with no clear ending to the Iran war after more than two months. Some were hoping the Trump-Xi meeting could bring results, after U.S. officials said Beijing could use its close economic ties with Tehran to press Iran to reopen the Strait or Hormuz.

On Thursday, the White House said Trump and Xi discussed enhancing U.S.-China economic cooperation. Both sides also agreed the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened.

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Trump peppers toast with historical references to illustrate US-China ties

During Donald Trump’s toast at the state banquet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the U.S. president said citizens of the United States and China have long shared a “deep sense of mutual respect” and used history to illustrate the point.

Benjamin Franklin published the sayings of the philosopher Confucius, Trump said.

Chinese admirers of President George Washington gifted a stone tablet honoring his memory to adorn the Washington Monument. The tablet was inscribed with the words of a Chinese official who called Washington a great general and statesman, Trump said.

Chinese workers helped lay the railroad tracks that connected the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States while American travelers to China helped spread literacy and modern medicine, he said.

Trump also noted President Theodore Roosevelt, acting on a request from China’s ambassador, provided money to establish Xi’s alma mater, Tsinghua University.

What’s for dinner at China’s state banquet

The menu, according to the White House, included some Chinese elements.

Lobster in Tomato Soup, Crispy Beef Ribs, Beijing Roast Duck, Stewed Seasonal Vegetables and Slow-Cooked Salmon in Mustard Sauce.

Guests also dined on Pan-Fried Pork Bun, Trumpet Shell-Shaped Pastry and Tiramisu, as well as fruits and ice cream.

Musk was a draw for selfies at the Trump-Xi banquet

Before the leaders entered the room, a steady stream of guests approached Elon Musk at his table, snapping selfies with the tech CEO.

Lei Jun, CEO of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, was seen shaking hands with Musk and taking a selfie with him.

Trump and Xi could meet up to 4 times in 2026

U.S. and Chinese officials say Trump and Xi could potentially meet four times in 2026.

The meetings could include the Group of 20 meeting in Miami and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Guangzhou later this year.

Trump invites Xi to visit White House in September

Trump extended a Sept. 24 invitation to Xi and his wife, Madame Peng, during his reciprocal toast.

“And we look forward to it,” Trump said.

He also thanked Xi for his hospitality.

“This has been an amazing period of time,” Trump said.

Trump recounts ‘fantastic day’ in China to open banquet toast

“This is a great honor. It was a fantastic day,” Trump said. “It really was a magnificent welcome like none other.”

He described his talks with Xi as “extremely positive conversations” and said everything that they discussed was “all good for the United States and China.

“And it was a great honor to be with you,” the U.S. president said, referring to his Chinese counterpart.

Xi says U.S.-China relationship is most important in the world

Xi Jinping called for the China and the U.S. to work together as partners rather than rivals in an opening toast ahead of the state banquet that was largely positive though measured.

“We both believe that China and the U.S. relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world. We must make it work and never mess it up,” Xi said.

Xi noted it was the 250th anniversary of American independence.

“Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America Great Again can go hand in hand,” he said. “Both China and U.S. stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation, should be partners rather than rivals.”

He then toasted Trump and the audience.

Taiwan calls China the ‘only risk’ to regional stability

“China is currently the only risk to regional peace and stability,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Affairs said in response to Xi’s warning Thursday for the U.S. to be careful.

“Even during the meeting between the leaders of the United States and China, the People’s Liberation Army continued to send military aircraft and ships to harass and threaten Taiwan in the region,” the ministry said.

Xi said “Taiwan independence” and cross-strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water, while noting the issue was the most important in the bilateral relationship.

Xi’s wording on Taiwan may indicate Trump didn’t budge

Xi’s stark warning to Trump over Taiwan may indicate the U.S. president did not make concessions Thursday over the island democracy China claims as its own, an analyst said.

Any meaningful concession would have been reflected in Beijing’s official readout of the meeting, said William Yang, a senior analyst for Northeast Asia for International Crisis Group.

“The lack of such mention and the relatively stern tone suggest Trump may not have budged on Taiwan in principle,” Yang said.

Wen-Ti Sung of the Atlantic Council said Xi’s warning of potential conflict signaled Taiwan remains the Chinese government’s biggest red line.

“Taiwan is the identity-defining issue in U.S.-China relations: get Taiwan right and we are friends; get Taiwan wrong and we might become foes before you know it,” Sung said.

What Trump and Xi discussed at the Temple of Heaven

U.S. reporters were mainly kept far away from the leaders when they toured the UNESCO heritage site.

But China’s official Xinhua News Agency cited Trump as being impressed to see the Temple of Heaven still standing tall and magnificent after over 600 years, showcasing exquisite Chinese classical architectural art.

Xi said ancient Chinese rulers held sacrificial ceremonies at the temple to pray for national peace and prosperity.

Xi said it showed the traditional Chinese thought that “the people are the foundation of the state, and when the foundation is solid, the state is stable,” according to Xinhua.

Trump said he vividly remembers his 2017 visit to the Forbidden City, Xinhua reported.

Trump attends Chinese state banquet in his honor

The affair brought Trump back to the Great Hall of the People, where he opened his first full day in Beijing in closed-door talks with Xi.

Inside the hall, round tables were draped with white tablecloths.

Key members of Trump’s Cabinet including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent milled about before Trump arrived.

Chinese premier stresses cooperation in talk with US executives

Chinese Premier Li Qiang stressed the need for friendship and cooperation in U.S.-China ties as he spoke with U.S. business leaders accompanying President Donald Trump in Beijing.

Li met executives including Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on the sidelines of Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“China and the United States have been able to maintain frank and smooth dialogue and communication and actively safeguard a stable and healthy bilateral relationship” despite international turbulence, Li said.

Collaboration is needed for “mutual success and shared prosperity,” Li added.

China’s language shows ‘core’ focus on Taiwan

China has ramped up its language around Taiwan by noting repeatedly in recent weeks that Taiwan is the “core” of its interests and a key to ensuring a stable relationship with the U.S.

Trump has demanded Taiwan increase defense spending and in December the White House announced an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan, the largest ever to the island democracy.

Ma Chun-wei, an expert in China-Taiwan relations at Taiwan’s Tamkang University, said the elevated defense relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan has caused China to increase its rhetoric over Taiwan.

“For Xi Jinping, he must show that the Taiwan issue is in China’s hands. He must demonstrate this image, or else he would be criticized,” Ma said.

Trump and Xi discussed Iran and reopening the Strait of Hormuz

The leaders were in agreement that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be opened to support global energy needs, according to a readout of their Thursday meeting by a White House official.

Xi also opposed any implementation of tolls on vessels crossing the strait, which effectively has closed since the start of the U.S. and Israel war against Iran.

Xi expressed interest in China purchasing more U.S. oil to reduce future Chinese dependence on Gulf oil, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The leaders also discussed further stemming the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals into the U.S. and increasing Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products.

China’s commerce ministry open to expanded US cooperation

China is willing to work with the U.S. to continuously expand its cooperation list, China’s Ministry of Commerce spokesperson He Yongqian said Thursday.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent engaged in “candid, in-depth and constructive” exchanges in South Korea on Wednesday, He said.

For the next step, China is willing to work with the U.S. to expand their cooperation based on the principles of equality, respect and mutual benefit, He said.

They also would shorten the problem list while promoting healthy economic and trade ties between the sides, He said.

Chinese social media finds humor in Trump comment about executives

A comment by Donald Trump about the U.S. business executives chosen to accompany him to China has become a source of humor on Chinese social media.

“I didn’t want the second or the third in the company. I wanted only the top, and they’re here today to pay respects to you and to China,” Trump told Xi when the leaders met Thursday.

Trump’s comments was ranked second in trending topics on Weibo, a social media platform curated by censors.

The posts included jokes about how the corporate executives were grateful to be there and pictures of them flashing a thumbs-up sign while leaving the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.

Analyst says Xi is setting boundaries

George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group consultancy, said Xi wants to set clear boundaries on what the U.S. can and cannot do with China.

Politically it’s all about Taiwan, Chen said, noting Xi’s opposition to independence for the island democracy.

“He makes the ‘red line’ crystal clear,” he said.

Chen said Xi has sought to reassure U.S. businesspeople that China is a place they can make money, which could be seen as Xi’s response to Trump’s demand for China to provide a more favorable environment for U.S. firms.

Chen said Xi suggested the relationship’s “strategic stability” can continue at least for the rest of Trump’s term, which can be perceived as progress.

Ukraine ties a Russian attack on Kyiv to the Beijing summit

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha tied an overnight attack on Kyiv to the Xi-Trump summit, saying the assault proved Russia was a threat to international security.

“At the very time when leaders of the most powerful countries are meeting in Beijing, and the world hopes for peace, predictability and cooperation, Putin launched hundreds of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at the capital of Ukraine,” Sybiha said on Telegram.

He said there should be “no illusions” about ending the Russian war on Ukraine.

“Only pressure on Moscow can make him stop,” Sybiha said of Putin, adding that U.S. and Chinese leaders had sufficient leverage to compel Russia to end the conflict.

Taiwan thanks US for support after China warning

Taiwan said it is grateful for the long-term support of the United States after Xi warned Trump on Thursday about potential “clashes and even conflicts” over the self-ruled island China claims as its own.

“The government views all actions that contribute to regional stability and the management of potential risks from authoritarian expansion positively and continues to work with the United States in various aspects of our relationship,” said Michelle Lee, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s premier.

Taiwan has stayed in close contact with the U.S. on national security and diplomacy, Lee said.

“The U.S. has also repeatedly reiterated its firm and clear position of support for Taiwan,” Lee said.

The top-ranked Sinner landed shots on the lines repeatedly in a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over No. 14 Andrey Rublev to reach the semifinals Thursday and move past Novak Djokovic with a record 32nd consecutive victory in Masters 1000 events — the biggest tournaments outside the Grand Slams.

“I don’t play for records. I play just for my own story. And obviously at the same time it means a lot to me,” Sinner said.

The last Italian man to raise the singles trophy on the red clay of the Foro Italico was Adriano Panatta in 1976. Panatta will present the title to this year’s champion on Sunday, with Italy President Sergio Mattarella also slated to attend the final.

“It’s a special tournament for me,” Sinner said.

With nearly everyone inside the 10,500-seat Campo Centrale cheering for Sinner, many supporters wore hats and T-shirts in orange — his theme color.

One group of fans held up a sign that said, “Sinner, Facce Sogna” — “Sinner, Make us dream.”

He lost last year’s final in Rome to Carlos Alcaraz, who is now sidelined due to a right wrist injury, while Jasmine Paolini in 2025 became the first Italian woman to raise the trophy in 40 years.

Sinner broke serve in the opening game for a third straight match and never lost control against Rublev, who was once ranked as high as No. 5.

Rublev noticed there were “many points where he played really well or close to the line or in a line. But he’s No. 1 and it’s normal. You need to force him to miss and it takes a lot of focus to be able to play at that level.”

Sinner had only one brief lapse when Rublev broke him late in the second set.

“It was a bit breezy, a bit windy, so it was very tough conditions,” Sinner said. “I felt we both didn’t play at our best today.”

Sinner said he felt fatigued toward the end.

“I’m going to be all right. It’s normal that one day in the tournament you are slightly tired,” he said. “It has been very long days for me.”

Sinner hasn’t been beaten in a Masters event since he retired with cramps in extreme heat against Tallon Griekspoor in Shanghai in October.

Djokovic won 31 straight Masters matches in 2011.

Including all tournaments, Sinner’s winning streak reached 27 matches. He was last beaten by Jakub Mensik in the Qatar Open quarterfinals on Feb. 19 — and he hasn't even dropped a set since his opening match of his previous tournament, the Madrid Open.

Sinner is also aiming to become the second man after Djokovic to triumph at all nine Masters events. Djokovic has won each event at least twice.

The Italian Open is the only Masters event that Sinner hasn’t won.

His semifinal opponent will be 2023 Rome champion Daniil Medvedev or Spanish qualifier Martina Landaluce, who were playing later.

The other semifinal will feature Casper Ruud of Norway against Luciano Darderi, an Argentine-born Italian.

Coco Gauff back in final

In the women’s tournament, Coco Gauff beat 36-year-old Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final for a second straight year.

Gauff saved a match point in a three-set victory over Iva Jovic in the fourth round and then came back from a set down to defeat Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals.

Against Cirstea, Gauff got 78% of her first serves in and had only one double fault.

“I'm just happy to be through in straight sets today," Gauff said. "It's been a marathon week.”

Gauff was beaten by Paolini in the 2025 Rome final, then went on to win the French Open.

In Saturday's final, Gauff will face three-time Rome champion Iga Swiatek or two-time winner Elina Svitolina, who were playing later.

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

The S&P 500 added 0.5% to its all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 254 points, or 0.5%, and is close to finishing a day above the 50,000 level for the first time since the war with Iran began. The Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher and adding to its own record, as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time.

Cisco helped lead the market after jumping 14.6% in what could be its best day in nearly 15 years. The tech giant reported better profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and CEO Chuck Robbins said it saw “very strong, broad-based demand for our products.”

Big Tech behemoths in particular are pouring cash into artificial-intelligence technology, and Cisco gave a forecast for profit in the current quarter that easily topped analysts' expectations.

Such voracious demand for AI, and the big profits it's producing, have been major reasons the U.S. stock market has set records throughout this year. Cerebras Systems, an AI processor company, raised $5.55 billion after selling its stock in an initial public offering, and its shares are set to begin trading on the Nasdaq later in the day.

Corporate earnings reported so far this season have “reinforced that this is still an AI-led market, but one where the impact is broadening quickly,” according to Gargi Pal Chaudhuri, chief investment and portfolio strategist at BlackRock.

“What started with a handful of companies is now driving earnings growth across semiconductors, infrastructure, and even parts of the industrial economy,” she said.

Outside of AI, other stocks rallying after delivering better-than-expected profit reports included StubHub Holdings, up 19.3%, and Viking Holdings, up 10%.

Both companies sell products that aren’t day-to-day essentials, such as concert tickets and river cruises. Strong results from them could be an indicator that customers are still willing to spend even though U.S. consumers have been telling surveys they're feeling discouraged about the economy.

Whether U.S. households will keep spending and support the economy is a big question for Wall Street because pressure has been rising on them due to high oil prices and inflation created by the Iran war. A report released Thursday said that shoppers overall spent less at U.S. retailers last month than economists expected. But the deceleration after factoring out gasoline and automobile sales wasn’t quite as bad as economists thought it would be.

A separate report, meanwhile, said more U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week, which could be an indication of more layoffs. The number, though, remains relatively low compared with history.

Treasury yields zigzagged in the bond market following the reports, but they largely remained steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.45% from 4.46% late Wednesday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1%, while South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.8% to another record thanks to AI-related stocks.

Stocks were nearly flat in Hong Kong and down 1.5% in Shanghai as Chinese leader Xi Jinping met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing.

Some investors hope Trump could encourage Xi to use China’s close economic ties with Iran to get it to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The strait’s closure because of the war has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf instead of delivering crude to customers worldwide, which has driven up crude prices.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell 0.1% to $105.54 Thursday, but it remains well above its price of roughly $70 from before the war.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Knoblauch coached the Oilers to the playoffs three times since taking over as a midseason replacement when Jay Woodcroft was fired following a bad start in November 2023. They won 166 of their 286 total games behind the bench, and Knoblauch's .623 regular-season points percentage ranks sixth among active NHL coaches.

The Oilers are now set for their sixth coach since Connor McDavid entered the NHL in 2015 and became the best player in the world, skating alongside fellow MVP Leon Draisaitl. The two still have not won a championship, now going into their 12th season together.

Moving on from Knoblauch comes in the aftermath of a report earlier this week that Edmonton had sought and were denied permission from the Vegas Golden Knights to speak to Bruce Cassidy, whom they fired as coach in late March but is still under contract. Teams making offseason changes typically wait until there is a vacancy before reaching out about prospective candidates.

General manager Stan Bowman getting to make this move seems to indicate he will keep his job, along with president of hockey operations Jeff Jackson, who joined the organization in August 2023. Jackson took over control of hockey operations following the team’s first trip to the final in 2024 and hired Bowman as GM that summer. Assistant coach Mark Stuart was also fired.

“Following a thorough review of this past season, we believe these changes are needed,” Bowman said. “We are grateful for the contributions both Kris and Mark have made to our organization and we wish them the best moving forward.”

The Oilers fell behind 3-0 in their first final matchup against Florida before pushing the Panthers to a Game 7 and losing by a goal. They made it back the following year and had home-ice advantage but seemed to regress in a six-game series defeat that could be blamed on poor defense and goaltending.

Those problems continued this season, before and after Bowman made a goalie swap to get Tristan Jarry and send Stuart Skinner to Pittsburgh. It made the situation worse, as Edmonton ranked 29th out of 32 teams in the league in save percentage at .883.

McDavid late in the season heaped praise upon Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper after the Lightning beat the Oilers 5-2. Even if it was not meant as criticism of Knoblauch, it stood out from a player who usually speaks more about taking responsibility for losses.

Edmonton was eliminated by the less-experienced Anaheim Ducks, when he was unable to find someone to stop the puck between Jarry and backup-turned-starter Connor Ingram. They combined for an .880 save percentage, worst in the playoffs, and the Oilers’ 4.33 goals allowed also ranked last.

The three-year contract extension the Oilers signed Knoblauch to in October kicks in next season and runs through 2028-29. They are obligated to pay him until another team hires him and would be on the hook for any differential in salary over that time.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

As dawn broke on a clear day in Kyiv, a scene of devastation came into focus in the capital’s leafy Darnytsia neighborhood, located between a suburban forest and the Dnieper River. Wisps of smoke rose from the collapsed nine-story apartment block, where emergency workers dug under concrete slabs and took people away on stretchers. The building's entrance was smashed in the strike, preventing residents from escaping.

All 18 apartments in the building were destroyed, officials said. Among the dead was a 12-year-old girl, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Zelenskyy said seven people were killed, with at least 20 people believed to be missing.

Klitschko declared Friday to be a day of mourning for the victims.

Ukrainian officials noted that the attack coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to China. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have sufficient leverage to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his 4-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

“At the very time when leaders of the most powerful countries are meeting in Beijing, and the world hopes for peace, predictability and cooperation, Putin launched hundreds of drones, ballistic and cruise missiles at the capital of Ukraine,” Sybiha wrote on X.

“Only pressure on Moscow can make him stop,” Sybiha said of Putin.

Massive aerial assaults on Ukraine this week

Russia fired ballistic and cruise missiles in the attack, Zelenskyy said, adding that Moscow had launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centers since Wednesday. In all, some 180 sites across the country were damaged, including more than 50 residential buildings, he said.

British Defense Secretary John Healey called Thursday's attack “shocking” and said he had accelerated U.K. deliveries of air defenses.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the military aimed at Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, including air bases and fuel and transport facilities, claiming it hit all its targets. Among the weapons deployed, it said, were Kinzhal missiles, which Moscow says can fly 10 times the speed of sound.

Russia has hammered Ukraine with large-scale aerial attacks following a May 9-11 ceasefire that Trump said he asked Zelenskyy and Putin to heed. Fighting continued over those 72 hours, although reportedly at a reduced intensity.

The attacks undercut recent suggestions from Trump and Putin that the war, which began with Moscow's all-out invasion of its neighbor in 2022, is nearing its end.

Residents describe '

a terrible night’

More than 30 people were injured in the apartment building collapse, while emergency workers rescued 28 residents, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

Lyudmila Hlushko, 78, said she heard explosions and the sound of rockets about 3 a.m. “Then the house shook violently and there was a loud bang, breaking the glass in my house,” she told The Associated Press.

The blast shattered windows throughout the neighborhood.

“It was a terrible night,” said another resident, Nadiia Lobanova. “We’re used to this. Well, it’s impossible to get used to this, but somehow we held on.”

Damage was reported in six districts of the capital, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s Military Administration.

The Kyiv office of defense contractor Skyeton, specializing in reconnaissance drones, was destroyed in the overnight attack, although the company said it had anticipated such a development and had relocated its production.

Russian drones also struck a vehicle carrying U.N. staff who were delivering aid to residents of Kherson in southern Ukraine, Sybiha said. The vehicle was marked and was attacked twice, in two different locations, but nobody was hurt, he said.

Russia's biggest attacks since its full-scale invasion

The Ukrainian cities of Kremenchuk, Bila Tserkva, Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa also were bombarded, officials said.

“We are now experiencing the largest strikes since the start of the full-scale invasion,” air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat told Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne.

Ukraine’s air defense forces are under severe strain, he said. Even so, the interception rate of drones and missiles was over 93%, Zelenskyy said.

Air defenses shot down or jammed 693 Russian targets overnight, including 41 missiles and 652 drones of various types nationwide, the air force said.

Fifteen missiles and 23 drones scored direct hits across 24 locations, it said. Debris from downed drones fell in another 18 locations.

Strikes on energy infrastructure left customers in Kyiv and 11 other regions temporarily without power, national grid operator Ukrenergo said.

On Wednesday, a rare daytime attack on Kyiv killed at least six people, Zelenskyy said. That assault, which involved 800 drones, struck about 20 regions and was among the longest such attacks of the war.

In other developments Thursday:

— The Hungarian government summoned the Russian ambassador over a drone attack near Hungary’s border with Ukraine. The step marked a stark shift in tone by new Prime Minister Péter Magyar toward Moscow after years of cozy relations with the Kremlin under former leader Viktor Orbán.

— Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina resigned after her government’s coalition partner withdrew its support and left her without a majority. The government has been under pressure over its handling of multiple incidents involving stray drones suspected to be from Ukraine crossing into Latvian territory.

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Associated Press journalists Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

We will also remain below average for our high temperatures, only reaching into the lower 60s. However, the air temperatures could feel a bit warmer because of the mostly sunny conditions expected throughout the day.

Our early morning hours are starting off cool and breezy, with wind gusts around 20-25 MPH. The atmosphere is trying to adjust in the wake of yesterday’s cold front that brought storms to the area, which means we stay fairly breezy during the day today.

Even if we are a bit cooler, the cold front did us a lot of good with rain showers! The totals ranged from just below an inch of rain to as little as just a trace. The highest rainfall amounts over the past 24 hours fell in the NRV and Highlands areas thanks to strong storms late last night.

In terms of what we will see today, most of us will stay dry! A few showers are possible closer to the Highlands Zone, with the remainder of the viewing area just seeing a few passing clouds.

The shower and thunderstorm activity will continue daily through Monday with highs rising into the 80s and 90s this week.

U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy's Wednesday ruling is the latest setback for the U.S. Department of Justice, where at least seven other federal courts have agreed to quash or limit the expansive civil subpoenas sent to more than 20 doctors and hospitals last summer.

McElroy's decision also echoed similar concerns raised by judges surrounding the expansive scope of the subpoenas, describing the Justice Department as having “immense prosecutorial authority and discretion” but no longer trustworthy it will enforce its power fairly and honestly.

“DOJ has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case,” McElroy wrote.

An email seeking comment was sent to DOJ on Thursday.

According to the subpoenas, the DOJ had demanded Rhode Island Hospital hand over the birth dates, Social Security numbers and addresses of every patient who received transgender care over the past five years. It also included instructions to provide all documents detailing adverse side effects in minor patients who received gender-related care, assessments that formed the basis for prescribing puberty blockers or hormone therapy, as well as patient intake forms and guardian authorization.

The Justice Department has repeatedly argued that the information sought in the subpoenas is needed to investigate possible fraud or unlawful off-label promotion of drugs. Most recently during a hearing in Rhode Island, the DOJ said that the investigation was taking place in the Northern District of Texas, where the court's chief judge ordered Rhode Island Hospital to comply with the subpoena before McElroy's decision voided the subpoena.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brantley Mayers told McElroy during the hearing that the DOJ is investigating potential “misbranding” of drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, such as puberty blockers for young people. While off-label prescribing is legal, Mayers said that the DOJ is concerned that pharmaceutical companies are providing “financial incentives” to Rhode Island doctors to prescribe the drugs.

The subpoenas were crucial in getting the names of children and their families so the DOJ could interview them.

McElroy rejected that argument.

"The administration has publicly characterized gender-affirming care for minors as abuse, directed the DOJ to bring its practice to an end, and celebrated when hospitals curtailed such programs as a result of this subpoena campaign," McElroy wrote.

The Rhode Island decision is the latest development in the fight over transgender youth health records. Earlier this week, 11 families filed a class-action lawsuit seeking to block the DOJ from obtaining the documents. The lawsuit, filed in Maryland’s federal court, is backed by families with transgender children who have received care from hospitals across the U.S.

And separately, a New York hospital announced that it received a grand jury subpoena from federal prosecutors in Texas seeking information about children who received gender-affirming care and the medical providers who administered it.

NYU Langone is the first hospital system to publicly acknowledge receiving a subpoena for such records as part of a federal criminal investigation. But the institution said in its statement Tuesday it was one of several that received a subpoena out of the Northern District of Texas on May 7. It said it was deciding on how to respond.

Gender-affirming care includes a range of medical and mental health services to support a person’s gender identity, including when it’s different from the sex they were assigned at birth. It may include counseling, medications that block puberty, hormone therapy to produce physical changes or surgeries to transform chests and genitals, although those are rare for minors.

Most major medical groups say access to the treatment is important for those with gender dysphoria and see gender as existing along a spectrum.

At least 27 states have adopted laws restricting or banning the care for minors, while several others have adopted laws or policies protecting access to transgender health care.

An Associated Press reporter saw Ambassador Evgeny Stanislavov leave the Hungarian Foreign Ministry less than 30 minutes after he arrived to speak with Foreign Minister Anita Orbán about strikes that hit the Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia on Wednesday. The region is home to a sizable Hungarian minority.

“I told the Russian ambassador that it was completely unacceptable for Hungary that they were now attacking Transcarpathia, home of the Hungarian minority," Anita Orbán said on social media. “I stressed that Russia should do everything for an immediate ceasefire and a peaceful and lasting end to the war as soon as possible.”

Russia fired at least 800 drones in a massive daytime barrage Wednesday targeting about 20 regions of Ukraine. At least six people were killed and dozens were wounded, including children. Lasting hours, it was one of the longest-lasting attacks by Moscow in the war now in its fifth year.

The attacks continued Thursday, killing seven in Kyiv alone including a 12-year-old girl, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

After the meeting, the Russian embassy issued a statement saying the Russian attack on Wednesday only targeted installations and infrastructure used by Ukraine’s army and not civilian sites.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said called the summons in Budapest an “important message” and thanked Magyar for his comments.

“Moscow has once again shown itself to be a common threat not only to Ukraine, but also to neighbouring countries and Europe as a whole,” Zelenskyy said.

The summons marks a stunning change after years of close relations between Hungary — both a member of the European Union and NATO — and Moscow, even following the Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

When the ambassador left the Foreign Ministry building on the banks of the Danube, an activist yelled at him in Hungarian, “Comrade, it’s over!”

After defeating Orbán in a historic vote in April, Magyar has vowed to undo much of the legacy built during Orbán’s 16 years in power, with a particular focus on alleged corruption.

Magyar announced Thursday that he was ending two crisis governing structures in Hungary set up in response to the war in Ukraine and the COVID pandemic.

Orbán had declared a “ state of danger ” in 2022 in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and his Fidesz party granted him extraordinary executive power during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Both enhanced his powers and led to widespread allegations of democratic backsliding.

"We are returning to normality," Magyar said in a social media post. “As of today, after four years, the wartime state of emergency in Hungary is ending, and with it we are also putting an end to the decree-based emergency rule introduced by the Orbán government six years ago.”

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McNeil contributed from Brussels.

Dropbox has no plans to return its workers to offices. After adopting a “virtual-first” staffing model in 2020, the San Francisco technology company met all of its financial goals and remains committed to making remote work the norm for the vast majority of its employees, according to Chief People Officer Melanie Rosenwasser.

“The pandemic tested our assumption that we have to be in person in order to be productive,” she said.

Allowing employees to work from anywhere helps Dropbox retain talent, said Rosenwasser, who leads the cloud storage provider's human resources teams. Over time, the company refined scheduling practices, meeting protocols and employee well-being programs to better meet the needs of its “distributed” workforce, she said.

“It’s especially important to us to maintain this posture as so many other companies across many, many industries are mandating return to office," Rosenwasser said.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Rosenwasser reflected on the ways Dropbox thrives with remote workers and creates in-person events to build community. Her responses were edited for brevity and clarity.

AP: Why did Dropbox choose a virtual-first model?

ROSENWASSER: We are explicitly not hybrid. We think this is the worst of all worlds, where employees suffer through long commutes only to sit on Zoom because most of our colleagues are distributed. We really believed in this creation of an even playing field. The rules of that are, largely, individual work is done remotely by everyone, but we still come together in person at least quarterly for strategy setting, connection, team building and bonding.

The model is fundamentally built on this notion that flexibility and agency are these new currencies of modern work. We see benefits in recruiting, engagement, employee retention and cost savings.

AP: How does it work?

ROSENWASSER: We put a lot of intention behind how we would bring this to life. We are asynchronous by default, which means we do a lot of our communication and even decision-making in writing. We have a structure called core collaboration hours. These are four-hour blocks for meetings that overlap by time zone. The rest of the time is yours for deep work, answering emails, continuing individual work on projects.

We’re also really obsessed with meeting hygiene. When we do come together and meet, we want to be really intentional on the rules of engagement. We focus on something that we call the three D's: discuss, debate or decide. If none of those things are on the table, then a meeting is not required.

AP: Outside core collaboration hours, can people set their own schedules?

ROSENWASSER: The core collaboration hours are great because everyone knows that this is when you’re meeting with colleagues. Outside of that, you design your workday according to your preferences. Some people log off earlier in the afternoon because they have things they need to do with their children, but they log on later on at night because that is the way that they want to work. We allow for that, and every team contracts on these things so everyone knows what each other’s working schedule is and accommodates.

AP: What challenges do you face with the virtual-first model?

ROSENWASSER: The first is around burnout and the importance of setting boundaries. When you’re working from home, your personal and professional life blur, and that’s why we wanted to intentionally put into place non-linear workdays which are very much based on personal preferences.

When you’re working remotely, you’re very sedentary. We piloted a program called "Meet & Move." We took a set of employees, and all of the meetings they took for the week were on the phone and they were moving. They could take a walk outside or move throughout their house, but they were not sitting in front of a camera.

We have this companywide meeting-effectiveness initiative. It’s not actually the number of meetings that’s the problem. It’s the fragmentation of these meetings. For example, you have a couple of meetings in the morning, then you’ve got a 15-minute break, then you've got another hour-and-a-half, and you’ve got a 30-minute break. When this happens, you can’t really do anything meaningful in those 15- or 30-minute breaks between meetings.

On the HR team, we eliminated all legacy meetings that no longer served us. We built our meetings where we would batch them. Mondays and Wednesdays are for one-on-ones, Tuesdays are for team meetings, Fridays are for interviews. We all tried to adhere to the same schedule. We had more efficiently restructured meetings, more focused time. Now we’re thinking about rolling this out more broadly to the company.

AP: How do you build community?

ROSENWASSER: There’s a relationship tax when you work remotely. Because you’re not in person every day, you don’t have these natural moments of connection. Quarterly off-sites are one of the best ways to build teamwork and strengthen sense of belonging. We have an off-site team that is dedicated to helping leaders put together an agenda, guest speakers, location and hotels.

We had to be really intentional about onboarding because it takes place remotely. Everyone gets an onboarding buddy, which is somebody likely on their team. They show them the ropes, meet with them every day, and eventually it turns into weekly meetings. They also get a mentor, and this could be someone that sits within their team or outside of their team.

People who live in and around the same city come together every week, every other week, for various events. It could be a volunteer event. When we have executives in town in certain cities, we’ll do fireside chats with them and invite all the folks (who work in that area) to come. Everything is basically subsidized, and they’re not mandatory.

AP: What did Dropbox leaders need to unlearn to make this work?

ROSENWASSER: There is a perception that when you’re in the office and you can actually physically see the people on your team, you can just assume they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing. But I think we all know from working in offices that’s not necessarily true. There are tons of distractions. You’ve got gyms and on-site yoga and all kinds of things that are distracting, let alone the number of people that can walk by your desk to start a conversation when you’re midthought.

Today, every single person at Dropbox can see what every team’s responsible for, every item on the roadmap, when things are going to be done, how those things are going to be done. We’re extremely transparent about our goals and what teams are doing.

We don’t have to micromanage their presence because we set these goals and either they hit them or they don’t hit them, so this has become a really important aspect of our operating model, is assertive goal-setting and clarity.

All of our meetings start with a written document. People will, for the first five or 10 minutes of the meeting, read it and then they come on camera, and then we discuss it. It's been really great for clarity of thought because clear writing is effectively clear thinking, so it forces you to put your thoughts and your proposal into a format that can be digested.

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

The high court ruled unanimously in favor of Shawn Montgomery, whose parked vehicle was hit by a speeding truck driver on an Illinois highway in 2017. He says C.H. Robinson, the country’s largest freight broker, should be liable for their role in putting the driver on the road despite “serious red flags.”

His claim was backed by more than two dozen U.S states who said the case would help bolster safety in the industry that moves billions of tons of goods across billions of miles every year. On the other side was the Trump administration and companies like Amazon, who argued against exposing logistics companies to liability under a “patchwork” of state laws.

Montgomery's attorneys say the trucker had been cited for careless driving in another crash months earlier, and the carrier that he worked for had been involved with at least three crashes in a span of about five months. His lawsuit said C.H. Robinson should share liability because it hired the carrier despite those problems.

The company argued that they rely on the federal government to license carriers, and being federally regulated means they can't be sued under state law.

Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based C.H. Robinson got the case tossed out in a ruling affirmed by a Chicago-based appeals court, but Montgomery appealed to the justices. He successfully argued that even though federal law usually trumps state law, other courts have recognized an exception for safety issues.

But some critics call the Rededicate 250 event an effort to “hijack” U.S. history with a false, Christian nationalist narrative — one they say fuses American and Christian identities and threatens a constitutional separation of church and state.

The daylong program is being organized by a nonprofit called Freedom 250. Its website describes it as a public-private partnership “leading the presidential programming for America's 250th anniversary,” which culminates with the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.

Congressional Democrats have questioned the organization's structure and finances, which they see as a Trump-controlled end run around a separate commission charted by Congress a decade ago to prepare semiquincentennial events.

Top Republican officials promote event

Organizers expect thousands of people to attend Rededicate 250, which will include worship music, prayers and speeches from Cabinet heads and other Republican officials, along with religious leaders and others. Trump and several other speakers are addressing the crowd by video, while others will speak in person. The scheduled participants include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

"Our founders knew two simple truths," Hegseth said in a promotional video for the event featuring a montage of Cabinet secretaries.

"Our rights don’t come from government, they come from God. And a nation is only as strong as its faith,” added Hegseth, whose use of Christian rhetoric to justify the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran and in other official settings has drawn scrutiny.

Another promotional video for Rededicate 250 blends various Christian and American imagery — scenes of a cross laid on an American flag, a robed choir, people raising their hands in worship — along with a brief scene of a man praying while wearing a Jewish skullcap. Voices of prominent preachers are heard, one proclaiming, “Faith in God is the value that most shaped America.”

Religious leaders on the Rededicate 250 program include several longtime Christian supporters of Trump, among them evangelist Franklin Graham and pastors Paula White-Cain, who heads the White House Faith Office; Robert Jeffress; and Samuel Rodriguez. Also scheduled are Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron and Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, the only faith leader on the program representing a non-Christian faith.

Musicians on the program include Grammy-winning contemporary Christian artist Chris Tomlin.

Some leading participants portray Rededicate 250 as a Christian gathering.

“I believe it’s a moment when the Body of Christ, the church, comes together and will boldly declare that America still needs God,” said Georgia pastor Jentezen Franklin in a social media video posted on X. “This is an opportunity for believers to stand together as one nation under God. ... I’m honored that they’ve asked me to speak and share the Gospel.”

Johnson noted that the event comes 250 years after Congress declared May 17, 1776, a “day of Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer” on behalf of the Revolutionary cause.

Critics say event 'hijacked’ by Christian nationalism

Critics say Rededicate 250 is shaping up to promote Christian nationalism — whose adherents typically believe that the United States was founded as and should be a Christian nation.

“What should be a broadly unifying celebration has been politically hijacked and wrapped up in this MAGA narrative that tries to rewrite our history and promote the president’s agenda,” said U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, referring to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

Huffman said the movement erases the diversity of America’s religious and nonreligious populations throughout its history and threatens the constitutional protections against government-established religion.

The event "would have the founders rolling in their graves,” said Huffman, a California Democrat. He co-chairs the Congressional Freethought Caucus, which emphasizes separation of church and state.

“They have narrowly defined what it means both to be American and to be Christian, and they are wrapping that in the official sanction of the U.S. government," Huffman said.

He said it's a movement that doesn't speak for all Christians, noting Trump's recent sparring with Pope Leo XIV.

Conservative Christians cheer multiple Trump initiatives

The Rededicate 250 event is occurring in tandem with other White House initiatives appealing to Trump’s loyal base of conservative Christians, particularly white evangelical Protestants.

Several participants — including Graham, White-Cain, Dolan, Barron and Soloveichik — also serve on the Religious Liberty Commission. That Trump-appointed panel is preparing a report on its findings after a year of hearings, many of which were focused on conservative Christian and right-leaning political grievances. Its chair, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, repeatedly denies that the Constitution establishes a separation of church and state.

Several participants in Rededicate 250 joined with Trump himself in a Bible-reading marathon.

And a separate Trump administration task force recently alleged discrimination against Christians under Democratic President Joe Biden — a report criticized by progressive groups as “advocacy dressed up as investigation.”

That report alleged that such a bias resulted in heavy fines imposed on two Christian colleges — Grand Canyon University for allegedly deceiving thousands of students over program costs, a decision later reversed, and Liberty University for its handling of crime statistics and sexual assault cases. Choirs from both colleges are performing at Rededicate 250.

Beliefs about Christian nationhood

About 2 in 10 U.S. adults and about one-quarter of Republicans, said the federal government should declare Christianity the official religion of the nation, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in April.

Some 43% said the government should not do so, but should promote Christian values, while 38% said it should do neither. The report said 13% of U.S. adults and 18% of Republicans said the government should stop enforcing the separation of church and state.

Historians generally agree that the founders’ religious beliefs varied, that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t establish an official religion and that it was significantly influenced by Enlightenment thinkers.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which advocates a strict separation of church and state, hopes to stage a demonstration elsewhere in Washington on the day of the rally.

“This is the government putting on a Christian nationalist event,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, the foundation's co-president. “Even if it is accepting private money for it, it’s still putting it on. It’s outrageous.”

Brian Kaylor, a Baptist pastor and president and editor-in-chief of Word&Way, a progressive site covering faith and politics, said that while the Continental Congress did call for a day of prayer, the founders crafted the Constitution to prevent the establishment of religion. Two early presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, thought such official events were harmful to religion, he wrote.

The event "simply doesn’t represent what type of nation the founders later decided to create,” Kaylor wrote.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

But economists noted that consumer spending, propped up by generous income tax refunds, is still healthy. Still, they worry that spending will fall off as benefits from the refunds dissipate, and shoppers continue to deal with the cumulative impact of rising gas prices at the pump.

Retail sales rose 0.5% in April, a slowdown from the revised growth level of 1.6% in March, according to Commerce Department data released Thursday. March marked the largest one-month increase in retail spending in more than three years, largely because gas prices spiked higher rapidly.

Excluding gas sales, retail sales in April were up 0.3%. That's a slowdown from the 0.7% pace, excluding business from gas stations, in March. In April, sales at gas stations rose 2.8%, in comparison to a 20.9% hike in March, due to the spike in gas prices.

Elsewhere, shopping was uneven.

Sales at department stores fell 3.2%, while sales at furniture and home furnishings stores slipped 2%. Business at building material and garden equipment had a modest 0.1% increase. But online retailers saw a 1.1% increase, and electronics and appliance stores posted a 1.4% sales gain.

The snapshot offers only a partial look at consumer spending and doesn’t include things like travel and hotel stays. The lone services category – restaurants – registered a solid 0.6% increase.

The so-called control group—which excludes food services, autos, building materials and gas station sales and is used to calculate economic growth—rose 0.5%. That offered a good sign of solid spending by consumers, economists said.

The Iran war that began in late February has led to the shut down of the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off one-fifth of the world’s daily oil supply. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline rose again overnight to $4.53 on Thursday. That’s $1.35 more than it cost a year ago, according to motor club AAA.

Economists had believed that larger tax refunds from President Donald Trump's tax cut legislation would kick start spending at the start of the year. But soaring gas prices are taking a bigger slice out of American paychecks since the start of the war, leaving less for things like dining out, new clothes or other treats.

Oliver Allen, senior economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, estimated in a report published Thursday that individual income tax refunds in April were $22 billion higher than in the same month in 2025, equivalent to around 3% of monthly retail sales and slightly bigger than the hit to households from the jump in gas prices over the same period.

“Some of this money will have been saved, but much of it has been spent,” he wrote. “But the flow of refunds will taper dramatically in May, leaving consumers far more exposed to the surge in fuel costs. ”

Allen expects a “meaningful pullback” in discretionary spending in the second half of the second quarter.

Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, estimates that higher tax refunds have offset the impact of gas prices by a ratio of around 2 to 1.

“With refund season behind us and gas prices still creeping higher, that will flip in the months ahead, putting downward pressure on spending growth,” he wrote in a report published on Thursday.

Still, U.S. employers have so far defied the economic shock from the war and last month added a surprisingly strong 115,000 jobs.

But concerning data about rising prices has arrived in waves this week.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that the U.S. producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — shot up 1.4% in April, the biggest monthly gain in more than four years. A day before that, the closely watched consumer price index jumped 3.8% from April 2025 — the biggest year-over-year increase in more than three years. Those price hikes, again, largely do to soaring energy prices, have begun to show up in everything from plane tickets and baggage fees, to soap and toothpaste.

A clearer picture of how inflation is impacting Americans may arrive next week when major U.S. retailers like Walmart and Target begin to release quarterly financial results.

Some of the other ripples, though, aren't as obvious. They're the ones we carry inside us — grief over lost loved ones, chronic health conditions, the sense of lives interrupted. And in recent days, another one has made itself known in the wake of a rare hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship: the fear, despite official reassurances, that it might be happening again.

But the flourishing of fear, whether on a personal or societal level, can also be an indicator that something else is missing. Perhaps there's no post-pandemic reality more entrenched than the damage done, in the U.S. and globally, to the bonds that in the before times, many would have considered secure — science, government, information itself.

“COVID undermined our trust in what most of us used to trust,” said Elisa Jayne Bienenstock, a research professor and sociologist at Arizona State University. “When general trust goes down, when there’s a lot of cynicism, who are people looking to, to explain what to do and how the world works?”

What it used to be and what it is now

Before 2020, the outbreak of some illness somewhere didn't usually cause massive concern outside of the specific areas impacted, even as some epidemics caused significant numbers of deaths.

Some of that was complacency in the face of a world where widespread travel wasn't as accessible to the masses as it has become, which was a key part of COVID-19's spread.

In fact, there have been outbreaks of the current strain of hantavirus in some South American countries through the decades, like one in 1997 in Chile. Other countries have had epidemics of a range of illnesses from cholera to dengue to SARS, and the U.S. has seen West Nile, Legionnaire's and more.

But in a post-COVID-19 world, it didn't take long before questions and concerns surfaced about disease spread in the days immediately following the first reports that three people had died from hantavirus on the ship. Since then, there have been reports of 11 hantavirus cases around the world linked to the cruise, according to the World Health Organization, and that includes the deaths. Lab testing has confirmed eight of the cases.

Health experts have repeatedly emphasized that even though the virus can cause serious illness in those infected, the risk of spread in the general public is low. Despite that, when ship passengers were taken to the Spanish island of Tenerife to disembark, residents like Samantha Aguero were concerned.

“We feel a bit unsafe. We don’t feel as there are 100% security measures in place to welcome it," she said. “This is a virus, after all, and we have lived this during the pandemic.”

Institutions are diminished for many

Bienenstock points to three institutions that have suffered from the public's loss of trust: government, media and science itself. But government officials and journalists were dealing with issues of public mistrust well before the pandemic.

The mistrust of science got ammunition not because scientists were making mistakes in their processes but because nonscientists didn't have the same understanding, she said.

“Most people don’t think of science as a process. In their mind, science is an answer, it’s a fact. And so when those facts showed that they weren’t 100% reliable and assured, it started undermining trust in the science,” she said.

“One of the problems with COVID is it undermined that confidence in science for people who don’t understand how science works. It showed the process. And it showed that scientists don’t always have the answer,” Bienenstock said. “A lot of people in crisis, when they fear things, don’t care what the answer is, as long as there’s a definitive answer. And science doesn’t provide that when it doesn’t know."

Now what?

It's not just about the issue at the forefront of people's attention at the moment. There are ripple effects as well.

“COVID ... didn’t just heighten people’s sensitivity to health threats. It did so unevenly, in ways often disconnected from actual risk,” said Michele Gelfand, professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. “As trust in institutions has weakened, people have lost a key way to navigate uncertainty together. Without trust, people rely more on rumor, fear, and emotion, which can lead them to overreact to small risks and underreact to serious ones.”

Karlynn Morgan, a 76-year-old retired nurse-anesthetist in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has seen that heightened attention, with more people without a medical or science background talking about health issues than before the pandemic.

She has also been disturbed by the increase in what looks to her like a lack of trust in science, as seen in falling vaccination rates and rising instances of diseases like measles.

“I think people are far less trusting because people used to take their children and just get the vaccine," she said. "When I was a kid, there was no question you were going to go get your shot.”

If trust is going to be rebuilt, Gelfand said in an email, then leaders have to get involved.

“They set the threat signal. They determine whether people get accurate information about the level of danger or distorted information that serves a political agenda. When leaders send clear, honest signals, people can calibrate in the face of threat. When leaders manipulate threat for their own purposes, norms erode and and trust collapses,” Gelfand said.

“Strong, reliable institutions have historically been our superpower as a society. They’re what allow millions of people to coordinate under uncertainty without knowing each other personally," she said. "Without that institutional backbone, we lose the very capacity for collective action that has helped human groups survive for millennia.”

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Follow the AP's coverage of the hantavirus outbreak at https://apnews.com/hub/hantavirus.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, represents a direct challenge to the authority of the office that enforces ethics standards for attorneys in the nation’s capital where several high-profile investigations of Trump-allied lawyers are playing out.

“The D.C. Bar will no longer be permitted to probe sensitive executive branch deliberations and target executive branch officials with whom they happen to politically disagree, and federal attorneys will once again be free to share their candid legal advice with their bosses and colleagues,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, a top Justice Department official, said in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington. An email seeking comment to the D.C. Bar's Board on Professional Responsibility did not receive an immediate response.

The complaint chiefly concerns the ethics case against Jeffrey Clark, a senior lawyer in the first Trump administration Justice Department who was deeply engaged in legal efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election that President Donald Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

A disciplinary panel last year recommended that Clark be stripped of his law license, but the lawsuit seeks to end those proceedings, calling them “unlawful” and tainted by politicization.

Clark, who has denied any wrongdoing, applauded the lawsuit on X on Wednesday evening, saying, “This is an important step to vindicate the separation of powers.”

In an attempt to bolster its claims of bias in the disciplinary process, the Justice Department asserted that bar authorities had treated more leniently than Clark a former FBI lawyer, Kevin Clinesmith, who pleaded guilty to doctoring an email during the investigation into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.

The lawsuit also backs Ed Martin, an ardent Trump loyalist who now serves as the Justice Department's pardon attorney. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel accused Martin in March of professional misconduct for a threatening letter that he sent to Georgetown Law School’s dean last year, when Martin was the top federal prosecutor for Washington.

Martin was the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia when he warned the Georgetown dean that his office wouldn’t hire the private school’s students if it didn’t eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The Justice Department last week filed what's known as a statement of interest in support of Martin, who had earlier complained about “uneven behavior” in the disciplinary process.

FIFA has announced that, for the first time, the final at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19 will include a Super Bowl-style concert.

Soccer's governing body said the show would support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which is raising $100 million to help children access education and soccer.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said it would bring together “music and football on the biggest stage in sport for a very special cause.”

“Every child should have the opportunity to dream, and together we can help make that possible,” he posted on Instagram.

The show will be curated by Coldplay's Chris Martin.

The Super Bowl is famed for its halftime show, attracting the world's biggest stars for spectacular performances. This year featured Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny.

Previous headliners included Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Rhianna.

But halftime shows are not commonplace in soccer, with events such as the Champions League final featuring a pre-match concert. On May 30, the Killers will headline European club soccer's biggest game between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest.

It is not known how long the World Cup halftime show will last, but the interval in soccer is not supposed to go beyond 15 minutes.

FIFA describes it as “a singular moment at the intersection of sport, culture and purpose, broadcast live around the world.”

The World Cup is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico and runs through June and July.

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

The exchange at a highly anticipated summit in Beijing underscored just how far apart Trump and Xi still are on thorny issues, including the war in Iran, trade disputes and Washington's relations with Taiwan, which is self-ruled but which China claims as part of its territory.

It also suggested that Trump’s three-day visit to China is likely to be longer on pageantry and symbolism than substantive political or economic breakthroughs.

The pair met for about two hours behind closed doors at the Great Hall of the People after an elaborate welcome ceremony featuring booming cannons, a band playing “The Star-Spangled Banner” and China’s national anthem, and hundreds of schoolchildren jumping and waving flowers and American and Chinese flags.

According to a post on X by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, Xi told Trump that “the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-U.S. relations.”

"If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” she wrote.

That comment followed a brief public exchange before the meeting began in which Trump told Xi: “You’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true.”

“It’s an honor to be your friend,” Trump said before promising that the U.S.-China relationship "is going to be better than ever before.”

Xi was far more stark in his opening remarks, expressing hope that the U.S. and China could avoid conflict and asking “whether the two countries can transcend the ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new model for relations between major powers.”

That's a term, popular in foreign policy studies, referring to the idea that when a rising power threatens to displace an established one, the result is often war. Xi has used the term for years, but using it as Trump offered optimism was noteworthy and foreshadowed his closed-door comments on Taiwan.

Xi nonetheless struck a more conciliatory tone when describing the overall relationship. “Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both,” he said. “The two countries should be partners rather than rivals.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said U.S. policy toward Taiwan was “unchanged” but warned that it would be “a terrible mistake” for China to take Taiwan by force.

In an interview with NBC News, Rubio sidestepped Xi’s warning about a potential clash with the U.S. and said that China always raises the issue of Taiwan in talks.

“They always raise it on their side. We always make clear our position, and we move on to the other topics,” Rubio said while traveling with the president.

Both emphasized the importance of China-US relations

After their meeting, Xi took Trump on a tour of the Temple of Heaven, then hosted a state banquet for him. The Chinese leader used his evening toast to note that he and Trump had kept U.S.-China relations “generally stable” in a turbulent world.

“Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand,” Xi said, referring to Trump’s political movement. “We can help each other succeed and advance the well-being of the whole world.”

In his toast, Trump said his visit had been “a great honor” punctuated by a “fantastic" day. He said matters “all good for the United States and China” were discussed.

Trump also said Xi would make a reciprocal visit to the White House on Sept. 24 — a date not previously announced.

The positive tone was reflected in the White House assessment of the earlier meetings, which said both leaders had touched on ways to enhance economic cooperation, including expanding market access for American businesses in China and increasing Chinese investment into U.S. industries.

The White House readout did not mention Taiwan directly, but, in relation to Iran, said both sides had agreed that the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil and natural gas, must remain open. The strait's closure has stranded tankers and caused energy prices to spike, threatening global economic growth.

The war is dominating Trump's domestic agenda and stoking fears about the prospect of a weakening U.S. economy as November’s midterm elections — when Republicans hope to maintain control of Congress — approach.

China is the largest purchaser of Iranian oil, and Rubio said in an interview with Fox News that Trump would make the case for Beijing to exert its influence on Iran, noting that administration officials would underscore that “economies are melting down because of this crisis,” which means consumers are “buying less Chinese product.”

It's not clear if Trump persuaded Xi to wield his influence. The White House instead said Xi opposed any implementation of tolls on vessels crossing the strait — as Iran has proposed — and expressed interest in China potentially purchasing more U.S. oil to reduce Chinese dependence on Gulf oil in the future.

Taiwan issues remain contentious

Xi's warning about Taiwan reflects China's displeasure with a U.S. plan to sell weapons to the island. The Trump administration has approved an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan, but has yet to begin fulfilling it.

The U.S. has a longstanding commitment to help the island defend itself if attacked, but Trump has shown greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, fueling speculation about whether the president could be persuaded to dial back American support.

Taiwan said after the Xi-Trump meeting that it was grateful for Washington's “long-term support.”

“The government views all actions that contribute to regional stability and the management of potential risks from authoritarian expansion positively,” Michelle Lee, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s premier, told reporters. She added that the U.S. “has also repeatedly reiterated its firm and clear position of support for Taiwan.”

US still hopes to secure trade wins

The White House has insisted that Trump would not be making the trip without an eye toward securing concrete results, suggesting there could be coming announcements on trade.

That might include a Chinese commitment to buy U.S. soybeans, beef and aircraft. Trump administration officials also want to work toward establishing a Board of Trade with China to address commercial differences between the countries.

Trump and Xi discussed trade on Thursday, with Xi saying that China’s door of opportunity will open wider. Xi also met with a collection of U.S. business leaders who accompanied Trump.

George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group consultancy, said Xi has made his red line "crystal clear” on Taiwan. But Chen said Xi also signaled a welcoming tone on the economic front and a desire to assure the U.S. business community that China is a place where profits can flow.

The U.S. and China reached a trade truce last year that calmed each side’s threats to impose steep tariffs on the other. The White House says there have been ongoing discussions and mutual interest in extending the agreement.

The leaders also discussed further stemming the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals into the United States and increasing Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products, according to the White House.

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Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Darlene Superville in Washington, Simina Mistreanu in Bangkok and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting became the first senior minister to quit Starmer ’s Cabinet on Thursday in what is expected to be a precursor to challenging his leadership.

Starmer is facing growing pressure from his own Labour Party to step down after disastrous results for Labour last week in local and regional elections. The election drubbing cemented doubts among many Labour lawmakers about Starmer’s judgment, vision and leadership ability –- a brutal indictment on a leader who returned the party to power in July 2024 after 14 years in opposition.

“You have shown courage and statesmanship on the world stage — not least in keeping Britain out of the war in Iran," Streeting wrote in an excoriating resignation letter. “But where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift.”

“It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election," he added.

Streeting, whose political ambitions have long been known, is considered one of a handful of people who could try to unseat Starmer. Doing so would not automatically spark a national election. Labour was elected for a five-year term, and British political rules allow parties to change leader without going to the country.

Another likely challenger, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, said Thursday that she had reached an agreement with tax authorities to clear up questions about her taxes that forced her to leave the Cabinet last September. Rayner told the Guardian newspaper that Starmer should “reflect on” his position, adding that she was ready to “play my part” in any leadership election if Streeting were to trigger a contest.

Race to unseat Starmer heats up

Pressure for Starmer to step aside has intensified since Labour suffered heavy losses in local and regional elections last week, underscoring voter frustration with a government that has failed to deliver on pledges to boost economic growth and improve living standards for working people.

A stagnant economy and stubbornly high consumer price inflation have made it difficult for Starmer’s government to deliver on its promises after winning a landslide election victory less than two years ago.

Starmer has vowed to remain in office, warning lawmakers that any leadership contest would plunge the government into “chaos” at a time it should be focused on issues like the cost of living crisis and war in the Middle East.

His effort to fight off a leadership challenge was bolstered Thursday morning by a rare bit of positive economic news.

Gross domestic product, a broad measure of economic activity, grew 0.6% in the first three months of the year, compared with 0.2% in the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.

Treasury chief Rachel Reeves said the figures showed that her policies were working and that renewed economic growth would allow the government to put more money into public services and programs to support those hit by the high cost of living.

She said the party shouldn't put hard-won economic stability at risk "by plunging the country in chaos at a time when there is conflict in the world.”

There was also positive news from the National Health Service. Figures showed that waiting lines for NHS appointments — one of Streeting's signature priorities — fell for the fifth straight month, something Streeting is likely to point to if he runs for leader.

Streeting comes from a faction of the left-leaning Labour Party that sees itself as the modernizing wing, as does Starmer. Rayner is a favorite of members who think the party has strayed too far from its working-class roots and those who want the party to do more to boost the minimum wage and raise taxes on the rich.

Under Labour Party rules, any potential challenger to the prime minister would have to have the backing of 81 of the party’s 403 members in the House of Commons. More than that number have publicly called on Starmer to quit in recent days.

Other potential candidates may enter any race for the leadership.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is widely seen as a potential candidate, though he would have to find a way back into Parliament before he could run. Allies have suggested a sitting member of the House of Commons could resign to make way for Burnham to run in a special election.

Efforts to depose a Labour leader are relatively rare

While the opposition Conservative Party has a history of deposing prime ministers while in office, Labour does not, said Jonathan Tonge, a professor of politics at the University of Liverpool.

“They don’t do ruthless on their leader,’’ he said. “They don’t tend to depose their leader. The Conservatives, they readily do ruthless.’’

While there is a chance that the current efforts to unseat Starmer will fizzle out, that would probably just delay the crisis for a few months given the level of fragmentation in British politics, Tonge added.

If “a civil war opens up within a Labour Party that’s supposed to be governing us at present, it’s an extraordinary state of affairs given it’s less than two years since Keir Starmer won one of Labor’s greatest election victories ever,” Tonge said.

“He’s got a huge parliamentary majority, he’s got more than 400 MPs, and yet his prime ministership may be on the brink of disintegration," he added.

No games were scheduled for Thursday — the league's first day with no games in a month — meaning the playoffs will resume Friday with two games.

Detroit, trying to keep its season alive, will play in Cleveland. And Minnesota, trying to keep its season alive, will play host to San Antonio.

The Cavaliers and Spurs hold 3-2 leads in those series. If Game 7s are needed, they would be Sunday in Detroit and San Antonio.

Thursday's schedule

— No games scheduled.

Friday's schedule

— Game 6, Detroit at Cleveland, 7 p.m. EDT (Prime)

Series: Cleveland leads 3-2.

Odds: Cleveland by 3.5.

The Pistons are already 3-0 when facing elimination in these playoffs, with one of those wins coming on the road — the one where they rallied from 24 points down in the second half to beat Orlando in Game 6 of Round 1.

— Game 6, San Antonio at Minnesota, 9:30 p.m. EDT (Prime)

Series: San Antonio leads 3-2.

Odds: San Antonio by 4.5.

Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs are one game away from a showdown with Oklahoma City. Minnesota let Game 5 get away in a hurry in the second half, but remains alive in the chase for what would be its third consecutive appearance in the Western Conference finals.

Wednesday's recap

— Cavaliers 117, Pistons 113, OT for a 3-2 series lead. The Pistons are in trouble.

Conference finals schedule

The NBA Finals will start on June 3. And there is a chance that we won't know where Game 1 of that series is going to be until June 1.

Conference finals schedules are out, with start dates contingent on Friday's results. Here are the scenarios:

— If Detroit-Cleveland ends in six games, then the Cleveland-New York series (with the Knicks having home-court) would be played May 17, 19, 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31.

— If Detroit-Cleveland ends in seven games, then the Cavs/Pistons winner-New York series (with either the Pistons or the Knicks having home-court) would be played May 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 and 31.

— If San Antonio-Minnesota ends in six games, then the San Antonio-Oklahoma City series (with the Thunder having home-court) would be played May 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, and 30.

— If San Antonio-Minnesota ends in seven games, then the Timberwolves/Spurs winner-Oklahoma City series (with the Thunder having home-court) would be played May 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, and June 1.

Awards watch

A breakdown of this season's NBA awards:

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

— Hustle Award: Moussa Diabaté, Charlotte.

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

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

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

— Sportsmanship Award: Derrick White, Boston.

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

— Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, Dallas.

— Executive of the Year: Brad Stevens, Boston.

Among the announcements still to come:

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

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

Betting odds

Defending champion Oklahoma City (-165) is favored to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.

The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+320), New York (+550), Cleveland (+4000), Detroit (+5000) and Minnesota (+12500).

Key dates

— Through Sunday: NBA draft combine.

— Sunday or Tuesday: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.

— Monday or Wednesday: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.

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

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft.

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft.

Quote of the day

“It was preparing for moments like this. I knew that I was going to come back this season. I knew that this team was good enough to make a run and I was just preparing myself, preparing my body, preparing my mind for these moments, to be the best player that I can be to help us win.” — Cleveland's Max Strus, on how he handled missing 70 regular-season games but was ready for the playoffs.

Stats of the day

— Cleveland's James Harden is up to 4,144 career playoff points, three away from tying Golden State's Stephen Curry for 10th on the all-time playoff list. Harden would move into third among active players if he passes Curry, behind only LeBron James (8,521) and Kevin Durant (5,008).

— San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama is up to 14 3-pointers and 38 blocks so far in these playoffs. Every other player with that many 3s and blocks in a single postseason — Rasheed Wallace in 2004 and 2005, Draymond Green in 2016 and Myles Turner and Chet Holmgren last year — saw their teams reach the NBA Finals. (Wembanyama is the first player to have that many 3s and blocks in just the first two rounds of the playoffs.)

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

“Lamine Yamal chose to incite hate against Israel while our soldiers combat the terrorist organization Hamas, an organization that massacred, raped and burned Jewish children, women and the elderly on Oct. 7, (2023)” minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Thursday.

The 18-year-old Yamal waved a large Palestinian flag from an open-top bus during a victory parade by Barcelona’s team through the city on Monday. The parade drew some 750,000 people to celebrate the league title clinched the previous day, local authorities said.

Yamal, who is Muslim, posted pictures of him holding the flag on his Instagram account.

Spain’s government and a large part of its population have been highly critical of Israel’s military operations that killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza in response to the 2023 Hamas surprise attack.

There has been a global backlash against Israel over the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza, which has spread to sport and culture. Protests have been seen in soccer, cycling and basketball. Last year's Spanish Vuelta was repeatedly disrupted by protesters angry with the participation of an Israeli-backed cycling team.

Spain is also one of five countries boycotting this year’s Eurovision Song Contest to protest Israel’s inclusion.

Yamal is set to star for Spain at next month’s World Cup to be played in North America.

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

Previous statements doubting Venezuela’s sovereignty over the past 25 years have been met with immediate derision from senior government officials, including the president. The ruling party even organized demonstrations in the capital, Caracas, as recently as Jan. 3, hours after then-President Nicolás Maduro was captured by the U.S., that included chants of “Gringo go home.” This time around, however, the government has mostly kept quiet, save for a brief statement to reporters Monday from acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

The approach demonstrates the balance Rodríguez must strike between external and internal politics following the January U.S. military attack in Caracas. The Trump administration has since implemented a phased plan to try to turn around the crisis-wrecked country and has forced Rodríguez’s political movement, Chavismo, to abandon the anti-U.S. sentiment that long accompanied its teachings.

“This is probably the most public and sharp manifestation of the government’s transactional, self-survival approach above everything else right now, above even that sort of basic tenet of Chavismo,” said Christopher Sabatini, senior fellow for Latin America at the London-based Chatham House think tank. “It’s better that they hold their tongue, not offend the U.S. right now. Why overreact to a ridiculous claim by Donald Trump?”

Rodríguez on Monday told journalists that Venezuela had no plans to become the 51st U.S. state, but her comments were much more reserved than past presidential addresses deriding these types of U.S remarks. They came after Trump said he was “seriously considering” the move. Trump has made similar comments about Canada.

“We will continue to defend our integrity, our sovereignty, our independence, our history,” Rodríguez said. Venezuela, she added, is “not a colony, but a free country.”

The Trump administration stunned Venezuelans by choosing to work with Rodríguez, instead of the country’s political opposition, following Maduro's ouster. She has since led cooperation with the administration’s phased plan, pitching her oil-rich nation to international investors and opening its energy sector to private capital and international arbitration. Rodríguez has also replaced senior officials, including Maduro’s faithful defense minister and attorney general.

Trump has praised her work, and his administration has lifted economic sanctions against her personally and eased sanctions against the country, though some still remain in place. The U.S. now also recognizes her as the “sole” head of state of Venezuela.

The U.S. stopped recognizing Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader in 2019, the year after he claimed reelection victory in a contest widely considered a sham as opposition parties and candidates were barred from participating.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges after their Jan. 3 capture. Both have pleaded not guilty and remain jailed at a Brooklyn detention center.

In Caracas, some residents on Wednesday viewed the government’s response as submitting to Trump, but they also acknowledged that Rodríguez is not in a position to unleash Chavismo’s characteristic anti-U.S. propaganda.

“She knows that it’s wise not to engage in direct confrontation because she knows she’s bound to lose,” college student Adonai Osoria said. “Now, are there some who disagree, who don’t like it? Well, yes, of course. But I consider her reaction right now to be a common, understandable reaction.”

Government supporters last showed their inflammatory attitude against the U.S. in the days after Maduro was captured, burning U.S. flags and carrying signs that read “Gringo go home.”

Among the government’s strongest supporters across the country are the armed groups known as colectivos. The groups are a staple of pro-ruling party demonstrations. Local leader Jorge Navas characterized Trump’s comments as “irresponsible acts of provocation” and praised Rodríguez for her diplomatic response.

“We are bending, strategically, but we will not break,” Navas said of Chavismo’s current approach to U.S. pressure. “We continue to resist, that is, realistically, given the country’s economic situation.”

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Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.

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

Leo’s speech at Rome’s La Sapienza University marked the first time a pope has visited the campus since Pope Benedict XVI called off a planned speech there in 2008 in the face of protests from faculty and students.

The American pope was warmly welcomed on Thursday, including by some of Sapienza’s newest students: Young Palestinians who arrived in Italy this week on a “humanitarian corridor” from Gaza to continue their studies at the university. The Italian government, working with Catholic organizations, has brought hundreds of Palestinians to study and receive medical care in Italy since the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza began in 2023.

Leo met some of the Gaza students during a brief greeting at the campus chapel, and again after his speech in the main lecture hall of the university, which was founded by Pope Boniface VIII in 1303.

In his speech, Leo denounced how military spending had increased dramatically this year, especially in Europe, at the expense of education and healthcare, while “enriching elites who care nothing for the common good.”

He called for better monitoring of how AI was being developed and used in military and civilian contexts “so that it does not absolve humans of responsibility for their choices and does not exacerbate the tragedy of conflicts.”

“What is happening in Ukraine, in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, in Lebanon, and in Iran illustrates the inhuman evolution of the relationship between war and new technologies in a spiral of annihilation,” he said.

The pope said education and research must move instead in the opposite direction that values life “the lives of peoples who cry out for peace and justice!”

Leo has identified AI as one of the most critical matters facing humanity, especially its application in warfare and everyday life. They are themes he’s expected to explore more fully in his first encyclical, due to be released in the coming weeks.

Nada Rahim Jouda, 19, was one of the Gazans who met Leo, just two days after she arrived in Italy. She was still marveling at her new life studying business science in Rome, a city that she said was “like heaven for me.”

“Everything here is green and it’s not gray and troubles everywhere and miserable people in the streets,” she said.

But Jouda remains concerned for the family she left behind: her mother, recovering from leukemia, and younger sisters aged 17 and 13. Over the course of the war in Gaza, the family was forced to move four times, and her mother was unable to receive care or check-ups for her cancer.

“They all rely on me. I’m the only hope that they have,” she said.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Uthmeier, who threatened possible enforcement actions against the league in March if it didn’t suspend the 23-year-old rule, sent the subpoena along with a letter to NFL executive vice president and attorney Ted Ullyot on Wednesday.

The subpoena commands the league to appear at the attorney general’s office in Tallahassee, Florida, on June 12. It asks the league to produce extensive documents, including “all diversity reports, coaching census data, or demographic surveys that reflect the race and sex of coaching staffs of the teams from 2017 to the present.”

"All in all, the Rooney Rule and the NFL’s related ‘inclusive hiring’ policies — and the NFL’s representations about these policies — continue to raise significant concerns under Florida law,” Uthmeier wrote in the letter.

The Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for head coach, general manager and coordinator positions. At least one minority candidate must be interviewed for the quarterbacks coach position.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, speaking at the league meetings in Phoenix in March, acknowledged the changing political landscape for diversity initiatives in the U.S., but added that he didn’t believe there should be any legal issues with the league’s policy. “The Rooney Rule has been around a long time,” Goodell said then. “We’ve evolved it, changed it. We’ll continue to do that.”

The NFL didn't comment Wednesday on the subpoena.

But in a letter to Uthmeier on May 1, the league said: “The NFL’s pursuit of top-tier talent led to the adoption of the Rooney Rule in 2003. Importantly, the Rooney Rule does not impose any hiring quotas or mandates, and it does not license clubs to consider race or sex in making hiring decisions. Hiring decisions for NFL teams are made by the individual clubs — not the League — and those decisions are based on merit. The Rooney Rule neither requires, nor permits, any team to make a hiring decision on the basis of race, sex, or any other protected characteristic. To do so would be an express violation of League policy.”

Uthmeier commended the league for altering the Rooney Rule language on its website after receiving his initial warning letter in March but added the revisions raise more questions.

The updated terminology on the NFL site says: “The Rooney Rule establishes best practices designed to expand opportunity and strengthen the NFL’s talent pipeline across leadership roles. It is part of a broader effort to develop a deep and sustainable talent pipeline across all levels of the NFL. The policy is intended to ensure that qualified candidates from a wide range of backgrounds are identified and considered for leadership roles.”

The website previously stated the Rooney Rule aims to “increase the number of minorities hired” in leadership positions and said that diversity “enriches the game and creates a more effective, quality organization.”

“We appreciate how quickly the NFL changed its website in response to our letter and capitulated on some of their discriminatory hiring quotas,” Uthmeier said. “But their response raises more questions about the Rooney Rule, and we look forward to their cooperation with the investigative subpoena we issued them today.”

In the May 1 letter, the league had told Uthmeier: “We appreciate that your letter has brought to our attention some outdated information on the NFL’s website regarding these programs. This information is in the process of being updated to accurately reflect the NFL’s current programs and policies.”

Uthmeier sent his first letter to Goodell in March, saying the Rooney Rule amounts to “blatant race and sex discrimination.”

The subpoena expands the focus beyond the Rooney Rule and includes other NFL diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including a discontinued mandate that required teams to hire a minority offensive assistant; the diversity accelerator program; the Mackie development program for college officials; and the resolution that awards teams draft picks if one of its minority assistant coaches or executives is hired to be the coach or general manager of another team.

The NFL's front office and coach accelerator program will be held next week in Orlando after it was paused in 2025. The program was created as an extension of the Rooney Rule in 2022 to increase diversity among coaches and front office executives. It will now include nonminority participants.

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

Yet the area’s greatest contribution to the game may have come a few miles away in West Philadelphia, where a rebirth is taking place at Cobbs Creek Golf Club.

While Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Gary Player were competing for titles and trophies at the venerable Main Line layouts, Cobbs Creek offered something more tangible: inclusion and opportunity.

Opened in 1916, Cobbs Creek welcomed golfers of all backgrounds. Women could play at Cobbs Creek before they were eligible to vote. And, while very few golf courses were open to Blacks, there was no segregation at the course.

Hall of Famer Charlie Sifford took advantage of the course's open-door policy. He claimed it as his home and honed his skills there on the way to breaking golf’s color barrier in 1961 as the first Black member of the PGA and among its first Black winners.

Sifford’s success and connection to the course helped spark a groundswell of support for the Cobbs Creek Foundation and its effort to restore the long-neglected 350-acre parcel that also touches Delaware and Montgomery counties. The effort got a significant boost with backing from Tiger Woods.

A place for golf where everyone feels welcome

The relationship between Woods and Sifford is well-documented. Woods credits Sifford for helping pave the way for his success and referred to him as “the grandfather I never had.” He even named his son, Charlie, after Sifford.

That connection led Woods to get involved with the Cobbs Creek project, opening his foundation’s second TGR Learning Lab there in 2025. The educational facility with golf-related activities for youth in underserved areas is one of the cornerstones of the revitalization efforts and has been an immediate success.

Woods says the renovation is as much about education and giving back to the community as golf.

“Coming here, to a place he (Sifford) played, he grew up, he called home, and for me to have the support of the entire community, to be able to build something,” Woods said. "A home, a safe place, innovation. ... I didn’t start the foundation to produce golfers that hit golf balls. I started the foundation to produce the greatest humans possible.”

The learning lab also has a junior practice putting green, built with a $250,000 donation from the foundation of three-time major champion Jordan Spieth. Also on property is a 68-bay driving range and a short course designed by Woods’ company. All the elements play a role in the bigger project: the championship course restoration.

“There’s a lot of new ways that people are picking up the game now, and you’ll have all of that available here,” Spieth said at the opening of the putting green. “The accessibility for anybody, of any age, to come. Do golf however you want to do golf.”

The grand plan is to restore the course to the original design by Hugh Wilson, the golf course architect responsible for crafting nearby Merion. The rebuild has been made more daunting by near-constant flooding and decades of disrepair that led to the course closing in 2020.

The hope is to eventually host a PGA Tour event at the site. For now, golf is just piece of the puzzle.

“We knew we were going to restore this golf course and it was going to be for the good of the public,” said Cobbs Creek Foundation COO Enrique Hervada.

“Golf is very exclusive in many ways. This is extremely inclusive. Everybody is welcome here. It was always that way, too.”

For decades, Cobbs Creek delivered on its promise

Philadelphia-owned Cobbs Creek was established to serve those unable to golf at private clubs.

Wilson is credited with the design of Cobbs Creek’s “Olde Course,” with an assist from noted golf course architects George Crump (Pine Valley), A.W. Tillinghast (Winged Foot), George Thomas (Riviera) and William Flynn (Shinnecock Hills).

The layout hosted the USGA’s Amateur Public Links in 1928. A nine-hole layout, the Karakung Course, was established in 1929. In 1947, Cobbs Creek was the site of the Negro National Open, with heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis as the first-round leader. It became one of only a handful of courses in the National Black Golf Hall of Fame in 2021.

Sifford and Howard “Buth” Wheeler, a pioneer among Black golfers and multi-time United Golf Association national champion, were notable players at Cobbs Creek. Sifford was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2014. He died in 2015.

In the 1950s, the original layout was tweaked to make room for four missile silos and barracks as part of the U.S. air defense system. The original layout was reconfigured and the course continued to deal with flooding. Conditions also deteriorated while under the control of different management companies.

The renovation comes with a $180 million price tag. There have been numerous stops and starts during the rebuild while awaiting permitting and other hurdles. Fundraising is a near-daily endeavor for Hervada.

Golf architects Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, who led the restoration of Aronimink, are refurbishing the “Olde Course.” The drainage issues have been dealt with and the plan includes restoring three miles of creek and creating more than 20 acres of wetlands.

“The people involved knew it was going to be a herculean effort,” Hervada said. “We’re really close, but we have a long way to go. We’re building this for the next 100 years."

Profits from much of the golf will drive the TGR Learning Lab

The 30,000-square foot educational facility for grades 1-12 was the first building to open on the Cobbs Creek campus, in April 2025. It is the second TGR lab, after the first in Anaheim, California, opened in 2006. Others are planned for Georgia and California.

The plan is for the profits from the golf operations to help fund the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) after-school and weekend programs.

The learning lab got off to a fast start, thanks to Woods’ TGR Foundation.

Meredith Foote, the lab's executive director, said when the facility first opened, schools within a mile and a half radius were the targets. Now, all are welcome, and Foote says that 7,000 students have been served.

“We exist to open up doors and opportunities,” Foote said. “And when the right doors to educational enrichment open, there is no limit for our students. It’s really expose, expose, expose."

Corrine Schultz, 18, of Upper Darby, was excited about joining the learning lab from the moment she saw what was offered. The homeschooled high school senior is on a robotics team at TGR.

“Opportunity,” Schultz said of what was offered. “To be part of a competitive team with the robotics. I had never been a part of a competitive team.”

Schultz will continue her education in the fall at Drexel University and plans to return to the lab.

“I’m a student here,” she said. “But whatever future career I decide, I want to give back to the community, to people in general.”

And that is exactly what Foote wants the learning lab to instill in its participants.

“The legacy of this program is the kids who come in and are trying to find their passion and going on to do amazing things in life because of the opportunities they received here at the TGR Learning Lab,” Foote said. “We’re using golf as a driver to lift up this entire community.”

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

It's all added up to being the first team in the big leagues to 30 victories.

The Braves improved MLB's top record to 30-13 with another thrilling triumph Wednesday night, scoring three runs in the eighth inning to beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1.

Mike Yastrzemski came off the bench to contribute a pinch-hit double that drove in the tie-breaking run, and jack-of-all-trades Mauricio Dubón followed with a two-run homer into the Chicago bullpen that finished off the Cubs.

Throw in another stout performance by the Atlanta bullpen, which got one scoreless inning apiece from four relievers, and this team is threatening to run away with the NL East before the calendar turns to summer.

The Braves are up by nine games on second-place Washington and have a double-figure margin over everyone else in the division.

“There's no egos here,” said Yastrzemski, who contributed his first homer of the season the previous night in a 5-2 victory over the Cubs. “Nobody feels like they own any piece of this team. We're all pulling on the same rope together, the same direction. Whatever opportunities come for you that day, that's good enough.”

While stars such as Matt Olson, Drake Baldwin, Chris Sale and Ozzie Albies are having big years, some lesser-known players are also having a significant impact.

That includes Dubón, who was acquired from Houston over the winter for journeyman Nick Allen and has filled in wherever needed.

Dubón started the season at shortstop while Ha-Seong Kim recovered from an injury but now is largely playing the outfield, even taking the leadoff role in the lineup while former NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. is on the injured list.

The clinching homer showed how much faith the Braves and their first-year manager, Walt Weiss, have in their utility ace.

“In years past for me, I would've gotten pinch-hit right there and they wouldn't let me hit,” Dubón said. “But I ended up putting up a two-run homer. I think it's that confidence he gives you when you're playing."

Dubón is still motivated by being picked in the 26th round — the 773rd choice overall — of the 2013 draft.

“I'm trying to prove people wrong,” he said, breaking into a satisfied smile. "I've been doing that for a while now.”

Weiss, who took over when long-time manager Brian Snitker retired after a disappointing 2025 campaign, has the Braves solidly on track for a return to the postseason.

He's not looking at the big picture by any stretch, but he can't help but be satisfied at the way his managerial tenure has started.

"I'm so engrossed with the day to day," Weiss said. “You want to attack each day the best you can, and these guys are doing that. They confront every challenge that comes our way.”

Yastrzemski, like everyone else on the roster, is eager to step up whenever he's called upon.

“Some days your role is going to be a cheerleader. Keep everyone in a good mood, pull for the guys, bring somebody a water when they're thirsty," he said. "Those things, it’s real. When you see that happening with other guys, you can't help but do it yourself.”

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

There were no immediate claims of responsibility, but the incidents came as a senior Iranian official reiterated his country's claim to the waterway and another said it had a right to seize oil tankers connected to the U.S.

The ship was seized off the east coast of the UAE and is heading toward Iranian waters, the British military said Thursday.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said it received reports that the vessel was taken by unauthorized personnel while anchored 38 nautical miles (70 kilometers, 44 miles) northeast of the UAE port of Fujairah, near the Strait of Hormuz.

Indian authorities also announced Thursday that an Indian-flagged cargo ship sank off the coast of Oman after an attack sparked a fire aboard the vessel while it was en route from Somalia to Sharjah, another UAE port, on Wednesday, without identifying who attacked the ship.

Seizures and attacks in Hormuz ongoing

The situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil used to pass through on a typical day, continues to capture the world's attention as Iran’s grip has jolted the world economy and caused a spike in fuel prices that has rippled through other sectors with effects far beyond the Middle East.

UKMTO did not name the ship seized Thursday and said it is investigating. There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the seizure.

Fujairah is an important oil export terminal and the UAE’s main port outside of the Persian Gulf. It has been repeatedly attacked during the war with Iran.

The attack on the Indian-flagged cargo ship Haji Ali occurred Wednesday, according to Mukesh Mangal, a senior official in India’s shipping ministry. He said all 14 Indian crew members were rescued by Oman’s coast guard and were safe.

India’s foreign ministry called the incident “unacceptable” and condemned continued attacks on commercial shipping and civilian mariners. The ministry did not identify who carried out the attack.

Seizures come at tense diplomatic moment

The seizure comes as U.S. President Donald Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on a much-anticipated visit to Beijing.

The White House said both sides had agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open.

Iranian semiofficial news agencies reported that Chinese ships began passing through the strait Wednesday night under new Iranian protocols. According to the reports, Tehran agreed to facilitate the passage of several Chinese vessels after requests from China’s foreign minister and Beijing’s ambassador to Iran. The ships began their passage as Trump arrived in China.

The seizures also happened hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had quietly visited the UAE during the Israeli-U.S. war with Iran, though the UAE swiftly denied that any secret visit had occurred.

The Gulf nation normalized relations with Israel in 2020. Iran has criticized that agreement and has repeatedly suggested over the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the UAE.

Israeli leaders have made occasional visits to the UAE in recent years after normalizing relations.

Netanyahu’s decision to go public with the sensitive meeting was likely an effort to drum up local support for his flagging party ahead of Israeli elections, said Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at the Institute of National Security Studies, a defense think tank in Tel Aviv.

“It’s amazing, it’s the deepest cooperation we’ve ever had … that during a war, Israel is defending an Arab state against Iran. It shows how complicated the Middle East is,” he said.

The UAE is trying to highlight its cooperation with Israel but not with Netanyahu and his government, Guzansky said, because many in the UAE are against Israel’s policies in Gaza.

“They’re trying to differentiate between security cooperation and cooperating with this government,” said Guzansky, who previously worked for the national security council within the Israeli prime minister's office.

Iran sets demands for new talks

Iran said it will not enter more talks with the United States unless Washington meets five conditions, including paying reparations for the war and accepting Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s semiofficial Fars news agency reported, citing an informed source.

The White House is again unlikely to accept those demands, especially formalizing Iran's control over the waterway, which was open to international traffic before the war.

Iran’s senior vice president, Mohammadreza Aref, said Thursday that the strait belongs to Iran and that Tehran would not give it up “at any price,” state TV reported. “It has always been our property,” Aref said.

Iran defends right to seize ships

Iran’s judiciary spokesperson told the state-owned Iran Daily newspaper on Thursday Iran has the legal and judicial right to seize oil tankers connected to the U.S. in the strait because the U.S. has violated international maritime laws and committed piracy. The spokesperson, Asghar Jahangir, did not explicitly refer to the tanker seized on Thursday.

Iran seized a number of ships, including a tanker identified as the Ocean Koi, last week, saying it was attempting to disrupt oil exports and Iranian interests, according to the official IRNA news agency. It said the tanker was seized in the Gulf of Oman and was carrying Iranian oil when it was boarded and taken to Iran’s southern coast.

The U.S. sanctioned the Ocean Koi in February as part of a “shadow fleet” that has been transporting Iranian oil.

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Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, and Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi contributed to this report.

The Reggio Approach, used in public daycare centers and preschools in the northern city of Reggio Emilia, values a child’s inherent curiosity and potential, with teachers acting as facilitators, not instructors, and parents and the surrounding community actively involved. And Princess Catherine, who has made early development her signature cause, is spending two days seeing it up close.

“I love that you put children and childhood at the heart of the community, and I’m really fascinated to learn more about it,” she said as she arrived at one of the town’s preschools on Wednesday.

Reggio partially grew out of the Montessori philosophy and both Italian approaches have spread around the world, standing as counterpoints to models in places like the U.S. and Britain that emphasize standardization and testing for children so young they haven’t begun to read.

Reggio appeals to some Italian parents who themselves received education with rote learning — but only to a point, according to Kathryn Ramsay, a longtime early-childhood educator who runs a Reggio-inspired project north of Rome.

“When the children are 3 or 4, they’re totally fine with it,” Ramsay said. “And then when they hit 5, they (the parents) start getting a little twitchy because they’re thinking about Grade 1,” when children have to sit still for longer periods and learn to read and write.

A postwar approach to childcare

The Reggio Approach was born as Italy began to rebuild after World War II and a group of mothers in hard-hit Reggio Emilia, a center of anti-Fascist resistance, banded together.

“They sold the metal from a German tank for funds and they hand-carried stones from the river to reconstruct a place for the children to be cared for while the rest of the village went about the business of putting life back together,” said Margie Cooper of the North America Reggio Emilia Alliance.

An innovative pedagogical expert, Loris Malaguzzi, built on Montessori and other educational reform movements to help articulate Reggio’s child-centered approach, which covers children aged 0-6.

His poem exploring how young children communicate and make sense of their world through drawing, painting, dancing and singing served as something of a manifesto. Valuing the capacities and experiences of children was unheard of at the time.

“The child was only an adult in formation and didn’t have things to say or competencies already realized,” said Roberta Cardarello, senior professor of didactical and special pedagogy at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

The Reggio Approach spread to other towns, especially in the north’s left-leaning municipalities. But Italy’s central government in Rome — headed by conservative Christian Democrats until the 1990s — resisted promoting it widely, perhaps because of its association with Reggio Emilia’s communist history.

Today, that red scare is gone, but the model’s adoption often depends on whether cash-strapped local administrations invest in training or teachers have trained independently, according to Elisabetta Nigris, professor of didactic programs and evaluation at the University of Studies Milan-Bicocca.

How Reggio works and what are its outcomes

Reggio employs features common in high-quality programs, including a focus on adults and children in relationship that promotes social and emotional well-being, according to Sylvi Kuperman, senior researcher at the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago. Her 2017 study on Reggio in Italy found greater high school graduation and employment outcomes compared to kids who didn’t receive formal childcare.

Children typically spend multiple years with the same teacher, she said. They participate in meal preparation. Classrooms feature windows and natural materials, like wood. Gardens and artwork are a staple.

On Thursday, Catherine visited the “Salvatore Allende” daycare and preschool in Reggio Emilia, playing with children in the garden, using a magnifying glass to look in the grass and at one point letting a slimy newt crawl in her hand.

“In London, we have newts like this too,” she said.

Catherine’s visit is significant for Britain, since the Reggio Approach isn’t recognized in its national educational policy, and most early childhood programs are run by private organizations for profit, said Peter Moss, emeritus professor at the University College London’s Institute of Education.

But he stressed that Reggio developed in a very particular time and context that is hard to replicate.

“Reggio Emilia is a reaction to 20 years of authoritarian rule under Mussolini and, after that fell, of course a lot of places in Italy were asking the question ’How do we make sure that never happens again?’”

A Reggio-inspired center called Wild Joy

At Ramsay’s Reggio-inspired, bilingual project north of Rome, there is a large grassy garden but no typical playground equipment or bright decorative posters lining the schoolhouse walls. Rather, the tiny log cabin with a covered porch is spare and neutral-toned. Most learning takes place outside: the “mud kitchen,” where kids play at a table with dishes, a digging pitch, a big rock to climb up and slide down in the dirt. Called “Wild Gioia” (Wild Joy), it currently has five children enrolled, aged 3-6.

Ramsay points to evidence suggesting that the best preparation for reading and writing is play, because it teaches children to concentrate.

“They don’t learn to concentrate by being told what to concentrate on,” she said. “They’re learning to concentrate by having the freedom to be able to follow their own interests.”

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Winfield reported from Rome. Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, MO.

They can play a big role in how you feel.

“One of the biggest things that people forget is that you need to fuel your body. You need to eat consistently throughout the day. Our bodies do their best when they’re being fed. So, make sure that you’re not going for long periods of time, three or four hours, between a meal or a snack,” said Beth Czerwony, RD, registered dietitian at Cleveland Clinic.

Czerwony said what you eat matters just as much.

It’s best to stick with whole foods, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains, eggs, chicken and fish.

She also recommends having a mixture of carbohydrates, protein and healthy fats in your diet.

She explains that carbohydrates will help give you fuel, while the protein will slow down how fast it’s released – giving you steady energy.

The fat also keeps the hunger cues at bay.

“You want to make sure that if you’re having any type of carbohydrate, that it’s a whole grain, higher fiber option. You want to avoid any quick fixes. It’s going to raise your blood sugar quickly and then crash it down. So, make sure that it is the best nutritious value that you can find,” she said.

As for foods to avoid, Czerwony said anything that’s ultra-processed and high in sugar.

The same goes for sweetened beverages.

The energy boost is going to be short-lived, and you could wind up feeling even more tired.

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits for the the week ending May 9 rose by 12,000 to 211,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s slightly more than the 207,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

Despite relatively few layoffs, the labor market appears to be stuck in what economists call a “low-hire, low-fire” state. That has kept the unemployment rate low at 4.3%, but left many of those out of work struggling to find new employment.

Though U.S. employers delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs in April, the Iran war has injected a large degree of uncertainty about the broader U.S. economy and labor market.

The Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s oil travels through, remains closed. Since the beginning of the war in late February, oil prices have spiked more than 50% and the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. has climbed to $4.53 from less than $3. Besides hitting consumers’ pocketbooks, those higher costs can discourage businesses from hiring.

Data from the U.S. government this week revealed that inflation at the consumer level rose 3.8% from April 2025, the biggest jump in three years. Food prices are also up, but may not yet fully reflect rising energy costs due to the Iran war, analysts say.

Another report this week showed that wholesale prices shot up 6% from a year ago, the highest point in more than three years. The Labor Department’s producer price index — which tracks inflation before it hits consumers — shot up 1.4% from March to April, the biggest monthly gain in more than four years.

This comes at a time when U.S. inflation is already above the Federal Reserve’s 2% goal. Two weeks ago, the Fed opted to leave its benchmark rate alone, citing economic uncertainty caused by instability in the Middle East and still-elevated inflation.

Lower interest rates can boost the economy and hiring, but also tend to stoke inflation, leading a number of Federal Reserve policymakers to say they are willing to consider an interest rate hike this year.

On top of that, the recent artificial intelligence boom and the investment required to develop it could alter or even replace some jobs.

A number of high-profile companies have cut jobs recently, including Verizon, UPS, Amazon, Disney and Walmart.

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 Labor Department's report Thursday showed that the four-week moving average of jobless claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week gyrations, inched up by 750 to 203,750.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending May 2 jumped by 24,000 to 1.78 million, in line with analyst forecasts.

Raymond Johnson, 52, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at 10 a.m.

He was sentenced to death for killing 24-year-old Brooke Whitaker and her 7-month-old daughter, Kya, in June 2007.

Prosecutors said Johnson and Whitaker had been arguing at her home in Tulsa before he repeatedly hit her over the head with a metal claw hammer. Whitaker’s skull was fractured and she had more than 20 lacerations on her face and scalp. But she was still conscious and begged Johnson to spare her and Kya, who was sleeping in a bedroom, prosecutors said in documents prepared for Johnson’s clemency hearing in April.

“She begged him to call 911. She begged him to let her mom come get baby Kya. She begged him to think of her children,” the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office said. Whitaker had three other children.

Johnson retrieved a gas can from a tool shed in the backyard, doused Whitaker and the house with gasoline, lit a dish towel on fire, threw it at Whitaker and left, the attorney general’s office said. Whitaker died from head injuries and smoke inhalation while her daughter died from severe burns.

“Raymond Johnson is a cruel murderer who inflicted unimaginable pain and suffering on his victims,” Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond said in a statement.

Johnson’s attorneys did not file a last-minute appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution.

His attorneys unsuccessfully argued in earlier appeals that Johnson’s arrest was illegal, police coerced his confession from him and that his trial lawyer conceded his guilt in Whitaker’s death without his permission.

In April, Oklahoma’s five-member Pardon and Parole Board voted unanimously to deny Johnson clemency. During that clemency hearing, Johnson apologized to the victims’ family and asked for forgiveness, saying he was a changed person.

“I apologize. No excuses, no justifications, a sincere apology. And to know that it’s sincere, look at my actions. Look at my life. Look how I’ve changed. I’m living a remorseful life. I’m living it,” Johnson said in an interview with Death Penalty Action, a national anti-death penalty group.

Whitaker’s family members asked for the lethal injection to proceed.

“Executing him will not give me my mom or sister back, it will not take away almost 20 years of pain. What it will do is finally stop him from continuing to hurt us,” Logan Kleck, Whitaker’s oldest daughter, said in a letter to the board.

In addition to his first-degree murder conviction, Johnson also served nine years of a 20-year sentence after being convicted of manslaughter in 1996.

If the execution is carried out, Johnson will be the second person put to death this year in Oklahoma and the 11th in the country.

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Lozano reported from Houston. Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70

The national average has risen 25 cents for the second straight week, and drivers are now paying about $1.50 more per gallon than they were a year ago, according to AAA. AAA also reports that Virginia’s statewide price at the pump has continued to climb.

Leaving the car behind

With gas prices rising, 10 News Community Journalist Bella Walser tested a real-world alternative — ditching the car and taking Valley Metro, the bus service serving the Roanoke Valley — to see how it stacks up for everyday errands.

For Roanoke driver Israel, the spike has been hard to ignore.

“It sucks, it sucks, like two weeks ago it was like $4.50 and then I went to fill up my tank and it’s like $5 for premium,” he said. “Like two weeks ago it was like $63 and then I filled it up two days ago and it was $71.”

Bus rider Evans May said the math is pretty straightforward as he was about to board the Smart Way Bus to the New River Valley.

“It’s cheaper getting back and forth to Christiansburg than putting gas in a car,” Mays said.

How to ride Valley Metro

Getting on the bus takes a little planning upfront. Riders can use the VMGO app for wait times and bus routes. Google and Apple Maps were found to be efficient alternatives when mapping out routes and connections before boarding.

Fares are straightforward: riders can pay $1.75 per ride in exact change on the bus or pay more and receive the change loaded onto a bus card. Day passes cost $3.50 and can be purchased — in person only — at Third Street Station. Weekly and monthly passes are also available there.

Standard city buses leave Third Street Station at 15 minutes past every hour and run from 5:45 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Every Valley Metro bus is fully accessible and equipped with wheelchair ramps or lifts.

For cyclists, each bus is equipped with a bike rack holding two bikes.

More bus services for late hours, long distance, disability

On Sundays, standard city buses do not operate, but MetroFLX provides microtransit service runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For late night riders, MetroFLX also provides service Monday through Saturday from 8:45 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. Rides must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance by calling 540-343-1721, though same-day, next-day and subscription rides are available based on bus availability.

Riders heading to the New River Valley can take Valley Metro’s Smart Way Bus for $4 per trip, with reduced monthly passes at $60 and unlimited monthly passes at $120.

For individuals with disabilities, the S.T.A.R. (Specialized Transit Arranged Rides) program offers door-to-door service for $3.50 per ride between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Sunday. Riders must first apply for and be approved for ADA paratransit eligibility. Companion aides ride free, and drivers assist with boarding and deboarding.

For those traveling downtown, the Star Line Trolley is a free service running along Jefferson Street between downtown Roanoke and Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. It operates 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, with service every 20 minutes. The trolley is funded by Carilion Clinic, Downtown Roanoke Inc. and the City of Roanoke.

What to expect on the bus

Walser’s test run — a round trip from Third Street Station to Valley View Mall — took just over two hours, compared to about 30 minutes by car. That included a roughly 15-minute walk to the bus stop, a 30-minute wait to board the first bus, and a 30-minute and 15-minute delay when boarding the second bus.

Mays summed up the trade-off simply.

“You put $20 in and you get maybe four gallons, so it kind of makes it rough going anywhere,” he said.

He added that the experience itself isn’t bad.

“It’s not bad, its relaxing, you sit back, enjoy the ride, don’t have to worry about the other people, traffic or anything like that,” Mays said.

Bottom line

Valley Metro can save riders real money — but that savings comes at a cost in time, especially if a bus is missed and the next one isn’t for an hour.

For drivers with fixed schedules who live near a frequent stop, public transit can be a cheaper, stress-free option. For those with tight timelines or quick errands, the wait times may outweigh the savings at the pump.

Those considering making the switch are advised to plan routes ahead of time using the VMGO app or Google Maps and to have the correct fare or pass ready before boarding.

Named Psyche like the asteroid it’s after, the robotic explorer will slingshot past the red planet at 12,333 mph (19,848 kph) on Friday.

It will be an especially close flyby, with Psyche passing within 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) of Mars, equivalent to the distance between the U.S. east and west coasts. Then it will barrel toward the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that is home to its enticing target.

All of the spacecraft’s science instruments will be on for the Mars pass. NASA’s two Mars rovers along with a small fleet of U.S. and European orbiters will make surface and atmospheric observations at the same time for comparison.

Psyche's cameras already are photographing Mars, appearing as a crescent on approach and a nearly full sphere once it’s in the rearview mirror. The different views will serve double duty, allowing operators to fine-tune their instruments while providing “just plain beautiful photos,” Arizona State University’s Jim Bell, the imaging team leader, said in a statement.

While the asteroid belt is swarming with millions of objects, most are made of rock or ice. Only a small percentage are thought to be metal-rich like Psyche, a potato-shaped asteroid roughly 173 miles long and 144 miles wide (278 kilometers by 232 kilometers).

Scientists suspect the asteroid may be the exposed nickel and iron core of a fledgling planet that was stripped down by cosmic collisions. Studying such an object up close can yield information about the dawn of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago, and why and how Earth spawned life.

Launched in 2023, the spacecraft is midway through its six-year roundabout journey to Psyche in the outer fringes of the asteroid belt, three times farther from the sun than Earth. It should arrive in 2029, slipping into orbit around the asteroid for two years of study. The van-sized spacecraft runs on solar electric propulsion, using xenon gas thrusters.

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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.

Celina, Princeton, Melissa and Anna — all part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex — were the Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 fastest-growing U.S. cities with populations of 20,000 residents or more from mid-2024 to mid-2025, according to population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Fulshear, in metro Houston, was the second-fastest growing U.S. city. The five Texas cities' year-over-year growth rates ranged from almost 15% to almost 25%.

In pure numbers, Celina, with only 64,000 people, grew by more residents — 12,700 — than Seattle and Houston, cities that are 12 times and 37 times larger respectively.

Small- to medium-sized cities hit a sweet spot between the largest U.S. cities, which were most impacted by the loss of immigrants from the crackdown started last year during the second Trump administration, and anemic growth in small towns, according to Matt Erickson, a Census Bureau statistician.

Texas cities dominate

Nine out of 10 of the largest population gainers in pure numbers were cities in the South because of a healthy job market and its comparative affordability. The biggest numeric gainers were Charlotte, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Celina.

Fort Worth leaped over Jacksonville last year as the 10th most populous U.S. city, putting four Texas cities in the nation's top 10 most populous, with the other cities being Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.

Austin skipped over San Jose for the 12th most populous spot, as Texas’ capital city surpassed 1 million residents for the first time. It is now one of a dozen U.S. cities with 1 million residents or more.

Seattle makes a comeback

Seattle was the only non-Southern city to crack the top 10 in numeric population gains last year, at the No. 5 spot.

Like many large cities, particularly on the coasts, Seattle lost population during the height of the pandemic a half-decade ago. But recent construction of new housing has helped ease the city's affordability, making it more attractive for residents to stay in the core city rather than move to farther out suburbs in the metro area, according to the Washington State Office of Financial Management.

The growth was driven by immigrants, particularly from China and India. International migration accounted for almost three-quarters of the area's population gains, according to county-level population estimates released in March.

Tight housing market and natural disasters drive population losses

The two cities with the greatest rates of population loss last year — Twentynine Palms, California, by Joshua Tree National Park and Key West at the southern tip of Florida — were in places with tight housing markets. Their losses ranged from -2.4% to -2.9%.

In Twentynine Palms, a large chunk of the housing stock has been converted into short-term rentals for tourists heading to the national park. Just under 40% of its housing is occupied by its owners, compared with the national average of 65%, according to Census Bureau figures.

Hemmed in on all sides by water, the limited housing stock in Key West, as well as some of the highest home insurance rates in the U.S., have driven up housing costs for the Conch Republic. The median price for a home in Key West was $1.3 million at the start of this year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Other cities that had some of the biggest rates of population loss last year were hit by natural disasters.

Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck Florida’s Gulf Coast within weeks of each other in late 2024. Remnants of Helene blew through western North Carolina, leaving behind damaging tornadoes and flooding. Among the cities with the greatest rates of loss were Asheville, North Carolina, and several cities on Florida’s Gulf Coast, including Pinellas Park, Dunedin, Largo and Clearwater.

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Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 22-year-old from the country of Georgia who goes by the nickname “Commander Butcher,” was sentenced by a federal judge in Brooklyn on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty in November to soliciting hate crimes and distributing information about making bombs and ricin.

“I acknowledge that my actions have brought harm by spreading hatred and violence and I’m truly sorry for that," Chkhikvishvili wrote in a letter to the judge last month.

His lawyer, Zachary Taylor, asked for a five-year sentence, citing Chkhikvishvili's mental health struggles since he was a teenager who “fell under the spell of the violent extremist content” on social media, but has since reformed. Taylor also mentioned harsh conditions during Chkhikvishvili's nearly yearlong confinement in Moldova, where he was arrested in 2024 on an international warrant, according to his letter to the judge.

Prosecutors described Chkhikvishvili as the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, an international extremist group that adheres to a neo-Nazi ideology promoting violence intended to trigger a racial and religious war.

They said the group’s violent solicitations — promoted through Telegram channels and outlined in the “Hater’s Handbook” — appear to have inspired multiple real-life killings, including a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, last year that left a 16-year-old student dead.

Chkhikvishvili “repeatedly called for the murder of innocent civilians, including children, and schemed to attack and terrorize Jewish communities and racial minorities in the United States,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said in a statement. “Chkhikvishvili, for example, tried to recruit a supposed associate to dress up as Santa Claus and pass out poisoned candy to minority children.”

Since 2021, prosecutors said Chkhikvishvili distributed the “Hater’s Handbook” to members and others.

“I’m very ashamed authoring Haters Handbook, hoping one day it will disappear, I wish I never wrote it,” Chkhikvishvili wrote to the judge.

Prosecutors said Chkhikvishvili traveled to Brooklyn in 2022 and began repeatedly encouraging others to commit hate crimes and other acts of violence. They said in 2023, he solicited an undercover FBI employee to commit bombings and arsons “for the purpose of harming racial minorities, Jewish individuals and others.”

In 2024, the undercover worker was directed “to target the Jewish community, Jewish schools, and Jewish children in Brooklyn with poison,” prosecutors said in a statement.

“Chkhikvishvili sent detailed manuals about creating and mixing lethal poisons and gases, including ricin.”

Shattuck, one of 20 club pros in the 156-man field and given the honor of the opening shot, pulled his drive toward the fence line and was unsure whether it stayed in bounds. He wound up hitting a provisional, only to learn his original shot landed just inside the fence.

Aronimink has not held a major since the 1962 PGA Championship, and a restoration project nearly 10 years ago added bunkers and removed trees. Overnight rain might soften the course. Drier weather was in the forecast, along with the possibility of wind that would change the dynamics.

That's what awaited Masters champion Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth in the morning, and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in the afternoon.

McIlroy and Spieth in the same group brought the Grand Slam into focus.

Spieth needs to win the PGA Championship to become the seventh player to have won all four majors, while McIlroy is the only player who can win the calendar slam. Not since Spieth in 2015 has anyone captured the first two majors of the season.

Shattuck is the PGA director of instruction at Rolling Green, about 10 miles away from Aronimink. He had to take a one-shot penalty for an unplayable lie next to the fence, hacked out of the rough and made double bogey.

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

French authorities had initially ordered over 1,700 passengers and crew on The Ambition cruise ship to remain on board, but then decided late Wednesday to let those unaffected disembark. One passenger was spotted raising his arms in triumph while leaving the vessel.

It was not immediately clear how many left the ship.

French authorities said there is no link to a deadly hantavirus outbreak on a Dutch vessel that has put European health authorities on alert in recent weeks.

The Ambition was midway through a 14-night cruise from Belfast and Liverpool, with scheduled stops in northern Spain and along France’s Atlantic coast when it was struck by the outbreak. It reached Bordeaux on Tuesday evening, according to the operator, Ambassador Cruise Line. It was not immediately clear if or when it would resume its journey.

Samples analyzed at Bordeaux University Hospital confirmed an outbreak of norovirus. Local authorities said at this stage no serious cases have been reported and that sick passengers were cared for onboard by the ship’s medical team.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks outbreaks on voyages that call on U.S. and foreign ports, recorded 23 gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships last year. Most were caused by norovirus, including a new strain.

Ambassador Cruise Line, a British operator catering to passengers over 50, was founded in 2021.

She was on a pilgrimage with other Black divers and community members, visiting sacred sites including one where a British slave ship — the Henrietta Marie — sank 326 years ago.

The vessel had delivered 200 enslaved people from West Africa to Jamaica and was heading back to Britain in 1700 — near the peak of the trans-Atlantic slave trade — when it was swallowed up in the churning waters of New Ground Reef where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Gulf of Mexico.

A concrete marker at the site memorializes the people on that ship.

As Browning and her group prepared to dive in early May, the water was calm. The marker, 20 feet (6 meters) below, was visible from the glassy surface. “I thought I’d look at it, pay my respects and that’ll be that,” she said.

But something unexpected happened. Tears filled her eyes. She gently told herself: If you can be quiet, maybe they will speak.

Staring at the monument, which is now a small living reef covered in corals and sponges, she felt her ancestors’ words: “My daughter, we’re so glad you’re here.”

Overwhelmed, Browning lingered by the marker bearing the words: “Henrietta Marie. In memory and recognition of the courage, pain and suffering on enslaved African people. Speak her name and gently touch the souls of our ancestors.”

She felt submerged in gratitude.

“Without their stamina, their spirit and survival, I wouldn’t be here today. None of us would be here today,” she said.

Pilgrimages aren’t meant to be easy

For the pilgrims in Key West, the gathering was an act of devotion, a quest for connection with their roots and for spiritually nourishing generations to come. They had tried to dive to the marker last summer, but the water was too choppy.

“The ancestors were not smiling down on us then,” said Jay Haigler, master diving instructor with Underwater Adventure Seekers, the world's oldest Black scuba diving club. “This year was different.”

Such a pilgrimage was never meant to be easy, said Michael Cottman, who has written two books about the Henrietta Marie and was part of the National Association of Black Scuba Divers that installed the marker in 1992.

Cottman believes the site contains “spiritual turbulence.”

“Even if it wasn't carrying enslaved people, it embodies the oppression of our people,” he said.

The group organized an annual pilgrimage in the 1990s, but it didn't continue. The latest trip was spurred by an underwater interview project proposed by Stanford University anthropologist Ayana Omilade Flewellen, who serves on the board of Diving With a Purpose, a Black scuba diving nonprofit dedicated to documenting slave shipwrecks.

The submerged interviews also helped her connect as a pilgrim, Flewellen said. “I felt a kind of tenderness in my heart.”

The spiritual experience helped her process a traumatic history rooted in death and suffering.

“It’s hard to attach your life with this history,” she said. “The only way I could do that was turn toward what the divers were experiencing on this pilgrimage. That’s where it all bloomed and blossomed.”

Ancient ritual at African refugee cemetery

The pilgrims also gathered on land. At Higgs Beach on the south side of Key West, they visited a memorial and burial ground for 297 African refugees who died in 1860 after being rescued by the U.S. Navy from three slave ships — Wildfire, William and Bogota. Over 1,400 refugees were housed by the government in a compound and provided food and medical care, said Corey Malcom, the Florida Keys History Center’s lead historian.

While many were sent back to Africa, hundreds died due to the horrific conditions on the ships, he said.

Largely forgotten for decades, the grave site was discovered by historians and geologists using ground-penetrating radar. In 2010, a large pit containing 100 more bodies was located at a community dog park across the street. The area is now fenced off, Malcom said.

On Saturday, pilgrims met at the cemetery and held an emotional libation ceremony, a sacred, ancient ritual rooted in Afro-Caribbean spiritual tradition. One by one, group members tearfully thanked their ancestors and poured white rum on the beach. The clear spirit is believed to act as a messenger, inviting ancestral souls for their blessings.

“To honor your ancestors and the road they’ve traveled is very, very important because we’re all connected,” said Addeliar Guy, one of the elders and an avid diver.

Underwater monument represents a living history

Joel Johnson trained for weeks for his first open-water dive at the Henrietta Marie site. Johnson, the president and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, said what surprised him as he approached the monument was the vibrancy surrounding it. Fish darted among the corals that swayed with the currents; shells rested on the sandy bottom.

Conservation and protecting these habitats also preserve the history below the waves, Johnson said.

“This was not a place of death, but a place of life,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I was grieving for my ancestors. I felt like I was in the stream of history, recognizing that I’m a part of that. It made me happy.”

While underwater, Michael Philip Davenport, president of Underwater Adventure Seekers, was inspired to create art showing ancestors emerging from the monument.

“Their spirituality is still in that space,” he said. “I was feeling their lives and their tragedy.”

Dr. Melody Garrett, an anesthesiologist, started training with Diving With a Purpose in 2011 and has gone on missions to find the Guerrero, a Spanish pirate ship that wrecked in 1827 while carrying 561 enslaved Africans.

“A pilgrimage like this is so important now more than ever because there is an effort to cover up, rewrite and change history,” she said. She cited the Trump administration’s moves to remove references to slavery and Black history at National Park Service sites and federal museums, labeling it as divisive “anti-American propaganda.”

For Garrett, seeing these pieces of history gives her a strong sense of identity as an American, as the nation prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday.

“Black people have been here since before this country’s inception, longer than many other people have,” she said. “This is our country.”

Exhibit displays shackles used in slave trade

Remnants of the Henrietta Marie’s wooden hull are embedded at the site under layers of sand. The shipwreck was discovered in 1972 by treasure hunter Mel Fisher, but it wasn’t until 1983 that hundreds of intact items were recovered. Only a few slave ships were found out of the 35,000 used to transport over 12 million enslaved Africans; most vessels were intentionally destroyed to hide the illicit trade.

The artifacts, which occupy an entire floor of the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West, include over 80 sets of iron shackles, many of them child-size.

When Kory Lamberts first walked over wooden planks in the exhibit, they unexpectedly creaked.

“It was visceral,” he said. “It took me to a place. It also tells me that these were young people — children. These are baby shackles. There’s no sugarcoating it. The truth really hits you.”

While in Key West, Lamberts — who runs a nonprofit to make aquatics more equitable — said he brought back fish from the Henrietta Marie site, which he imagines would have absorbed the DNA of the ancestors. The group ate that fish for dinner the night after the dives — like a sacrament.

“I don’t practice a faith, but isn’t this what people are doing every Sunday at church?” he asked. “I wasn’t just bonded with this site through the experience of being there, but at this molecular level with a full circle moment of connection with myself and my history.”

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Vance, who chairs the administration’s anti-fraud task force, is scheduled to deliver remarks at Bangor International Airport, the White House and the Maine Republican Party announced.

The vice president, who is seen as a potential GOP candidate for president in 2028, has been promoting the work of the task force as he has campaigned for Republican candidates in recent months. But Thursday's visit is the first that has been expressly billed as a stop to talk about the fraud-fighting efforts rather than an economic-focused message he's delivered in other visits.

Vance's pitch on President Donald Trump's economic policies has become tougher in the wake of the Iran war, which has driven up costs of gas and other goods, including food.

The visit to Maine comes after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said earlier in the year that he was calling for corrective action on alleged fraud in government health programs in Maine, a request characterized by the state’s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, as a “political attack.” It also comes as Maine residents begin voting ahead of the state’s primary elections on June 9, when they will be selecting candidates for governor, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House.

Mills, who is prevented by term limit laws from running for a third term, recently dropped out of the Democratic primary race to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins, effectively ceding the nomination to progressive activist and oyster farmer Graham Platner. The seat is considered one of the most competitive in the nation and critical to Democratic hopes of reclaiming control of the chamber.

Republicans are bullish about their chances of taking back the 2nd Congressional District, which encompasses Bangor, after Democratic Rep. Jared Golden announced he wouldn’t be seeking reelection to the seat. Former Gov. Paul LePage, a Trump ally looking to make a political comeback, is the sole Republican vying for the nomination.

LePage is expected to speak at Thursday's event, but Collins is scheduled to be in Washington. LePage posted on social media channel X before the event that “every dollar of fraud is a dollar stolen from taxpayers and not used to help those who truly need assistance.”

In the governor's race, seven Republicans and five Democrats are vying to replace Mills, who has sparred with the Trump administration over the issue of transgender athletes in high school sports.

Some Maine Democrats have used Vance’s appearance as an opportunity to boost their campaign messages. Progressive groups were planning a demonstration in Bangor at the time of the appearance, and Maine Secretary of State and governor candidate Shenna Bellows said she planned to speak at it.

Nirav Shah, the former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director who is now running for governor, said in an email to supporters and media that Vance is visiting Maine when costs of necessities such as heating oil and gas are surging in the state.

“That is the record JD Vance is bringing to Maine on Thursday. That is the record the Maine Republicans hosting him are ‘honored’ to celebrate,” Shah said.

Maine is a largely Democratic state, but Trump has proven popular in rural areas, and he has won the 2nd District in three consecutive elections. Mills had made her opposition to Trump a focus of her Senate run against Collins until she suspended her campaign in late April, clearing a path for Platner to take the nomination.

Vance paid a visit to northern New England in March 2025, when he went to Vermont on a family vacation. The appearance attracted protests near a ski resort.

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Associated Press reporter Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report.

To address the ongoing opioid crisis, the organizations have installed six naloxone vending boxes in high-need areas across the region, including Roanoke, Martinsville and Henry County.

“We’re proud to support the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition in expanding access to naloxone across the Western Piedmont,” said Jamie Dixon, Whole Health & Equity Director for Anthem HealthKeepers Plus. “Increasing access to this lifesaving resource is critical to preventing overdose and strengthening the health of our communities.”

Naloxone is a rapid-acting medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and restore normal breathing. The vending boxes will provide free naloxone to anyone who needs it.

“Overdose rates in our communities are more than double the state average, and these are lives that matter,” said Danny Clawson, Executive Director of the Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition. “These naloxone boxes put lifesaving tools directly into the hands of those most likely to respond first, and we’re grateful to Anthem HealthKeepers Plus for helping make that possible.”

The Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition is a peer-run organization dedicated to improving community health by reducing the adverse effects of drug use. In addition to distributing naloxone, the group provides testing for diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, offers social services support for people experiencing homelessness or domestic violence, and delivers education and training on overdose prevention and harm reduction practices.

The storms also injured more than 50 people as they swept across several districts late Wednesday in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.

Officials said some deaths were caused by falling trees, collapsing structures and lightning. Police and disaster response teams used chainsaws and cranes to clear fallen trees from roads and railway tracks in several districts.

Storms are common in northern India during the hot season from March to June, before the annual monsoon rains arrive.

Narendra N. Srivastava, an administrative official, said emergency teams were deployed across the affected areas and that homes, crops and power infrastructure were widely damaged, particularly in rural districts.

In Prayagraj district, residents described panic as strong winds tore through neighborhoods.

“The storm came suddenly and the sky turned completely dark within minutes,” Ram Kishore said. “Tin roofs were flying and people ran indoors. We could hear trees falling throughout the evening.”

In neighboring Bhadohi district, Savitri Devi said her family narrowly escaped after strong winds damaged their mud house.

“We rushed outside when the walls started shaking because of the wind. Our roof collapsed moments later. We spent the night at a relative’s house," she said.

Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered officials to complete relief operations within 24 hours and directed authorities to provide compensation and emergency aid to affected families.

As of Thursday, May 14, the AAA states that the average price for regular gasoline in Virginia is $4.286 per gallon. Premium is averaging $5.121 per gallon, while diesel sits at $5.585.

AAA says the average price of a gallon of regular gas costs more in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford, holding steady at $4.24. Mid-grade is $4.67, and premium is at $5.06 per gallon.

However, there are still some deals if you know where to look. Thursday’s least expensive gas prices are unchanged from Wednesday.

According to GasBuddy:

• The least expensive gas around is $3.91 for regular at the BJ’s on Hershberger Road in Northwest Roanoke.
• The Walmart located on Plantation Road in Roanoke has Midgrade gas for $4.13.
• Premium at Sam’s Club at 1455 Towne Square in Roanoke is still $4.29 a gallon.

Across the Commonwealth, some of the highest gas prices are found in the D.C. area. For regular gas, you’ll spend about $4.350 per gallon. Premium is $5.215.

Count on 10 News to bring you the latest price at the pump every morning.

To find out where the lowest fuel prices are near you, visit GasBuddy’s website.

Since the U.S. and Israel launched a joint war against Iran on Feb. 28, the cost of crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline, has spiked and swung rapidly. That’s because the conflict has caused deep supply chain disruptions and cuts from major oil producers across the Middle East.

How is inflation impacting mortgage rates?

Mortgage rates have jumped to their highest level since March, with the average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage rising to 6.46%. However, this isn’t stopping homebuyers, as new mortgage applications continue to increase.

Data show that purchase applications spiked 4% on an adjusted basis, while refinance activity again declined 1% week over week compared with the prior week. Refinance applications are also 28% higher right now than they were this time a year ago.

This mortgage rate increase comes on the heels of an inflation surge of 3.8% from April 2025, the biggest jump in three years, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index.

Kool-Aid has a new sugar-free mix

Kool-Aid is getting a healthier makeover.

Food & Wine reports the brand is launching electrolyte drink packets with no artificial dyes or sugar.

The move is part of Kraft Heinz’s broader push to phase out synthetic colors by the end of next year.

Food companies increasingly are reworking products as shoppers pay closer attention to labels.

Miller Lite takes soccer fandom to the next level

Miller Lite is giving fans a cool way to bring their beer to World Cup viewing parties.

It’s launching an MVP soccer ball large enough to fit 12 cans and an ice pack or two.

The promo celebrates the coming kickoff of FIFA World Cup action next month.

The U.S., Canada, and Mexico will share host country duties for the games.

The ball costs $19.75 and will be available on shop.millerlite.com/collections/matchball for a limited time starting May 20.

The price is a nod to the beer’s founding in 1975.

Imagine what that can do to a human body. Now, imagine that it’s almost completely exempt from gun regulations.

How can that be? Well, under federal and most state laws, many antique or replica guns aren’t technically considered firearms. In most places, even convicted felons can own them.

“I suspect the average judge would be surprised to find that out,” says Second Amendment scholar and gun-rights attorney Dave Hardy, himself the proud owner of two Civil War-era long guns.

During a National Rifle Association event back in 2000, the late actor Charlton Heston famously hoisted a flintlock — the single-shot weapon that won the Revolution and was still in wide use a half century after Congress debated the Second Amendment — into the air and said the Democrats would have to take it “from my cold, dead hands.”

He needn’t have worried.

A blast from the past

During debate over the Gun Control Act of 1968, Sen. John Goodwin Tower argued that flintlocks and many other antique or replica guns should be exempt from regulation.

The Texas Republican said it was needed “to relieve an unnecessarily burdensome problem for serious collectors of antique firearms and for historians and museums.” Treating all weapons the same, he argued, would unfairly target collector items “which have little, if any, practical use as a firearm in the modern connotation.”

The provision defines an antique as any weapon “with a matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system” manufactured “in or before 1898” — as long as it hasn't been modified to fire modern ammunition. This generally means muzzleloaders that use black powder or a black powder substitute, though some early cartridge guns are included.

You can even own and fire a cannon.

Don't go off half cocked

Most states have adopted that language either verbatim or by direct reference to the federal provision. But, as military historian Patrick Luther says, “it’s a patchwork.”

“I live in NY (New York) and bought a civil war musket,” Luther, a Marine veteran with the website milsurpia.com, said in an email. “It was very similar to buying a regular firearm. Buying the blackpowder for the rifle felt not much different than buying a T-shirt.”

At least three states — Hawaii, Ohio and North Dakota — treat a smoothbore musket the same as an AK-47 or AR-15. Reenactor Jason Monhollen, an officer in the U.S. Army, says that’s “comparing apples and oranges.”

“It seems silly to put restriction on something that would be such a terrible weapon if you wanted to, you know, kill people,” says Monhollen, who portrays a private and carries a French Charleville musket in the 2nd North Carolina Regiment. “There’s just much better things. You can kill more people quickly with a car than you can with a musket.”

But these weapons are still deadly.

Not just a toy

Maryland changed its law after a convicted sex offender killed his ex-girlfriend with a six-shot, .44-caliber cap and ball revolver purchased on the internet.

“It may have loaded like an 1851 weapon, but it fired like a 2017 manufactured modern handgun that was capable of lethal force,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy told reporters at the time.

Shadé's Law, passed in 2019, now prohibits people convicted of certain violent crimes from buying or possessing such weapons. But many states allow convicted felons to have these weapons; West Virginia makes an exception for people under an active protective order.

Some states’ laws are confusing or vague.

Montana law mentions “antique or replica arms” in a code regulating firearms and ammunition manufactured in the state. But nowhere in the code are those weapons defined.

Wisconsin uses the federal definition, but the only reference comes in a law regarding “look-alike” firearms.

And, of course, many local ordinances, like the one in Wake County, North Carolina, prohibit the firing of any “barreled weapon capable of discharging projectiles.” In many jurisdictions, it’s illegal to brandish even a toy gun at someone.

“Federal law does not exclude antique firearms from location-based restrictions,” Austin Gunderson, counsel for the North Dakota Legislative Council, said in an email.

Stray bullets

Sometimes, attempts to strengthen gun laws have had unintended consequences.

The attorney general of New Jersey, one of the 13 original states, recently had to offer guidance when a new law targeting ghost guns seemed to require all firearms — including antiques and even air guns — to have serial numbers.

When New York toughened its gun laws in 2022, it required background checks for transfers and purchases of antique guns, and barred firearms of any kind from certain “sensitive places” like parks and museum sites — just the kinds of places reenactors appear most.

An exemption was later carved out for people “lawfully engaged in historical reenactments, educational programming involving historical weapons of warfare, or motion picture or theatrical productions.” But that hasn’t stopped out-of-state reenactors from worrying their muskets will be confiscated at the George Washington Bridge, says Justin Costantino, adjutant of the Long Island Companies of the 3rd New York Regiment.

“If the New York State Police department wants to charge me with weapons possession while I’m wearing a cocked hat and carrying around a Charleville ’66,” says Costantino, a graduate student in history, “then please, don’t call my lawyer. Call the New York Post!”

Then again, Costantino hates to hear a mother at a reenactment tell her child, “Oh, no. Don’t worry, sweetie. It’s not real.”

“It’s not really loaded, but it is really a weapon,” he says. “It’s really gunpowder. And if you stand close to it, you’ll feel the kind of breath of hot air ... They’re still things that we have to take very seriously, and you have to be safe with.”

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AP Writer Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, contributed to this report.

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa ’s exit from the heavily guarded Senate came after volleys of gunshots were fired Wednesday night by the building's security personnel during an argument with a government agent, sparking chaos that apparently helped the senator to slip out.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made a late-night TV statement to ask the public to remain calm. A police investigation was underway, including into suspicions that the incident was instigated to provide dela Rosa a cover to escape.

“There is no obstruction of justice,” Senate President Alan Cayetano said of dela Rosa’s escape while in the Senate’s protective custody.

He told a news briefing that he did not see any ICC warrant of arrest against dela Rosa and the senator was free to leave the premises.

Critics, however, said Cayetano and the Senate's security chief should be held responsible for dela Rosa's escape.

Dela Rosa, 64, served as the former national police chief of Rodrigo Duterte, who was president from 2016 to 2022. Duterte was arrested in March last year on a ICC warrant for alleged crimes against humanity in connection with deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he launched and for which he is now facing a trial in The Hague.

A warrant unsealed Monday by the ICC charges dela Rosa with the crime against humanity of murder of “no less than 32 persons” between July 2016 and the end of April 2018, when he led the national police force under Duterte and enforced his bloody crackdowns.

Dela Rosa and Duterte have separately denied authorizing extrajudicial killings although the former president has openly threatened drug suspects with death while he was in office.

Dela Rosa’s legal predicament came as political disputes escalated between the Duterte family and Marcos. Vice President Sara Duterte, the former president’s daughter, has blamed Marcos for what she said was the “kidnapping” of her father and handover to a foreign court.

The disputes reflect the deep divisions that have long plagued the rambunctious Asian democracy.

On Monday, Sara Duterte was impeached by the House of Representatives, which is dominated by Marcos’ allies, over alleged unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and a public threat to have Marcos, his wife and the House speaker assassinated if she herself was killed in their intensifying conflict.

She has denied any wrongdoing but has refused to answer specific allegations in detail.

The Senate will convene into an impeachment court on Monday at the earliest to prepare for the trial of the vice president, Cayetano said.

Cayetano, a key ally of Rodrigo Duterte, wrested the presidency of the Senate Monday after he got the support of 13 of 24 senators. He gained the majority after dela Rosa, who has been absent for months due to fears of his possible arrest, suddenly showed up in the Senate Monday, arriving in Cayetano’s car.

National Bureau of Investigation agents tried to serve the ICC arrest warrant, but dela Rosa darted toward a narrow stairway into the Senate plenary hall and sought the help of allied senators, who took him into protective custody.

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Associated Press journalist Joeal Calupitan contributed to this report.

The net tally of seats gained and lost was essentially a wash.

“F— around and find out,” said Jeffries after the election victory.

But in a matter of days, the race for control of the House — and the speaker’s gavel — was dramatically reset by back-to-back court rulings that wiped out the Democratic gains in Virginia and now threaten to erode Black representation by Democrats in the Deep South.

The shifting political prospects have been a wake-up call for Democrats, who have been favored to win back the House this November, riding the wave of President Donald Trump’s dipping approval ratings, and a test for Jeffries as the party faces an enlarging map of Republican-friendly seats.

The leader's aligned outside group has spent some $60 million, much of it on Virginia alone, a hit to the Democrats' resources as they confront Trump's Republicans.

“It sort of crystallizes the election is now a contest between one side that has the money and the maps, and the other that has the voters and the candidates,” said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist and former deputy director of the House Democrats' campaign arm.

Jeffries would make history as the first Black speaker of the House

Jeffries, who is in line to make history as America’s first Black speaker of the House, acknowledged the Democrats may need to flip twice as many Republican seats — a total gain of six rather than just three — to win the majority in the aftermath of the redistricting fights.

But he insisted that Democrats were on track to pick up seats, as they did in 2018 during Trump's first term, because Republicans are relying on redistricting — rather than policy solutions — to win elections.

Trump Republicans “don't give a damn” about Americans' financial struggles, Jeffries said, paraphrasing the president's own remarks.

During a closed-door meeting on Wednesday with House Democrats, Jeffries described the work ahead in almost existential terms for the country.

He said the court rulings against the Voting Rights Act and the Virginia measure were “disgusting.” And he warned his colleagues that Republicans would proceed with “diabolical intensity” in their campaigns to regain control of the House, which Democrats will not only have to match but “we have to exceed it with righteous intensity at all times.”

“Failure is not an option,” he told the Democrats, according to a person in the room granted anonymity to disclose the private remarks. “We have to win, and we are going to win.”

Path to power depends on a handful of House seats

Never easy, the race to the House majority was also not expected to be this complicated. Republicans hold a slim majority, among the most narrow in modern House history, and midterm elections tend to favor the party out of power, as a check on the White House.

But when Trump said last summer that Republicans were “entitled” to five more GOP seats from Texas, it sparked a redistricting crusade that led Jeffries to respond in kind.

Rather than take what they call the high road, Democrats said they decided to fight back, believing they could not fully count on the nation’s institutions — in this case, the courts — to provide a check on the GOP power play.

Jeffries flew to Austin to join the Texas Democrats fighting the redistricting plan in their state and stood with those same lawmakers in Chicago where they fled to deny statehouse Republicans a quorum. He joined the private meetings of California Democrats as they launched their counter attack, a voter initiative that put five more seats in the Democratic column. The Democrats picked up a seat in Utah.

And on it went.

“We had to very quickly make a decision, set a course and take a risk,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., recalling the closed-door talks last summer. “There was no guarantee this was going to work out.”

The Virginia measure became a turning point, Jeffries' biggest swing yet, putting Democrats essentially at parity, if not a potential upper hand in the number of seats gained, and shifting Old Dominion more securely into the party’s column.

He rallied some 1,000 churchgoers in Richmond ahead of Election Day as voters headed to the polls.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday called the Democratic play for Virginia a “crazy overreach” that was rightly rejected by the state’s high court.

“Fortunately, the plan failed spectacularly,” Johnson said.

Redistricting battles push into 2028

While Democrats said they expected the Supreme Court to gut the Voting Rights Act, the Virginia Supreme Court's decision to toss last month's election results blindsided many of them.

Jeffries joined a call with furious Virginia Democrats over the weekend who said they were more determined than ever to win the Republican seats outright, regardless of their loss over the map changes.

The overall tally after nearly a year of redistricting battles is still shifting as Republican legislatures in the South rush to redraw their maps in the aftermath of the ruling in the Voting Rights Act case, many of them preparing to eliminate districts held by some of the most senior Black lawmakers in Congress.

Rep. James Clyburn, the veteran Democratic legislator from South Carolina whose own seat is at risk, blamed the justices, not Jeffries, for the outcome in Virginia and elsewhere.

“What the hell, he can't control the courts,” Clyburn said, vowing to run for reelection regardless of where his district is drawn. “Don’t put that on Jeffries. We won the vote.”

Jeffries acknowledged that this year's maps are almost set, and pivoted to 2028 when he said Democrats will redouble their efforts to confront the GOP redistricting battle ahead of the next election.

“We know this unprecedented assault on Black political representation, the likes of which we have not seen since the Jim Crow era, the ghost of the Confederacy” will continue, he said. “The challenge that is in front of us is ensuring that there is a decisive and overwhelming response in advance of 2028.”

10 News is working for you to help protect your identity.

To ensure you are not a victim of identity theft, you’ll want to dispose of sensitive information in the safest way.

If you have personal documents, you can safely dispose of them on Saturday, May 30, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Berglund Center.

Listed is everything you need to know if you’re planning to attend. We’ve provided a list of commonly asked questions and answers below.

If you’re looking for a way to give back and support local families in need, WSLS 10 is encouraging you to bring canned goods and other nonperishable food items for our food drive. Donations will help support Feeding Southwest Virginia.

See you there!

Thank you to the Berglund Center, Commonwealth Document Management, First Bank, Appalachian Power, Feeding Southwest Virginia, and Alison O’Brien at MKB REALTORS for their contributions and for making this possible.

Where is the location?

Our location is at the Berglund Center. 

How can I identify the entrance?

Look for the large Berglund Center sign off Williamson Rd.

(THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN PREVIOUS YEARS)

Is there a limit on the number of bags I can bring?

Yes, there is a limit of 3 bags per person. Please respect this limit so we can efficiently help as many folks as possible. It’s preferred that bags are not cinched closed or are only lightly cinched.

What should I do if there is a line?

Please be patient. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

How long will the event last?

The event will begin promptly at 8 a.m. and last until noon.

The new inductees into the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress include Swift’s blockbuster 2014 pop album “1989,” Beyoncé’s era-defining 2008 anthem “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” Khan’s genre-blending hit “I Feel for You,” Vince Gill’s emotional ballad “Go Rest High on That Mountain” and The Go-Go’s groundbreaking debut album “Beauty and the Beat.”

They were among the 25 recordings entering the archive in the class of 2026, acting Librarian of Congress Robert Newlen announced Thursday. The selections were chosen for their “cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage.”

“Music and recorded sound are essential, wonderful parts of our daily lives and our national heritage,” Newlen said in a statement. “The National Recording Registry works to preserve our national playlist for generations to come.”

Other recordings entering the registry include Ray Charles’ groundbreaking country crossover album “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music,” Reba McEntire’s “Rumor Has It,” Rosanne Cash’s “The Wheel” and Weezer’s self-titled debut known as “The Blue Album.”

Classic singles from Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Byrds, José Feliciano and Paul Anka also earned inclusion.

Among the more unconventional selections are the soundtrack to the influential 1993 video game "Doom" and the radio broadcast of “The Fight of the Century,” the legendary 1971 heavyweight boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

The oldest recording in this year’s class is Spike Jones and His City Slickers’ 1944 single “Cocktails for Two.” The newest is Swift’s “1989.”

This year also marks the first recordings by Swift and Beyoncé selected for the registry. The Library of Congress said more than 3,000 public nominations were submitted for consideration this year.

The meeting brings together diplomats from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa along with newer member countries. It comes as the war in Iran has disrupted global energy supplies and driven up oil prices and coincides with U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov are attending. China is represented by Ambassador Xu Feihong while Foreign Minister Wang Yi remains in the Chinese capital during Trump’s visit.

India Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the talks would focus on global and regional challenges and ways to deepen cooperation among member nations.

In opening remarks, Jaishankar said BRICS could help developing countries more effectively respond to the health and financing challenges they face as well as high prices for energy, food and fertilizer.

“We meet at a time of considerable flux in international relations,” he said, adding that emerging and developing countries increasingly expect BRICS to play a “constructive and stabilizing role.”

Iran urges BRICS to condemn U.S. and Israel

At the meeting, Araghchi urged BRICS nations to condemn the U.S. and Israel over what he called their “unlawful aggression” against Tehran. He called on the bloc members and other countries to “take practical steps to stop warmongering” and end what he described as impunity for violations of the U.N. Charter.

Araghchi also urged the bloc members to stop what he called the politicization of international institutions. He said Iran appreciated the support shown by BRICS countries but called for stronger action.

“It is necessary for all of us to intensify our efforts to end this sense of superiority and impunity on the part of the United States — a notion that has no place in today’s world,” he said.

BRICS has sought to expand its influence

Founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China, BRICS was formed as a grouping of major emerging economies seen as a counterbalance to Western-led institutions such as the G7. South Africa joined in 2010 and the bloc expanded further in 2024 with the addition of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Indonesia became a full member in 2025.

The group has sought to expand its influence by pushing for a bigger role in a global order long dominated by the United States and its Western allies. It has gained support across parts of the Global South, where many countries have criticized Western-led financial institutions.

But BRICS nations remain divided on key issues.

India and China continue to compete for regional influence, while member countries often differ in their ties with the West. Russia’s war in Ukraine has further exposed those differences.

New divisions test global ambitions

The bloc’s expansion also has added strains. Competing regional interests have increased the difficulty of presenting a unified position.

Divisions have sharpened further during the growing conflict in the Middle East. Iran and the UAE are BRICS members despite pursuing competing interests in the region.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister said Wednesday that disagreements within BRICS over the conflict had prevented the bloc from reaching a unified position.

Kazem Gharibabadi told news agency Press Trust of India that “one member country” had pushed for language condemning Iran, complicating efforts to build consensus within the grouping.

“We want India’s BRICS chairship to be successful. It is not a good approach to send a signal to the world that the BRICS is divided. One country is insisting on condemning Iran,” Gharibabadi said.

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Associated Press journalist Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran contributed to this report.

Jansen didn't have to after he delivered the walk-off hit that gave the Texas Rangers a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night, when the closers for both teams gave up three runs in a frantic ninth inning.

“I feel like the game had everything. Like passed balls, a couple of wild pitches, I mean, stolen bases, threw somebody out,” said Jansen, who also blocked a few pitches with runners on base. “A bit of everything, it was kind of a wild one. ... Definitely a crazy finish.”

The Rangers had just tied the game and chased Paul Sewald (0-4), who had converted his first nine save chances, when No. 9 batter Jansen grounded a RBI single down the line into the left-field corner on the only pitch thrown by Juan Morillo.

That came after a frustrating top of the ninth for the Rangers, when Jacob Latz — their main closer since halfway through a stretch of 10 consecutive scoreless outings — failed to retire any of the four batters he faced. He was gone after Nolan Arenado had an RBI double and Ildemaro Vargas lined a two-run single into left for a 5-3 lead.

“Latz has been so good this year. He has given up next to no runs," manager Skip Schumaker said. “I pitched him two innings, day off, then back-to-back, and then running him out there, maybe not fair to him quite honestly.”

But when it was over, Latz was all smiles like every one else after the Rangers had clinched back-to-back-series wins for the first time since their first two series of the season.

“The boys picked him up in a big way,” Schumaker said. “And that’s what good teams do, and good teammates do, is they pick each other up.”

The Rangers (21-22) have won five of their last six games going into an off day Thursday.

Arizona (20-22) overcame a 3-0 deficit, finally getting even and then going ahead in the top of the ninth, handing their closer a two-run lead even after leaving 13 runners on base.

Sewald got out two of the first three batters in the ninth, starting with a strikeout of struggling shortstop Corey Seager. Josh Jung had a single in between those outs, and scored on Ezequiel Duran's double before Alejandro Osuna walked on five pitches and Jake Burger tied the game with an RBI single to chase the closer.

“I felt like they were just on every pitch,” Sewald said. “It just felt like when I threw good pitchers, it didn't matter.”

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

Netanyahu met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in a gathering that “resulted in a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates,” according to the Israeli statement. The Gulf nation normalized relations with Israel in 2020.

The UAE’s official WAM news agency later posted an article denying “reports circulating” about a Netanyahu visit. According to WAM, the country’s relations with Israel “are public and conducted within the framework of the well-known and officially declared Abraham Accords, and are not based on non-transparent or unofficial arrangements.”

The Emirati report also denied any Israeli military delegation was received in the UAE.

Israel's announcement came a day after U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee revealed that Israel had sent Iron Dome air-defense weapons and personnel to operate them to the UAE.

The UAE has faced Iranian missile and drone fire even after the ceasefire was reached last month. It has been trying to signal to nervous investors that it remains open for business and safe.

Last week, WAM reported that Netanyahu was among the leaders who called the Emirati president to condemn Iranian attacks and express their solidarity with the Gulf federation.

It was rare public acknowledgment of direct talks between the countries that normalized relations in the 2020 Abraham Accords and have strengthened their ties during the Iran war.

Iran has criticized that agreement and has repeatedly suggested over the years that Israel maintained a military and intelligence presence in the Emirates.

Israeli leaders have made occasional visits to the UAE in recent years after normalizing relations.

Iran demands Kuwait release detainees

Iran’s foreign minister accused Kuwait of attempting to “sow discord” by detaining four Iranians that the Gulf Arab country accuses of being Revolutionary Guard operatives.

In a post Wednesday on X, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi demanded the Iranians’ immediate release and said Iran reserved the right to respond.

“This illegal act took place near an island used by the U.S. to attack Iran,” Araghchi wrote.

A day earlier, Kuwait said four men were detained and two escaped while trying to infiltrate Bubiyan Island in the northwest corner of the Persian Gulf on May 1.

Bubiyan Island is home to Mubarak Al Kabeer Port, which is under construction as part of a Chinese plan to build infrastructure across the world. It also came under Iranian attack during the war.

Iranian human rights lawyer released

Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been released from prison more than a month after being detained, a rights group and her daughter said Wednesday.

Sotoudeh, who is known for defending activists, opposition politicians and women prosecuted for removing their headscarves, was detained by Iranian intelligence agents at her house in Tehran in April.

Her release comes as U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in China for a long-anticipated visit that is expected to touch on the war in Iran.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which closely tracks developments in Iran, said that Sotoudeh was released on bail from Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Her daughter, Mehraveh Khandan, posted on social media that Sotoudeh was released on temporary custody. Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency also reported Sotoudeh release.

Sotoudeh has been imprisoned multiple times. Her activist husband, Reza Khandan, has been imprisoned in the same prison as his wife.

Nobel Peace laureate needs long-term care

Doctors who examined Nobel Peace laureate and activist Narges Mohammadi more than a week after she collapsed at a prison in Iran said she needs months of treatment, according to her foundation.

Mohammadi, 53, was urgently transferred from prison to a hospital in northwestern Iran on May 1 after she fell unconscious. She was released on bail nearly 10 days later and transferred to a hospital in Tehran where her specialists examined her.

The doctors said her vascular disease has worsened since she was last checked in 2024 and recommended eight months of treatment.

She was awarded the Nobel in 2023 while in prison and has been jailed repeatedly throughout her career. Her latest imprisonment began in December when she was arrested in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad.

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Schreck reported from Dubai. Associated Press reporter John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.

Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband Eric Richins’ cocktail with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022. A jury also found her guilty of four other felonies, including insurance fraud, forgery and attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich.

Judge Richard Mrazik said Richins is “simply too dangerous to ever be free” when handing down the sentence on the day that her husband would have turned 44.

Her attorneys said they will appeal the conviction and sentence. Richins has been adamant in maintaining she is innocent, saying Wednesday that the verdict was “an absolute lie.”

Richins stood at the podium in a lime-green jail uniform as she asked her sons, who were not present in court, “Please just don’t give up on me.” She encouraged them to always “be like your dad.”

Prosecutors said Richins, a 36-year-old real estate agent with a house-flipping business, was millions in debt and planning a future with another man. She had opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge and falsely believed she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after he died.

Eric Richins’ father, Eugene Richins, had urged the judge to impose a life sentence without parole to protect his grandsons, who were ages 9, 7 and 5 when their father died.

“This sentence is important so Eric’s three sons never have to live with the fear that the person responsible for taking their father could ever harm them again,” he said.

The case captivated true-crime enthusiasts when Richins was arrested in 2023 while promoting her children’s book about a boy coping with the death of his father.

Sons say they're afraid of their mother

Richins' sons “are not props for some twisted children’s book about grief and loss, and yet that is what they’ve been reduced to by Kouri,” said her sister-in-law Katie Richins-Benson, who now has the boys in her care.

Social workers read letters from the sons, who all said they would feel unsafe if their mother was ever released from prison. The children said Richins threatened to kill their animals and showed them videos of famished children in war zones when they refused to eat undercooked food.

“You took away my dad for no reason other than greed, and you only cared about yourself and your stupid boyfriends,” said the middle son, now 11. He described having to “be a parent” to his younger brother because his mother did not watch over them. Richins made the boy paranoid about sitting on his dad's side of the bed, saying he might die, too, he alleged.

The oldest son, now 13, said he also felt like he had to take care of his siblings and noted that his mother often would lock him inside his room while she drank.

“I will and have always prioritized your safety,” Richins said in court after hearing her sons’ statements.

Greg Hall, a friend and business associate of Richins, told reporters he was disappointed by the sentence and urged people to “have an open mind” about her.

Trial cut short by defense

The trial was scheduled for five weeks but ended early when Richins waived her right to testify, and her legal team rested its case without calling any witnesses. Her attorneys said they were confident that prosecutors had not produced enough evidence to convict her of murder.

The jury deliberated for just under three hours before finding her guilty of all counts.

During the trial, prosecutors showed the jury text messages between Richins and her lover in which she fantasized about leaving her husband and gaining millions in a divorce. Prosecutors also displayed the internet search history from Richins’ phone, which included queries about the lethal dose of fentanyl, luxury prisons and how poisoning is marked on a death certificate.

The defense argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers. Prosecutors countered by showing police body camera footage from the night of his death in which Kouri Richins tells an officer that her husband had no history of illicit drug use.

Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

Richins also faces more than two dozen money-related criminal charges in a separate case that has not yet gone to trial.

The Colorado defenseman scored 3:52 into overtime after Nathan MacKinnon tied it late in regulation and the Avalanche advanced to the Western Conference final with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Kulak capped a wild comeback for the Avalanche, who trailed 3-0 midway through the second period. Colorado moves on to the conference final for an eighth time since relocating to Denver in 1995-96.

“You always like to dream about it,” Kulak said. “The player I am, I’m not the guy everyone’s looking down the bench, like, ‘All right, get out there, go win it for us.’”

The Avalanche will face the Vegas-Anaheim winner. Vegas leads that series 3-2.

With Minnesota up 3-1, Jack Drury scored with 3:33 remaining to set the stage for MacKinnon’s goal with 1:23 left with the Colorado goal empty. The star forward sent a shot from the left side past Jesper Wallstedt and into a small space in the top left corner.

In overtime, Martin Necas took the puck, glided behind the net and back out front, where he found an open Kulak. Without missing a stride, Kulak lined it past Wallstedt.

Kulak was one of several late additions this season as he joined the Avalanche on Feb. 24 as part of a deal that sent Samuel Girard to Pittsburgh. Kulak became the 16th Avalanche player to score in the Minnesota series.

He also was an unlikely OT hero. This was his first goal since Jan. 19 when he was with the Penguins, which also was his only goal of the regular season.

“For us to play the way we did and get the job done, and just for me, a special goal in my career, for sure,” said Kulak, who started the season with Edmonton before being dealt to Pittsburgh in December. “We just clawed back into it and got the job done.”

It was a rare series-ending win at home for Colorado, too. The last time the Avalanche won a series on home ice was 2008 against the Wild, when the team had Hall of Famers Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.

“That was fun,” MacKinnon said. “A lot of fun.”

Marcus Johansson scored 34 seconds into the game and Nick Foligno added two goals to give the Wild a 3-0 after the first period. It led Colorado to take out Mackenzie Blackwood after the first and insert Scott Wedgewood, who made seven saves.

Late in the game, Cale Makar collided with Mats Zuccarello and was grabbing his right arm. Makar went down the tunnel before returning to the ice.

The Avalanche overcame a three-goal deficit to win a playoff game for just the third time in 53 tries since moving to Denver. The Wild had been 21-0 when leading a playoff game by at least three goals before the elimination loss.

“Just anger and frustration,” Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber said. “You work all year for one thing, and just feels like it closes like that. It’s just done.”

Wallstedt stopped 30 shots for the Wild. Matt Boldy and Nico Sturm each had two assists for a banged-up Wild team that was missing center Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin all series.

“When you go after something like this, there’s going to be two sides of the coin,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “One is you’re going to win, which is a great feeling. And when you lose, it’s an empty feeling.”

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

The Dodgers snapped their season-high skid at four games on a night when Ohtani only pitched and wasn't in the lineup as the designated hitter for the fourth time this season. The two-way superstar also won't be in the lineup Thursday to give him two days' rest from hitting.

Ohtani (3-2) struck out eight and walked two in his second consecutive seven-inning start — his first as a Dodger and first since May 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels. He lowered his ERA to 0.82 pitching with a picture of his beloved dog Decoy on the tongue of his right cleat.

The Dodgers have scored more than four runs in Ohtani's seven starts just once and the team is 3-4 in his starts overall. They had six hits or less in five of their previous seven games.

Leading 4-0, Ohtani gave up back-to-back singles to Willy Adames and Matt Chapman with one out in the seventh. Drew Gilbert flied into a double play to center. Adames was all the way around third base by the time he knew he was in trouble and got doubled off second to end the inning.

Santiago Espinal and Mookie Betts homered back-to-back in the third, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Espinal went deep for the first time as a Dodger and Betts' first since coming off the injured list earlier in the week.

The Dodgers extended their lead to 4-0 on Teoscar Hernández's RBI single and Alex Call's sacrifice fly in the fourth.

The Giants' three-game winning streak ended. Robbie Ray (3-5) gave up four runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, struck out two and walked two.

Up next

Giants RHP Landen Roupp (5-3, 3.09 ERA) was scheduled to start Thursday against RHP Emmet Sheehan (2-1, 4.79) in the series finale.

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

The Pistons led by 15 points in the first half and 103-94 with two-plus minutes left. The Cavs rallied and pulled into a 103-all tie on Evan Mobley’s free throws with 45.2 seconds left.

“That stretch right there says a lot about our progress — mental performance progress and mental toughness progress,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said.

Just before the buzzer, Cleveland's Jarrett Allen and Detroit's Ausar Thompson got tangled up and no call was made.

“He fouled Ausar — clearly,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He tripped him when he was going for a loose ball.”

Cleveland went on a 13-0 run and held Detroit scoreless for five minutes from late in fourth quarter to midway through overtime. The Cavs went ahead by seven with 2:39 left in OT on Mitchell's 3-pointer.

Cade Cunningham, who had 39 points and nine assists, made a jumper to pull the Pistons within two points with 25 seconds left.

Harden made one free throw on the ensuing possession and rebounded his missed second attempt. He made another free throw to help seal the win.

Game 6 is Friday night in Cleveland, where the fourth-seeded Cavs will get the first of two chances to advance to face the New York Knicks in the East finals.

If the top-seeded Pistons win, they will host Game 7 on Sunday.

Cleveland won the first road game of the series — and its first as a visitor this postseason.

The Pistons had won four straight games at home since Orlando put them on the brink of elimination in Game 5 of the first round.

Harden had eight rebounds and six assists. Max Strus made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points for the Cavs, Mobley added 19 points and Jarrett Allen had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

“It wasn’t our best night offensively, but I think that’s what speaks volumes to getting this win was we found a way” Strus said.

Starting in place of the injured Duncan Robinson, Daniss Jenkins scored 19 points for the Pistons. Tobias Harris missed 13 of 19 shots and scored 13 points, and Jalen Duren was limited to nine points and five rebounds.

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

When officials announced a list of “Eurofan Cafes" — Vienna coffee shops offering food and music from competing countries — Israel was initially left out.

MQ Kantine, a modern café in the city’s arty museums quarter, offered to step in. Now it has falafel, bagels with lox and kosher wine on the menu, a string of small Israeli flags hanging from the ceiling — and a police officer outside the door.

Security is tight across Vienna during the international music contest, whose “United by Music” slogan rings sightly hollow this year. Five countries are boycotting because Israel is taking part. Pro-Palestinian activists are planning a protest concert — one of several Eurovision alternatives across Europe — and an anti-Israel march before Saturday’s grand final.

At MQ Kantine, volunteers take turns to monitor for potential trouble. But so far the mood has been supportive, said Daniel Kapp, a PR consultant and pro-Israel campaigner.

“It’s beautiful,” he said, as people drank coffee and beer on the café terrace in the spring sunshine, though he noted that the police officer on duty showed that all is “not entirely normal.”

“My feeling is that Austria to a certain degree has learned from its history," Kapp said, referring to the deadly antisemitism under the Nazis before and during World War II. “Which is why the support for Israel is a lot more normal than it is in other countries.”

Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years, and won four times. But its participation has been contested since it launched a war in Gaza after 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas-led cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023. More than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government and whose detailed records are viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

Israel’s government has repeatedly defended its campaign as a response to the Oct. 7 attack. But a number of experts, including those commissioned by a United Nations body, have said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza amounts to genocide. Israel, home to many Holocaust survivors and their relatives, has vigorously denied the claim.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon and the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran have driven tensions still higher.

The 2024 Eurovision contest in Malmo, Sweden, and last year’s event in Basel, Switzerland, saw pro-Palestinian protests that called for Israel to be expelled. Five countries — Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain — pulled out of the 2026 contest after organizers allowed Israel to compete.

Partying amid tight security

The tensions have produced a Eurovision of two halves. An upbeat party atmosphere prevails inside the Wiener Stadthalle arena and in the separate Eurovision Village fan zone. But getting in means passing through a ring of steel, with searches, scanners and a ban on all bags inside the arena. Armed police are a very visible presence on the streets.

Awareness of risk from terror plots is high in the city after a 21-year-old Austrian man accused of pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group pleaded guilty to plotting to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024.

Israeli singer Noam Bettan told Israeli media that, like last year’s Israeli competitor Yuval Raphael, he practiced performing while being booed. There were scattered shouts amid the cheers when he performed in the first Eurovision semifinal on Tuesday. He secured a spot in Saturday’s final by being one of the top 10 finishers in voting by viewers and national juries.

Organizers said four people were removed from the 10,000-strong audience for disruptive behavior.

Austrian Eurovision fan Ivo Herzl, who attended the semifinal, said “the vibe was incredibly positive.” He is showing support for Israel by making and selling Mazel Lov T-shirts — a play on “mazel tov,” a Hebrew and Yiddish phrase of congratulations.

“Vienna has always been a city of tolerance,” Herzl said. “It’s the city of music and we’ll always do everything possible for everyone to enjoy a musical event.”

Some Israeli fans said they were reassured by the tight security. Oz Yona, attending his first Eurovision, said he had experienced “no hate” and felt Austria took antisemitism seriously.

He came with friends to cheer for Israel, though he was not optimistic about Bettan’s chances — for musical rather than political reasons.

“I don’t think he will win,” Yona said. “Finland is better this year. Greece is better this year. We have a good song, but not a winning song.”

Birgitta Peterson and Kristina Nilsson, who wear matching pink bomber jackets and call themselves The Swedish Ladies, love to explore new cities and meet up each year with their “Eurovision family” of fellow fans. They plan to wave Israeli flags at Saturday’s final, after Swedish contestant Felicia said earlier this year that she didn’t think Israel should be in the contest.

They say tensions over Israel have divided a fan community long known for its friendliness and embrace of diversity.

“The wounds are very deep at the moment,” Nilsson said.

“This event should really be about ‘united by music’ and happiness,” she added. “That’s what Eurovision is all about.”

The 41-year-old man slipped unnoticed past motion detectors in a remote corner of Denver International Airport, which sprawls across open plains and covers an area twice the size of Manhattan. He quickly scaled an 8-foot perimeter fence topped with barbed wire, then walked unobstructed onto the runway where he was fatally struck by a Frontier Airlines jet as it attempted to take off late Friday night.

Surveillance video showed the man getting pulled into an aircraft engine that instantly burst into flames, forcing the pilot to abort the takeoff and evacuate the 224 passengers and seven crewmembers. Twelve people had minor injuries.

Aviation and risk experts said the Denver runway collision represents a clear security failure. They noted it could've been far worse if the pilot didn't safely stop the aircraft that was traveling 150 miles per hour (241 kph).

“People ought to be concerned. This was really an unprecedented risk. But now there is precedent,” said Eric Chafee a law professor at Case Western Reserve University and an expert on risk, including in the aviation industry.

“The individual ended up with a bad result. But having somebody basically damage a plane is really quite concerning because of all those lives aboard any given aircraft,” Chafee added. “There ought to be new measures put into place to prevent this type of tragedy."

15 seconds to scale the fence

Some aviation experts disagreed new regulations were needed. They said installing blanket surveillance or impregnable defenses around airports was cost prohibitive, given the relative rarity of dangerous events like Friday's collision.

The Denver medical examiner ruled the intruder's death a suicide. Officials from the city-owned airport promised a review of their protocols but defended their perimeter security program and said it received “perfect scores” during federal inspections.

The Associated Press sent emails to the Transportation Security Administration seeking comment on Denver’s inspection results and documents detailing its security protocols.

“Safety is something we take very, very seriously,” Denver airport CEO Phillip Washington told reporters Tuesday.

Washington added that making the perimeter fence taller or topping it with razor wire wouldn't necessarily have made a difference, because someone who was motivated could still find a way in.

During Friday's breach, an alarm from a ground detection sensor was triggered shortly before the intruder entered the airport along its eastern boundary, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the terminal. An airport worker watching video surveillance cameras attributed the alarm to a herd of deer — and missed the intruder.

It took the man about 15 seconds to scale the fence and two minutes more to reach the runway, Washington said. Airport officials didn't know he was on the runway until the pilot notified the control tower that the plane hit somebody.

Airport perimeter breaches are a regular problem, with perhaps dozens annually nationwide, said security expert Jeff Price, who managed security at the Denver airport in the 1990s. The airport is surrounded by about 36 miles (58 kilometers) of fence, which airport officials say is patrolled by security workers and continuously inspected.

The vast majority of airport trespassers don’t pose a real threat to others, Price said. A man died at the Austin airport in 2020 after a Southwest Airlines jet struck him on a runway. Police later ruled it was a suicide.

Worries about copycats

Two law firms notified Denver officials Tuesday that they intend to sue on behalf of the Frontier passengers, seeking in excess of $10 million in damages. The firms alleged “multiple failures” in the airport perimeter security system, but did not provide specifics.

Steven Wallace, former director of accidents investigations at the Federal Aviation Administration, described the Denver fatality as a “one-off event” that would not justify costly improvements to airport perimeter security programs nationwide.

Wallace acknowledged that some perimeter fences can easily be breached. There are no set rules for their construction, and their primary role is to keep out wildlife that could interfere with flight operations, he said.

“I just don’t see how you’re going to think of and deal with every possible way a human could get into an airport,” he said.

Jim Hall, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, suggested there is now a higher likelihood for a repeat of Friday's collision given the potential for copycats. Hall said Denver should consider adding more personnel and surveillance to properly monitor its fence.

“With the amount of cameras and technology that is available, they need to address the problem,” he said. “They've had a failure and they don’t need to have another one."

Aliyah has ADHD, and finds it difficult to concentrate when she’s learning from a screen. She’ll watch Netflix in class on her school laptop, hiding her earbuds behind her long, curly hair.

“It’s very hard to get into the mindset of being in school,” Aliyah said.

Aliyah’s mother saw her grades were falling and asked the school to take away her laptop. But she was told that wasn’t possible.

Across the country, parents are voicing concerns about excessive screen time in schools and lobbying educators to go back to pencil and paper. In places like Lower Merion Township, where Aliyah goes to high school, some are taking it even further. Over 600 people in the affluent Philadelphia suburb have signed a petition asking to preserve parents' ability to opt their children out of using digital devices during the school day. The public school district has pushed back, saying it’s not feasible to let hundreds of students opt out of technology that is essential to the curriculum.

Disagreement over how tech is used in the classroom

At a meeting Monday night, school board members said they were considering many ways to respond to parental concerns about technology, but allowing opt-outs was not one of them.

“There is not an option for us to not have technology in schools,” said Lower Merion School Board member Anna Shurak.

The board was meeting to discuss updates to the district’s technology policies, including repealing a policy that allows opt outs. Over 100 people showed up to protest, many wearing buttons that said “Screens Down, Pencils Up.”

Many emphasized they’re not anti-tech — in fact, most parents agree that learning how to responsibly use computers is an essential life skill. They just don’t want tech to dominate the classroom.

“Teaching how to use technology is not the same thing as using technology to teach everything else,” said Sara Sullivan, a parent.

Technology has become inescapable at schools

The debate in Lower Merion raises the question of whether technology has become so intertwined with learning that it’s impossible to opt out. Kids use devices to play educational games, submit their homework, access online resources and write essays — but parents are questioning the value of gamified edtech software.

Subashini Subramanian said the software her second-grade daughter uses for math, DreamBox, incentivizes rushing through levels to gain points. When she encouraged her daughter to think through the problems methodically, the 8-year-old said, “If I go through all the steps, it’s slowing me down. I have to click, click, click.”

At the school board meeting, many parents said they were exhausted from battling their kids over screen time. Adam Washington says his son struggles with screen addiction, so sometimes he takes away his phone or TV — only to find him watching YouTube on the school laptop instead.

“The screen is killing him. It is killing me, and him, together with our relationship,” Washington said.

Another parent at the meeting questioned what students would do instead of using their computers.

“Opting out is not a solution. It’s avoiding the hard work of finding a solution,” Seth Ruderman said.

Parental pushback on edtech has led to change

The pushback on technology in the classroom has gained steam around the country. At least 14 states have proposed laws to limit screen time in schools, according to Ballotpedia, with four states — Alabama, Tennessee, Utah and Iowa — passing such legislation.

In Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest school district said it will ban screens until second grade, require daily caps for screen time per grade, ban YouTube and require an audit of all education technology contracts.

In Vermont, proposed legislation would allow not just parents but also teachers to decline to use classroom tech. Democratic State Rep. Angela Arsenault, a bill co-sponsor, said she’s responding to parents' worries about edtech.

“Parents in many districts and states just aren’t being listened to or not being heard when they ask that their students not be forced to use these products,” Arsenault said.

The Lower Merion school district said it’s listening to community concerns and has already made changes, including blocking some problematic websites flagged by parents.

“We have wonderful teachers who have continuously prioritized human interaction and relationships,” Superintendent Frank Ranelli wrote in a letter to parents. He declined to comment to the AP for this story.

The district said it is looking into possible changes, including stronger cellphone restrictions, not allowing the youngest students to take devices home and installing software to monitor students in class.

However, surveillance software can bring its own problems and poses risks to student privacy. In 2010, the Lower Merion School District paid $610,000 to settle lawsuits by two students who alleged the district had spied on them via the webcam on their school-issued laptops.

Kids want ways to hold themselves accountable

High school student Mia Tatar, 16, raised concerns at the board meeting that there’s been an unintended consequence to the anti-tech backlash. The internet filters on school computers are now so strict, she said she’s been blocked while doing research on appropriate topics for school, like breast cancer.

Mia said students need to learn how to responsibly use technology, and adding filters or getting rid of laptops won’t do that.

“It doesn’t teach kids how to hold themselves accountable and how to be responsible for regulating their own screen time once they’re in the world,” Mia said in an interview.

Her friend Elliot Campbell, 15, said there should be strict limits on screen use in the youngest grades, but students should get more freedom as they get older.

“If we lose our laptops or if we lose the partial freedom we have on them, it’s not going to prepare us for college,” Elliot told board members at the hearing.

Fellow high schooler Joaquin Imaizumi takes a different view. He said it’s “completely unfair” to expect children to regulate their usage of devices that even adults find addictive.

“This isn’t about learning to constrain yourself,” he said in an interview. “We don’t give someone drugs and say, ‘OK, now learn how to deal with this.’”

His biggest concern is that devices make it far too tempting to access AI tools like ChatGPT, which he sees eroding his classmates' ability to think for themselves.

“I’ve seen the atrophy of my peers’ thinking, which is existentially concerning,” Joaquin said.

The influence of AI starts early. A second-grader named Lillian Keshet, who got up to speak at the board meeting, said Google Docs will give her “suggestions” about what to write in class.

“I’m a pretty good writer by myself,” Lillian said. “I don’t need your suggestions, Google!”

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Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report from San Francisco.

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The Associated Press’ education 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.

New Mexico produces more oil than any other state besides Texas, and the state's revenue from taxes, royalties and lease sales helps cover the cost of college tuition, all school meals, health insurance and a new initiative for free universal child care.

Now that oil prices are surging from the conflict with Iran, money is flooding into the state treasury and creating an uncomfortable situation for Democrats who oppose the war and would rather reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.

“It’s hard for people to think about, ‘Oh great, we have this windfall,’ and children are getting killed on the other side of the world,” said Deb Haaland, the former U.S. Interior Department secretary running for governor.

Haaland is one of two Democrats running to succeed Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is wrapping up her second term in office. A former congresswoman and state party chair, Haaland worked to limit unfettered oil and gas exploration while serving in President Joe Biden's Cabinet.

Now she wants to use money amid the energy boom to increase New Mexico's child tax credit and boost the refundable working families tax credit, payouts that would most benefit people with low incomes.

“We have obligations to try to have a better world overall," said Haaland, a tribal member of Laguna Pueblo who could become the first female Native American governor in the U.S. “I think we can do that.”

Her rival for the Democratic nomination, Albuquerque-based District Attorney Sam Bregman, said he wants to offset inflation with one-time $500 checks from the state to residents making less than $200,00 a year. He also wants to waive personal income taxes on residents 65 and older.

“It is the resources of the people that’s generating that revenue,” he said. “We ought to give it back to the people."

For every $1 fluctuation in the average annual price of oil, New Mexico sees a roughly $59 million swing in state government income.

That means the state is likely to see a $850 million surge in annual state government income for the budget year ending in June alone based on war-time price changes — equivalent to 12% of annual general fund spending, according to the state Legislature’s budget and accountability office.

New Mexico sends much of its relatively heavy crude oil from its patch of the Permian Basin to Texas distribution hubs and refineries along the Gulf Coast. Prices could remain high with no end in sight for the war despite a fragile ceasefire.

A nest egg that moderates dependence on oil

In New Mexico, surges in oil income automatically flow into a series of trust accounts designed to gradually reduce the state’s reliance on fossil fuels, helping the state generate investment income to underwrite Medicaid, early childhood education, infrastructure projects and an expansion of mental healthcare.

The strategy has tempered discomfort among many Democrats with dependence on oil income, in a state with entrenched swaths of extreme poverty and the nation’s highest enrollment rate in Medicaid.

“For New Mexico and New Mexicans and especially the progressive left — which sort of controls the state — it’s always something they really don’t want to admit or talk about or get angry about,” said Lonna Atkeson, a political science professor who has analyzed voting behavior in New Mexico and directs the LeRoy Collins Institute at Florida State University. “Like, ‘We should not be funding our stuff with that money.’ I’ve heard those arguments."

The winner of this year's governor's race will take the helm of a state investment council overseeing a roughly $68 billion state nest egg, including investments that defray costs for K-12 public education.

New Mexico is not alone in reaping the financial benefits of the war. In Alaska, the state forecast an additional $1.05 billion for the current fiscal year and the one beginning July 1.

“It really is this small group of energy-reliant states like North Dakota, Alaska, New Mexico and Wyoming that are going be affected most directly,” said Justin Theal, who researches state fiscal trends as a senior officer for The Pew Charitable Trusts. He described the situation as “a double-edged sword.”

“It raises costs for households and businesses which can potentially dampen consumer spending and reduce sales taxes that almost every state relies on as well,” Theal said.

Wartime oil prices hold silver lining for New Mexico

Three contenders for the Republican nomination are advocating for even more aggressive tax relief while oil prices are riding high.

“Republicans are using the ‘e-word' — eliminate income taxes,” said Albuquerque-based pollster Brian Sanderoff, president of Research and Polling Inc. A Republican last won election to statewide office in 2016.

At the same time, they're questioning whether universal childcare will be financially sustainable.

The program is coming under direct fire in a lawsuit from cannabis entrepreneur and Republican candidate for governor Duke Rodriguez. He previously served as human service secretary under former Gov. Gary Johnson, a crusader for limited government who unsuccessfully ran for president as a Libertarian.

The lawsuit alleges the childcare program was implemented in November by Lujan Grisham without required authorization from the Legislature — though supporting legislation was passed this year. A court has ordered the administration to respond within 30 days.

Reflecting on the state’s oil income, Rodriguez says, “We don’t have a resource problem, what we have is a real results problem. We just spend and spend and spend with no accountability.”

Republican businessman Doug Turner describes war-time oil prices as an opportunity to overhaul the state tax code and wants means testing for childcare benefits. He lost the 2010 Republican primary to then-district attorney Susana Martinez, who went on to serve two terms as governor.

Gregg Hull, a former three-term mayor of Rio Rancho on the outskirts of Albuquerque, wants New Mexico to join the ranks of states with no personal income tax like Texas and Wyoming. Personal income taxes account for about $2.2 billion in annual state government income, offsetting about a fifth of annual general fund obligations.

Hull said he wants to double down on the oil economy by funneling budget surpluses to infrastructure projects in the state's main oil-production zone.

“This morning, when I was looking at a price of a barrel of oil, I said, ‘Well, that’s not great for consumers, but it’s awesome for New Mexico,'” Hull said.

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Associated Press writer Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, contributed to this report.

Dalton Eatherly, 28, and an unidentified man were involved in a confrontation that resulted in gunfire, District Attorney Robert J. Nash said in a statement. But Nash wouldn’t say why Eatherly was at that courthouse in Clarksville, what he was doing or what prompted the confrontation.

Police didn’t provide the race of the other man. However, a witness who said she saw him loaded into an ambulance described him as Black.

Both men were transported to hospitals for medical treatment and were stable, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said.

Eatherly was being held at the Montgomery County jail until bond can be set at an arraignment hearing, the county sheriff’s office said. Eatherly was also charged with employing a firearm during dangerous felony, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, the sheriff's office said.

Jacob Fendley, an attorney listed in court records as representing Eatherly in a separate harassment case from November, did not immediately return a phone message.

Claire Martin, who works in an attorney’s office across the street from the courthouse, said Eatherly is “well known in Clarksville for antagonizing people to see what he can get them to do.” She said he “yells racial slurs” at people while filming them. “He’s not a contributing member of society,” she said.

Martin did not see the altercation but saw the aftermath. The other man “waved at us as he got in the ambulance,” she said.

‘Did I shoot myself ... ?’

In a video posted on the website Pump.fun on Wednesday, Eatherly said he shot a man in self-defense after the person starting hitting him. Eatherly speaks with paramedics in the clip, one of whom takes note of a wound's entry and exit point.

“Did I shoot myself or did it graze it?” Eatherly asked.

Eatherly had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning in Clarksville, located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Nashville, over a $3,300 debt allegedly owed to a credit company, according to Montgomery County court records. The civil case was filed in February on behalf of Midland Credit Management.

Court records didn’t indicate whether Eatherly showed up for the status hearing. Online records list the case as open.

Eatherly, a white man, livestreams confrontations to social media where he can be seen and heard making racially derogatory statements to Black people in public.

In one video taken in a market, he says to a passing Black man, “You chimpin’ out," a reference to chimpanzees. He then uses the N-word a number of times.

The Black man is seen using a cellphone to record the confrontation, telling Eatherly, “Don’t touch me.”

A clerk tells Eatherly he’s not allowed to say that word. He responds “America is free speech. Tell me I can’t say something again. This is (expletive) America."

Racists in the United States and other countries historically have compared Black people to monkeys or apes. In February, President Donald Trump posted a racist social media post featuring former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as primates in a jungle. It was deleted after both Republicans and Democrats criticized the video as offensive.

Steakhouse theft and disorderly conduct charges

In addition to the credit debt case, Eatherly faces a separate criminal case in which he is accused of becoming unruly at a Nashville steakhouse on Saturday and refusing to pay the nearly $400 bill.

According to an affidavit in the case, the restaurant had asked him not to stream inside the business, but he did anyway. When they asked him to stop, he began yelling and screaming and “started making racial statements.”

He was arrested and charged on Sunday with theft of services, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and released on $5,000 bond. His next appearance in this case was scheduled for July 17 in Davidson County criminal court.

Clarksville resident Larry Quillen said he's seen videos in which Eatherly carries a gun and mace “and goes around and starts things.”

“I was just kind of like it’s a matter of time. I mean, because what he’s doing is hate. It’s not even freedom of speech and that’s what he claims to do,” Quillen said.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said one of the two men involved in Wednesday's shooting was taken to Vanderbilt of Clarksville Hospital for treatment. A message left with the hospital wasn’t immediately returned.

The other was transported by Lifeflight to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, the sheriff's office said. A spokesperson for the hospital, Craig Boerner, said medical privacy laws prohibited the disclosure of information about victims of violence.

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This story has been updated to correct that Clarksville is northwest of Nashville, not northeast.

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Loller reported from Nashville, Tennessee, and McAvoy from Honolulu. Associated Press writers Corey Williams in Detroit and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed.

Cave Spring scored in the first half and continued to use their stout defense to blank the Highlanders throughout the game, including not giving up a shot on goal in the entire second half.

The loss goes down as Glenvar’s first of the season, making them 15-1. They’ll turn around to take Radford next Wednesday at 6 p.m.

For Cave Spring, they’ll take on Hidden Valley on Friday at 5 p.m. in a quest to complete their perfect regular season.

Under the advertised spending plan, nearly $35.2 million would go to Botetourt County Public Schools, an increase of about $2.8 million from the current fiscal year budget. The proposal is part of the county’s broader FY27 budget process, which county officials say is aimed at balancing public safety, infrastructure and education needs while maintaining a balanced budget.

The hearing, relocated to Lord Botetourt High School to accommodate a larger crowd, focused heavily on school funding and the condition of aging school facilities. County officials said the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors will continue discussions before adopting a final budget later this month.

Supporters of the increase argued the additional funding is needed to support students, retain teachers and address maintenance issues in older buildings. According to previous school budget discussions, nine of the division’s 12 schools are at least 50 years old.

“Public education is not like a business where you can simply reduce production when numbers fluctuate slightly,” concerned citizen Tammy Riggs said during the hearing. “Schools must be fully operational every single day.”

Students also called on county leaders to continue investing in schools and to follow through on past commitments to improve facilities.

“I’m asking you tonight to honor your promise to increase funding for our schools, because I’m living proof that it works,” freshman Ellie Shawn said.

Senior Amelia Sanford said students have learned to cope with deteriorating conditions inside the high school building.

“This is a wonderful place to learn,” Sanford said. “But the building is crumbling, and at a certain point you can’t ignore that.”

Some residents opposed the higher spending plan, citing concerns about long-term finances and the possibility of future tax increases.

“I don’t want my taxes to increase,” one resident said. “I think we can work within our budget with some fiscal responsibility and planning.”

Others defended board members who have pushed for closer oversight of school spending.

“I do not believe Linda and Michael are against our students and schools,” another resident said. “But they want accountability, and the county needs to have a budget that does not exceed our revenue.”

The county’s budget process began earlier this year with work sessions and committee meetings reviewing departmental requests, capital projects and school funding proposals. State law requires the county to adopt a balanced budget before July 1.

The next meeting of the Board of Supervisors is scheduled for May 26, when budget discussions are expected to continue.

U.S.-based advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and shipping industry observers say waters near Malaysia’s southern Johor state have become a key hub for ship-to-ship transfers involving Iran’s “shadow fleet” — aging tankers that often operate with disabled tracking systems, false identities and opaque ownership structures to conceal the origins of crude bound largely for China.

The area, known as the Eastern Outer Port Limits, or EOPL, in the South China Sea is about 70 kilometers (45 miles) off Johor. It lies along one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes and is about halfway between Iran and China, which buys about 90% of Iranian oil.

U.S. officials have previously said Iranian oil exports rely heavily on service providers and ship-to-ship transfers operating near Malaysian waters.

UANI says there have been 42 ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil conducted in the EOPL area since Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, starting a war in the Middle East. UANI used satellite imagery to observe the operations.

“Because of Malaysia’s inaction, it is facilitating this business model by Iran and China and dark fleet actors,” senior UANI adviser Charlie Brown said, warning Malaysia is becoming “a facilitator rather than merely a transit point” for illicit activity.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Director-General Mohamad Rosli Abdullah said the transfers are often done outside the country's territorial waters and in remote areas beyond radar coverage, especially in locations near maritime boundaries or international shipping routes.

"The selection of such locations is intended to exploit jurisdictional gaps and limit direct enforcement action by local authorities,” he told The Associated Press.

The UANI allegations "do not align with the actual situation on the ground and do not reflect the operational realities of maritime enforcement conducted by the MMEA,” he said, adding that the lack of real-time intelligence-sharing among domestic and international agencies also hampers effective action.

Iranian oil flows despite a US blockade

Clandestine high-seas transfers from Iranian-linked tankers have persisted for years, allowing Tehran to sell its crude while offering buyers plausible deniability about the oil’s source.

While not illegal, Malaysia discourages unsanctioned transfers outside designated areas, where such operations can be supervised, as they greatly increase the likelihood of a spill, involve aging vessels and are carried out far from ports where mistakes could be more easily contained.

Despite a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports that started in mid-April, UANI said it has tracked Iranian-linked tankers still operating, though it is not clear how many are now getting through.

Neither the Iranian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur nor the Iranian mission to the U.N. answered requests for comment. The U.S. State Department declined to comment.

As of Tuesday, two dozen Iranian-linked tankers tracked by UANI were anchored or loitering near the EOPL area used for transfers off Johor, though it was not clear how many had sailed before the blockade began.

“It’s business as usual,” UANI's Brown told the AP.

UANI maintains that Malaysia could enforce environmental regulations for advance notification of ship-to-ship transfers, prevent Malaysian companies from providing support to ships involved and require all ships to carry adequate insurance against accidents and oil spills, among other things.

The MMEA director general said enforcement is conducted strictly under Malaysian law and relevant international conventions, and authorities have “never compromised nor provided any special treatment or privileges to any country.”

Indonesia reviews border oil transfers

Though the area where the oil transfers are taking place is widely regarded as part of Malaysia’s broader economic zone, it borders the Riau Archipelago, which is Indonesian territory.

Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said authorities were reviewing the situation to determine the legality of the activity. “Indonesia does not permit its territory or maritime zones to be used for unlawful activities,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang.

Indonesia upholds legitimate navigational rights under international law governing the seas including the right of innocent passage, transit passage and the right of passage through Indonesian maritime zones," she added.

The MMEA director general noted that Malaysia earlier this year seized two vessels, one stateless and the other flagged to Cameroon, involved in the transfer of 2 million barrels of crude oil in Malaysian territorial waters.

The vessels were later released on bond for conducting unauthorized oil transfers. UANI’s Brown said one of the vessels was spotted earlier this month conducting a ship-to-ship transfer of suspected Iranian oil in the waters off Johor.

Malaysian authorities “will continue to strengthen monitoring and enhance strategic cooperation with relevant agencies to ensure that the nation’s maritime domain’s safety and sovereignty are consistently safeguarded,” the MMEA director general said.

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AP journalists David Rising in Bangkok and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

Our high temperatures Wednesday still reach into the 70s, which is just a couple of degrees below average for this time of year.

Futurecast shows the first showers starting in the Highlands Zones, with clouds increasing for the afternoon hours. This is going to be a second half of the day event for those showers and storms.

The storms become more widely scattered for the second part of the day. Some of these storms have the potential to bring heavy rain and damaging wind gusts. Be sure to stay weather aware Wednesday afternoon!

That SPC outlook showing the potential for those stronger storms is mainly in the NRV, Roanoke Valley, and Highlands Zones. We are included in this marginal outlook, which is just that 1/5 on the SPC rating scale.

Once the front passes through, we cool down for Thursday before rebounding our temperatures just in time for the weekend! It will feel like summertime weather with showers and storms possible each day as well. Have a great day!

The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilots who safely landed that plane back in New Orleans told investigators the situation was far more challenging than anything they had ever experienced in training.

“If such an event occurred at night or in instrument meteorological conditions, the consequences could be catastrophic,” the NTSB determined.

The Federal Aviation Administration receives reports of smoke in the cockpit almost daily, but the NTSB said the agency still doesn't require airlines to conduct realistic smoke-in-cockpit simulations. Instead, the training usually just consists of a discussion of what to do in that situation. The FAA didn't immediately respond to the new recommendation on Wednesday.

The Southwest pilots at the controls during this incident in December 2023 said they had trouble seeing their instruments and checklists. They quickly donned oxygen masks and followed emergency procedures to land. None of the 139 people aboard were hurt. In a separate incident nine months earlier involving another Southwest 737 Max, smoke filled the cabin after a bird strike after takeoff in Havana, Cuba.

Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo, who was a pilot for United Airlines, said it is crucial that pilots are prepared to deal with smoke and quickly shut off the valve letting it into the cockpit, so he supports the recommendation. He said it would be good for pilots to experience dealing with smoke every time they go back for refresher training every nine months, so they’ll have the “muscle memory” to respond.

“Smoke in the cockpit is a very serious and time-critical emergency,” Arroyo said. “And I think creating the pilot awareness through real-life training is essential to reducing this potential safety threat.”

Southwest spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the airline is reviewing the new recommendation, but it is committed to ensuring its pilots can handle these kinds of emergencies and seeing that the underlying flaw in the engines on the 737 Max is fixed.

“Southwest routinely evaluates and enhances pilot training as part of its robust Safety Management System. As part of that effort, Southwest notified its Flight Crews about the effects of certain malfunctions following the two events in 2023 and reiterated the importance of following established safety procedures that are part of the company’s pilot training program,” Lunsford said in a statement.

The Airlines for America trade group said the airlines work closely with the NTSB and FAA “with a continual focus on maintaining safety as the highest priority.”

Last year, the NTSB urged Boeing and engine maker CFM International to quickly develop a software fix for the engines on the 737 Max to help prevent smoke from filling the cockpit or cabin after a safety feature is activated following a bird strike.

Spokesman for the engine and plane makers said the software fix for the engines is still being developed.

Air from the left engine on a 737 Max flows directly into the cockpit, while air from the right engine flows into the passenger cabin.

A safety device CFM added to these engines to help limit damage after a bird strike had the unintended consequence of contributing to smoke inside the plane. The device releases oil after a bird strike, which generates a significant amount of smoke.

Both Boeing and CFM have said they are committed to addressing the engine issue, and the FAA said last year that the repair will be required as soon as it is ready.

But the disgraced lawyer won’t be leaving prison anytime soon.

Prosecutors say they plan to retry Murdaugh, which likely means there will be another lengthy trial for the case that because of the combination of money, power, Southern accents and treachery has become a true crime sensation with several streaming miniseries, best selling books and dozens of true crime podcasts.

Murdaugh, 57, will remain in prison. He pleaded guilty to stealing around $12 million from his clients and currently is serving a 40-year federal sentence at the same time as a 27-year state sentence for his financial crimes.

Prosecutors promise a retrial that the court says will look different

Prosecutors haven't closed the door on appealing the ruling, but said Wednesday they are concentrating on aggressively seek to try Murdaugh again on the murder charges preferably sometime in 2026. State Attorney General Alan Wilson saying he respected the court's decision but no one is above the law.

Murdaugh's lawyers pointed out that trial will look a lot different, as the justices also ruled days of evidence at the murder trial about how Murdaugh stole from clients, many of them in dire straits, shouldn't be allowed next time.

Still, the ruling is a win for Murdaugh, who admits to being a thief, liar, insurance cheat and bad lawyer, but has adamantly denied killing his wife Maggie and younger son Paul since he found their bodies outside their home in 2021.

“Alex has said from day one that he did not kill his wife and son. We look forward to a new trial,” Murdaugh’s lawyers Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin said in a joint statement.

The defense has detailed the lack of physical evidence — no DNA or blood was found splattered on Murdaugh or any of his clothes, even though the killings were at close range with powerful weapons that were never found.

Prosecutors argued that the clerk’s comments were fleeting and the evidence against Murdaugh was overwhelming.

Murdaugh told investigators for months he hadn’t seen his wife and son for about an hour before they were killed. But investigators eventually cracked the passcode on Paul Murdaugh’s phone and found a video with a barking dog and Alex Murdaugh’s voice admonishing it five minutes before the young man stopped using his phone.

Investigators said Murdaugh was addicted to opioids and his complex schemes to steal money from clients and his family’s law firm were starting to unravel so he killed his wife and son to divert attention and buy time to find a way out of his problems.

Court said clerk attacked Murdaugh's credibility with jurors

In their unanimous ruling Wednesday, the South Carolina Supreme Court said the conduct by Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted.

A few jurors said Hill, assigned to oversee the evidence and the jury during the trial, told them to watch Murdaugh's body language when he testified in his own defense and to not be fooled, confused or thrown off by what he might say.

“By urging the jurors not to be fooled or convinced by Murdaugh’s defense, Hill essentially implored the jurors to find him guilty, the ultimate issue in the case,” the justices wrote, adding that the comments insinuated there was something unusual and suspicious about his decision to testify.

Hill “placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury,” the justices wrote. “Our justice system provides — indeed demands — that every person is entitled to a fair trial."

Justices say Hill was looking for celebrity

The court said Hill's motivation was the “siren call of celebrity” and her goal was to increase sales of her book on the trial called “Behind the Doors of Justice: The Murdaugh Murders.” It was pulled from publication after plagiarism allegations were made.

“As her book’s title suggests, it turns out Hill was quite busy behind the doors of justice, thwarting the integrity of the justice system she was sworn to protect and uphold,” the justices wrote in an unsigned 27-page ruling.

Hill’s attorney in her criminal case didn’t return a phone call or email seeking comment.

Hill has pleaded guilty to lying about what she said and did during the Murdaugh trial, including showing graphic crime scene photos to several media members. The journalists were not named and the photos were not described at her December hearing.

“The court rightly described her conduct as "‘breathtaking,’ ‘disgraceful,’ and ‘unprecedented in South Carolina,' ” Murdaugh's lawyers said.

Justices say financial crime evidence also improperly used

The justices also had a warning for the next judge to try the murder case — be cautious on how much evidence of Murdaugh's thefts from his law firm and clients to allow those jurors to hear.

Some brief evidence of how Murdaugh stole is fine and how it might connect to him killing his wife and son. But the court said details like how some of the people Murdaugh stole from were disabled or vulnerable could unfairly turn against him jurors who should be focused just on whether he killed his family.

The chief prosecutor in the case said he doesn't regret piling on all the financial crime evidence he could in the initial trial because if the jury finds Murdaugh not guilty, they can't try him again,

“You don’t hit a home run if you’re afraid to strike out,” prosecutor Creighton Waters said at a Wednesday news conference.

Wilson is a Republican running for South Carolina's open governor's seat this year. He said politics won't play into any of his decisions on this case and it is the employees of the office, not its elected leader who will the backbone of the prosecution.

“The decision on whether to nor to purse this case is not going to be built on who the next occupant of my office” is, Wilson said. "It’s going to be built on should we seek justice or not.”

Warsh takes over a divided central bank wrestling with the economic fallout from the war started by the U.S. and Israel with Iran on Feb. 28. The conflict has driven up energy prices and made it even more difficult for the Fed to bring inflation down to its 2% target.

But Trump has demanded lower interest rates, not the higher ones that might be needed to keep inflation in check. Warsh, who had positioned himself as an inflation hawk earlier in his career, has more recently aligned himself with Trump's views, arguing that artificial intelligence and other technologies can boost productivity and economic growth without igniting inflation.

Trump had consistently attacked Powell for refusing the deep rate cuts the president believes will boost the economy. And his Justice Department had launched an investigation into the Fed that was widely seen as an attempt to oust Powell. The legal drama delayed Warsh's confirmation. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would oppose Warsh until the Justice Department dropped the investigation, which it finally did last month.

In an unusual move, Powell said he would remain on the Fed's governing board indefinitely after Warsh came on as chair, citing Trump's "unprecedented'' attacks on the central bank's independence. Although Powell's term as chair is ending, his term as a Fed governor doesn't expire until 2028.

Powell's continued presence could make things awkward for Warsh, especially if he tries to convince other Fed officials to go along with rate cuts.

Trump has said that Warsh comes from “central casting,” revealing a lot about the president's own views of the 56 year-old's looks and conventional pedigree. Warsh has many of the trappings of a traditional pick to lead the world's most important central bank, yet he's doing so at a decidedly unconventional moment for the Fed as Trump has said the new chair needs to cut its benchmark rates to the White House's liking.

Rate cuts of the degree sought by Trump could temporarily boost growth, but they also pose the risk of overheating the economy at a time when inflation is already elevated and affordability is a top concern for much of the American public.

Warsh was previously a runner-up for the Senate-confirmed post of Fed Chair in 2017, when Trump selected Powell to lead the central bank. Trump has since said that he was given bad advice regarding Powell.

Warsh is credentialed with degrees from Stanford University and Harvard University Law School. He is also married to Jane Lauder, the daughter of billionaire cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, a major Republican donor.

Senate Democrats have condemned Warsh for not fully divulging the details of his own wealth, which amounts to at least $100 million. His investments include stakes in Polymarket and SpaceX, but he hasn’t revealed the size of those holdings. He promised to sell all such assets within 90 days of being sworn in.

At 35, Warsh became the youngest governor on the Fed's seven member board, serving in that post from 2006 to 2011. He was previously an economic aide in George W. Bush’s Republican administration and was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley.

Warsh worked closely with then-Chair Ben Bernanke in 2008-09 during the central bank’s efforts to combat the financial crisis and the Great Recession. Bernanke later wrote in his memoirs that Warsh was “one of my closest advisers and confidants” and added that his “political and markets savvy and many contacts on Wall Street would prove invaluable.”

Still, Warsh appeared in key moments to be misguided about the depth of the challenges confronting the U.S. economy as mortgage defaults and layoffs mounted in the Great Recession. He wanted the Fed to keep its benchmark rates higher when the economy was at risk of deflation and possibly collapsing.

Warsh raised concerns in 2008 that further interest rate cuts by the Fed could spur inflation. Yet even after the Fed cut its rate to nearly zero, inflation stayed low.

And he objected in meetings in 2011 to the Fed’s decision to purchase $600 billion of Treasury bonds, an effort to lower long-term interest rates, though he ultimately voted in favor of the decision at Bernanke’s behest.

Warsh also behaved at times like a pre-Trump Republican, calling in a 2010 speech for ending “the creep of trade protectionism” that he declared to be the opposite of “pro-growth policies.” Trump has since largely overhauled GOP dogma by pushing for massive hikes in import taxes, having unilaterally imposed them last year by declaring an economic emergency.

Warsh has been working as a visiting economics fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank located at Stanford University. He is also a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a partner at the Duquesne Family Office, which manages the wealth of billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller.

In what appeared to be an active campaign for the Fed post, Warsh criticized the Fed in interviews, calling for “regime change” and assailing Powell for engaging on issues like climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion, which Warsh said are outside the Fed’s mandate.

In a interview last year on CNBC, Warsh said Fed policy “has been broken for quite a long time.”

“The central bank that sits there today is radically different than the central bank I joined in 2006,” he added. By allowing inflation to surge in 2021-22, the Fed “brought about the greatest mistake in macroeconomic policy in 45 years, that divided the country.”

It is the third time this season the Argentine superstar has had at least three goal contributions in a match. He is second in the league with 12 goals.

Mateo Silvetti evened it at 3-3 in the 79th minute after coming on as a substitute.

Kevin Denkey, Pavel Bucha and Evander scored for Cincinnati. It is the first time in 64 matches since Pat Noonan became coach in 2023 it lost when it had the lead after 75 minutes.

Messi gave Miami a 1-0 lead at the 24-minute mark after he deflected a shot that went off Cincinnati's Matt Miazga near the Cincinnati goal. Denkey evened it on a penalty kick in the 41st minute.

After Bucha put Cincinnati on top in the 49th minute, Messi made it 2-2 six minutes later on a cutback after getting the pass from Luis Suarez.

Evander's in the 64th minute with a right footer from the center just outside the box to give Cincinnati a 3-2 lead. Miami though would rally and score the next three goals.

After Silvetti's goal, Miami took the lead off a set piece when Cincinnati's Andrei Chirila collided with goalkeeper Roman Celentano, allowing Berterame to put it into the open net.

Messi appeared to have a hat trick in the 89th minute when his shot went off the post and deflected off Celentano, but it was corrected to an own goal shortly after the match. It would have been Messi's 61st hat trick in all competitions.

Messi has 61 goals and 42 assists in 65 regular-season matches.

Mami had a 16-10 edge in shots.

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AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/major-league-soccer

Lynchburg holds a record of 36-6-1 and finished as the ODAC runner up. Headlined by power hitters and even local talent, the Hornets are just three seasons removed from capturing their first ever national championship. But even with a solid season, the Hornets feel a bit overlooked.

“I think there’s some doubts about us out there after how we finished in the ODAC tournament and I love that,” said Sean Pokorak, a senior catcher. “I welcome that. I know everybody in that dugout welcomes that and if you overlook us, I think you’re going to regret it. I’m really excited to show what we’re capable of.”

“We can kind of go play loose and play fast, play hard, but just kind of relax and let the game come to us and for three years these guys have found a way to play their best baseball on the biggest stage,” said Head Coach Travis Beazley. “Hopefully we can put them in a position where they can do that again this year.”

Penn state-Behrend, Maryville College and Christopher Newport are also in this regional pod that will be played at City Stadium. The Hornets will open with Penn State-Behrend at 11 a.m. Friday. Maryville will play CNU in game two.

The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the deal, said the contract includes $32 million guaranteed.

The extension was first reported by NFL insider Jordan Schultz.

Achane’s average annual value of $16 million is third among running backs behind Saquon Barkley ($20.6 million) and Christian McCaffrey ($19 million).

Achane rushed for a career-high 1,350 yards on 238 carries in 2025 and led the NFL with 5.7 yards per carry, earning his first Pro Bowl selection. He had eight rushing touchdowns and four receiving scores and ranked fourth among running backs with 488 yards receiving.

His 3,057 career rushing yards are the most by a Dolphins player in his first three NFL seasons, and his 1,277 career receiving yards rank second among Miami running backs in their first three seasons since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

“He’s dynamic,” new Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley said in March. “I mean there’s plays that you’re not even blocked right for and he gets 6 or 7 yards. His vision, his acceleration, the way he can catch the ball out of the backfield, he’s so hard to defend.”

Despite embarking on a rebuild that has included releasing or trading many of the Dolphins' established players — including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle — Miami general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan made it clear that Achane was not available.

A third-round pick out of Texas A&M, Achane is one of only seven running backs since 1970 with 20-plus rushing touchdowns and 10 receiving touchdowns in his first three seasons.

“He’s obviously very important to what we’re doing,” Sullivan said last month amid contract talks with Achane, “and it’s all part of it. It’s part of professional sports. We’ll get where we need to be one way or the other.”

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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi in Tampa contributed to this report.

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

The event recognized seniors Justinne Llavore, Sean O’Herron, Karly Smith, and Lillian Kessler for their outstanding achievements in track and field and their commitments to compete at the next level.

Justinne Llavore signed for Track and Field with Washington and Lee University. Llavore has earned All-State and All-Conference honors in Shotput and Discus and has played an integral role in helping lead Roanoke Catholic’s girls track and field team to back-to-back state championships.

Sean O’Herron signed for Track and Field with Washington and Lee University. O’Herron is a standout hurdler and multi-event athlete, holding multiple state titles and earning Blue Ridge Athletic Conference Athlete of the Year honors. He is also a Roanoke Catholic school record holder.

Karly Smith signed for Track and Field with Emory & Henry University. Smith has built a dominant career at Roanoke Catholic, earning multiple state titles in the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, and 55-meter hurdles while helping lead the girls team to back-to-back VISAA Division II State Championships.

Joining Karly at E&H will be Lillian Kessler. A distance specialist, Kessler has earned multiple 3200-meter victories, including first-place finishes at the Cosmopolitan Invitational, Emory & Henry Invitational, Cave Spring meets, and the Virginia Episcopal Invitational (2023), while contributing to the strength and consistency of Roanoke Catholic’s distance program.

McCarthy charged in on a sinking line drive from Bryan Reynolds, catching the ball on a full sprint for the second out of the first inning.

Pittsburgh's Oneil Cruz — who started on second base — was near third when McCarthy made the catch, so the 28-year-old continued to jog toward the infield, stepping on second for the final out.

It was the first unassisted double play by a left fielder since Jonny Gomes on July 31, 2013, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The Rockies won the game 10-4.

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

The Omaha-area district, where Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon is retiring, is one of Democrats' biggest targets this midterm season. It’s also a national focus every four years in presidential contests because Nebraska is one of just two states that splits its electoral votes. The 2nd District has gone to Democratic presidential candidates three out of five times since 2008 — a “blue dot” in an otherwise sea of red.

Powell, a political activist, defeated state Sen. John Cavanaugh and several other candidates in the Democratic primary. She and Cavanaugh were in a tight race that could not be called Tuesday.

Powell will face Brinker Harding, an Omaha City Council member endorsed by President Donald Trump. He ran unopposed in Tuesday’s GOP primary.

“This country and Nebraska are worth fighting for — and I’m ready to spend the next six months working for every vote and sharing my vision for Nebraska so we can finally have a representative in Congress who will serve us,” Powell said in a statement. “It’s time to be brave.”

Powell led Cavanaugh by 2.1 percentage points, or 1,080 votes, out of more than 51,000 votes counted.

AP called the race after Douglas County election officials said there were only 5,125 outstanding mail-in ballots in the Democratic primary, and a total of 830 provisional ballots from all political parties. Even if all those ballots are counted in the Democratic primary, Cavanaugh would have to win them by about 18 percentage points over Powell to close the gap, a margin he didn’t come close to achieving in any of the five vote updates provided by Douglas County so far. Cavanaugh trailed in all three counties in the district, though Douglas accounted for about 93% of the votes.

The matchup between Powell and Harding is expected to be among this fall’s most competitive House races, as Democrats try to win control of the chamber for the second half of Trump's term.

The 2nd District is one of just three districts in the country that supported Democrat Kamala Harris for president in 2024 while also electing a Republican representative. Trump won the district in 2016, and the retiring Bacon, who has clashed with Trump, has held the House seat for five terms.

The Nebraska GOP said in a statement Wednesday that Republicans are ready to fight back against a "radical left” that has poured money into the state.

“The left wants Nebraska, and we are going to make sure they don't get it,” said NEGOP Chairman Mary Jane Truemper.

Powell, who is Latina, co-founded Women Who Run Nebraska, a political action committee that supports progressive female candidates, and she has a decade of Democratic political activism. She had the backing of EMILY's List and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' campaign operation.

Powell has never held office but said her deep connections have helped her with independents and third-party voters, who make up nearly 30% of the district’s electorate.

Some Democratic critics argued that a Cavanaugh primary victory would have jeopardized the district’s “blue dot” status because he’d be leaving his valuable state legislative seat, making it easier for Republicans in the Nebraska Legislature to change the law that allows the state to split its electoral votes.

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Peoples reported from New York.

Darderi wasted two match points in the second set but the Italian went on to prevail 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-0.

The match was delayed for nearly 20 minutes toward the end of the first set as smoke wafted in from fireworks that had been set off in the soccer stadium next door Wednesday after Inter Milan won the Italian Cup final.

Darderi was complaining that he couldn’t see anything and the smoke was also affecting the cameras for the electronic line-calling system, which had to be reset.

When play resumed, Darderi held serve to take the set to a tiebreaker, where he found himself 5-2 down before rallying.

The 24-year-old Darderi, who on at least a couple of occasions was drinking coffee during changeovers, broke immediately in the second set. Jodar managed to break back and then fend off two match points before leveling the match.

Darderi dominated the decider, and sealed the result when Jodar hit a forehand into the net.

“It was really a battle,” Darderi said. "After the second set, I never thought I’d win, but I just tried to take it game by game, ball by ball. I pushed a little bit more in the third set, and physically I won it there.

“We played really late, it was difficult at a certain point, but I’m happy. The crowd helped me a lot today. It’s really a dream to be in the semifinal.”

The 19-year-old Jodar was only the second teenager after Rafael Nadal (in 2005) to reach the Madrid and Rome quarterfinals in the same season.

Lengthy delay

Darderi reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal and will play Casper Ruud, who earlier overcame 13th-ranked Karen Khachanov 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.

The match was suspended for more than two hours at the start of the second set because of rain, and Khachanov seemed to have dealt better with the enforced break.

The 23rd-ranked Ruud broke Khachanov’s serve twice at the start of the third set and then again to take the match on the second of three match points.

Swiatek back to her best

In the women's tournament, three-time champion Iga Swiatek beat Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-2 Wednesday to advance to the Italian Open semifinals.

The fourth-ranked Swiatek’s impressive form bodes well for the upcoming French Open, which she has won four times.

“I’m happy that I can spend some time on the court and play really solid matches against the best girls,” Swiatek said. “For sure it’s giving me confidence because you can practice as much as possible, but if you don’t test it out on the court, play matches and face pressure or something, you’re going to still feel the little bit rusty when it comes.

“Now I’m happy I played couple matches. I’ll play hopefully two more here.”

Swiatek next faces another former Rome champion in Elina Svitolina, who rallied to beat second-seeded Elena Rybakina 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

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

The attack began in midmorning and lasted for hours in the capital of Kyiv, the western city of Lviv near Poland, and the port of Odesa on the Black Sea, among other population centers, Zelanskyy said on the Telegram messaging app.

“Our soldiers are defending Ukraine, but Russia’s obvious goal is to overload air defenses,” Zelenskyy said, as the bombardment stretched into the late afternoon. He cautioned that a cruise and ballistic missile attack could follow the drone barrage.

It was “one of the longest, massive Russian attacks against Ukraine,” he said on social media.

It also rattled neighbors. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said his new government has summoned the Russian ambassador over a drone attack near Hungary’s border, in a significant shift from his predecessor Viktor Orbán's friendly relations with Moscow.

“The Hungarian government strongly condemns the Russian attack on Transcarpathia,” Magyar told journalists, adding that Foreign Minister Anita Orbán will speak with the ambassador Thursday morning.

The foreign minister will ask “when Russia and Vladimir Putin plan to finally end this bloody war,” Magyar added.

“Thank you for your compassion and strong position!” Zelenskyy said on X after Magyar’s comments.

Three people are killed in a region near Kyiv

Drone debris fell in an open area in Kyiv’s Obolonskyi district with no casualties, city officials said, as air defense systems engaged Russian drones over the capital. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said emergency services responded to the scene. Explosions were heard across the city earlier Wednesday.

Three people were killed in a drone attack in the Rivne region west of Kyiv, according to Oleksandr Koval, head of the regional military administration.

Moscow’s attacks are unrelenting, even as Ukraine is emboldened by its recent military accomplishments and as U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin said — without providing evidence — that the war could be approaching an end.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said, 14 Ukrainian regions came under attack, followed by overnight strikes on Ukraine’s residential, energy and railway infrastructure.

“It is important to support Ukraine and not remain silent about Russia’s war. Every time the war disappears from the top of the news, it encourages Russia to become even more savage,” Zelenskyy said, apparently referring to the world's attention being focused on the Iran war.

Trump and Putin talk of a possible end to the war

Trump said Tuesday said he believes Moscow and Kyiv will soon reach a deal to end fighting.

“The end of the war in Ukraine I really think is getting very close,” Trump said as he left the White House for a summit in Beijing. “Believe it or not, it’s getting closer.”

Putin said in a speech last weekend that his invasion of Ukraine is possibly “coming to an end.”

Neither leader elaborated on what persuaded them about the possibility of peace in Europe’s longest conflict since World War II. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts over the past year to end the war have fizzled after making no progress on key issues, such as whether Russia gets to keep Ukrainian land it has seized and what can be done to deter Moscow from invading again.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov indicated Wednesday that Moscow’s fundamental terms are unchanged, with Putin insisting that Ukraine pull its troops from the four regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022 but hasn't fully captured.

“At that point, a ceasefire will be established, and the parties can calmly engage in negotiations, which, incidentally, will inevitably be very complex and involve a lot of important details,” Peskov said.

Zelenskyy vowed to keep pressure on Moscow to make concessions in talks.

“We’re not giving up on diplomatic efforts, and we hope that pressure on Russia, together with negotiations in different formats, will help bring peace,” he said in a speech Wednesday in Bucharest, Romania, to representatives of countries on NATO's eastern flank.

“Sanctions are working, our long-range (drone and missile) capabilities are working, and every form of pressure is working,” he said.

Meanwhile, European governments are assessing the merits of opening talks with Putin. Europe has for years tried to isolate the Russian leader and punished his country with international sanctions.

Fighting appears to shift in Ukraine's favor

The correlation of forces in the war has shifted in recent months. Ukraine has gone from pleading for international help with its defense to offering foreign countries its expertise on how to counter attacks, thanks to its domestically developed drone technology.

Ukraine’s long-range drone and missile attacks have disrupted energy facilities and manufacturing deep inside Russia, with three regions reporting strikes Wednesday. The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces intercepted and destroyed 286 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula, the Azov Sea and the Black Sea.

On the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line, the advance of Russia’s bigger and better-equipped army has been slowing every month since October, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Russia’s spring offensive has floundered, with Russian forces recording a net loss of territory last month for the first time since 2024, the Washington-based think tank said.

“Not only are Ukrainian defensive lines holding, but Ukrainian forces have managed to contest the tactical initiative in several areas of the front line even as Russia continues to lose disproportionate amounts of manpower to achieve minimal gains,” the ISW said Tuesday.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Sam McNeil in Brussels and Bela Szandelzsky in Budapest, Hungary, contributed,

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Dr. Stephen Kornfeld of Bend, Oregon, was among more than 120 passengers and crew evacuated from the ship and flown to different countries to enter quarantine. Kornfeld was brought to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha with 15 other Americans, but he was the only one taken to an isolated biocontainment unit after a nasal swab he took on the ship produced inconclusive results about whether he had the virus.

On Wednesday, the hospital announced that Kornfeld will now join the 15 other Americans who were taken for monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit, instead of the biocontainment unit, according to hospital spokesperson Kayla Thomas.

Kornfeld appeared on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” on a video call from his hospital room Tuesday, saying, “I feel wonderful, 100%."

He said there was a period on the ship when he came down with flu-like symptoms including night sweats, chills and fatigue but he said he has no symptoms now.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that a total of 11 hantavirus cases linked to the cruise have been reported worldwide, including three deaths. Eight cases have been confirmed by laboratory tests.

Kornfeld said a nasal swab he took on the ship was later tested twice in the Netherlands. One result came back negative, the other positive. Earlier this week, he was awaiting results from a new test taken when he returned to the U.S.

“The initial test that we received was from abroad and it was inconclusive in its results,” Dr. David Fitter of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters Wednesday.

In addition to the passengers taken to Nebraska, two other Americans are being monitored at the serious communicable disease unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Health authorities say it is the first hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. While there is no cure or vaccine for hantavirus, the WHO says early detection and treatment improves survival rates.

Public health officials say the risk to the general public from the cruise ship outbreak is low. Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people, though the Andes virus detected on the Hondius may be able to spread between people in rare cases.

The WHO is recommending that passengers and crew from the cruise ship stay in quarantine, either at home or other facilities, for 42 days.

Kornfeld described his quarters at the biocontainment unit in Nebraska as a hospital room with a comfortable bed.

“It’s a little weird being in here by myself,” he said before he was cleared to leave. “But the nurses come in, the doctors come in. I’m on WhatsApp all the time. It’s really amazing how quickly time flies.”

On a day when the British government's legislative plans were presented by no less than King Charles III himself, Prime Minister Keir Starmer was fighting to remain in power following rising discontent within his Labour Party.

The traditional pomp and pageantry associated with the state opening of Parliament was overshadowed by the political intrigue, specifically the mounting speculation that Health Secretary Wes Streeting was planning to quit Starmer's government and launch a leadership bid as soon as Thursday.

The embattled prime minister has been urged to set a timetable for his departure by more than a fifth of the Labour Party’s lawmakers in the House of Commons. Some junior ministers have quit the government in protest, but no one has yet challenged Starmer directly.

“It is absolutely preposterous that the government is here laying out a program as its ministers are resigning and a large proportion of the party is saying that the prime minister needs to go," Kemi Badenoch, leader of the main opposition Conservative Party, told lawmakers as they began a debate over the government's agenda.

On the ropes

Starmer's premiership has been imperiled by the huge losses Labour suffered in local and regional elections last week. If those results were repeated in a national election that has to be held by 2029, the party would be overwhelmingly ejected from power.

Labour was squeezed from the right and the left, losing votes to both anti-immigrant Reform UK and the Green Party, as well as nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.

Labour secured a landslide election victory in 2024, driving the Conservatives from power after 14 years, but since then the party’s popularity has plunged and Starmer is getting much of the blame. The reasons include a series of policy missteps, a struggling British economy, a perceived lack of vision on the prime minister’s part and questions over his judgment. Starmer’s choice of Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to Washington despite ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has continued to haunt him.

Streeting is expected to launch a leadership bid as early as Thursday, according to some media reports. Streeting, who has long been known to harbor ambitions to become prime minister, met with Starmer earlier Wednesday for less than 20 minutes. Neither have discussed what was said, but Starmer’s office insisted that the health secretary retains the prime minister’s full support.

Starmer, who says he has no intention to stand down, has his supporters within the party. More than 100 lawmakers have signed a letter saying it's “no time” for a leadership contest.

“We should let him get on with doing his job, because he is a serious politician and these are very, very serious times,” Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn told Sky News.

King offers Starmer some respite

In a speech to lawmakers outlining the government's legislative program for the coming year or so that was written by the government itself, the king said that the U.K.’s economic, energy and national security would be tested as it deals with the fallout from the wars in Iran and Ukraine.

Planned measures include controlling the cost of living, strengthening ties with the European Union and making it easier to build new energy infrastructure.

And pledging action on antisemitism following a run of attacks on the Jewish community in recent months, Charles said that the government would “defend the British values” of decency and tolerance.

The monarch, who made the short journey from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament in a horse-drawn carriage, also said the government will “defend the British values of decency, tolerance and respect for difference under our common flag,” and said that urgent action would be taken to tackle antisemitism.

The real question is whether Starmer will be around to implement the measures in the speech and, even if he remains in office, whether he will have the authority to push his proposals through.

In his speech advocating his policy agenda, Starmer gave no indication that he wouldn't be around to push the planned bills through.

“This King’s Speech sets a different course, a more hopeful course, a course that sees the conflict in Iran, a war on two fronts, not as something to wring our hands about, but as an opportunity we must take to shape our country’s future, to end the status quo that has failed working people, to build a stronger, fairer Britain,” he said.

Historic power collides with modern reality

The King’s Speech merges the historic power and grandeur of Britain with the reality of the modern United Kingdom, a midsized country with an underfunded military, rising debt and waning international influence.

The speech is the focal point of a day of ceremony and tradition that has been followed since 1852, with elements of the program dating to the 16th century. The state opening of Parliament uses carefully choreographed pageantry to showcase Britain’s evolution from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy where real power is vested in the elected House of Commons.

The royal paraphernalia

During his speech, which he delivered seated next to Queen Camilla, the king donned the Imperial State Crown and robe of state.

Once they were seated, a Lords official called Black Rod, named for the ebony rod he or she carries, went to the House of Commons to summon the chamber’s members. The doors to the Commons chamber were slammed in Black Rod’s face to symbolize the chamber’s independence from the monarchy, and they aren’t opened until Black Rod strikes the doors three times.

Once members of the Commons crowded into the Lords’ chamber, the king delivered the speech.

After the speech was read, the royal couple left and the two houses of Parliament begin several days of debate on its contents.

The push by Senate Democrats on Wednesday was a maneuver to force vulnerable GOP senators to take politically difficult votes in an election year as Democrats try to hammer Republicans on the economy. The Senate rejected three Democratic resolutions, largely along party lines.

The votes were tied to rule or regulatory changes made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since the Trump administration took over the bureau in February 2025. The bureau has rescinded 67 policies under its acting director, Russell Vought, who is also President Donald Trump’s budget director. Vought has publicly said that his goal is to effectively dismantle the agency.

“The Trump Administration is hell-bent on destroying the agency,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee and the top defender of the bureau in Congress.

Warren added that the changes at the bureau signal that “the Trump Administration has abandoned consumers and is making life more expensive for them.”

The Democrats offered more than a dozen other resolutions by voice vote to roll back the administration's CFPB policies, but Republicans blocked each one.

The votes could be used as ammunition against vulnerable GOP senators up for reelection this year, including Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and John Cornyn of Texas. Collins voted with Democrats on two of the three resolutions.

One vote Democrats sought was for the CFPB’s policy change on overdraft fees. The Biden Administration issued guidance in 2024 requiring banks to obtain their customers’ affirmative consent before charging an overdraft fee. That guidance was repealed under President Trump, which Democrats argue will lead to more Americans paying overdraft fees. The Senate voted down the resolution 47-53.

“When they got rid of this rule, it showed that (President Trump) didn’t care about Americans living paycheck to paycheck,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.

Congress created the CFPB in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession, designed to operate as an independent financial regulator with broad enforcement authority over consumer financial products and services. The bureau estimated in 2024 that it had returned $17.5 billion to American consumers and had imposed $4 billion in fines and penalties against financial companies.

But since February 2025, the CFPB has largely been inoperable. The bulk of the bureau’s staff remains under orders not to work, and much of the CFPB’s business these days is to unwind previous work the bureau did under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and in Trump’s first term. The bureau’s operating budget is expected to shrink as well after Trump’s big tax and spending cuts law reduced the amount of money the bureau receives from the Federal Reserve.

“Russell Vought is unilaterally defacing this agency and taking it apart,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island.

Republicans have defended President Trump's changes at the bureau. Republicans largely see the CFPB as an agency with too much centralized power and unaccountable to Congress, and they have repeatedly attempted to diminish it since its creation.

“I can’t think of a worse way to govern than the Biden administration’s approach to the CFPB and the playbook that they used time and time again, putting onerous pressure on small businesses,” said Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

Democrats used the Congressional Review Act, a law allows Congress an opportunity to overturn rules issued by federal agencies once those rules are finalized. The 1996 law was used sparingly in its first two decades, but its use increased during Trump’s first term, when a Republican-controlled Congress overturned more than a dozen rules finalized during President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration. Democrats, in turn, used the law in 2021 to overturn several Trump-era policies.

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report from Washington.

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An earlier version of this article included a reference to a March poll conducted by the Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting. That reference has been removed.

At Inova Schar Cancer Institute in Fairfax — a leading cancer treatment center, Governor Spanberger signed bipartisan bills to cap the out-of-pocket cost of a 30-day supply of insulin at $35 for state-regulated plans and require insurers on the Marketplace to offer health plans that cap monthly out-of-pocket prescription drug costs. The Governor also signed legislation to crack down on prior authorizations to prevent costly delays in patient care — part of her Affordable Virginia Agenda with General Assembly leaders.

Gov. Spanberger was joined at the ceremony by Virginia families, healthcare providers, bill patrons, Senator Russet Perry, Senator Jeremy McPike, Delegate Karrie Delaney, Delegate Rozia Henson, Delegate Rip Sullivan, and Delegate Irene Shin — and other state and local leaders.

“Everywhere I go, people talk to me about the high cost of healthcare, both at the doctor’s office and the pharmacy counter. That’s why I made affordability the cornerstone of my legislative agenda — and why we’re taking decisive action to make healthcare more affordable for Virginia families,” said Governor Abigail Spanberger. “These bills are a significant step forward to make sure that when your family needs care, you can get it. When your doctor writes a prescription, you can afford to fill it. And when you get sick, the cost of getting better doesn’t break the bank.”

“No Virginian should be rationing insulin because of what it costs at the pharmacy counter. That’s why we’re capping the out-of-pocket cost of a 30-day supply at $35. This is a huge deal for the 800,000 Virginians living with diabetes. These are priorities that all of us can embrace — and why I’m also proud to say that every bill we’re signing today passed the General Assembly with bipartisan support," Spanberger said.

Governor Spanberger signed the following bipartisan bills to make healthcare and prescription drugs more affordable for Virginians:

• HB1214 (Delegate Karrie Delaney) — Capping the out-of-pocket cost of a 30-day supply of insulin at $35 for state-regulated plans. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB625 (Delegate Rozia Henson), SB161 (Senator Russet Perry) — Requiring health insurers on the Marketplace to offer plans that cap monthly out-of-pocket prescription drug costs. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB736 (Delegate Michelle Maldonado) — Preventing costly delays in care by limiting prior authorizations. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB328 (Delegate Rip Sullivan) — Expanding essential health benefits benchmark plan to include coverage for doula care, infertility treatment, hearing aids, and more. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB484 (Delegate Irene Shin), SB164 (Senator Jeremy McPike) — Encouraging providers to offer more affordable care by limiting health insurance carriers from downcoding certain claims. Passed with bipartisan support. 

The department imposed the bond requirement last year for countries that it said had high rates of people overstaying their visas and other security issues as part of the Republican administration’s broader crackdown on immigration.

Travelers to the United States from 50 countries are required to pay the new bond, and five of those countries have qualified for the World Cup — Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia.

Citizens from those five countries who have purchased tickets from FIFA are now exempt from the visa bond requirement. World Cup team players, coaches and some staff already had been exempt from the bond requirement as part of the administration’s orders to prioritize the processing of visas for the tournament.

“The United States is excited to organize the biggest and best FIFA World Cup in history," Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said. “We are waiving visa bonds for qualified fans who bought World Cup tickets" and opted in to the FIFA Pass system that allows expedited visa appointments as of April 15.

In its own statement, FIFA said the announcement shows “our ongoing collaboration with the U.S. government and the White House task force for the FIFA World Cup to deliver a successful, record-breaking and unforgettable global event” and thanked the administration for the partnership.

The waiver is a rare loosening of immigration requirements under the administration and will ease travel burdens for at least some visitors to the U.S. for the World Cup, which begins June 11 and is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The administration has taken dramatic steps to restrict immigration in ways critics say are incongruous with the unifying message a global sporting event such as the World Cup is supposed to project.

For instance, the administration has barred travelers from Iran and Haiti, though World Cup players, coaches and other support personnel are exempt. Travelers from the Ivory Coast and Senegal face partial restrictions under an expanded version of that travel ban, even without the visa bond exemption.

Foreign travelers also had faced potential new requirements to submit their social media histories, although that policy from U.S. Customs and Border Protection had not gone into effect. Also, the administration had deployed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at airports recently when Transportation Security Administration personnel were not being paid during a partial federal shutdown.

Those measures prompted Amnesty International and dozens of U.S. civil and human rights groups to issue a “World Cup travel advisory" that warns travelers about the climate in the U.S.

In a report this month, the main advocacy group for U.S. hotels blamed visa barriers and other geopolitical issues for “significantly suppressing international demand,” leading to hotel bookings for the soccer tournament that are far below what had initially been anticipated.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association said travelers are concerned about potentially lengthy visa wait times and increased fees, along with uncertainty about how they're being processed to enter the U.S.

The bond requirements are part of the administration’s larger effort to clamp down on migrants who travel to the U.S. on temporary visas but then overstay them. Visa applicants from the affected countries are required to pay $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 in bonds, which will be refunded if the traveler complies with the terms of the visa or if the visa application is denied.

As of early April, the number of World Cup fans affected by the bond requirement was believed to be relatively small, perhaps only about 250 people, according to U.S. officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. But they said that number was changing rapidly as more people buy tickets and some with tickets opt against traveling.

FIFA had requested the waiver, which had to be approved by the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, and was the topic of discussion at multiple meetings at the White House and elsewhere in Washington for several months, the officials said.

The 81-year-old opened his conservative talk show, “The Rudy Giuliani Show,” with assurances to his audience that he was on the mend — though not yet fully recovered. In early May, Giuliani was in critical condition and placed on a ventilator at a hospital in Palm Beach, Florida.

Reports of his illness were met with an outpouring of support and well-wishes from a range of high profile politicians across the political spectrum.

“I have to thank everyone who sent me prayers and good will," he said. He specifically mentioned his gratitude to his family, the medical staff that tended to him and U.S. President Donald Trump, who Giuliani said called him after he became sick.

“It feels good to be back,” Giuliani said before cutting to his first break.

Giuliani was previously hospitalized last September after suffering a fractured vertebra and other injuries in a car crash in New Hampshire.

After Giuliani's eight-year tenure as mayor, which was punctuated by the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, the longtime Republican politician ran unsuccessfully for president in 2008 and eventually became a personal attorney and adviser to Trump.

Giuliani was a vocal proponent of the president’s allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits claiming fraud, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error.

Two former Georgia election workers later won a $148 million defamation judgment against Giuliani. As they sought to collect the judgment, the former federal prosecutor was found in contempt of court and faced a trial this winter over the ownership of some of his assets.

Giuliani ultimately struck a deal that let him keep his homes and various belongings, including prized World Series rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of the ex-election workers.

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

Las Vegas-based Allegiant said the transaction closed after receiving required regulatory and shareholder approvals. When the deal was first announced in January, Allegiant said it was valued at about $1.5 billion, including debt.

“Today marks a defining moment in Allegiant’s history as we officially join forces with Sun Country,” Allegiant CEO Gregory Anderson said in a statement, adding that the new combined airline is positioned to offer broader access to affordable travel.

The deal comes as both airlines and travelers are grappling with a sharp run-up in jet fuel costs driven by the war in the Middle East, a jump that is already showing up in higher fares and fees across the industry. That increase is hitting low-cost airlines especially hard, since they have less room to absorb rising costs.

The pressure was especially acute for Spirit Airlines. The ultra low-cost carrier shut down after 34 years May 2, its collapse accelerated by the sharp rise in fuel costs following years of financial strain, including heavy debt, repeated restructuring efforts and ongoing cash-flow problems.

Against that backdrop, Allegiant and Sun Country say their tie-up gives them more ways to generate revenue. Along with passenger flights, Sun Country brings into the fold cargo flying for Amazon, as well as charter trips for sports teams, casinos and the U.S. Department of Defense,.

Allegiant says the expanded network is also expected to give travelers more options, especially in smaller and mid-sized markets, with about 195 aircraft serving nearly 175 cities and more than 650 routes.

For now, travelers shouldn’t expect any changes. Both airlines will continue to operate separately, and customers can keep booking, checking in and managing trips just as they do today.

Allegiant said it will take time to bring the two airlines together. Over the long term, the combined company is expected to operate under the Allegiant name and remain headquartered in Las Vegas, while adding new options and connections across its broader network.

Minneapolis–St. Paul, where Sun Country is based, will remain an important hub for the airline.

Cam was a William Byrd High School student who died from bone cancer just before Christmas. But the people closest to him say cancer was never the headline of his life.

Instead, they describe a teenager known for his faith, his steadiness, and the way he handled a diagnosis most adults would struggle to face.

A memorial built rock by rock

One of the most visible reminders of Cam’s legacy is a garden filled with roughly 5,000 hand-painted rocks. Each rock is decorated with a message, image, or symbol representing something Cam loved — and together they’ve become a space where family, friends, and community members can remember him.

Cam’s mother, Charlene Thepsimuong, said the idea started while she was still in the hospital with her son.

“It actually started when I was in the hospital with Camden,” she said. "He was inpatient and someone had reached out to me that knows of him and was friends with us and had just sent me a picture and it was a picture of a rock garden and I showed that to Camden and he was like, we should do this!"

Over time, the memorial grew as more people joined in.

“I appreciate that so many people came together to paint it for him,” she said.

The rocks now serve as both a tribute and a gathering place — a way for the family to see, in a very tangible way, how many lives Cam touched.

“He never let the diagnosis define him”

Cam’s parents, Anouxa and Charlene Thepsimuong, said they are still grieving the loss of their oldest son. But they don’t want that loss to be the thing people remember most.

They want people to remember who Cam was — a teenager whose faith stayed central, even at the end.

In a video shared on social media, Cam speaks directly about that faith and what it meant to him, telling others he believed he knew where he was going after life on Earth.

His parents said that belief — and the support from their church and the broader community — helped carry them through the most difficult days.

Turning loss into a gift for other kids

Now, the Thepsimuongs are working on another way to keep Cam’s spirit present: a scholarship fund that will pay for two children each year to attend Cam’s favorite church camp.

His parents said the camp was something Cam looked forward to — and something he truly loved.

“I just know how much he loved it, how much he couldn’t wait to go to camp,” one parent said.

For the family, the goal isn’t just to remember Cam — it’s to help other children experience something that meant so much to him.

“The fact that just a kid will pretty much experience the exact same experience Camden had, that means a lot for us,” Anouxa said.

For his parents, it’s a way to do what Cam would have wanted, even though he’s not here to say it himself.

“If he was here, I think he would say this is exactly what he would have wanted,” Anouxa said.

A long-term promise

The family’s goal is to raise enough donations to support the scholarship for the next decade, paying for two children to attend each year.

They say it’s their way of giving back to the community that showed up for them — and of making sure Cam’s story continues.

In the same way the painted rocks spread across the garden, the family hopes Cam’s legacy spreads too — through kids who get the chance to go to camp, build friendships, and find encouragement in the same place Cam did.

Donate to Cams Camp Scholarship here.

Then, search and rescue crews from the U.S. military appeared overhead, members of those crews recounted during a news conference Wednesday.

“You could tell just by looking at them that they were in distress — physically, mentally and emotionally,” said Air Force Capt. Rory Whipple, a combat rescue specialist who jumped into the water and swam to the survivors. “You have to imagine the emotional injuries that they sustained out there, not knowing if someone was going to rescue them.”

The plane, a Beechcraft 300 King Air turboprop, was on its way from Marsh Harbour, on the Bahamian island of Great Abaco, to Grand Bahama International Airport in Freeport when it suffered engine failure Tuesday, authorities said. The pilot ditched the plane in the water about 50 miles (80 km) off Vero Beach, Florida, and managed to get its 10 passengers, three with minor injuries, onto a yellow life raft.

Air Force Reserve Maj. Elizabeth Piowaty credited those efforts, saying the pilot would have been concerned about ocean swells and slowing the plane as much as safely possible before impact.

“I've not known anyone to survive a ditching in the ocean,” said Piowaty, who commanded a HC-130J Combat King II plane that assisted with the rescue. “From what I've seen, for all those people to survive is pretty miraculous.”

The downed plane's emergency beacon alerted the U.S. Coast Guard to its location. At the time, the Air Force Reserve's 920th Rescue Wing had a crew already airborne conducting a training mission in a HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter. The crew was redirected to help with the search.

Piowaty said that after locating the survivors, her aircraft passed overhead and dropped a survival kit that included two additional rafts, food and water. The survivors were then able to spread out, and the crew of the HH-60W, including Whipple, was able to hoist them to safety amid 3- to 5-foot (1- to 1.5-m) swells, raising the last survivor just a few minutes before the helicopter would have been forced to refuel.

There was no sign of the downed aircraft, Piowaty said.

All 11 survivors were flown to awaiting emergency medical services at Melbourne Orlando International Airport, authorities said. All were reported to be in stable condition.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate the crash.

Lutnick agreed to sit for an interview with the House Oversight Committee last week after the release of case files on Epstein contradicted his claim on a podcast last year that he had been determined to “never be in a room again” with Epstein after a 2005 tour of Epstein’s home that disturbed Lutnick and his wife.

The House Oversight Committee released the transcript of the interview Wednesday, as well as a transcript of an interview with Tedd Waitt, a former boyfriend of Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell.

Lutnick, who for years was neighbors with Epstein in New York City, had claimed in that podcast interview that Epstein engaged in blackmail. But under scrutiny from lawmakers, Lutnick said he was only “speculating.”

“I had no personal information. I was just speculating for a podcast,” Lutnick told lawmakers, adding that his two other personal interactions with Epstein years later were “meaningless and inconsequential.”

Lutnick is the highest-ranked current administration official, besides President Donald Trump, to be named in the Epstein case files. The Republican president has consistently denied any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and has said he ended their relationship years ago.

How Lutnick described interactions with Epstein

Lutnick repeatedly downplayed his previous interactions with Epstein. He said that after Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, showed a massage table and made a sexual innuendo during a tour of his townhouse in 2005, Lutnick and his wife decided he would “just avoid him.”

Yet Lutnick, who was previously the head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald, had a pair of interactions and exchanged several emails with Epstein over the years.

They also both invested in the same business venture in 2013, according to the Epstein case files. Lutnick told lawmakers that he was unaware that Epstein was also an investor until the case files were released months ago.

The commerce secretary also described his two other meetings with Epstein. During a family vacation in the Caribbean, Epstein's staff invited them to have lunch on his private island. Describing the 2012 visit, he told the committee: “We sat outside, had lunch. It was boring. We left.”

Lutnick also said he made a brief visit to Epstein's home in 2011 to discuss scaffolding that would be installed at Epstein's townhouse. Lutnick called that meeting “meaningless and inconsequential.”

Democrats pressed Lutnick to answer for his decision to meet up with Epstein after initially determining that he would avoid him. Lutnick responded that he couldn't remember why his family made the visit to Epstein's island.

As they emerged from the interview last week, Democrats criticized Lutnick as evasive and dishonest. Several called on him to resign.

“If a Cabinet Secretary lies to the American public, they should no longer serve in that position. Mr. Lutnick should resign or be fired,” Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said on social media shortly after Lutnick's interview.

The White House has stood behind Lutnick, who for years has been a part of Trump's circle.

Maxwell's former boyfriend also interviewed

Lawmakers also last month interviewed Waitt, the cofounder of Gateway computers who dated Maxwell in the early 2000s. Maxwell, who is serving a lengthy prison sentence for helping Epstein traffic girls, had also dated Epstein and was his longtime confidant.

Waitt told lawmakers that he was unaware at the time that either Epstein or Maxwell was committing sexual abuse. He also described meeting Epstein only a handful of times.

“Each of those were very brief and unintentional,” he said, adding that he had never visited Epstein's home, flown on his planes or visited his private island.

Waitt said he found Epstein “somewhat arrogant” and added that he was “off-putting.”

And in now growing to 11 teams, there’s one more addition still to come to make it an even dozen for a league preparing to double in size since launching with six franchises in 2024.

The Las Vegas team was formally introduced at a news conference at the Vegas Golden Knights’ home arena Wednesday. Hamilton was to follow on Thursday, the PWHL said.

“There’s a lot of excitement and adrenaline and a lot of 'Let’s go,'” league executive vice president of business operations Amy Scheer told The Associated Press about an expansion process that began with the addition of Detroit last week.

“We’re stoked and we’re proud of how far we’ve come in a short time,” she added. “But, the work starts now, right? It’s wonderful to make announcements. But that’s really when the real work comes, and the proof is in the pudding.”

Las Vegas forges new ground by introducing the PWHL to America's Southwest, a year after the league expanded into the Pacific Northwest by adding Seattle and Vancouver.

“We do need to geographically expand past the northeast and the north in general,” Scheer said. “So that’s part of the plan as we start to branch out: What are the right markets that make sense to obviously become a little bit more geographically diverse?”

With San Jose, California, and Denver in the running to become the next expansion market, the PWHL would be in position to break off into either two six-team conferences or three four-team divisions based on geographical proximity. The league’s original six franchises are New York, Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Minnesota.

Hamilton becomes Ontario's third franchise, and further expands the PWHL’s reach across the province's densely populated "Golden Horseshoe" region, without drawing fans away from Toronto, located 42 miles (68 kilometers) to the east. A league neutral site outing in Hamilton in January drew 16,012 fans, with Scheer saying 70% of the turnout had never previously attended a PWHL game.

The Hamilton-Burlington region has a population of more than 785,000, and is within an hour’s drive of other major centers such as London, Kitchener-Waterloo and the Niagara Region.

Though separated by roughly 2,200 miles (3,547 kilometers) and an international border, the two newest markets meet various league expansion criteria, including being hotbeds for female hockey development.

Since the Golden Knights began play in the NHL in 2017, girls' and women's hockey participation in Las Vegas has grown by 600%, the PWHL said.

“Now our job is to grow it to 6,000%,” Scheer said at the official announcement from a stage set up on the ice at T-Mobile Arena. She represented the PWHL, and Golden Knights and Las Vegas-area officials also spoke to a crowd of fans that included about 200 girls hockey players.

And the PWHL brings another franchise to a growing sports market that includes the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, who relocated to the city in 2018. The Aces have won three of the past four league titles and averaged more than 11,000 per outing over the past two seasons.

As for the Hamilton region, 15% of PWHL players are from there, including Vancouver’s Sarah Nurse, and Toronto teammates Renata Fast and Emma Maltais.

The markets feature arena partners eager to work with the league on availability to ensure there are open dates to fit games into the facilities schedules. Arena availability factored into the PWHL’s decision-making with several markets ruled out because of scheduling conflicts.

The yet-to-be-named Las Vegas team will play out of the Golden Knights' home T-Mobile Arena, and feature a color scheme of green and gold. John Penhollow, Golden Knights business operations president, said some games could be played at the 4-year-old, 5,567-seat Lee's Family Forum in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson if there are scheduling conflicts at T-Mobile.

That arena also is home to the Golden Knights' American Hockey League-affiliate Henderson Silver Knights. The Silver Knights and the PWHL will share the same nearly 6-year-old training facility in Henderson.

“The beauty is what their requests are is exactly what we had to do for the Silver Knights,” Penhollow said. “Dedicated locker rooms, dedicated laundry, dedicated gym, where they're going to eat. The way that building was constructed, it sets up well for these types of renovations, and the hope is we get it all done before the start of the regular season.”

Hamilton’s team colors will be gold, maroon and cream. The team will play out of the city’s newly renovated downtown TD Coliseum, where it will share the ice with the New York Islanders' minor-league affiliate, which is relocating from Bridgeport, Connecticut, this year.

The arena has a 16,400-seat capacity for hockey. It was formerly called the Copps Coliseum, which in 1987 hosted eight Canada Cup tournament games, including Canada’s two wins over the Soviet Union in the best-of-three final.

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AP Sports Writer Mark Anderson in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

The soldier was identified as Spc. Mariyah Symone Collington of Taveres, Fla., the U.S. military Europe and Africa said in a statement. She was 19 years old.

“Royal Moroccan Armed Forces transported the Soldier’s remains by a Moroccan helicopter to the morgue of Moulay El Hassan Military Hospital in Guelmim, Morocco,” the statement said.

Collington served as an air and missile defense crewmember and was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said.

Collington entered the Regular Army’s Delayed Entry Program in 2023 before beginning active-duty service in 2024. She completed Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, as a 14P air and missile defense crewmember. She reported to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, in Ansbach, Germany, in February 2025 and was promoted to specialist on May 1, 2026.

Her awards and decorations include the Army Service Ribbon.

The announcement came days after the military said the remains of another soldier, 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 14A Air Defense Artillery officer, had been recovered. The two soldiers fell off a cliff during an off-duty recreational hike in Morocco. Their remains are en route to the United States.

A spokesperson for U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa told The Associated Press that the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.

The two soldiers were reported missing May 2 after participating in African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise held in Morocco. Their disappearance triggered a search operation involving more than 1,000 U.S. and Moroccan military and civilian personnel, the SETAF-AF spokesperson added.

Assets deployed during the operation included a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, unmanned aerial systems, thermal and ISR sensors, an unmanned underwater vehicle, side-scan sonar, a Moroccan multibeam echosounder and U.S. Coast Guard drift modeling capabilities, according to the spokesperson.

African Lion 26, is a U.S.-led exercise launched in April across four countries – Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal – with more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations.

In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured during a helicopter crash in Morocco’s southern city of Agadir while taking part in the exercises

The legislation seeks to cement U.S. assistance for Ukraine by approving more than $1 billion in security aid and making another $8 billion available in the form of loans. Supporters have been calling on President Donald Trump to act more forcefully to deter Russia and boost Ukraine.

Lawmaking gained 218 signatures on a petition from Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York that will force a House vote. While the measure is unlikely to become law, the vote will put lawmakers on record concerning their support for Ukraine.

The petition was signed by 215 Democrats and two Republicans — Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania. Rep. Kevin Kiley, an Independent from California, became the final signature required to force the vote. Kiley said the bill would help strengthen Ukraine's leverage to advance a durable peace.

“We must also send a strong message that Russian support for Iran’s targeting of U.S. military assets will not be tolerated,” Kiley said in a statement explaining his support for the petition.

But Speaker Mike Johnson voiced concerns about the timing of the vote.

“I’m talking with some of the sponsors of that right now,” Johnson said. “… The latest news out of Russia is that it looks like the war is scaling back, scaling down, coming to a conclusion. I think Vladimir Putin said that himself in the last few days, and so this would be a good time for Congress to see how that pans out. So I’m going to be talking to my colleagues about that.”

The fighting continues

Trump said Tuesday he believes Moscow and Kyiv will soon reach a deal to end fighting.

“The end of the war in Ukraine I really think is getting very close,” Trump said as he left the White House for a summit in Beijing. “Believe it or not, it’s getting closer.”

Putin said in a speech last weekend that his invasion of Ukraine is possibly “coming to an end.”

But on Wednesday, Russia fired at least 800 drones in a massive daytime barrage across Ukraine, killing at least six people and wounding dozens, including children, in one of the longest attacks by Moscow in the 4-year-old war, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Fitzpatrick said he did not agree that the war is near a conclusion and the only way he would not vote for the Meeks measure would be if Russia withdrew its forces from Ukraine.

"There’s people dying as we speak, so no, the war is not winding down,” Fitzpatrick said.

Meeks said that it was time for lawmakers to go on the record about where they stand.

“Members of Congress, some tell me that they are supportive of Ukraine. Well, we’re going to finally get a vote on the floor to make that determination,” Meeks said.

He said he believes the House vote will "put pressure on the Senate and I think it should tell the president that America is looking and we want to stand by our allies and not Vladimir Putin.”

Prospects in the Senate

Lawmakers have for months discussed various proposals to sanction Russia, but much of that talk disappeared when Trump launched an attack on Iran in late February.

While Senate Republicans have mostly been supportive of Ukraine, they have hesitated to act without Trump’s support. On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune expressed skepticism that the Senate could move to Russia sanctions, saying “we have such a pileup” of other legislation.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has pushed for a Russia sanctions bill in the Senate, said Wednesday, “There are parts of the House bill I like, parts of it that I don’t.”

Republicans and Democrats alike have also been frustrated that the Department of Defense has not spent $400 million in military aid for Ukraine that lawmakers allotted last year. During a hearing earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was working on a plan to spend those funds.

Support for Ukraine has been a major point of tension between Congress and Trump, who pledged to quickly settle the war once he was president. Instead, he has struggled to show progress toward a peace deal even as his administration has often moved to withdraw support for both Ukraine and the rest of Europe.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said late Tuesday that Venturella would succeed Todd Lyons, who led the agency through much of the administration's tumultuous crackdown on immigration. ICE did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional information Wednesday.

Venturella left the Geo Group in early 2023 and has been working at ICE leading the division that oversees detention contracts, members of Congress wrote in a public letter earlier this year.

At the Geo Group, which houses around one-third of ICE detainees, Venturella served in a number of posts, including executive vice president overseeing corporate development, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. He also oversaw removal operations for ICE in 2011 and 2012 after working for federal contractors, including one that specializes in security clearances and background checks.

Geo has benefited from President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push, garnering big contracts to open three shuttered facilities. Among them was a $1 billion, 15-year deal for a detention center in New Jersey’s largest city.

“Last year was the most successful period for new business wins in our company’s history,” Geo’s CEO George Zoley said during an earnings call last week.

Geo owns and operates 23 ICE detention facilities, with about 26,000 available beds. Zoley also said that ICE’s air transportation subcontract had continued to steadily increase and that it secured a new contract last year for electronic monitoring.

To Silky Shah, executive director of the Detention Watch Network, the hire is a “classic example of the revolving door phenomena.” In a statement, she expressed concern that “Venturella’s intimate knowledge of ICE will likely yield another spike of ICE detention facility openings.”

Venturella will lead ICE at a time when the public mood has soured on Trump’s immigration crackdown, which sent surges of federal immigration officers into American cities to round up immigrants. Those raids sent tensions soaring and prompted clashes between protesters and law enforcement, leading to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Trump returned to the White House on a promise of mass deportations, and ICE has been a central executor of that vision. Under Lyons’ leadership, the agency used a massive infusion of cash to expand hiring and detention capabilities, and it ramped up arrests to meet demand from the Republican administration.

Federal officials announced Lyons’ departure last month from ICE, which had gotten $75 billion from Congress to fulfill Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

Venturella's appointment comes as DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin settles into his role atop the Cabinet agency overseeing ICE. Mullin has promised to keep his department out of the headlines and has indicated a softer tone on immigration, although he is expected to align with the president's priorities on mass deportations.

One contentious issue confronting DHS now is a plan for converting warehouses into immigrant detention. Conceived while Kristi Noem led the department, the effort has encountered multiple lawsuits and intense community blowback, including in Republican-led states.

The $38.3 billion plan would increase detention capacity to 92,000 beds and mean acquiring eight large-scale facilities, capable of housing 7,000 to 10,000 detainees each, and 16 smaller regional processing centers.

Those, and other sites, were supposed to be running by the end of November. But after Noem’s departure, DHS paused the purchase of new warehouses as it scrutinizes all contracts signed during her tenure.

Last month a judge extended a stoppage on transforming a massive Maryland warehouse into a processing facility for immigrants, and there are signs that federal officials are scaling back the plans or agreeing to conduct more thorough environmental reviews.

On Wednesday, DHS’s Office of Inspector General confirmed in an email that it is conducting an audit of the warehouse purchases, although it said it wouldn’t provide details on the scale or scope.

“We are committed to full transparency and will not interfere with the ongoing investigation,” DHS said in a statement.

If the warehouse conversions falter, that could be good news for Geo. The Florida-based company has about 6,000 idle beds at six company-owned facilities, Zoley said last week.

Zoley had offered a note of skepticism about the warehouse plan during an earlier earnings call in February, noting that renovating a warehouse is “more complicated than you may think.” At that point, he said the company was “cautiously” looking at whether to bid to help operate some of them.

The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas in southern Lebanon, hours after telling residents of six southern villages to evacuate.

Lebanon and Israel are scheduled to hold another round of direct talks in Washington on Thursday as the Trump administration pushes for a breakthrough between the two neighbors that have been in a state of war since Israel was created in 1948.

The United Nations has also accused Hezbollah of drone strikes near its peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon, and Secretary-General António Guterres' message to both sides is that they must observe the ceasefire and stop all attacks, U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

The Health Ministry confirmed the seven airstrikes on vehicles, but didn't provide full details of the number of people in each vehicle.

Two of Wednesday’s drone attacks hit a highway linking Beirut with the southern port city of Sidon, while a third struck the town of Saadiyat near the busy freeway, the state-run National news agency said. The Health Ministry said those strikes killed eight people in total, including the mother and children.

A fourth strike took place in the early afternoon near the northern entrance of Sidon, leaving one person dead and another wounded, the ministry said. It added that three other drone strikes on cars deeper in southern Lebanon killed three people.

An Associated Press photographer saw the bodies of three people killed in two of the strikes near the coastal towns of Barja and Jiyeh.

In southern Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes were reported in various towns and villages while Hezbollah claimed that it launched additional attacks on Israel as both sides keep exchanging fire despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on April 17.

Hezbollah also has been using drones in its attacks on Israeli forces.

The U.N. peacekeeping force deployed in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL said Wednesday it is increasingly concerned about fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli soldiers near its positions, putting peacekeepers at risk, including with explosions of drones in and around U.N. bases.

UNIFIL said that a presumed Hezbollah drone detonated inside its headquarters in the coastal town of Naqoura on Tuesday, following earlier presumed Hezbollah drone detonations on Monday and Tuesday. No one was injured, but some buildings were damaged.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war started on March 2, when the Lebanese militant group fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the United States and Israel attacked Iran.

The Health Ministry said Wednesday that since the war began, 2,896 have been killed and 8,824 wounded.

Edward Harold King, who left the bench at the end of last year, and Yechiel “Sam” Sprei, a politically connected real estate developer, were arrested by the FBI on wire fraud conspiracy charges after federal prosecutors say they duped a pair of investors into forking over $6.5 million for a bogus property bid and then failed to return all but a fraction of the money.

The allegations are similar to claims made against King in civil lawsuits and in complaints to the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, whose investigation precipitated his resignation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Wang told a judge at the men’s initial court appearance on Wednesday that the transaction described in the criminal case was “one of several schemes that the government has been investigating." Discussing Sprei's finances, the prosecutor said “it’s safe to say many, many millions of dollars” have moved through his bank accounts in the last few years.

King, 72, and Sprei, 37, were released on bail and are scheduled to return to Brooklyn federal court on Monday to finalize their bond arrangements. King and his lawyer, Michael Vitaliano, declined to comment as they left the courthouse. The former judge cut through trees in a nearby park to avoid reporters and photographers. Sprei's lawyer, Ezra Lent, declined to comment.

In court, Wang said that during Sprei's arrest, the developer lied to FBI agents that he had no electronic devices on him other than his cellphone. Agents executing a search warrant seized the phone and then found a second phone while patting Sprei down, Wang said.

If convicted, King and Sprei could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

“As alleged, the defendants stole millions of dollars from investors by cynically leveraging King’s position as a sitting judge to lend false legitimacy to supposed investment opportunities,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement.

King resigned on Dec. 31, 2025, just three years after becoming a judge, after the Commission on Judicial Conduct informed him that it was investigating complaints mirrored in his criminal case.

Among the complaints, the commission said, were that King was involved in a scheme to defraud real estate investors and that he continued to act as a lawyer — including by accepting funds into his own attorney escrow accounts — despite rules barring full-time judges from practicing law, acting as fiduciaries or engaging in business activities. King denied the allegations.

According to federal prosecutors, King and Sprei pitched investors on fictitious investment opportunities with false promises that their money would be kept safe in attorney escrow accounts and returned on demand if the investors decided to end their involvement.

In November 2024, prosecutors said, Sprei and King offered two investors an opportunity to buy commercial real estate in Freehold, New Jersey, through a bankruptcy auction. In order to proceed, Sprei told them, all bidders first needed to show “proof of liquidity” and that they could do so by depositing $6.5 million in King’s escrow account, prosecutors said. Sprei told the investors that King was both an independent escrow agent and a judge, according to prosecutors.

The investors wired the money to King's account, where they were told it would be left untouched and not spent or transferred without their permission, prosecutors said. Within days, prosecutors said, King and Sprei transferred several million dollars to a bank account in Sprei’s name.

Later, when the investors exercised their right to have the money back, King offered up excuses and alternatives, at one point saying he would have his lawyer deposit the funds with an unspecified court, prosecutors said. King and Sprei eventually returned $1.5 million to the investors, but have yet to cough up the rest, prosecutors said.

King became a judge in 2023. He won a seat on the New York City Civil Court in Brooklyn and was appointed to the state’s main trial court in June 2024.

Prior to that he was in private practice and, according to news articles about his campaign, was appointed by courts to manage assets in real estate disputes. He also served as an administrative law judge for the city's Parking Violations Bureau and as legal counsel to the state assembly.

When the state commission accepted King's resignation, its administrator Robert Tembeckjian called the allegations "so egregious as to warrant his permanent departure from the bench.”

The visit occurs at a delicate moment for Trump’s presidency, as his popularity at home has been weighed down by the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran and rising inflation as a consequence of that conflict. The president is seeking a win by signing deals with China to buy more American food and aircraft, saying he’ll be talking with Xi about trade “more than anything else.”

Here's the latest:

Judge blocks US sanctions against independent UN investigator over criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon has temporarily barred the Trump administration from imposing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, after her family had filed a lawsuit earlier this year.

Leon said the penalties the administration is pushing could be a violation of Albanese and her family members’ First Amendment amendment rights. In a lawsuit filed in February in the U.S. District Court in Washington, Albanese’s husband and minor child outlined the serious impact those sanctions have had on the family’s life and work, including the ability to access their home in the nation’s capital. The State Department had said that Albanese had engaged in a “campaign of political and economic warfare” against the U.S. and Israel by urging other countries to sanction Israel over its alleged war crimes in Gaza and several U.S. companies for being “complicit” in those actions.

US military says some humanitarian aid gets to Iran

It has allowed 15 merchant vessels “supporting humanitarian aid” through a blockade of Iranian ports, U.S. Central Command said in a social media post.

They include both merchant ships allowed to dock in Iranian ports as well as ships that were allowed to sail out of Iranian ports and into open waters, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for the command.

The social media post noted that since the blockade began on April 13, U.S. forces have redirected 67 commercial vessels and disabled four more “to ensure compliance” with the restrictions.

Immigration authorities detain former Kansas mayor who fears deportation over voting controversy

The former mayor of a conservative Kansas town is in the custody of federal immigration authorities, a possible step toward deportation.

It comes months after Joe Ceballos acknowledged he voted in elections despite not being a U.S. citizen. Ceballos was 4 when his family brought him from Mexico. The 55-year-old is now a legal permanent resident.

His lawyer says that while seeking citizenship, Ceballos admitted that he had voted — apparently not knowing his status doesn’t allow it. Immigration officials didn’t return a message seeking comment. Ceballos’ supporters were outside the immigration building in Wichita, Kansas.

“I’m extraordinarily disappointed in my government,” Jess Hoeme, his attorney, told The Associated Press.

Ceballos was twice elected mayor of Coldwater, population 700, and also served on the city council. He won a new term in November but resigned after state Attorney General Kris Kobach charged him with voting without being qualified and election perjury.

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Vance says US has made headway in Iran talks

Vice President JD Vance says he thinks the U.S. is making progress in its talks with Iran over the war, but that it’s too soon to tell if it’s enough to ensure that Iran will never be able to have a nuclear weapon.

Vance was asked about the status of negotiations while taking reporters’ questions at a press conference Wednesday for his anti-fraud task force.

He said he spent “a good amount of time” on the phone with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on Wednesday morning, as well as “a number of our friends in the Arab world.”

“I think that we are making progress,” Vance said. “The fundamental question is, do we make enough progress that we satisfy the president’s red line?”

Vance brushes off Trump’s 2028 successor comments as president joking around

The vice president says it’s “natural” for Trump to “joke around with us a little bit” over who should be his Republican successor in the 2028 election.

During a press conference for his anti-fraud task force on Wednesday, JD Vance was asked about Trump’s comments at a Monday night Rose Garden dinner where the president polled the crowd about his possible successor. Trump asked them whether Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio should be at the top of the GOP ticket.

The VP joked that it didn’t sound like Trump wanted “to have a televised competition for who would succeed him as his apprentice,” a nod to the president’s reality TV background.

He says Trump has long been fascinated by politics and it’s typical for him to “play around with the idea.”

Vance pushes back on question about Trump’s comment playing down economy as a factor in Iran negotiations

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at an event on healthcare fraud, the vice president was asked whether he agrees with Trump’s comments from a day earlier that said Americans’ financial situations are not a factor in negotiations with Iran.

“Well, I don’t think the president said that,” Vance told a reporter who paraphrased Trump’s remark. “I think that’s a misrepresentation of what the president said. But look, I agree with the president that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump commented on Tuesday as he departed the White House for a summit in Beijing. He said economic issues were not a factor in negotiations, “not even a little bit.”

“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” Trump said. “I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

Senate confirms Trump pick Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve, following Powell

The Senate has confirmed Kevin Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The vote to confirm Warsh on Wednesday brings new leadership to the world’s most powerful central bank at a fraught moment for the global economy.

Warsh’s nomination faced uncertainty after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina threatened to block it while the Justice Department investigated Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The Powell probe was dropped in April, allowing the Warsh confirmation to move forward.

Warsh, 56, a former top Fed official, will become chair at an unusually difficult time for the independent agency. The Fed confronts stubborn inflation, deep divisions over interest rates and renewed scrutiny from Trump over its independence.

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Louisiana advances plan to eliminate majority-Black US House district after court ruling

Republican senators in Louisiana have advanced a plan to eliminate one of two majority-Black, Democratic-held congressional seats. The Senate committee vote early Wednesday follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the state’s House map as an illegal racial gerrymander.

Committee members heard hours of testimony from Black residents and Democrats opposed to the move. Republicans chose not to target both Democratic seats.

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling weakening Voting Rights Act protections has prompted similar redistricting efforts in Southern states like Tennessee and Alabama. Those efforts are part of a broader national redistricting battle that has involved about one-third of the states. A similar attempt fizzled Tuesday in the South Carolina Senate.

Efforts to undo minority districts mark the latest phase in a 10-month national redistricting battle. It grew after Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw House districts to win more seats in the midterm elections.

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US and China seek to repair damage from tariff war that sent trade into a freefall

Trump’s trade war with Beijing has sent U.S.-China trade into a freefall and forced companies on both sides of the Pacific to regroup. U.S. firms are looking for suppliers outside of China. And Chinese firms have pursued business in Europe and Southeast Asia.

The sparring goes beyond tariffs.

China has cut off purchases of U.S. soybeans and deprived U.S. manufacturers of crucial minerals and metals. The U.S. has blocked China from getting advanced computer chips.

The world’s two biggest economies have shown they can hurt each other. Now, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are trying to stabilize the relationship during their meeting in Beijing.

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Republican resistance to Iran war is growing

Senate Republicans succeeded again in blocking Democratic legislation that would halt Trump’s war with Iran, but the number of GOP senators voting against the war grew.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against the war for the first time since it began at the end of February. Two other Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, also voted against the war, as they had done previously.

The war powers legislation ultimately failed to advance 49-50, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to oppose it, yet the close tally reflected growing unease with Trump’s war.

Memphis residents claim harassment, arrest and abuse by Trump-ordered Memphis Safe Task Force

Four Memphis residents say they have been harassed, arrested and physically mistreated for engaging in First Amendment protected activities by observing and recording the actions of law enforcement in their city.

A lawsuit filed on Wednesday in federal court in Tennessee targets the Memphis Safe Task Force. The task force comprises agents from 13 federal agencies that President Donald Trump ordered to the city to fight crime alongside Tennessee State Troopers and the Tennessee National Guard.

The suit asks the court to declare retaliation against the plaintiffs for observing and recording law enforcement activity unconstitutional and prohibit agents from further retaliation.

Since late September, hundreds of law enforcement personnel tied to the task force have made traffic stops, served warrants and searched for fugitives in the majority Black city of about 610,000 people. The lawsuit says the task force has conducted over 120,000 traffic stops.

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Foreigners with World Cup tickets won’t have to pay bonds to enter US, Trump administration tells AP

The Trump administration is suspending a requirement that foreign visitors from certain countries pay as much as $15,000 in bonds if they are confirmed World Cup ticket holders, the State Department told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The department imposed the bond requirement for countries that it said had high rates of people overstaying their visas and other security issues as part of the administration’s broader crackdown on immigration.

The bond move is a rare easing of immigration requirements under the administration.

World Cup team players, coaches and some staff were already exempt from the bond requirement. But that didn’t apply to ordinary fans until Wednesday.

“We are waiving visa bonds for qualified fans who bought World Cup tickets” and opted in to the FIFA Pass system that allows expedited visa appointments as of April 15, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said.

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A former private prison executive will become ICE’s acting leader

David Venturella will serve as the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Trump administration says, after the agency’s current leader steps down at the end of the month.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said late Tuesday that Venturella would succeed Todd Lyons, who led the agency through much of the administration’s tumultuous crackdown on immigration. ICE did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional information Wednesday.

Venturella left the Geo Group in early 2023 and has been working at ICE leading the division that oversees detention contracts, members of Congress wrote in a public letter earlier this year.

At the Geo Group, Venturella served in a number of posts, including executive vice president overseeing corporate development, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It said he also has worked for federal contractors, including one that specializes in security clearances and background checks.

Geo has benefited from Trump’s mass deportation push, garnering big contracts to open shuttered facilities.

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US House Speaker Mike Johnson says his prayers are with Trump on China visit

“The president has laid down a marker that was overdue and very important: The American people are not going to be taken advantage of any more by adversaries or allies,” Johnson, a Republican, said at a news conference in Washington.

The House speaker said his prayers are with Trump that he has a “good visit” with Xi. He said he hoped “they come forward with some favorable policies, things that will help us out, and I believe he will.”

House Democrats ask Trump to proceed with arms sales to Taiwan

Ranking members of four House committees urged President Trump in a letter Wednesday morning to proceed with the $14 billion arms sales to Taiwan and resist any effort by Beijing to “dictate” the U.S. policy toward the self-governed island.

The letter, signed by the top Democrats on House committees on foreign affairs, armed services, intelligence and the Chinese Communist Party, was released as Trump arrived in Beijing for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Beijing strongly opposes any arms sales to Taiwan, which it sees as part of Chinese territory, while the U.S. is obliged by a domestic law to supply the island with sufficient hardware for self defense.

On Monday, Trump said he and Xi would discuss Taiwan in Beijing, raising worries that any slip by the U.S. president could undermine the U.S. commitment to the island.

Trump administration freezes new Medicare enrollments for hospice and home health agencies

The Trump administration said Wednesday it’s expanding its sweeping fraud-busting initiative in federal health programs with a nationwide six-month freeze on any new Medicare enrollments by hospice and home health agencies.

The moratorium will temporarily stop all new providers in these categories from signing up for reimbursement from Medicare, the federal insurance program for older adults across the country, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a news release.

“We’ve seen systemic and deeply troubling fraud in the hospice and home health space, with bad actors exploiting some of our most vulnerable Medicare patients and stealing money from the American taxpayer,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement. “Today we’re shutting the door on fraud-preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them.”

The move is related to efforts by Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force, set up by Republican President Donald Trump to crack down on potential misuse of public funds.

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Residents in Beijing held up their phones to wait for Trump’s motorcade

As President Trump’s motorcade moved toward the Four Seasons Hotel, located near the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, residents held up their smartphones trying to capture his arrival. Security was heightened around the hotel.

On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, some users posted about his arrival. A video post by the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showing Trump walking out of the plane had more than 66,600 likes and nearly 4,000 comments in less than two hours. Under the post, a comment that read “China and the U.S. join hands to advance together and create a bright future!” drew more than 2,300 likes.

Wall Street is mixed following another discouraging inflation report and a recovery for tech stocks

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% in early trading, still near its all-time high set at the start of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 235 points, or 0.5%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.

Gains for tech stocks helped support the market, like Micron Technology’s 4.3%. They had stumbled the day before after momentum suddenly halted for stocks riding excitement around artificial-intelligence technology.

Nvidia, the chip company that became one of the first faces of the AI boom, rose 2.4% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500. Its CEO, Jensen Huang, got an invitation to join President Trump on his trip to China, where they could discuss allowing shipments of Nvidia AI chips to the world’s second-largest economy.

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Trump had personally invited Nvidia’s Huang on the China trip

A surprise appearance on the Anchorage tarmac as Air Force One refueled en route to Beijing was Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who wasn’t initially included on the manifest of corporate executives accompanying Trump to China.

The president had realized through news reports that Huang, with whom he is close, wasn’t on the trip. So he personally called the CEO on Tuesday and invited him to join, according to a person with knowledge of the discussion. The person was granted anonymity to discuss a private conversation.

“CNBC incorrectly reported that the Great Jensen Huang, of Nvidia, was not invited to the incredible gathering of the World’s Greatest Businessmen/women proudly going to China,” Trump said on social media as the presidential plane traveled from Anchorage to Beijing. “In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One and, unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS!”

— Seung Min Kim

Trump is also expected to visit the Temple of Heaven on Thursday

That’s where Chinese emperors once prayed for bumper crops.

And Trump will take part in a formal banquet Thursday.

Trump’s arrival is trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo

A video posted by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showing Trump stepping out of the plane and walking down the stairs had more than 18,000 likes in less than 30 minutes.

More than 1,300 comments were made in response to the post. Some welcomed Trump to China and others wrote: “peaceful coexistence, win-win cooperation.”

The status of Taiwan will be a major topic

China is displeased with U.S. plans to sell weapons to the self-governing island the Chinese government claims as part of its own territory.

Trump told reporters Monday he’d be discussing with Xi an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan the U.S. administration authorized in December but hasn’t yet begun fulfilling. The arms package is the largest ever approved for Taiwan.

But the U.S. leader has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, an approach that’s raising questions about whether Trump could be open to dialing back support for the island democracy.

At the same time, Taiwan — as the world’s leading chipmaker — has become essential for the development of AI, with the U.S. importing more goods so far this year from Taiwan than China. Trump has sought to use Biden-era programs and his own deals to bring more chipmaking to America.

Trump pauses to take in the elaborate welcome scene in Beijing

Three hundred youngsters waved miniature American and Chinese flags in front of themselves and then over their head in unison.

“Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” the children chanted in Chinese.

Trump greeted dignitaries after deplaning, then stopped and grinned, taking in the scene.

He didn’t answer questions, instead climbing in a limo on the way to his hotel.

The president has nothing more on his public schedule until Thursday.

Following him off the plane were Trump’s son, Eric, and Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, as well as assorted travelers, including SpaceX chief Elon Musk.

The Chinese offered Trump a pomp-filled welcome

A red carpet was rolled out for him after Air Force One landed.

The president was to be greeted by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng; Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to Washington; Ma Zhaoxu, executive vice minister of foreign affairs; as well as the U.S. envoy to Beijing, David Perdue, according to the White House.

The welcoming ceremony includes some 300 Chinese youths, a military honor guard and a military band.

The meat of Trump’s summit in China won’t happen until Thursday

That’s when the leaders will hold bilateral talks and a formal banquet.

The Trump administration hopes to begin the process of establishing a Board of Trade with China to address differences between the countries. The board could help prevent the trade war ignited last year after Trump’s tariff hikes, an action China countered through its control of rare earth minerals. That led to a one-year truce last October.

Trump arrives in Beijing ahead of meetings with Xi

Trump has touched down in Beijing for his summit with Xi Jinping.

Trump has no public events beyond his arrival on Wednesday’s schedule, but is set to meet with Xi a series of times on Thursday and Friday.

U.S. and China have “candid” exchanges in South Korea’s trade talks, CCTV says

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent engaged in “candid, in-depth and constructive” exchanges on resolving economic and trade issues of mutual concern and further expanding practical cooperation, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday.

The officials led the trade talks between the world’s two biggest economies in South Korea, hours before Trump’s arrival in Beijing.

CCTV said they were guided by the important consensus reached by the heads of state of both countries, and upheld the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.

Nvidia CEO is late-announced addition to Trump’s trip

The White House said Huang’s schedule hadn’t permitted his coming, but then changed, clearing the way for him to make the trip.

The last-minute addition inspired online commentary and memes on the Chinese internet.

Those including on Xiaohongshu and Weibo, where people shared manipulated images of Huang clinging to Air Force One with his bare hands.

Musk, Cook and other prominent US executives invited to join Trump on trip to China

These prominent U.S. executives from Big Tech to agriculture have been invited to join Trump on his trip to China, according to a White House official:

1. Elon Musk - CEO of Tesla and SpaceX

2. Tim Cook - CEO of Apple

3. Kelly Ortberg - Boeing CEO

4. Jensen Huang - Nvidia President and CEO

5. Larry Fink - BlackRock Chairman and CEO

6. Stephen Schwarzman - Blackstone Chairman, CEO and co-founder

7. Brian Sikes - Cargill Chairman and CEO

8. Jane Fraser - Citi Chairman and CEO

9. Jim Anderson - Coherent CEO

10. H. Lawrence Culp - GE Aerospace Chairman and CEO

11. David Solomon - Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO

12. Jacob Thaysen - Illumina CEO

13. Michael Miebach - Mastercard CEO

14. Dina Powell McCormick - Meta President and Vice Chairman

15. Sanjay Mehrotra - Micron Chairman, President and CEO

16. Cristiano Amon - Qualcomm President and CEO

17. Ryan McInerney - Visa CEO

▶ Read more

Soaring inflation and plummeting economy test Iran’s ability to withstand war and US blockade

Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz is throttling the world’s energy supplies and inflicting global economic pain, but the struggles of the Islamic Republic’s own economy are testing its ability to withstand the war and defy Washington’s demands.

Iranians have been hit by spiraling prices for food, medicine and other goods. At the same time, the country has seen mass job losses and business closures caused by strike damage to key industries and the government’s monthslong shutdown of the internet.

The economic cost of the war and the U.S. naval blockade “has been very substantial and unprecedented for Iran,” said Hadi Kahalzadeh, an Iranian economist and research fellow at Brandeis University.

But Iran has withstood decades of economic pressure and sanctions and its capacity to adapt has not been dismantled, Kahalzadeh said.

The International Monetary Fund has predicted the Iranian economy will shrink by about 6 percentage points in the next year.

▶ Read more

Back in February, the ministry, which serves the city’s unhoused population, received zoning violations over its warming bus, outdoor lockers and a porta-potty.

The city says these services are not allowed, as the ministry is only zoned for offices and pantry use.

Wednesday’s ruling means that The Least of These can no longer operate the warming bus, lockers or porta-potties. Service advocates say that these services are essential for the unhoused population.

The Least of These Ministries has not said what they plan to do next with their services.

This incident has been cleared.

Original:

VDOT said that a multi-vehicle crash on I-581 North in Roanoke County is causing delays at mile marker 5.5 Wednesday evening. The north left shoulder, left lane and center lane are currently closed.

10 News will continue to update this story with information as it becomes available.

At the heart of the debate was a plan to redirect $1.2 million from city capital projects into one-time funding for Lynchburg City Schools. Some council members argued the move would help classrooms now. Others warned it could shift costs onto taxpayers later.

How the money would move

The funding would be pulled from capital projects — things like park repairs and building maintenance — and used to ease school costs for the coming year. Supporters say the one-time cash could pay for classroom supplies, short-term staffing needs or urgent repairs.

Vice Mayor Curt Diemer expressed frustration with how little time the council had to weigh in on the plan.

“I thought last year was bad but it’s gotten exponentially worse this year because they keep shortening it and we have less opportunity to have any impact,” Diemer said.

Residents speak out

Not everyone was opposed to the school funding shift. Lynchburg resident Francisca Cifuentes said investing more in schools is an investment in the future.

“Being able to give more money to the schools would be able to give more students opportunity to have support and being able to give that support to children would be able to help our future generation,” Cifuentes said.

Fees cut, but trade-offs loom

The council voted unanimously to remove a proposed $10 monthly trash fee and a new vehicle fee from the draft budget. But redirecting capital funds comes with a cost. Councilman Marty Mijuns warned that delaying city projects could ultimately mean higher taxes for residents down the road.

Lynchburg resident Jerrod Ruhl said he supports paying his fair share — but wants accountability in return.

“I’m ok with paying taxes, I just want them to be fair, and I want my dollars to be used well. I think there should be transparency when it comes to the budget,” Ruhl said.

What’s next

The council will take additional votes before the budget is finalized on June 9. The first reading sets the stage: schools could receive short-term financial help, but the full price tag and trade-offs are still being worked out.

Eve had previously been adopted from the Lynchburg Humane Society before later being returned to the Danville shelter and euthanized.

Kim Brown, who adopted Eve from the Lynchburg shelter, said she never expected the dog would be euthanized after being returned to Danville.

“It was between my mama being homeless and, on the streets, and not having anywhere to go,” Brown said. “My mom has nothing against Eve. She’s just scared of dogs.”

Brown said if she didn’t know Eve would be put down and wishes she could go back and change the past.

“If I had known about Danville, we would have drove down here and brought Eve back,” she said.

Senator Bill Stanley (R) said his office has launched an investigation into the shelter and is reviewing hundreds of pages of records.

“We’re boiling it down into what we’re going to put in a legal report to submit to the agencies and the stakeholders around here to let them know exactly what’s going on,” Stanley said.

Stanley said he believes the shelter needs policy changes. He criticized the shelter’s record-keeping system, saying many documents are handwritten instead of computerized.

“What you’re seeing here in some of these documents is everything there is handwritten,” Stanley said. “Nothing is computer-based. It’s all done by hand. That is an antiquated system that needs to change.”

Stanley has also endorsed a petition launched by advocacy group Danville Deserves Better, calling on the Danville City Council to review the shelter’s practices in a public town hall and implement reforms.

Katie Fine, campaign strategist for the group, said the petition had gathered about 700 signatures as of this week. many of those coming from out-of-state and even out-of-country.

“It really is just an accumulation of people who agree that Eve’s case raises serious questions about shelter procedures, especially microchip verification practices,” Fine said.

Shelter Director Paulette Dean said the euthanasia was a mistake and that she’s working with employees to prevent this from happening in the future. Dean said the shelter is reinforcing microchip verification procedures and updating intake forms to document where surrendered pets were originally adopted.

“It was a mistake,” Dean said. “Employees have already been talked to. We absolutely have reinforced the issue of this is what happens.”

Dean also said the shelter has increased security measures following threats directed at the organization in the wake of the controversy.

Warsh takes over a divided central bank wrestling with the economic fallout from the war started by the U.S. and Israel with Iran on Feb. 28. The conflict has driven up energy prices and made it even more difficult for the Fed to bring inflation down to its 2% target.

But Trump has demanded lower interest rates, not the higher ones that might be needed to keep inflation in check. Warsh, who had positioned himself as an inflation hawk earlier in his career, has more recently aligned himself with Trump's views, arguing that artificial intelligence and other technologies can boost productivity and economic growth without igniting inflation.

Trump had consistently attacked Powell for refusing the deep rate cuts the president believes will boost the economy. And his Justice Department had launched an investigation into the Fed that was widely seen as an attempt to oust Powell. The legal drama delayed Warsh's confirmation. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would oppose Warsh until the Justice Department dropped the investigation, which it finally did last month.

In an unusual move, Powell said he would remain on the Fed's governing board indefinitely after Warsh came on as chair, citing Trump's "unprecedented'' attacks on the central bank's independence. Although Powell's term as chair is ending, his term as a Fed governor doesn't expire until 2028.

Powell's continued presence could make things awkward for Warsh, especially if he tries to convince other Fed officials to go along with rate cuts.

Trump has said that Warsh comes from “central casting,” revealing a lot about the president's own views of the 56 year-old's looks and conventional pedigree. Warsh has many of the trappings of a traditional pick to lead the world's most important central bank, yet he's doing so at a decidedly unconventional moment for the Fed as Trump has said the new chair needs to cut its benchmark rates to the White House's liking.

Rate cuts of the degree sought by Trump could temporarily boost growth, but they also pose the risk of overheating the economy at a time when inflation is already elevated and affordability is a top concern for much of the American public.

Warsh was previously a runner-up for the Senate-confirmed post of Fed Chair in 2017, when Trump selected Powell to lead the central bank. Trump has since said that he was given bad advice regarding Powell.

Warsh is credentialed with degrees from Stanford University and Harvard University Law School. He is also married to Jane Lauder, the daughter of billionaire cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, a major Republican donor.

Senate Democrats have condemned Warsh for not fully divulging the details of his own wealth, which amounts to at least $100 million. His investments include stakes in Polymarket and SpaceX, but he hasn’t revealed the size of those holdings. He promised to sell all such assets within 90 days of being sworn in.

At 35, Warsh became the youngest governor on the Fed's seven member board, serving in that post from 2006 to 2011. He was previously an economic aide in George W. Bush’s Republican administration and was an investment banker at Morgan Stanley.

Warsh worked closely with then-Chair Ben Bernanke in 2008-09 during the central bank’s efforts to combat the financial crisis and the Great Recession. Bernanke later wrote in his memoirs that Warsh was “one of my closest advisers and confidants” and added that his “political and markets savvy and many contacts on Wall Street would prove invaluable.”

Still, Warsh appeared in key moments to be misguided about the depth of the challenges confronting the U.S. economy as mortgage defaults and layoffs mounted in the Great Recession. He wanted the Fed to keep its benchmark rates higher when the economy was at risk of deflation and possibly collapsing.

Warsh raised concerns in 2008 that further interest rate cuts by the Fed could spur inflation. Yet even after the Fed cut its rate to nearly zero, inflation stayed low.

And he objected in meetings in 2011 to the Fed’s decision to purchase $600 billion of Treasury bonds, an effort to lower long-term interest rates, though he ultimately voted in favor of the decision at Bernanke’s behest.

Warsh also behaved at times like a pre-Trump Republican, calling in a 2010 speech for ending “the creep of trade protectionism” that he declared to be the opposite of “pro-growth policies.” Trump has since largely overhauled GOP dogma by pushing for massive hikes in import taxes, having unilaterally imposed them last year by declaring an economic emergency.

Warsh has been working as a visiting economics fellow at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank located at Stanford University. He is also a lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a partner at the Duquesne Family Office, which manages the wealth of billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller.

In what appeared to be an active campaign for the Fed post, Warsh criticized the Fed in interviews, calling for “regime change” and assailing Powell for engaging on issues like climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion, which Warsh said are outside the Fed’s mandate.

In a interview last year on CNBC, Warsh said Fed policy “has been broken for quite a long time.”

“The central bank that sits there today is radically different than the central bank I joined in 2006,” he added. By allowing inflation to surge in 2021-22, the Fed “brought about the greatest mistake in macroeconomic policy in 45 years, that divided the country.”

Weinstein, 74, has myriad health problems, including cancer and a history of heart trouble, and he uses a wheelchair. He has been behind bars since 2020 and told a court in January that his “health is deteriorating” in New York's infamously troubled Rikers Island jail.

The ex-producer wasn’t in the courtroom, but rather was waiting elsewhere in the courthouse, when defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo said around 3 p.m. that court officers had told him that Weinstein was having chest pains.

Jurors weren't in the room at the time. They were about four hours into their closed-door discussions, and they had just sent a note asking to rehear part of accuser Jessica Mann ’s testimony — a brief portion in which she said she was “spacing out” during cross-examination — and to review a lengthy prosecution timeline of emails and other evidence.

Judge Curtis Farber ultimately told jurors only that there were “unforeseen reasons” for sending them home a bit earlier than planned. Prosecutors and Weinstein’s lawyers had left the courtroom so jurors would be less likely to speculate about Weinstein’s absence.

“He wants to be here, but he’s having chest pains,” Agnifilo told the judge before ducking out of the courtroom.

Jurors are due to get the requested information and resume deliberations Thursday.

Weinstein has had health problems at court before. When he was sent to jail for the first time in 2020, he was taken from the courthouse in an ambulance to be checked out at a hospital for heart palpitations and high blood pressure. In 2024, he was rushed from Rikers to a hospital and had emergency surgery to remove fluid on his heart and lungs.

Mann, 40, has testified that she and Weinstein had a consensual relationship, but that he subjected her to unwanted sex in a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013 after she repeatedly said no. Lawyers for Weinstein have maintained that the encounter was consensual, and they have emphasized that Mann continued seeing Weinstein afterward and expressing warmth toward him. Mann has said she was mired in complicated feelings about him, herself and what had happened, and was “normalizing everything.”

Her viewpoint changed in 2017, when a series of sexual misconduct allegations against the Oscar-winning Weinstein propelled the #MeToo campaign to hold people — especially powerful men — accountable for sexual misbehavior. Weinstein has said he “acted wrongly” but never assaulted anyone.

Some of those accusations later generated criminal convictions against Weinstein in New York and California.

An appeals court overturned his 2020 New York conviction on charges that involved Mann and another accuser. At a retrial last year, jurors failed to reach a verdict on Mann's portion of the case, leading to a second retrial this year. He is charged with one count of rape in the third degree.

The current jury heard nearly three weeks of testimony, five days of it from Mann. Weinstein decided not to testify.

The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted. Mann, however, has agreed to be named.

___

An earlier version of this story erroneously suggested that Weinstein left the courtroom after experiencing chest pains. Weinstein was not in court at the time.

All four are considered potential stars and a clear cut above the rest in a loaded draft class. What remains to be seen is the order they will be taken.

The Washington Wizards hold the No. 1 pick for the first time since they drafted John Wall in 2010. Utah, Memphis and Chicago round out the top four.

“It would mean a lot,” Dybantsa said Wednesday at the NBA draft combine of being picked first. “It would just mean that all my hard work is paying off. All the countless hours and all the sacrifices I made have paid off.”

Dybantsa, who led the country in scoring last season, thinks he would be a good fit in Washington. The Wizards went 17-65 and finished with the league's worst record for the first time since 1967. But after eight straight losing seasons, they could be poised for bigger things.

Then again, it's no sure thing Dybantsa goes first. There's a case for Peterson, not to mention Boozer and Wilson.

“For me, it's just about going to the right fit, the right situation for me,” said Boozer, the AP national player of the year. “An organization that really believes in me, and understands what I bring to the team. I understand where you go really matters for your career and how your trajectory goes, so that’s the biggest thing for me for sure.”

Boozer, the son of former Duke and NBA star Carlos Boozer, tied for the national lead with 22 double-doubles while averaging 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds. His dad played for the Jazz and Bulls, and now, there's a chance he winds up on one of those teams.

“He loves it here,” Cameron Boozer said. “I think he has a very strong fan base here as well. I think he'd be very happy if I was sent to Chicago.”

Wilson averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds in a dominant season cut short by injuries. He broke a bone in his left hand days after a thrilling win against rival Duke. Then, when he was about to come back, he broke his right thumb in a non-contact drill in practice to end his season on the eve of another meeting with the Blue Devils.

He said his hand is “perfectly fine” and the team that drafts him will get a “winner.”

“They're gonna get somebody who's dedicated to their franchise, somebody who will change their city for the better,” he said.

Peterson was hospitalized because of full-body cramping before the season and dealt with other injuries and illnesses that caused him to miss 11 games. But he was terrific when he played, averaging 20.2 points and 4.2 rebounds while shooting 38.2% from beyond the arc in 24 games.

Peterson and Dybantsa were considered the top two prep basketball players for years. They put on a memorable show during a Grind Session game on the winter AAU circuit, when Peterson went off for 58 points for Prolific Prep and nailed the winning 3 in the final seconds. Dybantsa scored 49 for Utah Prep.

“I just remember me and AJ going back and forth,” Peterson said. “It was a great game and I was blessed to come out on top. I'm getting back to that now.”

Dybantsa described it as an unforgettable experience for anyone who witnessed it.

“If you were at that game, that’s probably a core memory in your whole basketball-watching as a fan,” he said. “That was probably a core moment. I think there was a time in the game where we went 15 for 15 straight. It was crazy. He ended up winning, so he got the best me.”

Peterson did it again when Kansas beat BYU in late January, scoring 18 points while Dybantsa finished with 17.

Now, Peterson is trying to show that the physical issues that slowed him last season are a thing of the past. They also might have helped him develop into a more well-rounded player.

“I didn't have the same step that I had before,” he said. “If one thing's bad, something else improves. My shooting improved because of that.”

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

Barcelona clinched its second straight league title on Sunday with a 2-0 win over rival Real Madrid at home and needed three wins in its last three matches to reach 100 points.

The loss ended an 11-game winning streak for the Catalan club.

“A little bit disappointed about the result, we all wanted to win today,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said. “But at the end I saw good things, I'm happy with the performance of the team.”

Alaves' players provided a guard of honor for Barcelona's team before the match, lining up and applauding their rivals as they entered the field.

It was a big win for Alaves, which moved out of the relegation zone with the result. It reached 15th place with 40 points, one point clear of the bottom three with two rounds left.

“We are not clear yet, but it was a big step,” Alaves forward Toni Martínez said.

Ibrahim Diabate scored the winner from inside the area in first-half stoppage time.

Alaves hadn't earned a clean sheet in 20 straight league matches. Barcelona had scored at least once in 56 straight league matches.

Espanyol wins again

Espanyol beat Athletic Bilbao 2-0 at home to end an 18-game winless streak and move further away from the relegation zone.

Pere Milla scored in the 69th and Kike García in stoppage time to give Espanyol its first win of the year. Its last victory had been in December at Athletic.

The result moved Espanyol to 14th place, while Athletic stayed ninth.

Sevilla moves up

Sevilla also gained some breathing room after it rallied from two goals down to win 3-2 at Villarreal.

It was the third victory in a row for Sevilla, which moved to 10th place, four points from the relegation zone.

Villarreal stayed in third place, but only three points ahead of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, which won 2-1 at Osasuna on Tuesday.

Mallorca in danger

Mallorca lost 3-1 to Getafe at home to stay in 17th place, just outside the relegation zone. Mallorca has only one win in its last five games.

Getafe was seventh, in position to qualify for European competitions.

Oviedo has already been demoted, but 10 teams are within four points of each other near the bottom of the table going into the last two rounds.

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

PSG needed only a draw to seal a fifth consecutive Ligue 1 crown and is now nine points ahead of Lens with one game left.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored in the 29th minute and Ibrahim Mbaye added the second goal in stoppage time after Lens missed several chances to score at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

“Without a doubt this was difficult, Lens did so well this season,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “I think they deserved more tonight but (goalkeeper Matvei) Safonov was incredible tonight.”

The match was rescheduled from April 11 by the French league to help titleholder PSG’s ambitions in the Champions League. PSG takes on Premier League leader Arsenal in the Champions League final on May 30 in Budapest.

Although the postponement was strongly contested by Lens, coach Pierre Sage’s side had no say in the matter.

Lens also has a final to prepare for — against Nice in the French Cup on May 22 — and Sage left his two best forwards — wingers Florian Thauvin and Allan Saint-Maximin — on the bench against PSG until the hour mark.

Clinical versus wasteful

PSG punished a Lens error when Dembélé intercepted a sloppy pass from defender Malang Sarr and fed Kvaratskhelia, who scored with a clinical finish.

PSG scored in stoppage time through Mbaye, the 18-year-old forward who thumped a pass from Désiré Doué in off the crossbar moments after Lens had fluffed yet another chance.

Lens should already have been level — or even ahead — at the break but striker Wesley Saïd misjudged a close-range header and then shot straight at Safonov in first-half stoppage time.

Safonov kept out another effort from Abdallah Sima early in the second half when the striker went clean through. Sima then hit the post after collecting a superb pass from Thauvin in the 74th.

“I had some luck today," Safonov acknowledged. “If my opponents had put their shots a bit more either side of me it would have been different.”

Saint-Maximin was dangerous when he came on in the second half but wasted several good situations when excessively trying to put himself in the perfect shooting position.

“We created a lot of chances and stopped them playing. My players deserved at least a draw tonight,” Sage said. “Their goalkeeper had a great game but we missed a lot of chances. They had two chances and scored.”

The last team to stop PSG winning the title was Lille in 2021. This season was closer than the last, however, when PSG sealed the title without losing and with six games left.

Strasbourg wins

In the other match, Strasbourg won 2-1 at Brest in a game also rescheduled because of Strasbourg’s involvement in the UEFA Conference League, where it lost to Rayo Vallecano in the semifinals.

Defender Valentin Barco and midfielder Sebastian Nanasi scored for Strasbourg either side of a goal from Brest striker Ludovic Ajorque in a lively opening.

Strasbourg will finish the season in eighth and Brest was 12th heading into the final round of Ligue 1 games on Sunday. ___

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