Then the audience gave it a 22-minute standing ovation, the longest in Cannes history.

“It’s a commute,” joked del Toro. “That’s about what it takes me to get from home to the office. Alfonso Cuaron, who made this movie with me as producer, turned to me at some point and said, ‘Let it in. Relax.’ I was very tense. I’m not very good with praise.”

Del Toro returned to Cannes on Tuesday to screen a restoration of one of his most beloved films. Shortly beforehand, he met a reporter for an interview at a hotel on the Croisette, a few steps away from where his filmmaking life changed two decades ago.

A lush fairy tale set against 1944 Francoist Spain, “Pan's Labyrinth” is about the young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) who has come with her mother to stay with her new fascist stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi López). Taking place largely in the northern Spain, it's Del Toro at his earthiest and most imaginative.

Books become alive when held. Doors manifest out of a chalk outline. And creatures — fairies, a faun, the unforgettable Pale Man, with eyes in the palms of his hands — reveal a world of deeper and darker enchantment.

A pivot point for del Toro

Del Toro, who has since made “The Shape of Water” and “Frankenstein,” grants that he wouldn’t have become the filmmaker he is today if he hadn’t made “Pan’s Labyrinth.” At the time, he was the well-regarded but not well-known filmmaker of “Hellboy” and “Blade 2.”

“I was getting all the Marvel offers from Avi Arad. It was a real choice to go make the movie no one wanted to finance,” del Toro says. “It was one of the few times in my life that I made a choice. And I made it over and over again because everything that could go wrong went wrong, every door that could have slammed in my face, slammed in my face.”

Del Toro made “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which Cineverse and Fathom Entertainment will rerelease in theaters Oct. 9, for $19.5 million — the same budget for his best picture-winning “The Shape of Water.” But just after del Toro moved his family to Spain for the shoot, a major financier pulled out.

“I said: I’m staying. We’re going to make this movie,” the filmmaker recalls.

Forest fires in Spain were another complication. Verdant and magical as the forest is in “Pan's Labyrinth,” it took months of irrigation to bring it to life. “Every lush tree you see, we made lush,” says del Toro. “Every fern we planted.”

The iconic tree of the film, though, was the work of Eugenio Caballero's art design. Del Toro has long been renown for his textured artistry, but “Pan's Labyrinth” includes some of his most memorable creations. At a time when artificial intelligence is making inroads into moviemaking, the movie's handcrafted beauty stands out all the more.

“I think people intrinsically know when you’ve made an effort,” says del Toro. “They sense that it’s important to you in the craftsmanship. We don’t only go to movies to see the world. We go to see a world we don’t recognize. The more the design is something you haven’t seen before, that was made by hand, you can sense it.”

“Virtual filmmaking to me is not as interesting,” he adds. “You’re not courting an accident. You’re not courting humanity.”

Growing up with ‘Pan’s Labyrinth'

Nothing is more human in “Pan's Labyrinth” than its young protagonist. Baquero was just 11 when she shot the film, but del Toro calls her “the most mature actor I've ever directed.” Baquero, now 31, also came to Cannes for the screening.

“During the audition process, he didn’t baby me,” says Baquero. “He treated me like an adult. He gave me a lot of homework. He gave me a lot of movie references, some of which were — like ‘Grave of Fireflies’ — very dark.”

“Pan's Labyrinth,” an R-rated fable with bloody spurts of violence, isn't quite for children. But Baquero was shielded from none of its cruelties. She grew up with “Pan's Labyrinth.”

“I can enjoy more and more as time goes by,” she says. “I can distance myself from being in the movie and watch it with different eyes. I almost don’t see myself as that girl anymore. I do, but it was 20 years ago.”

After its Cannes premiere, “Pan's Labyrinth” was hailed as a masterpiece and went on to land six Oscar nominations, winning three (for cinematography, art direction and makeup). But del Toro calls his experience screening the movie for Stephen King “my Oscar.” He traveled up to Maine, carrying his film reels, to show it to the author he grew up revering. “The Pale Man had him squirming big time,” del Toro says.

In “Pan's Labyrinth,” there are hidden, eternal forces underground that outlast the evil scourges that might trod above. There is magic in the world, but you have to know where to look. Two decades later, del Toro still believes that.

“I have experienced it in the real world. Not fauns and pale men and ferries,” he says, chuckling. “But I find that when your will lines up with the life stream of the cosmos, you see things that happen that are tremendous. When you swim against the life stream, things go wrong.”

Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence to 56-year-old Erik Fleming in a federal court in Los Angeles.

“It’s truly a nightmare I can’t wake up from,” Fleming told the judge before the sentence. “I’m haunted by the mistakes I made.” He wore a black suit and spoke at the podium with a deep, somber voice.

Fleming was the fourth defendant sentenced of the five who have pleaded guilty in prosecutions over the actor’s 2023 death in the Jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home. Fleming connected Perry to Jasveen Sangha, the convicted drug who dealer prosecutors called “The Ketamine Queen.” She was sentenced last month to 15 years in prison.

Fleming gave up Sangha to investigators as soon as they contacted him and in August 2024 became the first defendant to plead guilty, admitting to one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. That was before arrests in the case were even announced, and Wednesday was his first court appearance since his role became public knowledge.

He would have gotten about four years in prison if it weren’t for his cooperation, according to federal sentencing guidelines.

Prosecutors said in a sentencing memo before the hearing that while Fleming’s exceptional cooperation should bring a lighter sentence, his role as a drug counselor who “deliberately undertook to sell illegal street drugs to a victim who had a public, well-documented battle with drug addiction” should count against him, even if Perry wasn’t one of his regular clients.

Defense lawyers had asked for a sentence of three months in prison and nine months in a residential drug treatment facility, saying in their sentencing memo that Fleming “has gone to extreme lengths to atone for his criminal conduct.”

He said his great remorse “can’t compare to the agony I’ve caused” to Perry’s family and friends.

Perry had been receiving ketamine treatments for depression — an increasingly common off-label use.

A few weeks before his death, Perry was seeking more of the drug than he could get through doctors and asked a friend to help him get more. She was in a treatment facility, so introduced Perry to Fleming. He was a former film and television producer whose career had been ravaged by addiction. He got sober and became a drug counselor, but had relapsed after the 2023 death of a beloved stepmother who had rescued him from a traumatic childhood, his lawyers said.

Fleming would get ketamine from Sangha, mark up the price to make a profit, and deliver it to Perry’s house, where he sold it to the actor’s live-in personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa.

“I procured ketamine for Matthew Perry because I wanted the money and because I thought I was doing a favor for a friend,” Fleming said in a letter to the court. “I never contemplated the worst possible outcome. This grievous failure will haunt me forever.”

His deliveries included 25 vials for $6,000 four days before Perry’s death.

Iwamasa would inject Perry from that batch on Oct. 28, 2023, and hours later, he found the actor dead. A medical examiner’s report found that Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine, a surgical anesthetic, and drowning was a secondary cause.

Iwamasa is set to be the last defendant sentenced in two weeks.

Perry, who died at 54, became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing on “Friends,” NBC’s culture-changing sitcom that ran from 1994 to 2004.

An auction of his valuables including “Friends” memorabilia will go to benefit the foundation founded in his name after his death.

Warsh’s confirmation was thrown into doubt in recent months after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said he would block the nomination while the Justice Department investigated Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The Powell probe was dropped in April, clearing the way for the Senate to confirm Warsh.

Warsh, 56, a former top Fed official, is becoming chair at an unusually difficult time for the independent agency.

Inflation has topped the Fed’s 2% target for five years and is now rising faster because of spiking gas prices. The Fed's interest rate-setting committee is divided and saw the most dissenting votes in more than three decades last month. And Powell, after years of personal attacks from the Republican president and an unprecedented legal investigation by the Justice Department, plans to stay on the Fed’s board even after his term as chair ends, potentially creating a competing power center.

The Senate is expected to vote on Warsh's confirmation on Wednesday afternoon, a day after approving his nomination to the Fed's Board of Governors. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the lone Democrat to side with Republicans in confirming him to the board.

The Fed has faced numerous threats to its independence from Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Powell for not cutting interest rates. Trump also sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook and launched an investigation into brief Senate testimony by Powell on a building renovation.

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said in a Fox News interview on Sunday that he believes the markets are relieved that Warsh “is going to help lower interest rates over time.”

“Obviously, data driven. I’m not putting any pressure on Kevin Warsh,” Hassett said. “We know that he’s an extremely smart, competent person who could be very convincing when he talks to his colleagues.”

In December, Trump said on his social media platform that he wanted a Fed chair who would cut interest rates when the stock market rose — the opposite of what traditional economics would prescribe — and added, “Anyone that disagrees with me will never be the Fed chairman!”

Trump’s comments have fueled concerns over whether Warsh will set rates based on economic conditions or seek to cut rates to appease Trump, even if doing so could worsen inflation. At Warsh's confirmation hearing last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, derided him as a “sock puppet” for Trump. Warsh declined to say that Democrat Joe Biden had won the 2020 election against Trump, who has falsely claimed that voter fraud cost him reelection.

Still, Warsh denied at the hearing that Trump had pressured him to reduce the Fed’s key rate.

“The president never once asked me to commit to any particular interest rate decision, period,” Warsh said then. “Nor would I ever agree to do so if he had. ... I will be an independent actor if confirmed as chair of the Federal Reserve.”

The Palestinian Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent identified the man as Zakaria Qatusa, 44, from the town of Deir Qadis, about 20 kilometers (13 miles) northwest of the site of the shooting Tuesday evening in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, which abuts the wall.

Israeli police didn't immediately respond to queries about the shooting. The funeral for the man was held on Wednesday.

Khalid Qatusa, his brother, said that he was a father of four who was crossing the wall in order to work in Israel.

“He was forced to resort to this method as there was no other opportunity to meet the needs of his household and live a dignified life. This was the only way,” he said. “He was neither an aggressor nor a threat.”

An increasing number of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank have attempted to enter Israel illegally to work in recent years. Before the Israel-Hamas war, tens of thousands of Palestinians held permits to work in Israel, but access was sharply restricted after the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Since then, unemployment has surged amid a deep economic slowdown and a shortage of jobs in the occupied West Bank. Other shootings have taken place at the same location separating the West Bank town of Al-Ram from Beit Hanina, an east Jerusalem neighborhood.

Also on Wednesday, a Palestinian teenager was killed in a clash with Israeli settlers in the northern West Bank village of Al-Lubban al-Sharqiya. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry identified the victim as 16-year-old Youssef Kaabneh.

The Israeli military said soldiers and police officers entered the area in response to reports that livestock from an Israeli outpost was stolen. They said they worked to disperse a violent riot and were investigating the incident.

Family members said settlers and Israeli soldiers descended on the Bedouin community and that Kaabneh was shot during a confrontation involving a sheep herd. As Israeli settlers expand their presence and outposts, livestock theft has been a major source of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians this year.

“Our lives have become a living hell. Settlers can now enter any house or farm and confiscate whatever they want, as if we are spoils of war,” said Ismail Owais, a 60-year-old resident of the village.

According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israeli forces or settlers killed at least 47 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank this year as of May 11. Several, like Kaabneh, have been teenagers.

A federal appellate court decided last month to keep open the detention center nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz," for the time being, blocking a lower court decision ordering it to wind down operations. But the case was sent back to the lower court judge who now gets jurisdiction over the lawsuit as the litigation over the facility's fate continues.

“Knowing that the same district judge who previously enjoined the operation would soon reassume oversight -- the defendants are now effectively waving the white flag,” said Paul Schwiep, an attorney for the environmental groups that had sued, saying the facility's construction hadn't undergone a required environmental review.

When asked about the future of the state-run facility and its costs on Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he hadn't gotten any “official word” that federal authorities are going to stop sending detainees to the detention center.

But vendors who supply and help run the facility have been told that the closure could be as soon as next month, according to reports Tuesday by The New York Times and CBS News Miami. The Florida Department of Emergency Management, which operates the detention center, didn't respond to an emailed inquiry on Wednesday. The Republican governor's press secretary, Molly Best, referred questions about the facility to the state emergency management agency.

“We didn’t build any permanent facilities down there because we knew it was going to be temporary,” DeSantis said Wednesday at a news conference in Titusville, Florida.

DeSantis' administration opened the facility last July to support the immigration crackdown by the administration of President Donald Trump, who visited the detention center last summer. An attorney for two detainees has accused guards of severely beating and pepper-spraying detainees. Other detainees have said worms turn up in the food, toilets don’t flush and mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere.

“This monument to cruelty, waste and environmental and tribal lands abuse should have never been built,” U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Florida, said Tuesday.

Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity sued state and federal officials a short time after the facility opened, claiming the remote airstrip site in the Everglades wasn’t given a proper environmental review required by federal law before it was converted into an immigration detention center. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami agreed and ordered in August that the facility must wind down operations within two months.

The appellate court blocked the order, saying the Florida-run facility wasn’t under federal control and didn’t need to comply with federal law requiring an environmental impact review.

But the appellate court made clear that once Florida got federal reimbursement for the facility, it would have to comply with the federal environmental law, Schwiep said.

DeSantis said Tuesday that the state expected to be reimbursed by the federal government for $608 million, which has already been approved by FEMA.

“There’s no negotiations on that,” he said.

___

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

Kouri Richins was convicted in March of aggravated murder for lacing her husband's cocktail with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl at their home near Park City in 2022.

Prosecutors said Richins, a 35-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 Eric Richins without his knowledge and falsely believed she would inherit his estate worth more than $4 million after he died.

Eric Richins’ father, Eugene Richins, urged Judge Richard Mrazik to impose a life sentence without the possibility of 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 during the sentencing hearing, which fell on the day his son would have turned 44.

Jurors also found Richins guilty of four other felonies, including attempted murder for trying to poison her husband weeks earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich.

Richins faces several decades to life in prison. She has been adamant in maintaining she is innocent. She wore a lime green jail uniform and chatted quietly with her lawyers while Eric Richins' family members passed around pocket-size packs of tissues.

In a letter read by a defense attorney, Richins’ mother, Lisa Darden, maintained that her daughter is not capable of murder and asked, “from a mother’s heart, that Kouri be given a sentence that allows the possibility of a future.”

The case captivated true-crime enthusiasts when Richins was arrested in 2023 while promoting her children’s book “Are You with Me?” about a boy coping with the death of his father.

Sons say they're afraid of their mother

Eric Richins’ sister Katie Richins-Benson said her brother was taken from his sons, who are now in her care, by the person he should have been able to trust the most.

“They 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,” Richins-Benson told the judge, her voice quavering.

Clinical social workers read letters from each of the boys, who all said they would feel unsafe if their mother was ever released from prison. The children said Richins hit and threatened to kill their animals, showed them videos of famished children in war zones when they refused to eat their dinner and didn't seem to care about their health.

“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.

The oldest boy, now 13, said he also felt like he had to take care of his siblings while in his mother's care, but his younger brother “mostly took care of me, though, because I was locked in my room.” He said his mom would lock him inside “pretty much daily” after he pointed out that she was drunk.

Possible sentences by charge

Judges in Utah typically impose sentences as a broad range rather than a fixed number of years.

The most serious charge, aggravated murder, is punishable by 25 years to life in prison, or a life sentence without parole. Prosecutors did not push for the death penalty.

Prison time for the attempted aggravated murder charge depends on the severity of the bodily injury that occurred. After taking a bite of the sandwich his wife left for him, Eric Richins broke out in hives, injected himself with his son’s EpiPen, drank a bottle of Benadryl and passed out, prosecutors said. Depending on the judge's assessment, Kouri Richins could face 15 years to life, 6 years to life or 5 years to life for that charge.

Two counts of insurance fraud, second-degree felonies, each carry a 1-15 year sentence, and a third-degree felony forgery charge is punishable by 0-5 years in prison.

The judge has discretion to decide whether Richins' prison sentences for each count will overlap or stack up.

Richins also faces more than two dozen money-related criminal charges in a separate case that has not yet gone to trial.

Trial cut short by defense team

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.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors portrayed the mother of three as a money-hungry killer. They 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.

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:

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.

▶ Read more

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.

▶ Read more

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.

▶ Read more

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.

▶ Read more

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.

▶ Read more

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.

▶ Read more

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

The struggling Los Angeles Dodgers star hit just his second home run in his last 24 games — an opposite field solo shot to left-center in a 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. It ended an 11-game homerless streak, which tied his longest as a Dodger.

Ohtani looked skyward as he crossed the plate.

“Relief, he smiled, he laughed,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He's going to feel good about the offensive side tonight to then refocus for tomorrow to pitch and now he's got something to build on come Friday.”

Ohtani finished the game going 2 for 4 with two runs, an RBI and a walk. The rest of the team was 2 for 25 with four walks. He has seven home runs on the season and is batting .240.

“I thought tonight was a really good night,” Roberts said. “He can hopefully take that momentum from tonight and then be building on that through Anaheim and San Diego.”

Roberts said after the game that Ohtani won't be in the lineup as the designated hitter Wednesday when he also starts against the Giants. Earlier, Roberts said he was giving Ohtani a day from hitting Thursday, although he would be available late if the outcome hangs in the balance.

“It might just be a good thing to take a little bit of a load off of his plate offensively,” Roberts said before the game. “I just can’t take for granted what’s on his plate and so I’m trying to be sensitive.”

As Ohtani goes, so have the Dodgers (24-18). They remained a half-game behind NL West-leading San Diego despite their first four-game losing streak with all the defeats by at least four runs since July 1-4, 1936. Andy Pages (.318 average) and Max Muncy (.272) have been LA's best hitters so far, while the rest of the lineup is struggling, including Freddie Freeman (.276) and Kyle Tucker (.253).

“When your best player is doing what he's capable of doing, it just adds that energy into the dugout, frees guys up a little bit to do something too,” Roberts said. “When he's doing well, he's slugging, so those are runs.”

Ohtani is in his first full season as a two-way player for the Dodgers. Coming off two major right elbow surgeries, he was limited to the DH role in 2024, when he created the 50/50 club, with 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, was named NL MVP and the Dodgers won the World Series.

Last year, Ohtani didn't return to the mound until midseason. He wasn't built up to pitching six innings until September and offensively, he hit 55 home runs and had 20 stolen bases. He repeated as NL MVP and the Dodgers won the World Series again.

This season, he has had no innings restrictions on the mound, where he's been dominant. The right-hander is 2-2 with a 0.97 ERA to go with 42 strikeouts and 37 innings pitched over six starts. He's allowed just four earned runs and 21 hits.

“He's still calibrating on this kind of newfound two-way player,” Roberts said.

Roberts has said Ohtani is willing to do whatever the team needs, but at the same time, the manager knows the team's most valuable asset needs to be protected from himself.

“He’s always going to want to do more,” Roberts said. “He has that sense of responsibility to his teammates that he wants to be out there on both ways. I've learned that I have to be proactive and take it out of his hands.”

Roberts has seen enough to decide that taking the bat out of Ohtani's hands might help him reset.

“When the quality of at-bats starts to go down consistently, I think that’s a sign that there needs to be a break because you’re just not able to stay within your game plan and then the chase starts to spike,” he said. “The fatigue is bleeding into the mechanics. Most players get that towards the end of the summer. Now I'm learning managing Shohei it’s probably showing itself a little earlier as far as the tax on pitching and all that comes with it to the hitting, too.”

Ohtani isn't used to not hitting; he's had just three games so far this season in which he wasn't the DH. Roberts suggested he show up late on Thursday.

The Dodgers knew in spring training that having Ohtani return to being a full-time two-way player for the first time since 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels would be challenging.

“It definitely feels sustainable,” Roberts said. “I wouldn’t say it’s more difficult. I think that we all came in knowing that we had to read and react, it was going to be fluid. It should be. It’s very unique.”

___

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

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.

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 pause on transforming a massive Maryland warehouse into a processing facility for immigrants, and there are signs that federal officials are scaling back the plans.

This could be good news for Geo, which 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 fourth-ranked Swiatek needed just 67 minutes to sweep aside No. 5 Pegula 6-1, 6-2.

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 will next face either Elena Rybakina or Elina Svitolina, who are both also former Rome champions.

In the men’s quarterfinals, two impressive sets from Casper Ruud saw the Norwegian overcome 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.

However, 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.

Ruud will face either 19-year-old Rafael Jodar of Spain or Italian player Luciano Darderi in the semifinals.

___

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

Here is a look at the events leading up to the high court’s ruling:

June 7, 2021: Murdaugh calls police to report his wife Maggie, 52, and their son Paul, 22, have been fatally shot near a dog kennel on their property.

Sept. 4, 2021: Alex Murdaugh attempts to arrange his own death in a plan to secure his surviving son a $10 million life insurance payment, officials say. The plot fails when the shot by a Murdaugh associate only grazes Murdaugh’s head.

Oct. 14, 2021: Police arrest Murdaugh at a drug rehab facility in Florida on charges he stole insurance settlements totaling more than $4 million intended for the sons of his late housekeeper.

Nov. 17, 2021: Prosecutors reveal 27 new charges against Murdaugh, saying he stole nearly $5 million in settlement money. Prosecutors allege Murdaugh was hiding money from lawyers who sued him over the death of a teenager killed when authorities say an intoxicated Paul Murdaugh wrecked the boat he was driving.

Jan. 18, 2022: Additional indictments mean Murdaugh now faces 71 charges that he stole nearly $8.5 million in wrongful death and wreck settlements from more than a dozen people.

May 4, 2022: Russell Laffitte, the former CEO of Palmetto State Bank before his firing earlier this year, is indicted on charges that he conspired with Murdaugh to defraud victims of $1.8 million.

June 28, 2022: Prosecutors outline an eight-year money laundering and painkiller ring in new indictments.

July 14, 2022: Murdaugh is charged with murder in the deaths of his wife and son. The indictments issued by the grand jury contend Murdaugh killed his wife with a rifle and his son with a shotgun

Jan. 23, 2023: Murdaugh goes on trial for double-murder in the killings of his wife and son.

Feb. 23, 2023: Murdaugh denies killing them after taking the witness stand at his murder trial. But he admits lying to investigators about when he last saw them alive.

March 2, 2023: A jury convicts Murdaugh on two counts of murder after a six-week trial. The jury deliberated for less than three hours.

March 3, 2023: A judge sentences Murdaugh to life in prison.

Jan. 29, 2024: A South Carolina judge denies Murdaugh’s bid for a new trial after his defense team accused a clerk of court of tampering with a jury.

April 2, 2024: Murdaugh is sentenced to 40 years in federal prison for stealing from clients and his law firm.

Feb. 11, 2026: Murdaugh asks the South Carolina Supreme Court to throw out his murder convictions.

May 13, 2026: The South Carolina Supreme Court overturns Murdaugh's murder convictions and life sentence. In a unanimous ruling, the justices said the conduct by the court clerk “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility” by suggesting to jurors his testimony could not be trusted. Prosecutors say they plan to retry Murdaugh on murder charges.

The jury is tasked with deciding whether the former movie mogul raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel on March 18, 2013.

Mann, 40, testified that the two had a consensual relationship, but that Weinstein subjected her to unwanted sex that day after she repeatedly said no.

Lawyers for Weinstein, 74, 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 that she 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.

Pratt is casting himself as a hero in his latest venture, a bid to be mayor of Los Angeles, in which he's promising to rid the nation's second most populous city of disorder and dysfunction.

Originally greeted with bemusement, Pratt is now upending the race with early voting underway ahead of the June 2 election. The Republican is riding a wave of buzz fueled by viral videos taking aim at Mayor Karen Bass, Gov. Gavin Newsom and others.

Pratt's goal is to turn the chatter into a ticket to a November runoff against Bass, a Democrat who is struggling to recover from a widely panned response to devastating wildfires last year.

He would face long odds in a city that last elected a Republican mayor in 1997. But during last week's debate, Pratt was one of only three candidates onstage, alongside Bass and progressive City Council member Nithya Raman.

“As crazy as this will sound, I’m the adult in the room,” Pratt said.

A populist campaign against liberal governance

Pratt and his supporters are making a populist appeal to voters, emphasizing day-to-day concerns about life in Los Angeles and leaning on visceral imagery of drug use and homeless encampments from the grittier corners of the city of nearly 4 million residents.

He blames the city's Democratic leaders and pledges to “stop these corrupt politicians from destroying our city.” He advocates a hard line against homelessness, pledging to eliminate encampments and pursue criminal investigations of nonprofit organizations that serve people living on the streets.

“These people do not want a bed,” he said in last week's debate. “They want fentanyl or meth.”

Pratt announced his campaign in January at an event marking the one-year anniversary of the deadly Palisades Fire, which destroyed his home and thousands of others.

In an ad released late last month, Pratt stands in cozy neighborhoods where Bass and Raman live. He contrasts them with an Airstream trailer parked on a flattened lot, where he says he's living after his house was destroyed.

“They let my home burn down," Pratt says in the ad. “I know what the consequences of failed leadership are.”

Pratt is actually living at the swanky Hotel Bel-Air and has never lived in the Airstream trailer, TMZ reported Wednesday. Pratt told the celebrity gossip site that the arrangement is necessary because of unspecified security concerns.

Over the past week, viral videos created with artificial intelligence have portrayed Pratt as the city's savior from hapless Democrats and violent socialists. In one, Pratt is portrayed as Batman saving a dystopian Los Angeles from Bass, portrayed as a villainous Joker.

Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and onetime Republican presidential candidate, called it “maybe the best political ad of the year” in a post on X.

That video and others were shared on social media by filmmaker Charles Curran, and Pratt has reposted them from his own accounts. Curran did not respond to an email and direct messages on X.

“He’s playing on the most powerful emotion, which is anger, and LA voters are angry right now,” said Matt Klink, a Republican strategist based in Los Angeles.

A background in reality TV

Pratt, 42, is well-versed in the art of generating buzz and entertainment.

He first rose to prominence in 2007 as Heidi Montag's boyfriend on “The Hills,” a hit reality series built around the lives of young women as they navigated young adulthood in Southern California. He was portrayed as driving a wedge between Montag and her roommate, Lauren Conrad, leading to the disintegration of their friendship.

He went on to marry Montag, and they have two children together. They have appeared on a variety of other scripted and reality television series since “The Hills” ended in 2010, and they each have more than 1 million followers in their social media accounts.

Pratt points to a 2013 political science degree from the University of Southern California as evidence of his readiness to lead a massive city.

His campaign did not respond to interview requests.

Bass seeks a second term

Bass, the first Black woman to lead Los Angeles, is a wounded incumbent continuing to deal with fallout from the wildfires and general frustration with City Hall.

She was in Ghana on a diplomatic mission when the fires began tearing through her city, prompting a fierce backlash, and her administration was accused of watering down an after-action report by the fire department, which she denies.

Still, Bass has much of the Democratic establishment firmly behind her, including most of the city's powerful labor movement. A group of unions is funding an advertising campaign attacking Pratt in terms that seem calibrated to increase his appeal to Republicans and help lift him ahead of Bass's progressive challengers, a potential bet that he might be easier to defeat in November.

The rising attention on Pratt shakes up a race that, until recently, was shaping up to pit Bass against a rival to her left rather than her right.

“I feel like he’s exploiting the grief of people in the Palisades, and I think that’s reprehensible. That’s the main thing. And I think he is about his own celebrity. He’s famous now again,” Bass told Fox News last week.

Pratt has run a fun and imaginative campaign that has effectively parlayed his celebrity into attention, the lifeblood of politics, just as Donald Trump and Arnold Schwarzenegger did before him, said Michael Trujillo, a Los Angeles-based Democratic strategist. He said that has put him in a strong position to get through the first round of voting and face Bass one-on-one in the runoff.

But, eventually, Pratt will have to face a stark reality as a Republican — Los Angeles is an overwhelmingly Democratic city.

“Not to diminish the creativity and imagination that they’re putting into their campaign," Trujillo said, “but they’re going to run into a big math problem.”

___

This story has been corrected to show Pratt is 42, not 43.

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. Several other Republican senators have signaled they want Congress to weigh in on the direction of the conflict.

“There will be a day — and it might be soon, I believe — where this Senate will say to the president, ‘Stop this war,'" Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who has spearheaded his party's tactic of forcing repeated votes on the war, said before the vote.

Even if it passes the Senate, a war powers resolution would have a slim chance of passing the House and would also certainly be vetoed by Trump. But Democrats say the votes are about building political pressure on the president either to withdraw from the conflict or seek congressional authorization to wage the war.

Trump officials downplay role for Congress

The White House, meanwhile, has asserted that it does not need congressional authorization for the war and has circumvented legal requirements to gain approval from Congress to continue the military campaign. It claims that it has “terminated” hostilities with Iran because the U.S. has entered a ceasefire.

That posture has created tension between the Republican-controlled Congress and the White House because presidents under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 are required to obtain authorization from Congress after 60 days of engaging in a conflict.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers this week that the U.S. could start attacking Iran again without the White House seeking congressional approval. He told Murkowski during a hearing on Tuesday that the Trump administration believes it has “all the authorities necessary.”

Murkowski voiced skepticism about that argument. She pointed to the troops and war ships deployed to the region, saying, “It doesn’t appear that hostilities have ended.”

GOP leaders back the war, but unease grows

Republican leadership has continued to back the war with Iran, arguing that the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz that has blocked most commercial shipping puts more economic pressure on Iran than it does on the U.S.

“Iran’s economy is on life support. Its leadership is eliminated,” said Sen. John Barrasso, the No. 2 Republican in leadership, during a floor speech Wednesday.

He also argued that the Democratic effort on the war is all about undermining Trump. Forcing the issue just as he arrived in China for a summit would “pull out the rug from under him,” Barrasso said.

Still, Republicans are also growing uneasy about the high gas prices, especially as the November elections draw near.

Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota, said Wednesday he’d prefer that the two branches of government work out the constitutional issues instead of a congressional war powers vote or a potential challenge in court.

The two sides should sit down together and say “we have shared constitutional responsibilities,” Rounds said.

Democrats plan to keep forcing weekly votes on war powers resolutions and are looking ahead to put limitations on Trump during the debate over annual legislation that authorizes and funds the military.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat who sponsored Wednesday's resolution, told reporters that he believes there is an “erosion of support, erosion of enthusiasm, an increase in skepticism” about the war from Republicans.

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.

Prosecutors promise a retrial that will look different

Prosecutors said they would aggressively seek to try Murdaugh again on the murder charges with 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 straights, 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.

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."

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.

Prosecutors argued that the clerk’s comments were fleeting and the evidence against Murdaugh was overwhelming.

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 Mudaugh 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.

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 when he shot his younger son, Paul, with a shotgun and his wife, Maggie, with a rifle, at their home in Colleton County in 2021.

Murdaugh told investigators he hadn’t seen them for an hour or so before he discovered their bodies, but his voice was recorded in a video on his son’s phone made about five minutes before the killing.

The weapons used in the killings have not been found and prosecutors did not present any clothes with DNA or blood evidence.

The early morning Senate committee vote came after hours of impassioned testimony from Black residents and Democrats opposed to the move. Republicans opted not to pursue a more aggressive approach, which could have targeted both Democratic seats for elimination.

The Supreme Court's recent ruling weakening federal Voting Rights Act protections for minorities has prompted Republicans in several Southern states to try to eliminate House districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats. Tennessee and Alabama already have acted to implement different House maps that could help Republicans win an additional seat. A similar effort fizzled Tuesday in the South Carolina Senate.

The redistricting efforts to undo minority districts are the latest in a 10-month-long national redistricting battle that already has involved about one-third of the states. It gained steam when President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to redraw House districts in an attempt to win more seats in the midterm elections. Democrats in California responded with their own new districts. Numerous Republican states have redistricted since then.

Republicans think they could gain as many as 15 seats so far from new House maps in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain six seats from new maps in California and Utah. The Virginia Supreme Court last week struck down a redistricting effort that could have yielded four more winnable seats for Democrats.

Louisiana map resembles 2022 districts

The Louisiana Senate could vote Thursday on the new House map advanced by a committee tasked with redistricting.

The plan keeps a New Orleans-based, majority-Black district represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter while also including a portion of Baton Rouge. It significantly reshapes the 6th District, represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, which currently snakes northwest from Baton Rouge to Shreveport to create a second majority-Black district. That district would instead be clustered around predominantly white communities in southern Louisiana around Baton Rouge.

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

“I’ve said from day one, I have no interest in running against Troy Carter. Period,” Fields told The Associated Press. “The real issue is not whether I serve another second in Congress. The real issue is whether or not a person like me will have the opportunity to serve in Congress.”

State Sen. Jay Morris, a Republican who sponsored the revised map, said the new districts are very similar to those 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 last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Louisiana's districts had relied too heavily on race. The Supreme Court followed with a decision also overturning a judicial order mandating that Alabama use a House map with two largely Black congressional districts.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has postponed Louisiana's U.S. House primaries, scheduled for Saturday, to allow time for new districts to be put in place.

Democrats wanted to preserve 2 districts

During committee testimony on Tuesday, many Democrats and Black residents suggested Louisiana could revise its districts in response to the high court ruling in a way that could preserve two Democratic-leaning seats that give Black voters an opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice. They argued that it was a matter of fairness.

As the hearing stretched into the night, Josiah Hardy, a high school sophomore, told lawmakers his great-grandfather fought for civil rights and equal representation in Louisiana when Black voters were disenfranchised.

“Why are we still fighting the same fight decades later?” Hardy questioned. “My great-grandfather believed democracy is stronger when more people are included, not excluded. Further generations should not have to keep fighting the same battles for fairness and voting rights that leaders before us have already fought.”

___

Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri.

Revenue from its Cloud Intelligence Group, which focuses on cloud computing and AI developments, jumped 38% in the January-March quarter from a year ago to 41.6 billion yuan ($6.1 billion). That was faster than the 36% and 34% growth in the previous two quarters, respectively.

However, Alibaba recorded an overall of 848 million yuan ($125 million) loss from operations for the quarter, a key measure of profitability of its core operating businesses, which was down sharply from a 28.5 billion yuan gain the same period last year.

Growing technological investment was one of the main reasons for rising expenses that weighed on profitability, as technology companies globally race to invest to boost infrastructure in supporting the ballooning AI demand.

The Hangzhou-based company, which has about 130,000 employees, last year pledged investments of at least 380 billion yuan over three years in cloud computing and AI infrastructure.

This week, Alibaba said it has fully connected its flagship Qwen AI app to its e-commerce platform Taobao, allowing users to “browse, compare, place orders, and manage deliveries through natural conversation” in hopes of driving up demand. It launched its “agentic” AI tool Wukong in March in expanding its products for commercial customers, and raised prices for some AI services.

“Alibaba’s AI has moved beyond the initial investment phase and progressed commercialization at scale,” said CEO Eddie Wu on Wednesday in prepared remarks during an earnings call.

Alibaba’s U.S.-traded shares jumped more than 7% after Wednesday's results announcement.

Many technology companies are now facing the challenge of boosting AI-related revenue and proving that the huge investment costs can pay off. For Alibaba, “we should expect AI-related growth to accelerate further,” said Jacob Cooke, CEO of Beijing-based consultancy WPIC Marketing + Technologies.

In March, Alibaba pledged a goal of surpassing $100 billion in annual AI and cloud revenue within the next five years.

Tencent, a key rival of Alibaba in AI, on Wednesday also reported weaker-than-expected revenue for the January-March quarter. Net profit was up 21%, which fell short of expectations, although some analysts believe its AI investments were also starting to deliver return.

Capital expenditure across Chinese AI companies is likely to remain elevated as the “investment phase is far from over,” wrote Chelsey Tam, an analyst at Morningstar, in a recent research note, while the AI firms are going to increasingly pivot from user acquisition to monetization.

The five-year agreement, ratified on Tuesday, covers nearly 30,000 flight attendants at United. It includes an average 31% pay increase this summer, boarding pay worth an additional 7% to 8% in compensation on average and $741 million in retroactive pay, according to the Association of Flight Attendants.

“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic,” said Ken Diaz, president of the union’s United chapter. “Our solidarity delivered the goods.”

The union said the deal also secures expanded job security, restrictions on red-eye flying, pay for lengthy delays over 2 1/2 hours, higher retirement contributions, 10 weeks paid parental leave and the elimination of 24-hour on-call reserve schedules.

Both United CEO Scott Kirby and union leaders say the agreement — reached through mediation at the National Mediation Board — sets a new benchmark in the industry.

“The United Airlines Flight Attendant contract now leads the industry in total value for Flight Attendants — and it should,” said Sara Nelson, president of the AFA, which represents more than 55,000 flight attendants across 20 airlines.

In a post shared on LinkedIn, Kirby said United is “lucky to have the best flight attendants in the world to represent our airline!”

“I am very happy that they now have the industry-leading contract that they deserve," he said.

For years, it had been standard across much of the airline industry for flight attendants to go unpaid during boarding, despite flight attendants already assisting passengers, resolving seating and carry-on issues, conducting safety checks and preparing the cabin for departure.

Delta Air Lines became the first U.S. airline to offer boarding pay in 2022, followed by American Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

Last August, Air Canada’s flight attendants put a public spotlight on the issue when about 10,000 of them walked off the job, leading the Canadian airline to cancel more than 3,100 flights. The strike ended days later with a breakthrough deal that included pay for boarding passengers.

It was the third straight annual drop, making it the longest decline in decades, according to federal data released Wednesday. The 2025 total is about the same as the tally in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Declines were seen across a number of drug types, including fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. Overdose deaths fell in the vast majority of states, although seven saw at least slight increases, including jumps of 10% or more in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, the preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that this represents really a fundamental change in the arc of the overdose crisis,” said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University researcher who studies overdose trends.

But the number of Americans dying from overdoses is still high, and deaths declined at a slower pace last year. A number of things could cause deaths to rise again — including government policy changes or a shift in the drug supply, Marshall and other researchers say.

“If deaths are going down rapidly, that means they can increase just as rapidly if we take our foot off the gas,” Marshall said.

Overdoses rose during the height of the pandemic

U.S. overdose deaths were generally rising for decades, but they shot up dramatically during the pandemic, peaking at nearly 110,000 in 2022. The pandemic spike was associated with social isolation and difficulties accessing addiction treatment.

Deaths declined as the pandemic waned. Researchers have pointed to numerous possible factors: an increase in the availability of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, expanded addiction treatment, shifts in how people use drugs, and the growing impact of billions of dollars in opioid lawsuit settlement money.

Some research also suggests the number of people likely to overdose has been shrinking, as fewer teens take up drugs and many illicit drug users have died. Another theory suggests regulatory changes in China a few years ago appear to have diminished the availability of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl.

The nation's decades-long overdose epidemic has played out at different paces in different parts of the country, due at least in part to differences in the illicit drug supply and what people are using. The death increases last year in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico could stem from more combined use of fentanyl and methamphetamine recently in those places, Marshall guessed.

New substances are showing up in the US drug supply

Health and law enforcement officials in recent months have been sounding alarms about newer drugs that were increasingly detected in 2025.

Alex Krotulski is director of the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, a federally funded toxicology lab in Horsham, Pennsylvania, that is an important part of a national illicit drug early warning system.

In all of last year, the lab identified 27 new drugs. Less than five months into 2026, the lab already has identified 23, he said.

Among the drugs on the lab’s radar is cychlorphine, a potent synthetic opioid described as up to 10 times stronger than fentanyl. Experts say it is being used as a cutting agent, added to other illicit drugs, without the buyer’s knowledge.

“The drug supply continues to change and evolve,” Krotulski said.

Trump administration cuts some programs

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been cutting programs designed to reduce overdose deaths and infections tied to drug use. In a letter last month, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration notified federal grant recipients that the government would no longer pay for test strips and kits that help drug users see if their drugs contain highly-lethal additives.

Officials say they are shifting away from services that facilitate illicit drug use, including clean syringes and hotlines that people can dial into while they use drugs.

Last week, a group of women who lost children to overdoses spoke with reporters to protest government policies that emphasize punishment and incarceration.

Kimberly Douglas founded one group, Black Moms Against Overdose, after her 17-year-old son died.

“We are starting to see overdoses go down in some places and that’s because of harm reduction” services like those being targeted by the Trump administration, she said.

___

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.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and was on track to squeak past its all-time high set at the start of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 166 points, or 0.3%, as of 1 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% higher.

Gains for tech stocks helped support the market, like Micron Technology’s 3.4% and On Semiconductor's 10.1%. They had stumbled the day before after momentum suddenly halted for stocks riding excitement around artificial-intelligence technology.

Nvidia, the chip company that was among the first faces of the AI boom, rose 2.8% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 because of its immense size. Its CEO, Jensen Huang, got an invitation to join President Donald Trump on his trip to China, where they could discuss allowing shipments of Nvidia AI chips to the world’s second-largest economy.

Earlier in the day, Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. said that its profit for the 12 months through March zoomed by nearly five-fold from the previous year as its AI investments paid off. China's Alibaba Group said its AI and cloud growth accelerated in the latest quarter, and its stock that trades in the United States rose 7.9% even though its overall results fell short of analysts' expectations.

But the majority of stocks outside of the technology industry fell, as pressure builds on Wall Street.

“Corporate earnings and AI momentum are acting as the market’s primary shock absorbers, but the road is getting significantly rougher,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

A report on Wednesday showed that U.S. inflation at the wholesale level was worse last month than economists expected. That followed a report on Tuesday showing accelerating inflation at the U.S. consumer level.

Prices are rising for fuel, transportation and all kinds of other things because of tariffs, bad weather affecting food prices and other reasons. But atop all of them is the jump in oil prices created by the war with Iran, which has slowed the global flow of crude to customers worldwide.

On Wednesday, oil prices moved more modestly following big gains early in the week, and the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 1.4% to $106.25.

That remains well above its price of roughly $70 from before the war, and the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that oil inventories worldwide are depleting at a record pace. The jump in oil prices has forced traders to give up most hopes for a cut to interest rates this year by the Federal Reserve. If anything, a hike to rates seems like the next-best bet after no move in rates this year.

Lower rates would give the economy a boost by making mortgages and other loans cheaper. But they can also worsen inflation while they push upward on prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.48% from 4.46% late Tuesday and is well above its 3.97% level from before the war.

The rise in yields helped send stocks of utilities and real-estate owners to the sharpest losses in the S&P 500. Such companies tend to pay relatively big dividends, which become less attractive to investors looking for income when bonds are paying more in interest.

American Electric Power fell 3.3% after announcing a $2.6 billion offering of its stock.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Birkenstock Holding dropped 8.8% after the British company said its results for the latest quarter were hurt by U.S. tariffs and other factors.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi led the way with a jump of 2.6%. It had sunk 2.3% the day before after a senior figure in the administration suggested the government may redistribute windfall AI profits from companies to citizens. That sapped momentum from AI stocks worldwide on Tuesday.

___

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

This series, which started streaming Wednesday and is based on a collection of romance books written by Elle Kennedy, follows the steamy love lives of members of a college hockey team. Like a different romance series, Netflix's “Bridgerton,” each season will focus on a different couple’s story.

We begin “Off Campus” with the story of team captain Garrett Graham and Hannah Wells, played by Belmont Cameli and Ella Bright. After an embarrassing encounter — Wells, working as a janitor, stumbles upon Graham naked in the locker room — the two make an arrangement. They will pretend to date, to make the guy Wells is really interested in jealous, and in turn she will tutor Graham in a class he's having trouble with. Their deal soon leads to something more.

Room for more than one ‘hockey show’ on TV

“Off Campus” began production about a year ago, before “Heated Rivalry” — the phenomenon about gay pro hockey players, adapted from Rachel Reid's books — made its HBO debut. There will inevitably be comparisons between the two shows. But the actors in “Off Campus” say there is room for more than one hockey series.

“There’s new shows and movies about American football all the time. Nobody’s like, Oh great, here comes another ‘Remember the Titans,’” Cameli said. “‘Heated Rivalry’ had a ton of success and it deserved it and those guys are great. I’m thrilled for them.”

“Off Campus” creator and showrunner Louisa Levy is impressed that “Heated Rivalry” is breaking barriers with its storytelling.

“Not only is it another hockey show, it’s a queer hockey show, which is amazing. And it’s also very different from our show,” Levy said. “Our show is in college. Our show follows a group of friends. It’s a different kind of romance.”

The success of the Canadian-made “Heated Rivalry” is also a source of pride for another “Off Campus” actor, Stephen Kalyn.

“Seeing another Canadian creator make such a very popular and hit show, it’s really inspiring, honestly,” said Kalyn, who plays Dean Di Laurentis. “I’m just proud. I’m a proud Canadian.”

Honing their hockey skills

“Off Campus” mostly follows its hockey players' lives off the ice. Still, they wanted to make the action look realistic.

“We did ask all the guys to put themselves on tape skating to make sure that they could at least stand on ice before we shot, because it is important. We want it to feel organic,” Levy said. “There are certain things that you can cut around and certain things that are a little bit harder.”

Before filming, the actors were put through a two-week hockey boot camp to get comfortable on skates and the ice. A former hockey pro, Dave Tomlinson, was brought in to help them learn the basics.

“We did a lot of the close-ups as we’re skating,” said Jalen Thomas Brooks, who plays John Tucker. “There’s no like, pretending to skate. We’re all on skates moving, actually striding. But when it comes to the big, big sequences, those are sometimes stunt doubles.”

Kalyn has actual hockey experience and could perform more of his own moves on camera.

“I grew up playing hockey my whole life, so it’s such a treat to be able to play hockey and act — the two things that I love,” Kalyn said.

Next up on the ice

Season 2 of “Off Campus” begins filming very soon, and will star Cipriano. A video of him surprising India Fowler with the news that she got the part of his love interest, Grace Ivers, was recently released online.

While Cipriano is “excited for Logan to meet Grace at some point,” he's focused on celebrating the release of Season 1.

“We don’t need to think about the future right now,” he said.

Cameli is looking forward to his co-stars getting their own major storylines.

“They’re all really prepared for whenever their turn is up next,” Cameli said. “I love these guys. I mean, they’re are all like so talented and skilled and sweet, and they are just really great people. You know, do they ask me for advice all the time about everything? Yes. Am I giving them brilliant nuggets constantly? Absolutely.”

Unlike “Bridgerton,” where the couple du jour only pops up here and there on the show after their season has played out, Cameli and Bright say they're sticking around.

“We're not going anywhere,” promised Bright. “I’m just excited to see Hannah and Garrett in their relationship and what challenges that they might overcome being together.”

Lately, there’s been a lot to celebrate in elementary schools in Modesto, California. Both reading and math scores have increased consistently over the past several years.

But across the country, results are gloomier. Researchers warn that the U.S. is experiencing a reading recession — a slide predating the pandemic’s disruptions in schooling.

Scholars at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth analyzed state test scores from third to eighth grade for over 5,000 school districts in 38 states, allowing comparisons across school districts and states in a national Education Scorecard.

What they found was sobering: Only five states plus the District of Columbia had meaningful growth in reading test scores from 2022 to 2025. Nationally, students remain nearly half a grade level behind pre-pandemic reading scores and only slightly better in math.

While schools have focused on catching kids up since the COVID-19 pandemic upended education, reading test scores have been falling since 2013 for eighth graders and 2015 for fourth graders, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

“The pandemic was the mudslide that had followed seven years of steady erosion in achievement,” said Thomas Kane, a Harvard professor who helped create the Education Scorecard.

Still, some states and school districts are making progress — largely by shifting toward phonics-based instruction and providing extra support for struggling readers.

The picture is also brighter in math.

Almost every state in the analysis saw improvements in math test scores from 2022 to 2025. Student absenteeism also declined in most states. In over 400 U.S. school districts, including Modesto, reading or math growth outpaced demographically similar districts in the same state.

A shift toward phonics and extra reading support

Researchers are still debating the reading recession’s causes.

One possible factor, researchers say, is the rise of social media on smartphones and corresponding declines in kids’ recreational reading. States have also backed off on strict consequences for schools whose students fail to make progress on standardized tests, Kane said.

But the states that improved reading scores — notably Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana — all had one thing in common: They ordered schools to teach with a phonics-based approach known as the “ science of reading.”

For years, schools taught reading using approaches that de-emphasized phonics and encouraged strategies such as guessing words based on context clues. As reading scores tumbled over the past decade, parents, scholars and literacy advocates pushed for teaching methods that align with decades of research about how kids learn to read — largely by sounding out words.

Along with reforming teaching methods, states have also required schools to screen for learning disabilities such as dyslexia and hire coaches to help teachers improve their reading instruction.

That said, “science of reading” reforms did not guarantee success. Some states, including Florida, Arizona and Nebraska, changed parts of their reading instruction but still saw test scores fall.

In Modesto, reading instruction was revamped during the pandemic, and math a couple years earlier. The district created a new department to help students who are still learning English. Schools also ramped up teacher training, paying educators $5,000 to complete an extensive “science of reading” program called LETRS, or Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling.

Modesto’s test scores grew enough to represent an extra 18 weeks of learning in math and 13 weeks in reading. Nevertheless, the district still has a way to go: Overall scores remain far below grade level.

Getting kids ‘consistently in the seat’ key to Detroit's success

A focus on reading has also improved scores in Detroit — but so have efforts to get kids in school more consistently. For years, the large urban district struggled with deplorable school conditions, leading to a 2016 lawsuit in which students argued they’d been denied the “right to read.”

The lawsuit ended in a settlement of over $94 million, money that helped move the needle. While the district is still far below the national average, student test scores have grown faster than in similar urban districts in Michigan.

“It took a lot to rebuild systems, and now kids are learning at higher levels, but I’m still not satisfied. And I think that’s the next challenge: continuing to motivate, inspire and change things,” said Detroit Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.

The money has helped Munger Elementary-Middle School, located in a largely Latino neighborhood in Detroit, to employ 18 educators who give kids extra support in small groups. An attendance agent also makes calls to the homes of absent students, even showing up at their doors.

Just a few years ago, says first grade teacher Samantha Ciaffone, it was normal for about seven or eight kids to be absent from her class every day. Now it’s usually only one or two.

“It allows us to be better educators to see kids consistently in the seat instead of once or twice a week,” said Ciaffone. “It makes such a difference.”

A bright spot in the South

For the last decade, the South has stood out as a region leading the way on education reforms — bucking an established trend of landing at the bottom of education rankings. Southern states were quick to change to research-based teaching methods, and states have paid to train and coach teachers.

It's paid off. Louisiana and Alabama were the only states where math scores were higher in 2025 than pre-pandemic. Louisiana is also the only state that beat its pre-pandemic average in reading, with 87% of traditional public school students attending a district where scores are higher than in 2019.

Alabama had standout gains in reading following the pandemic, driven by a state law requiring every school to use phonics-based instruction. The Legislature modeled math reforms in 2022 off Alabama's reading successes. The state’s Numeracy Act standardized math instruction, required regular testing and mandated intervention for kids who lacked adequate math skills.

Oxmoor Valley Elementary in Birmingham hired a full-time math specialist this year to help struggling kids. The school, which made the state’s “failing” list in 2016, has steadily improved math and reading scores, although a majority of kids still test below proficient in both subjects.

“We can provide all of these supports, but at the same time, hold kids to high expectations,” Birmingham Superintendent Mark Sullivan said.

Researchers stress such progress is possible across the U.S., because it’s been done before. Starting in the 1990s, the country saw decades of growth in test scores and graduation rates, while racial disparities declined. That progress continued until the mid-2010s.

“We made enormous progress as a country in terms of educational success from over a 30-year period. Test scores went up dramatically,” said Stanford professor Sean Reardon. “And so I think that says, as a country, we can improve education and educational opportunity.”

At Modesto's Fairview Elementary, where Barajas teaches, students now practice their reading speed and fluency every day. After a dance break, the class reads a one-page text together in unison for one minute, then students split into pairs to read again. Students learning English are paired with native English speakers, and each child gets a turn reading with Barajas.

“Eventually, you get through the word like it’s water,” one boy said. “You just say it smooth.”

____

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.

She's not terribly interested in being the first non-American to try it, either.

Just hours after her NASCAR team, BRANDed Management, announced that the 45-year-old British driver had added the Coca-Cola 600 to a May 24 schedule that already included the Indianapolis 500, Legge told reporters she welcomed the opportunity more than the milestone.

“I don't want to be like the first woman because at the end of the day, I always say I just want to be a race car driver,” she said. “It doesn't matter whether I'm Black, white, female, male, whatever it may be. I think I'm probably getting the opportunity to do this because I'm female, so that does not escape me and I'm very grateful for it. I think being the first to do anything is cool. Being one of the very few who gets to attempt to race at Indy and at Charlotte and then do both on the same day, like looking back in 10, 20 years, like yeah."

Legge's feat also comes on the 50th anniversary of Janet Guthrie making her first appearance on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's historic 2.5-mile oval.

Guthrie did not make Indy's starting grid in 1976 but still traveled to North Carolina and made her NASCAR Cup Series debut by starting the World 600 in Charlotte. That was the previous version of today's Coca-Cola 600.

Now, like then, A.J. Foyt is playing a role in this gender-breaking attempt.

In 1976, Foyt let Guthrie use a backup car in her attempt to make the field. This weekend, Legge will be one of 33 drivers trying to qualify for the 500, and she'll driving the No. 11 Chevrolet for HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing. In 1977, Guthrie returned to Indy, becoming the first woman to start the 500 on the same day that Foyt became the first four-time race winner.

Foyt also cast aside his longtime rivalry with the Andrettis in 1994 when he put the late John Andretti in an IndyCar as Andretti became the first driver to attempt "The Double.”

And Legge has gotten a crash course in that history as she also prepares to qualify in the No. 78 for Live Fast Motorsports at Charlotte. She's the only female driver in Indianapolis this month.

“He's been awesome, Larry (Foyt) has been awesome, too,” Legge said, referring to the 91-year-old team owner and his grandson, who is running the team's day-to-day operations. “Actually, there's a few idiosyncrasies we weren't aware of until this came up. So it's like weird, serendipitous things, neat little facts."

Five drivers have competed in both the 500 and 600, but three-time Cup champ and Indiana native Tony Stewart remains the only one to complete all 1,100 miles in one day.

Defending Cup champion Kyle Larson attempted “The Double” each of the past two years but failed to complete it. He missed the Coca-Cola 600 start in 2024 after the Indy 500 ran late because of rain, and he crashed in both races last year.

Larson's attempts will be featured in a Prime Video documentary titled “Kyle Larson vs. The Double,” which is set to premiere in Indianapolis next week.

The difference between Legge and others who tried "The Double” is logistics. Their plans were made months in advance while Legge's became a reality only recently.

“I knew that at some point, it would be something we looked at doing, but I didn't anticipate it being this year,” she said. “I think it's just a very cool opportunity that kind of came up. Obviously, Indianapolis was first, and when that domino fell there was a lot of talk about it and we thought, why not?"

Legge certainly has experience on her side.

She'll attempt to qualify for her fifth Indy start on Saturday and Sunday after finishing 29th last May. Her best 500 finish was 22nd in 2012. Over the past two years, she has competed in eight Cup races, including last week's 35th-place finish at Watkins Glen.

Legge also has competed in Ferraris in Bahrain and Audis in Germany, as well on the A1 Grand Prix, Formula E and the IMSA SportsCar circuits during her career, though she's never run the Coca-Cola 600.

But nothing is certain. While Legge is one of 33 drivers trying to make the 33-car field in Indy (qualifying will focus on the pole), she'll be one of 41 attempting to make the 40-car Coca-Cola 600 field. And yet she's willing to take her chance on making history.

“It might be the only opportunity I get,” she said. “It might not be, but I might as well take it while the iron is hot and it's one of those really cool things not many people get to do.”

___

AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

On Tuesday, she was joined in Charlottesville by bill patrons, Majority Leader Scott Surovell, Senator Creigh Deeds, and Delegate Paul Krizek, along with state and local leaders, to sign the package of bipartisan legislation.

The bills call for more investments in nuclear and fusion energy in an effort to help homeowners save money when installing rooftop solar panels. Additionally, the governor also signed legislation to allow balcony solar.

Virginians know energy costs have been skyrocketing in recent months. But even before the Trump Administration’s reckless war in Iran disrupted global markets, the truth is that monthly bills have been hard to manage for a long time. The legislation we’re signing today represents solutions we can provide at the state level to make a tangible difference.

By diversifying our energy usage, we can make sure that Virginia families are less exposed to volatility. That is what energy independence means in practice, and that is exactly what we are building toward. These bills will mean real money in people’s pockets. They are long-term investments to lower costs for Virginians in every corner of the Commonwealth.

Gov. Abigail Spanberger

Here’s a closer look at the bills Spanberger signed:

• SB382 (Senator Scott Surovell): Streamlining permitting for rooftop solar to save Virginians money. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB395 (Delegate Paul Krizek), SB250 (Senator Scott Surovell): Facilitate the adoption of portable small solar systems to lower energy costs. Passed with bipartisan support.
• SB598 (Senator Creigh Deeds): Encourages greater investment in next-generation energy technology by allowing largest energy customers to count nuclear and fusion towards clean energy goals. Passed with bipartisan support.
• SB254 and SB255 (Senator Scott Surovell): Expanding shared solar programs. 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, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Tunisia.

“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.

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.

World Cup team players, coaches and some staff already were exempt from the bond requirement as part of the administration’s orders to prioritize the processing of visas for the tournament. Ordinary fans, even if they had confirmed tickets, had not been exempt until Wednesday.

The administration has taken dramatic steps to restrict immigration in ways that critics say are incongruous with the type of unifying message that 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 Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, also World Cup qualifiers, face partial restrictions under an expanded version of that travel ban.

Foreign travelers also are facing new requirements to submit their social media histories, while the administration had deployed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at airports recently when Transportation Security Administration personnel were not being paid.

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.

Officers responded to the 300 block of Hairston Street around 10:30 p.m. When they arrived, they found two people who had been shot.

Marcie Hunt, 53, was taken to SOVAH Martinsville Hospital, where she later died from her injuries. A man was also taken to the hospital and remains in serious condition, police said.

Investigators are currently processing the scene and interviewing witnesses. Police say they are investigating the shooting as a homicide. So far, authorities have not released details about what led to the shooting or information about a possible suspect.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Sgt. Jason Vaughan at 276-403-5247 or Crime Stoppers at 276-63CRIME (276-632-7463). Crime Stoppers is an anonymous tip line, and callers could receive a reward of up to $2,500.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that its 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.

Energy prices climbed 7.8% from March to April and 22.7% from a year earlier. Gasoline soared 15.6% from March and diesel, the dominant fuel used in shipping, jumped 12.6%.

Gasoline prices, which have already become painful for many Americans, rose again overnight to a national average of $4.51 per gallon, according to motor club AAA.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, so-called core producer prices rose 1% from March and 5.2% from April 2025.

All of the numbers released Wednesday caught economists off guard and altered the dynamic at the U.S. Federal Reserve and its fight against inflation.

Prices are rising at a time when Americans are already frustrated by the high cost of living. Affordability is likely to be a key issue when voters go to the polls Nov. 3 to determine whether President Donald Trump’s Republican Party maintains control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

“This report will set off alarm bells at the Fed and add fuel to the political conversation about affordability,″ wrote Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. “The results are so far above expectations that this update will set off alarm bells in the financial markets, too.″

After the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, Tehran closed off access to the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes.

The oil shock shows no sign of letting up. The International Energy Agency warned Wednesday that the “mounting supply losses from the Strait of Hormuz are depleting global oil inventories at a record pace.’’ Since February, global oil supplies have been reduced by 12.8 million barrels a day in what the IEA called “an unprecedented supply shock.’’

Wednesday’s report on producer prices showed a big uptick in shipping costs. The wholesale cost of truck transportation of freight shot up more than 8% from March and air freight rose 3.6% for the month.

“Diesel fuel is also crucial for food prices, as it powers farm equipment along with commercial shipping and trucking,” wrote Grace Zwemmer, US Economist at Oxford Economics. “Food prices rose by a muted 0.2% in April, much stronger than the 0.6% decline seen in March, and it’s possible they will face upward pressure from higher fuel prices the longer the war persists.”

Wholesale prices can offer an early look at where prices for consumers may be headed.

Already this week, the Labor Department said that its closely watched consumer price index jumped 3.8% last month from April 2025 — the biggest year-over-year increase in more than three years. That has begun to appear in everything from what Americans pay for air travel, both tickets and baggage fees, to soap and toothpaste.

Walmart, a company famous for its intense focus on low prices, already announced rare price hikes last year as Trump's tariffs were rolled out, and the rising costs may intensify pressure to do so again. It is not alone.

Whirlpool, which makes KitchenAid and Maytag appliances, reported this month that its revenue dropped nearly 10% in its most recent quarter and said that the war has caused a “recession-level industry decline″ that has undermined consumer confidence. It had announced a 10% price hike in April, its largest in a decade, and said another 4% price increase is coming in July.

The cost of credit, which had been in decline, has been frozen in place.

Before the Iran war, the Fed had been expected to cut its benchmark interest rate in 2026. But it has turned cautious as it waits to see how long the conflict lasts and whether higher energy prices spill over into other products and cause a broader inflationary outbreak.

Trump has attacked the Fed and its outgoing chair, Jerome Powell, for refusing to slash rates to boost the economy. Kevin Warsh, the president’s hand-picked choice to succeed Powell, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week; but it’s unclear whether Warsh would pursue lower rates given the uncertainty caused by the war — or whether he could persuade his colleagues on the Fed’s rate-setting committee to go along if he tried.

Prices for food eaten at home rose 2.9% in April compared to the same month a year earlier, according to government figures released Tuesday. That was the highest year-over-year inflation rate for the category since August 2023.

Prices at restaurants, fast-food chains and other places to get prepared meals also increased, putting overall food prices up 3.2% in the last year, the Labor Department’s consumer price index showed.

Fuel prices have soared while the Iran war prevents cargo ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for global oil supplies. Diesel fuel powers fishing boats, tractors and the trucks that ship 83% of U.S. agricultural products. As of Tuesday, the average price per gallon was up 61% from a year ago, according to AAA.

The meat, produce and dry goods vendors that supply Sparrow Market, a small independent grocer in Ann Arbor, Michigan, all added fuel surcharges to their deliveries in recent weeks, owner Raymond Campise said. Wholesale prices for meat, produce and some other products also have gone up, he said.

“For independent markets operating on narrow margins, even small increases can have a major impact,” Campise said.

The full impact of rising energy costs on food likely has not hit retail grocery prices yet in the U.S., according to Purdue University economists Ken Foster and Bernhard Dalheimer. Higher costs to produce, process, store and transport food can take three to six months to show up on supermarket shelves, where prices typically fall slowly once increased, they said.

“Most of what we’re seeing now in the food price chain probably predates the conflict," Foster, a professor of agricultural economics, said. "We’re cautiously waiting to see what the June numbers and the May numbers might show as they come out in terms of ... the extent to which energy shocks in the Strait of Hormuz and shipping blockades and so forth are going to impact food prices.”

The consumer price index measures changes in what people in U.S. cities paid at retail stores for meat, bread, milk, produce and other grocery staples. Over the last 20 years, grocery prices increased an average of 2.6%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Prices for perishable and refrigerated products tend to increase faster than prices for packaged goods when energy is an issue. Consumers paid 6.5% more for fresh fruit and vegetables in U.S. cities last month than they did in April 2025, and 8.8% more for meat, the Labor Department reported.

But U.S. trade policies and extreme weather also have weighed on U.S. food prices in the last year. In July 2025, the Trump administration imposed a 17% duty on fresh tomatoes imported from Mexico; consumer prices rose 40% in the 12 months before April.

Dry weather in the Western U.S. has been one of many factors pushing up beef prices, which in April were 15% higher year-over-year. Coffee prices were up 18.5%, partly due to drought and other weather conditions that have hurt global coffee production in recent years.

“Today's CPI showed that food prices have been rising 3.2 percent in the past year, but the story behind that number is more complicated than just an energy shock,” said Dalheimer, an assistant professor of macroeconomics and trade in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics.

Prices for some foods remained more or less flat or declined over 12 months. Milk and chicken dipped slightly. Butter cost 5.8% less in April than it did a year earlier. Egg prices fell 39% as farmers rebuilt flocks that were decimated by an ongoing bird flu outbreak.

Food prices and broader inflation are likely to feature prominently in November's midterm elections. During his 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump often cited the prices of bacon, cereal, crackers and other groceries as reasons why voters should return him to the White House.

Some food producers say they're struggling now because of higher fuel costs. The Southern Shrimp Alliance, which represents shrimpers in eight states, said some boats haven't left the dock this spring because they can't catch enough shrimp to compensate for the cost of diesel.

Fuel typically makes up 30% to 50% of the costs for U.S. shrimpers, but because they supply only 6% of the shrimp that Americans consume, they have limited ability to raise prices or add surcharges for fuel, the organization said.

Higher fuel prices may also be impacting food costs in other ways. Part of April's 5% annual increase in prices for nonalcoholic beverages may be due to the petroleum derivative that goes into making plastic bottles, Foster said.

“It’s possible some of that’s starting to seep down the supply chain and get into those prices,” he said.

Over the next year or more, Americans could also see higher food prices due to spiking fertilizer costs, since around 30% of the world's fertilizer travels through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fertilizer costs are less of an issue for U.S. farmers this year, since many already had fertilizer supplies in place before the war began, according to Foster. But the effects could become more noticeable next year if the war drags on, he said.

“I expect the Iran conflict to impact the coming years’ food prices through a couple of channels. One, the energy costs and transportation handling. The other would be through packaging costs,” Foster said. “If the conflict were to last longer, then we might see more coming online as fertilizer prices start to impact longer-term planting decisions and cropping decisions.”

Speaking at the end of three days of spring meetings in a posh resort in northeast Florida, Phillips said ACC coaches and athletic directors reached consensus on wanting to double the current College Football Playoff model.

“When you’re leaving national championship-contending teams and schools out of the playoff, you don’t have the right number,” Phillips said. “We lived through it.”

Phillips pointed to unbeaten Florida State getting snubbed from a four-team CFP field in 2023 and Notre Dame getting left out of last year’s 12-team model.

“Notre Dame was a CFP-worthy team this year; they just were,” he said. “The other rationale is there is so much investment going on in the sport of football and in college athletics. … If you’re going to ask presidents and chancellors and boards to continue to invest in their football programs, it’s really important that they have hope, that they have an opportunity at the beginning of the season to get into the playoff.”

Coaches and administrators have clamored for more access to the lucrative and potentially job-saving playoff. They point to having just 12 playoff spots for 138 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, a miniscule percentage compared to many other collegiate sports or major professional leagues.

“The more the merrier,” Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said. “The more opportunities to get teams in and give student-athletes opportunities.”

Phillips also said television partner ESPN “has been pretty clear with all of us that they’d like it to stay at 12, maybe 14, but no higher than 16.”

No matter how much the ACC and other leagues support a 24-team playoff, the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference have exclusive power to determine the CFP's future. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti and the SEC's Greg Sankey have the ultimate say on any expansion.

The SEC is pushing to expand to 16 teams, with an emphasis on at-large bids. The Big Ten supports 24 teams and initially wanted multiple automatic qualifiers from each conference.

The playoff expanded from four to 12 teams in 2024, and after decision-makers failed to reach an expansion agreement, the CFP will use the same model for the 2026-27 season. The discussion carries major implications for the college football calendar, including the start and end of the season and the role of money-making conference championship games.

An NCAA committee last month recommended that FBS teams play a 12-game schedule over 14 weeks beginning in 2027 with the season starting on the Thursday of what is now designated Week Zero and ending the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Last week, the American Football Coaches Association proposed changes to the schedule that included eliminating conference championship games, reducing scheduled bye weeks from two to one and reducing the minimum number of days between games to no fewer than six.

Sankey stood firm earlier this week on expanding to a 16-team CFP.

Sankey said all changes in college athletics must come with appropriate research — something he believes the SEC has provided in support of a four-team expansion to 16. To Sankey, moving to 16 teams is an unknown, with one big question being whether an expanded playoff would make up for an SEC title game that generates more than $80 million a year for the powerhouse conference.

The current CFP contract includes a deadline of Dec. 1, 2026, to make any changes for the following season.

___

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

They dismissed any link to a deadly hantavirus outbreak on another vessel that has put European health authorities on alert.

The Ambition was midway through a 14-night cruise from Belfast and Liverpool that was due to take in ports in northern Spain and along France’s Atlantic coast.

It reached Bordeaux on Tuesday evening, according to the operator, Ambassador Cruise Line.

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.

Last week, a Caribbean Princess cruise ship reported a norovirus outbreak during a voyage with more than 3,100 passengers aboard, according to the U.S. health agency. More than 140 passengers and 15 crew members fell ill during the trip, which ended Monday, the CDC said.

The prefect of Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and Gironde department, Étienne Guyot, suspended disembarkation from the Ambition and restricted the vessel’s interactions with the port of Bordeaux.

He acted on the recommendation of the regional health agency, the Agence Régionale de Santé Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the joint statement said.

Up to 50 passengers showed symptoms consistent with acute digestive infection after the ship’s captain alerted French authorities on Tuesday evening, the statement said.

Those affected were treated by the ship’s doctor and isolated in their cabins.

A medical team was dispatched to the vessel, and samples are being analyzed at a Bordeaux hospital.

“There is no reason to establish a link between this outbreak aboard a cruise ship from Belfast and Liverpool and the hantavirus cases detected aboard the MV Hondius,” the joint statement said.

The hantavirus outbreak aboard the Hondius last month prompted a multicountry response and the hospitalization of passengers in Britain, France, Spain and the United States. Three passengers died and there have been nine confirmed cases, with another two suspected.

An update is expected later on Wednesday, once analysis results are available.

Ambassador Cruise Line said earlier Wednesday that a 92-year-old male passenger had died on Sunday, although he had not reported symptoms consistent with the illness, and that his cause of death was yet to be established by a coroner.

The company said 48 passengers and one crew member were displaying gastrointestinal symptoms as of late Wednesday morning.

Ambassador said its data showed cases had risen after passengers boarded in Liverpool on May 9. All shore excursions at Bordeaux had been canceled and affected passengers offered full refunds, the company said.

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

___

Associated Press writer Jonathan Poet in Philadelphia contributed.

“When we’re talking about Asian Americans or Asian people in the U.S., oftentimes it’s people who might look like you and me, and maybe not people who look like (New York City Mayor) Zohran Mamdani,” Yi told The Associated Press. “Why is that when this term is supposed to be so capacious and so inclusive?”

So Yi, who is Korean American, was beyond excited when approached to helm a new HBO documentary dedicated to AAPI identity and community.

Timed for release during AAPI Heritage Month, “The A List: 15 Stories from Asian and Pacific Diasporas” drops Wednesday on HBO Max. It's the latest in “The List Series” created by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. The franchise has previously produced documentaries on prominent Black, Latino and LGBTQ+ Americans.

In the documentary, Yi captures no-frills, intimate interviews conducted by journalist Jada Yuan with 15 people of AAPI heritage across industries. They include TV broadcaster Connie Chung, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth and “Basement Bhangra” creator DJ Rekha. Actors Sandra Oh, Kumail Nanjiani and Bowen Yang — who are sometimes more associated with comical roles — also shared their thoughts about identity and belonging.

“When talking to people who are professionally funny, oftentimes they’re really comfortable not being funny,” in unscripted conversation, Yi said. “I appreciated that chance to get a little bit deeper into some of their stories.”

Stars say talking about growing up AAPI on camera was cathartic

Yia Vang, chef and owner of Vinai, a popular Hmong restaurant in Minneapolis, filmed his “A List” interview three years ago. Since then he's been featured in various cooking and lifestyle shows. Vang, who was born in a Thai refugee camp until his family settled in Wisconsin when he was 4, likened the experience of being interviewed on camera to a confessional.

Vang tearfully recounts to viewers how his desire to not be “the weird kid” drove him to throw out school lunches of sticky rice and fermented vegetables packed by his mother. He did not expect to get emotional but the memory sparked a core life lesson.

“I will never, ever try to be ‘cool,’” Vang said. “That’s why I guess I get so intense about like how we do our food here. Not because I’m chasing perfection or some kind of award, but I just want to make sure I stay true to the integrity that they (my parents) laid before me.”

In what Vang calls “full-circle redemption,” those dishes he used to throw out are now on his restaurant's menu.

Last month, Vang got a taste of reactions to the documentary back home at a Milwaukee Film Festival screening. He definitely was not seen as the weird guy.

“The audience really connected because I’m a Wisconsin boy,” Vang said. A few approached him just to say “It's so awesome to see a Midwest kid in there.”

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders still struggle for visibility

Asian Americans make up one of the fastest growing U.S. populations. Still, adults in the U.S. have a harder time recognizing the influence of AAPI people than people from other racial groups, according to a new survey by The Asian American Foundation.

The annual Social Tracking of Asian Americans in the United States, or STAATUS, Index, done in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, found 4 in 10 U.S. adults cannot think of a single, famous Asian American; Jackie Chan, who is not American, was among the most frequently named. About half were unable to name examples of famous Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

“It’s an indication of just how for most of America — and our data shows this as well — people get most of their information about Asian Americans not so much from direct contacts, but from the media,” said Norman Chen, CEO of The Asian American Foundation.

Chen recently attended a screening of “The A List.” He applauded the breadth of personal stories Yi and his team curated. It's a film he's not sure would have gotten made a decade ago. So, it was gratifying to see how moved the audience was by stories recounted by celebrities and everyday people.

“Even people that we don’t know have such powerful stories to show you the depth and richness of our community and the struggles that we’ve had to go through in multiple generations,” Chen said.

Working on a film about identity as the political climate changed

When Yi and the crew started working on the documentary, Vice President Kamala Harris was running against Donald Trump for president. Now under a Republican Trump administration that vehemently opposes diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, Yi acknowledges how the documentary might come off as inherently political.

“What I’ve certainly seen during the stretch of time — just speaking for myself — is just how quickly things can backslide and how quickly people can be erased,” Yi said. “We literally have people being disappeared on the streets and we literally have histories being erased.”

He is especially gratified that some of the documentary's older participants related to historical events such as a story told by activist Kathy Masaoka, whose mother was held in Japanese American incarceration camps. Yi hopes people recognize the struggles AAPI people have endured in the past and present while building community.

“We can really move forward from this moment in terms of rebuilding and reclaiming and taking up space with confidence and hope again,” Yi said.

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!

And in the league's eyes, that's to be expected.

Mindful of criticism from players and coaches that seems like a constant in any postseason, the NBA's senior vice president of referee development and training freely acknowledges that there is a difference between regular-season basketball and playoff basketball — a point that nobody within the league likely would largue.

But refereeing, Monty McCutchen insists, doesn't fundamentally change at playoff time.

“It would be very difficult on our players, on our coaches, most certainly on our referees, if the intensity of a seven-game series that we see in the playoffs exhibited itself over 82 games," McCutchen said at the NBA draft combine. “NBA playoff basketball is one of the great spectacles of all sport in my opinion. You get the combination of the passion and strength of our players and coaching staffs in tight spaces over seven-game series. And I think that that absolutely makes for a different game.”

Given the stakes of the postseason, it's only natural for every play to come under more scrutiny and for emotions to run hotter.

— San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama was ejected from a playoff game this week for elbowing Minnesota's Naz Reid, a play that led to Spurs coach Mitch Johnson saying his team's 7-foot-4 star is constantly dealing with some sort of physicality that goes over the line and inevitably will force him to react. “At some level, you have to protect yourself,” Johnson said. “Every single play on every single part of the floor, people are trying to impose their physicality on him. I get it. We get it. That’s part of the game."

— Austin Reaves and the Los Angeles Lakers held an impromptu meeting at midcourt with referees after a playoff loss in Oklahoma City to voice concerns.

— Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson pointed out that Cavs star guard Donovan Mitchell wasn't getting to the line very often in Games 1 and 2 of the series with Detroit; Mitchell got there 11 times, total, in those games (both Cleveland losses) and got there 11.5 times on average in the next two games (both Cleveland wins). That, in turn, led to Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff to comment after Game 4.

And those are just some examples.

“Standing up for your team is a job descriptor of an NBA head coach and most certainly I don’t begrudge a head coach the desire to represent for himself, his team, most certainly his players," McCutchen said. "That’s part of the voice of an NBA head coach that I have an understanding of. My job is to take those commentaries and decide or see what is true and what is avocation. And now, even if it is true, it’s very important that I’m not putting my foot on the scale of a series.”

Playoff referees — not all referees get playoff assignments, and the roster of officials gets pared down after each round based on performance — study tape after games, just as they do in the regular season. Every call is evaluated, and McCutchen has said several times in recent years that the league's referee corps is constantly striving to do better.

“We’re not putting our whistles in our pocket,” McCutchen said. “That being said, I think it’s fair to debate, talk about passionately, like many of our fans and people in the media do, about whether that’s the appropriate enough of whistles to blow. But we are trying to meet the moments of the passion of the playoffs in a way that upholds our standards.”

That tends to come with more calls. The NBA is seeing an increase in foul calls from the regular season to the playoffs for the 66th time in its 80-year history. This season is seeing a differential of higher than 10% in that regard for only the sixth time in the last 60 years. (The five biggest increases in that differential, ranging from 13% to 17%, all took place between 1949 and 1955.)

McCutchen looks at the playoffs this way: Aggression is good, rough is not.

“We don’t like to see ejections," McCutchen said. "Our goal would be to get through all these games where we meet this right up to the edge of rough and you have this really aggressive, passionate game that is adjudicated and an environment is created in which that environment of aggressiveness is rewarded — because we have the best players in any sport, in my opinion — but that it doesn’t creep over to rough. That’s the goal.”

___

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

A lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court targets the Memphis Safe Task Force, comprising 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.

Since late September, hundreds of federal, state and local 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.

"In the professed name of crime control, Task Force agents have stopped, menaced, and arrested Memphians engaging in routine, day-to-day activities,” the lawsuit states. “In response, Memphians encountering Task Force agents in public, including Plaintiffs, have stopped to gather information about and record Task Force activities.”

Emails from The Associated Press to the U.S. Department of Justice and a spokesperson for the task force were not returned on Wednesday morning.

Federal officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, have visited Memphis to praise the task force. Miller in October predicted the surge in law enforcement would make the city “safer than any of you could ever possibly imagine” and that “businesses and investment are going to pour in, and Memphis will be richer than ever before.”

The task force is part of a larger effort by Trump to use National Guard troops and surge federal law enforcement in cities, particularly ones controlled by Democrats. Following troop deployments in the District of Columbia and Los Angeles, he referred to Portland, Oregon, as “war-ravaged” and threatened apocalyptic force in Chicago. Speaking last year to U.S. military leaders in Virginia, Trump proposed using cities as training grounds for the armed forces.

The lawsuit accuses task force agents of systematically retaliating against the four plaintiffs and other members of the public engaged in similar observations. It claims the threats and harassment are the “direct result of federal policy” that views observing federal agents performing their duties in public as a threat of harm to those agents. The lawsuit also claims that federal and state officials have failed to train their agents not to retaliate against citizens engaged in First Amendment protected activities.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that retaliation against the plaintiffs for observing and recording law enforcement activity is unconstitutional and to prohibit the agents from further retaliation. It also targets a Tennessee law that requires observers to stand at least 25 feet (7.6 meters) away from law enforcement officers, if they are warned to do so, or face arrest. The suit asks the court to declare unconstitutional the use of the “Halo Law” against defendants who are not interfering with agents or impeding their duties.

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.

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.

___

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.

___

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

The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius is listed on Oceanwide Expeditions' website as scheduled to depart on a cruise later in May that would take it to the Arctic. Three of the ship’s passengers died in an outbreak that was first confirmed earlier this month while the vessel was in the Atlantic.

In all, there have been nine confirmed and two suspected cases in the outbreak.

More than 120 people — all passengers and some of the crew — were evacuated from the Hondius in Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday and Monday and are in isolation in several countries.

Asked on Monday whether it would amend its cruising schedule due to the outbreak, Oceanwide Expeditions said it did not “foresee changes to our operations” — which included a new cruise beginning May 29 from Keflavik, Iceland.

But on Wednesday, the company told AP it expected “clarity on whether the vessel will sail and the sailing schedule by the end of this week.”

Separately, over 1,700 passengers and crew aboard a British cruise ship on Wednesday were ordered to remain on board following an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness, French authorities said.

They ruled out any link to the hantavirus outbreak on the Hondius. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 16 gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships in 2024, with most caused by norovirus, a foodborne illness that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, nausea and stomach pain for about one to three days.

Much is still unknown about the hantavirus

Despite years of research, many questions have yet to be answered about the hantavirus, including exactly how it spreads, how long it can survive outside a host and why it can be mild for some people and severe for others.

There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival. The Andes virus implicated in the cruise ship outbreak can have an incubation period of up to eight weeks and a mortality rate of up to 50%, according to the World Health Organization.

The virus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people, though the Andes virus may be able to spread between people in rare cases.

The genome of the hantavirus has been completely sequenced, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Wednesday.

“There is no data to suggest that this virus is behaving differently in terms of transmissibility or severity from any of the known virus circulating in certain regions of the world,” said Andreas Hoefer, who oversees the operational coordination of the European Union’s reference laboratories for public health.

“Based on that data, I would say that currently we have no reason to suspect that this is a new virus,” Hoefer said.

Cruise ship to be disinfected in Rotterdam

The hantavirus outbreak aboard the Hondius is the first known case on a cruise ship.

The ship is now sailing to the Dutch port of Rotterdam with 25 crew, two health workers and the body of one of the passengers who died on board. None is showing symptoms, and the vessel is expected to arrive on May 17 or 18, Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement Tuesday.

Once there, the Hondius will “undergo a thorough cleaning and disinfection process,” the company said. “The specific protocols are currently being finalized” in cooperation with health authorities.

The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment told the AP on Tuesday the vessel “will be cleaned and disinfected. We are currently working on the protocol on how to do this,” and no further details could be shared.

Responding to a question about whether the disinfection procedure might alter the ship’s cruising schedule, Oceanwide Expeditions told the AP it was following official guidelines and “currently awaiting further information on how to proceed.”

It added: “We expect clarity on whether the vessel will sail and the sailing schedule by the end of this week. ... A ship cannot sail without official authorization.”

Asked whether it had received any cancellation or rebooking requests for cruises on the Hondius, Oceanwide Expeditions said Monday it was “not providing commentary on commercial matters at this time as we are focused on safety, disembarkation procedures and coordination with authorities.”

Experts say future passengers are likely safe

How long the hantavirus lives on surfaces is highly variable, experts said, potentially from days to weeks depending on how cold it is or the presence of sunlight. But based on circumstances known about the outbreak, basic sanitation should suffice, they said.

Normal disinfectants and ultraviolet light are enough to kill the virus, said Erik Hill, a virus expert at Seton Hall University. Someone would need to be exposed to a large enough dose of the virus to get sick, he explained, which is why people cleaning rodent droppings in an enclosed space are most at risk. The virus won’t survive very well on touch surfaces, he added.

Hantavirus “is not the concern on cruise ships,” Hill said. He and other experts say more contagious bugs, like measles or the norovirus, are much larger threats on cruises.

Dr. Max Brito, vice president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said that “with proper disinfection and sterilization practices, I think it should be OK to go back to operations within a reasonable time.”

But the experts could not say definitively what that time frame would be because of the variables involved.

Oceanwide Expeditions says it has no indication of any rodents on board, and it operates under strict hygiene and safety protocols.

Based on the hypothesis that the first patients were exposed on land and reports that ship officials did not find rodents on board, the risk to those on the next cruise should be low, Brito said.

“I don’t want to say that it’s a one-off but, as it’s shaping up to be, it’s a very specific outbreak and it’s probably not so easy to reproduce in the same way,” he said.

___

Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece, and public health reporter Shastri reported from Milwaukee. AP writers Thomas Adamson in Paris and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.

No one was hurt, officials said. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. asked the public to stay calm in televised remarks.

It was not immediately clear who fired the shots or why. The gunfire erupted as Philippine authorities tried to arrest Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former national police chief who enforced former President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug efforts in which thousands of mostly petty suspects were killed from 2016 to 2018.

Allied senators took dela Rosa into “protective custody” on Monday, when he reappeared after months of absence.

Several senators were still in the building after holding a session when the gunshots were heard by a throng of journalists, including two from The Associated Press. Armed security personnel, including military members, ran around with guns ready and later asked employees to leave as tensions started to ease.

Senate President Alan Cayetano briefly appeared before journalists in the Senate shortly after the shots were fired but could not provide details.

“The emotions are high here,” Cayetano said. “This is the Senate of the Philippines, and we are allegedly under attack.”

Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla Jr. later arrived with top police officials and said he was deployed by the president to secure the senators. He said he did not come to arrest dela Rosa, who remained in the building.

Investigation launched

An investigation was underway, and security cameras would be reviewed to find out who was behind the gunfire and their intentions, Remulla said.

On Monday, the ICC unsealed an arrest warrant for dela Rosa.

Originally issued in November, the warrant 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.

The ICC had no immediate comment on the events in Manila.

Dela Rosa, 64, has vowed to fight the ICC arrest order. He called on his followers Wednesday night to gather in the Senate to prevent what he said was his impending arrest.

National Bureau of Investigation agents tried to arrest dela Rosa on Monday, but he managed to dash to the Senate's plenary hall and sought the help of fellow senators. Cayetano said then that he would cite the government agents involved for contempt.

Duterte was arrested in March last year and flown to the ICC's headquarters in The Hague. He is still in detention in the Netherlands and faces a trial in the killings from his crackdown, in which dela Rosa has also been accused.

“We should not allow another Filipino to be brought to The Hague, the second one after President Duterte,” dela Rosa said, addressing his followers in a Facebook message and blaming politics for his predicament.

“This is unacceptable,” dela Rosa said.

He said he was ready to face any allegations before Philippine courts, but he denied condoning extrajudicial killings when he led the police force. Duterte has also made the same denials, although he openly threatened suspected drug dealers with death while in office.

Police deployed outside Senate

Hundreds of police officers have been deployed outside the Senate since Monday to maintain order, sparking complaints from dela Rosa and allied senators.

“If I have something to answer for, I will face those in our local courts and not before foreigners,” dela Rosa told reporters in the Senate.

Five senators called on dela Rosa to surrender to authorities in a proposed resolution, but his allies opposed the move in a heated exchange Wednesday in the Senate, where 13 of 24 senators friendly to dela Rosa wrested control of its leadership on Monday.

Duterte and his daughter, the current vice president, and political allies such as dela Rosa have been the harshest critics of Marcos.

Vice President Sara Duterte, once a political ally of Marcos, has blamed the president for allowing what she said was “the kidnapping” of her father and his handover to a foreign court.

Sara Duterte has recently been impeached by the House of Representatives, which is dominated by the allies of Marcos, over accusations that included unexplained wealth and threats to have the president assassinated if she herself were killed amid their political disputes. The Senate was preparing to convene into a tribunal to try the vice president.

Disputes reflect deep division in Philippine politics

The disputes reflect the deep divisions that have long plagued the rambunctious Asian democracy.

After winning the presidency in 2016, Duterte appointed dela Rosa, a loyal ally, as head of the national police force, which enforced the brutal campaign against illegal drugs that alarmed Western governments, including the United States and human rights groups.

Dela Rosa also once headed the police force in the southern city of Davao, where Duterte was a longtime mayor and built a political name for his extra-tough approach to crime.

“My role was to lead the war on drugs, and that war on drugs was not meant to annihilate people,” dela Rosa said when he was asked about the huge death toll.

“When the lives of police officers came under threat, of course they needed to defend themselves,” dela Rosa said.

Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC in 2019 in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability.

The ICC, however, said that it retained jurisdiction over crimes committed when the Philippines was still a member and successfully moved to have him arrested, the first former Asian leader to fall into such disgrace.

___

Associated Press Writer Mike Corder contributed to this report from The Hague, Netherlands.

A decade of conflict between the world's two biggest economies has left U.S.-China trade greatly reduced from the boom times of the 2000s and 2010s, forcing companies to regroup. Many American firms have shifted production out of China to countries like Vietnam and India. And Chinese firms have scrambled to find new customers in Europe and Southeast Asia.

But the two countries are finding that they still need each other. "The idea of somehow China being totally independent of us and us being totally independent of China, I think, is a fiction,'' said financier Wilbur Ross, who served as U.S. Commerce secretary in Trump's first term.

This week's summit is primarily about keeping the economic relationship stable, with only modest policy announcements expected. A trade truce reached last October likely will be extended, while China may announce plans to buy American soybeans, beef and Boeing airplanes. U.S. officials also have teased the creation of a Board of Trade.

Watching closely will be American farmers who were shut out of the Chinese soybean market for most of 2025, as well as U.S. manufacturers who lost access to China’s rare earth minerals they need to make everything from smartphones to fighter jets.

In China, manufacturer Michael Lu is hoping the Xi-Trump summit will herald more positive signs. Chances of U.S.-China commerce going back to the roaring trade of 15 years ago may be slim, but factory owners in China are expecting for at least some improvements. “The U.S. used to be a more stable market,’’ said Lu, founder and CEO of gift box producer Brothersbox in the southern city of Dongguan.

A freefall in U.S.-China trade

Before Trump began slapping taxes on Chinese imports in 2018, the average U.S. tariff on China stood at 3.1%. Now, even after coming down from the triple-digit levels they briefly hit last year, they are still at almost 48%, according Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

In 2016, the United States did more business with China than any other country. Trade between the two countries — exports plus imports — accounted for more than 13% of America’s trade with the rest of the world. By last year, China’s share had been halved to 6.4%. Mexico and Canada had leapfrogged China to become the top two U.S. trading partners.

The problem with the pre-Trump U.S.-China trade boom was that it was so lopsided. China sold far more to the United States than it bought. The U.S. deficit in the trade of goods and services with China peaked at $377 billion in 2018. Last year, it was down to $168 billion, the lowest since 2004.

Still, China has exported so much to other markets — Southeast Asia and Europe, in particular — that it recorded a record global trade surplus of $1.2 trillion last year.

Chinese companies find workarounds

The American government’s statistics probably overstate the drop in U.S.-China trade. Many Chinese companies have relocated to Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Thailand and now send their stuff onto the United States, dodging U.S. tariffs. The Trump administration wants to crack down on these “transshipments.’’

As China sent fewer goods to the United States last year, goods imports from Southeast Asia surged — up 42% from Vietnam, 44% from Thailand, 24% from Indonesia.

“It would be wrong to think that China is no longer relevant for the U.S. market,’’ said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Chinese goods are still coming into the U.S.’’

Velong Enterprises, which was founded in China’s southern Guangdong province in 2002 and makes kitchen gadgets and grilling tools for Walmart and other U.S. retailers, diversified its supply chain in the years since Trump’s first term in the White House in order to serve U.S. customers, including by adding production capacity in Cambodia and India.

“Most serious manufacturers did not simply ‘leave China,’” said Velong CEO and founder Jacob Rothman. “Instead, they built multi-country supply chains around China.”

Contending with erratic tariffs

The trade war with China has taken a toll on Appu Jacob Varghese, who owns Zion Foodtrucks, a small food truck manufacturer outside Colorado Springs that imports Chinese equipment for its trucks.

“Last year,’’ Varghese said, “a lot of my hair turned white.’’

What tormented Varghese was the erratic way Trump imposed his taxes on Chinese imports. They changed unpredictably from week to week – and briefly shot up to a terrifying 145%. Zion Foodtrucks relied on Chinese suppliers for the cooking and fire-suppression equipment that goes into its $50,000 to $60,000 food trucks.

Zion’s customers typically signed a fixed-price contract and took delivery of a brand-new food truck six weeks later. Trump’s fluctuating tariffs meant the Varghese’s costs were bouncing around wildly – but his contracts kept him from raising prices.

He managed to get through the year but he knew he needed to find suppliers outside China. These days, he gets about half his cooking equipment from Vietnam and Thailand, and the fire-fighting gear comes from U.S. and Israeli suppliers.

He speaks highly of his Chinese suppliers but doesn’t expect to ever rely so heavily on them again. Given the testy relations between Washington and Beijing, he said, “it’s too risky.’’

Shifting away from China

A lot of U.S. companies are pulling back from China. Apple has moved some of its production of its iPhones to India. Nike has stepped up production in Vietnam.

“Trade tensions can flare up quite quickly, and that makes the U.S. firms hesitant to rely too heavily on Chinese supply,” said Sarah Tan, a Singapore-based economist at Moody’s Analytics whose focus includes China.

InStyler, a hair appliances company outside Los Angeles that once relied entirely on Chinese suppliers, is shifting some production to South Korea and France and is eyeing Italy, Vietnam and Mexico. CEO Dan Fugardi said trade tensions aren’t behind the moves; InStyler is rolling out some more high-end products for luxury hotel clients, and “there’s a little bit of panache that goes with manufacturing in France.’’

Still, reducing reliance on China, he said, “doubles as an insurance plan so that we’re not caught with our pants down."

Tit-for-tat

The trade skirmishing between Beijing and Washington has extended beyond traditional tariffs and counter tariffs.

The United States has blocked shipments of the most advanced computer chips to China, and the Chinese have blasted back by periodically cutting off supplies of rare earth minerals crucial for electronics.

Last year, the Chinese limited exports of tungsten – a super strong metal used in defense, aerospace and medical device production – because it can be used by the military as well as by private industry. China controls about 80% of the world’s tungsten.

China also stopped buying U.S. soybeans, delivering a well-aimed blow at Trump’s supporters in rural America. After U.S.-China talks in October, the Chinese resumed the purchases. But U.S. soybean exports to China nonetheless dropped 75% in 2025.

The tit-for-tat moves showed just how much damage the United States and China can do to each other. Now there’s hope that Trump and Xi can lower the temperature this week in Beijing.

“We are the No. 1 trading player. They are next in line,’’ said former Commerce Secretary Ross. “We have to coexist in some way. The question is, what will be the rules of the road, and who will benefit the most from those rules.″

____

Chan reported from Hong Kong.

Kemp signed the bill privately Tuesday, the final day after Georgia's 2026 legislative session for the governor to sign or veto bills.

Republicans have repeatedly targeted Willis because of her prosecution of Republican President Donald Trump after he pushed to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s win in Georgia in 2020.

Willis and DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said the bill violates the Georgia Constitution and promised a lawsuit.

“This is a blatant attempt by Republicans to give their candidates an edge in Democratic counties by hiding their party affiliation from voters,” the two Democrats said in a statement Tuesday.

State Sen. John Albers, a Republican from the Atlanta suburb of Roswell who pushed the bill, said during the legislative session that he believed it will promote public safety. The counties’ elected sheriffs will continue to be elected under party labels when it goes into effect in 2028.

The move comes as Democrats have steadily been wiping out Republican officials in the core Atlanta counties of swing-state Georgia. It will move elections for all affected officials except district attorneys to May, when voters choose nonpartisan judges. That means a smaller electorate than in November, with turnout mostly driven by primaries for partisan offices that are held at the same time. If no candidate wins a majority, nonpartisan runoffs would be held in June.

The measure applies in Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta, as well as the suburbs of Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties. Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties are the three most important Democratic jurisdictions in the state. Cobb and Gwinnett, once the suburban heartlands of Georgia Republicans, have increasingly voted for Democrats since 2016.

Democrats have said Republicans are trying to make it so GOP members running without party labels have a better chance to win in Democratic jurisdictions. Critics say that if it's such good policy for urban Atlanta then it should apply to all 159 of Georgia's counties.

Willis and Boston suggested Republicans were also targeting the counties because each has elected a Black woman as district attorney.

Republicans have passed multiple bills in recent years targeting district attorneys, particularly Willis. The association representing district attorneys has argued the law can't change the partisan status of district attorneys because they aren't county officers, but instead state judicial branch officers.

The association argued that a state constitutional amendment is needed instead. Democrats could block such a change because it requires a two-thirds vote in the General Assembly to propose such a measure to go before Georgia voters.

The high representative for U.S. President Donald Trump’s International Board of Peace in Gaza, Mladenov, said months without progress implementing the deal benefited neither Israel nor Palestinians. He said the phased deal was paralyzed over Hamas not yet disarming, calling it “not negotiable."

International mediators have long said disarmament is core to the ceasefire, to which Hamas has agreed, but no significant progress has been made toward it. The Palestinian militant group has sought to link any demilitarization to Israeli troop pullbacks. Israel's military remains in control of more than half of Gaza.

“The only way that we believe that we can ensure that Israeli withdrawal takes place to the perimeter is if we have the full element of the plan unfolding in Gaza,” Mladenov said at a rare press conference in Jerusalem.

Mladenov stated plainly that the plan envisioned in the ceasefire was off to a rocky start. He also said conditions remain dire and miserable for the more than 2 million people in Gaza. He accused both sides of violating the ceasefire but said it had mostly held and staved off the return of full-scale war.

Disarmament is among the most challenging elements of the ceasefire. Hamas, whose founding charter calls for armed resistance against Israel, has been reluctant to give up its arsenal, including rockets, anti-tank missiles, and explosives.

Mladenov did not answer questions about what could lie ahead for Gaza in the absence of disarmament. He criticized Hamas for consolidating power in parts of Gaza under its control, saying it hoped “to squeeze better terms of a negotiation.”

He also said that he could envision a role for Hamas in postwar Gaza if it disarms.

“We are not asking Hamas to disappear as a political movement,” Mladenov told reporters.

Israeli leaders have said they want to destroy the militant group that has governed Gaza for two decades and orchestrated the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 as hostages.

Israel’s ensuing offensive has killed over 72,724 Palestinians, including at least 846 since a ceasefire took hold last October.

Mladenov's remarks came as the Board of Peace faces scrutiny, with efforts to advance the phased ceasefire stalled.

The truce envisioned Hamas handing over its weapons, Israeli forces withdrawing and rebuilding destroyed swaths of the coastal enclave after more than two years of war.

Instead, the seven months since the ceasefire have seen Israel and Hamas trade accusations of violations. Aid groups say Israel has not allowed the promised amount of aid in. Hamas has not disarmed and remains in control of roughly half the strip.

Trump’s 20-point plan says that all of Hamas’ “military, terror and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities” in Gaza must be destroyed. It also says that weapons must be placed “permanently beyond use.”

Israel and the U.S. say this language is clear and that Hamas must surrender all of its weapons.

Hamas has sought to differentiate between “heavy” weapons, such as rockets, and “light” weapons like rifles and pistols, Hamas officials and mediators say, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

Israel has stepped up its attacks in Gaza in recent days, since the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, and many Palestinians fear a return of more airstrikes and full-scale war may be imminent.

The school said in a statement early Sunday that Hardy, a Doak Walker Award finalist for the Tigers, had been shot and was in stable condition. Police later said Hardy was shot in the upper leg while attending an outdoor concert at a bike club in Laurel, about 90 minutes away from where he grew up in the small town of Oma, Mississippi.

Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said during an event in Dallas late Tuesday that the timetable for Hardy's recovery is undetermined.

“We'll take it day by day,” Drinkwitz said. “He will be back healthy. You know, when you're dealing with elite athletes, right, getting back healthy and getting back to elite status is a little tricky in these situations. There is an opportunity he could be back this year; there is an opportunity he couldn't be back this year.

“We won't know those answers for a few weeks,” Drinkwitz added.

Laurel police Sgt. Macon Davis told the Laurel (Mississippi) Leader-Call three people of interest were in custody following the incident. Davis described the scene as a “melee,” saying at least two people were injured and it was a miracle others were not.

The 20-year-old Hardy began his career at Louisiana-Monroe, where he ran for more than 1,300 yards with 13 touchdowns during his freshman season. He transferred to Missouri before last season and ran for 1,649 yards — second among players in the Football Bowl Subdivision — and scored 16 touchdowns in helping the Tigers go 8-5 with a loss to Virginia in the Gator Bowl.

His best game came against Mississippi State last November, when he ran 25 times for 300 yards and three touchdowns, joining Devin West as the only players in school history with a 300-yard rushing game. Hardy also ran for 250 yards in a game against Louisiana.

Several mock drafts already list the 5-foot-10, 205-pound Hardy as the No. 1 running back available next April.

“He has the full support of our team to help him in his recovery,” Drinkwitz said, “and we're taking it day by day.”

___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Officials say water levels are lower than usual, and people should take extra precautions while boating, swimming and fishing.

The Smith Mountain Lake Association notes that lower lake levels can expose hazards that are typically underwater, such as rocks, stumps, shoals and debris. With water levels 5 to 6 feet below normal, many areas are shallow, making common routes riskier.

“Everyone using the lake should slow down, stay alert, and be aware of their surroundings to help prevent accidents and injuries,” said Jeff Markiewicz, chair of the SMLA Water Safety Council.

As always, wear a properly fitted life jacket when in or around the water. Another tip: Have one of your passengers serve as a designated lookout in addition to the driver.

Here are some other precautions you can take:

Boating Safety Tips

• Know your boat’s draft so you can properly judge safe areas for operation.
• Slow down in unfamiliar areas and watch carefully for shallow water and submerged hazards.
• Pay close attention to navigational markers and no-wake zones.
• Stay in marked channels. Typical shortcuts may not have enough water for safe passage.
• Ensure all passengers wear properly fitted life jackets, especially children.
• Avoid boating too close to shorelines, docks and coves where water depths may be significantly reduced.
• Check ramp conditions if launching, and check the cable length of your lift before planning your trip.

Swimming Safety Tips

• Avoid diving in areas where water depth is uncertain, including off docks and shorelines.
• Walk carefully—areas normally submerged may be slippery, soft and may not provide secure footing.
• Don’t walk under docks and other structures that may not be stable.

For more information about boating safety, visit smlassociation.org

The American pair were among the entrants confirmed on Wednesday by organizers for the clay-court tournament at Roland-Garros, which begins on May 24 in western Paris.

The 45-year-old Williams will not play in the women's singles.

Williams was a wild-card entry at the Australian Open, where she lost in the first round and became the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open singles main draw.

A seven-time major winner in singles, Williams previously held the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles.

Williams lost the French Open singles final to her younger sister Serena in 2002 and they twice won the French Open doubles together, in 1999 and 2010.

___

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

There was no Senate-confirmed U.S. surgeon general. The head of the National Institutes of Health was doubling as the acting head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Food and Drug Administration lacked a permanent vaccine chief after that official was ousted for a second time in a year.

Then on Tuesday Dr. Marty Makary resigned as head of the FDA, leaving another major health agency with only an acting commissioner. Makary's departure widens a leadership gap that has plagued HHS throughout Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s tenure.

Across a vast and multilayered government, in which many leadership positions must be confirmed by a Senate that shares only a narrow partisan majority with the administration, it’s typical for some roles to remain unfilled or be occupied by interim leaders. But critics say the level of upheaval in the current HHS is unusual and the lack of scientific expertise among its leadership is concerning.

“It's a sign that something is not right in this department,” said Dr. Daniel Jernigan, a former senior employee at the CDC.

Critics say the problem has only been compounded by a raft of cuts and firings and by the broader disruption brought by Kennedy's health policies.

HHS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said most Americans don’t pay attention to these agencies’ leaders until a public health concern arises — like with the hantavirus outbreak. At moments like this, she said, there are opportunities to build public trust in federal health agencies, which has fallen in recent years.

“The key question for me is, when we need these agencies to speak, will they have the capacity to draw the science together and tell us what we need to know?” Jamieson said.

FDA’s leadership void happens as it faces ongoing challenges

At the FDA, Makary leaves behind unfinished initiatives and ongoing reviews under scrutiny, including work on ultra-processed foods, food dyes, antidepressants and COVID-19 shots.

Whoever steps into the role on a permanent basis will inherit the same challenge that dogged Makary’s tenure: balancing the anti-regulatory interests of traditional Republicans with the anti-corporate priorities of Kennedy, who is focused on scrutinizing ingredients in food, medicines and vaccines.

The FDA is developing a first-of-its-kind definition of “ultra-processed foods,” which Kennedy blames for elevated rates of diabetes, obesity and other chronic conditions among Americans. That task has fallen to the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods, Kyle Diamantas, who recently described the effort on ultra-processed foods as “really hard,” at a health conference.

Diamantas was tapped by Trump to lead the FDA on an acting basis. He is also serving as a chief counselor to Kennedy. An attorney and friend of Donald Trump Jr, he is the first person in more than a half-century to head the FDA without a degree in medicine or science.

“Kyle Diamantas now has a nearly impossible charge,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, a former FDA official now at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “Leading, as a non-scientist, a science-based agency under an unqualified secretary who puts his own medical and nutritional pet peeves over evidence-based public health.”

CDC has cycled through a revolving door of short-term directors

The Trump administration’s first pick to run the CDC was former Florida Rep. Dr. David Weldon, but his March 2025 Senate confirmation hearing was canceled an hour before it was to begin. Weldon said at the time that he’d been told not enough senators were willing to vote for him.

The White House then moved on to Susan Monarez, who was confirmed by the Senate, but she was ousted in less than a month over disagreements on the administration's agenda. Several key CDC scientific leaders resigned in protest, saying Monarez’s dismissal dashed their hopes that a CDC director would be able to guard against political meddling in the agency’s scientific research and health recommendations.

Since then, multiple HHS officials have been acting director. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya has been overseeing the CDC since February. Last month, Trump nominated Dr. Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general, to be the next CDC director, a choice the Senate must confirm.

Current and former CDC employees say that there’s been a void in experienced public health leadership at the agency and that Kennedy’s aides have slowed and sometimes choked off its ability to communicate with the public and do the full scope of science-based work it was doing in the past.

HHS officials have said that the CDC’s critical public health functions have remained “intact and effective” and that changes at the agency have been part of an effort “to restore credibility through transparency, gold standard science, and accountability.”

Jernigan, who last August resigned from a senior role at the CDC that has yet to be filled by a permanent replacement, said the leadership shuffle means there hasn't been a “strong, present CDC director” in place to campaign for important agency funding, hiring or retention of skilled scientists.

As the current hantavirus outbreak unfolded, the CDC deployed teams to evacuate and quarantine Americans who may have been exposed, health officials briefed reporters and Bhattacharya went on a Fox News program to urge Americans not to worry. But he got some details wrong and overstated what was known at the time about the outbreak. Jernigan urged the CDC to let more career scientists speak to the public.

“That will do more for trust and for calming the nerves of the U.S. right now,” he said.

Changes come as the White House and HHS have shifted messaging

Leadership shake-ups come as HHS and the White House have shifted their focus to health initiatives related to diet, lifestyle and affordability in recent months ahead of the midterm elections, publicly veering away from Kennedy’s first-year effort to roll back vaccine guidelines.

While Kennedy boasted about being allowed to pick his own deputies at the beginning of his term, the administration's recent picks signal that the health secretary's close allies may no longer be at the top of the list.

For example, last month, after withdrawing a U.S. surgeon general nominee who was embedded in Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again movement, Trump nominated radiologist and former Fox News personality Dr. Nicole Saphier. She has advocated vaccines more forcefully than Kennedy, and at times she has criticized actions by the current HHS as “embarrassing.” She will need to be confirmed by the Senate.

Still, as the leadership turmoil creates a vacuum within the nation’s health agencies, Kennedy has remained prominent at the top as a voice for them all. That worries Jernigan, who said Kennedy won’t always center the best science in his decisions.

“The driver for the secretary is the ideology,” Jernigan said. “And that’s not a strategy for really improving the health of Americans.”

___

Stobbe and Swenson reported from New York.

The social media company said in a blog post that incognito chat mode provides a way to have private, temporary conversations with Meta AI, its artificial intelligence assistant that's been available on WhatsApp for a few years.

Messages will be processed in a “secure environment" that even Meta can't access, won't be saved by default and will disappear when exiting a session, Meta said.

Generative AI systems have been dogged by privacy concerns because the large language models that underpin these systems are trained on vast troves of data, sometimes including personal information provided by users themselves in their conversations with AI chatbots.

Rival chatbot makers already have some privacy features. Google's Gemini chatbot has the option to disable chat history and opt out of allowing one's data to be used in training its AI models. ChatGPT has similar controls.

Meta says it's rolling out incognito chats because users often ask chatbots sensitive questions or include private financial, personal, health or work data in their questions.

“We’re starting ask a lot of meaningful questions about our lives with AI systems, and it doesn’t always feel like you should have to share the information behind those questions with the companies that run those AI systems,” Will Cathcart, Meta’s head of WhatsApp, told reporters.

Incognito chat mode has safety features to prevent the chatbot from answering questions about harmful topics, Cathcart said.

It will “steer the user towards helpful information if it can and then refuse (to answer) and eventually even just stop interacting with the user completely,” Cathcart said.

Users will only be able to type in questions and get text responses; they won't be able to upload or generate images. They'll also have to confirm their age because Meta doesn't allow users under 13 on its platforms.

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 major human rights funder pledged Wednesday to strengthen interfaith partnerships and protect those facing heightened threats in response to the rising levels of hate against both Jewish and Muslim communities, coinciding with the Israel-Hamas war and the current fragile ceasefire.

Last year saw the highest level of deadly violence against Jews worldwide in over three decades, according to an annual study released last month by Tel Aviv University, including the December shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia. Meanwhile, anti-Muslim rhetoric has intensified against the backdrop of the Iran war, with one congressional Republican saying Muslims “ don't belong in American society.”

“The deep injustices occurring in the Middle East are fueling indiscriminate prejudice, dehumanization, and violence directed against both Muslims and Jews," Open Society Foundations President Binaifer Nowrojee said in a statement. "Entire communities cannot be targeted simply because of their religion. Bigotry and intolerance in any form must be called out and confronted.”

The announcement marks the foundations' most visible campaign since last fall's reports that the U.S. Department of Justice was considering possible charges against Open Society Foundations. President Donald Trump specifically named Soros as he ordered the FBI to crack down on what he called “left-wing terrorism” — an accusation that OSF has denied in statements emphasizing their mission to strengthen democracy.

Alex Soros, who took over leadership of his father’s foundations in late 2022, noted that “discrimination and hate” aren’t abstract concepts for him as the son of a Holocaust survivor and husband to a Muslim American. The foundation added that George Soros, who holds significant influence as a liberal megadonor with vast financial investments and philanthropic ties, is frequently targeted by conservative conspiracy theories that twist those powerful connections into antisemitic tropes about behind-the-scenes puppet masters.

“At a moment like this we need to stand together and act,” Alex Soros said in a pretaped video posted on social media. “This investment is about keeping people safe and pushing back against hate.”

The commitment is aimed broadly at expanding education on forms of discrimination, supporting cross-community leaders who build trust and safeguarding free speech rights to lawful expression. The foundations have already selected some grantees and are inviting other nonprofits to apply for funding. Recipients include the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the Nexus Project. Shoulder to Shoulder, a multifaith alliance that prepares religious leaders to address anti-Muslim discrimination, is among those leading the work on Islamophobia.

Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, welcomed the strategy to tackle both matters together. The grant will allow JCPA to build upon its solidarity work with Muslim and Arab American communities, Spitalnick said, which have deepened since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. She pointed to a fellowship and a Capitol Hill discussion on Jewish-Muslim solidarity that were both launched with the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

She emphasized that hate is interconnected. The normalization of Islamophobia, racism and broader anti-democratic extremism creates the conditions for antisemitism to flourish, she said.

“We need funders and others to recognize that treating any of these issues in silos doesn’t get at the root cause, doesn’t get at the broader resiliency we need right now," Spitalnick said. "The fact that Jewish safety requires Muslim safety, that Muslim safety requires Jewish safety.”

The Soros' announcement did not say how the foundations will define antisemitism — a point of contention on college campuses and in state legislatures where debates have raged over whether criticism of Israel amounts to hatred of Jewish people. The shortlist of Open Society grantees suggests a more nuanced definition than the Anti-Defamation League, which releases an annual audit of antisemitic incidents in the United States. The ADL holds that vilifying Zionism, or the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state in Israel, is a form of antisemitism.

In contrast, the Nexus Project promotes definitions of antisemitism that do not include opposition to the Israeli state's policies. Similarly, in opposition to a National Education Association resolution prohibiting the use of the ADL's educational resources, Spitalnick emphasized that “one does not need to align with the ADL on every issue."

Andrés Spokoiny, the president and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, estimated that the philanthropic sector has dedicated hundreds of thousands of dollars to countering antisemitism — regardless of its definition. Other high-profile efforts include the $25 million “Stand Up to Jewish Hate” ad campaign launched by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft in March 2023 through his Foundation to Combat Antisemitism.

But the persistence of antisemitism has left some members of Spokoiny's group questioning their approaches.

“There's a lot of perplexity around what actually works,” he said. “So many funders are very frustrated.”

___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Covering eight stadiums, seven cities and four continents, this year will feature nine games outside of the U.S. for the most the league has ever staged. Sixteen teams, exactly half of the NFL, will play internationally in 2026.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has declared the goal of 16 games annually outside of the U.S. After this season, the league will have played 71 games in 12 different international cities. Melbourne, Paris and Rio de Janeiro are first-time hosts in 2026.

The league had months ago announced the Melbourne matchup as its first game in Australia in addition to several of the participating teams for the nine-game slate, which was fully unveiled on Wednesday. The complete 17-game schedules for all 32 teams will be released on Thursday.

The 49ers have long been one of the NFL's most prominent brands, and they'll be the road team for the Thursday night opener on Sept. 10 against the Rams on Netflix. That game will kick off on Friday morning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is 17 hours ahead of California time.

San Francisco will be the home team at Estadio Banorte in Mexico City, where they have marketing rights as part of the league's global markets program along with the Rams and eight other teams. The Rams also have rights in Australia.

The 49ers will then play the showcase Sunday night game on NBC on Nov. 22 against the Vikings, who last year played the NFL's first international multi-city road trip with a game in Dublin in Week 4 followed by a game in London in Week 5. The Vikings were the road team in both of those games last year, too.

San Francisco last played in Mexico City in 2022. The league has also committed to playing there in 2027 and 2028.

Broadening the footprint in Brazil

The Dallas Cowboys will be the home team in Rio de Janeiro at Maracana Stadium against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 27, a late afternoon Week 3 game that CBS will broadcast. Neither team has marketing rights in Brazil, where the league has staged games in Sao Paulo in each of the last two years. The NFL has committed at least three games in five years to Rio.

More football for the breakfast table

All six games in Europe will kick off at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, an exclusive broadcast window before the traditional afternoon start times that cover the majority of the schedule each week.

There are three games in London, the league's most common international site with 45 regular-season games since 2007. The Jacksonville Jaguars for the first time are moving consecutive home games abroad as a renovation begins on their home stadium. They're one of 10 teams with rights in Britain.

The Jaguars will play the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Oct. 11 and then face the AFC South rival Houston Texans in Week 6 at Wembley Stadium on Oct. 18. The Washington Commanders will be the home team at Tottenham on Oct. 4 when they face the Indianapolis Colts.

The New Orleans Saints will be the home team for the first game in Paris in Week 7, facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Oct. 25 at Stade de France. The Saints are the only team with marketing rights in France. The Detroit Lions will be the home team for the league's third ever game in Munich, facing the New England Patriots on Nov. 15 in Week 10 at the home of German soccer club Bayern Munich. The Lions are one of 11 teams with rights in Germany.

As previously announced by the NFL, the Atlanta Falcons will be the home team in Madrid in Week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 8 at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. This will be the second game in Madrid, where neither team has marketing rights.

___

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

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 U.S. State Department immediately responded to a request for 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.

___

David Rising in Bangkok and Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

A new study reveals genetic clues about a human ancestor called Homo erectus. H. erectus arose in Africa about 2 million years ago and spread to other parts of the globe, including Asia and possibly Europe.

Scientists have found remains from this early human in countries including Indonesia, Spain, China and Georgia. But genes and proteins don't preserve well so information about the early humans' internal makeup has proved elusive.

In a new work, researchers siphoned ancient enamel proteins from H. erectus teeth belonging to five men and one woman that were recovered across several locations in China to learn how these early humans may have mingled.

The 400,000-year-old teeth all had two key mutations in a protein found in tooth enamel. One mutation hasn't been observed before and could be a unique calling card belonging to East Asian members of H. erectus.

The second, though, was more complex. Scientists identified a variant that's also present in a small fraction of modern humans — as well as one of our extinct cousins called Denisovans.

That told scientists that H. erectus could have mated with and passed their genes to Denisovans in the past. But how did it get to us? Scientists think that may have happened later when our ancestors intermingled with Denisovans.

“This traces who we are now back to our ancestors in a really cool and exciting way, using new methods,” said paleoanthropologist Ryan McRae with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, who was not involved with the new research.

The exact relationships between all these early human relatives are still a bit murky. It could be that H. erectus is actually just an ancestor to the Denisovans, who inherited those genes over time, McRae said.

It's a tough puzzle to detangle with extremely limited data. Finding more fossils and testing the limited evidence for remnants of DNA can help firm up the human evolutionary story.

“We really need to get more DNA” and bits of H. erectus to figure out how this predecessor “is exactly related to other humans,” said study author Qiaomei Fu with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in China.

___

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.

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. It comes as people across the United States have raised concerns about rising health costs and barriers to access, sometimes from the federal government's own actions. New work requirements in Medicaid, for example, are expected to strain hospitals around the country and result in millions of enrollees losing their health coverage.

Several alleged fraud schemes have been prosecuted in the hospice and home health care categories, and states have acknowledged that it is a legitimate concern. But some have pushed back on the administration's aggressive tactics and raised concerns that the catchall efforts could needlessly punish law-abiding providers that are trying to serve patients.

The administration contends this freeze and other actions it is taking will help prevent potential fraud in Medicaid and Medicare and preserve funding and resources for people most in need. Under the six-month pause, existing hospice and home health care providers will continue to operate as usual. But CMS said it will “intensify targeted investigations, deploy advanced data analytics, and accelerate the removal” of providers in the category that are suspected of fraudulent activity.

Such a freeze is not unprecedented, said Tricia Neumann, a senior vice president and executive director for the program on Medicare policy at the health care research nonprofit KFF. She said President Bill Clinton's Democratic administration also imposed a temporary moratorium on home health agencies.

“A brief moratorium gives the administration time to crack down on true fraud and prevent new fraudulent entities from popping up,” she said.

In recent months, CMS has suspended payments to hundreds of hospice and home care agencies in Los Angeles over alleged fraud and issued another six-month moratorium on suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and certain other supplies in Medicare.

The administration also has approached at least five states with investigations into potential health care fraud and halted some $243 million in Medicaid payments to one of them, Minnesota, over fraud concerns. Last month, Oz announced CMS would add to that oversight by requiring all 50 states to share how they planned to revalidate some of their Medicaid providers.

In at least one case, the administration has erred in its accusations against states. In April, CMS acknowledged to The Associated Press that it made a significant error in figures it used to help justify a fraud probe in New York. The acknowledgment deepened doubts in the administration’s methods and raised a common criticism that has been made about the second Trump administration — that it tends to attack first and confirm the facts later.

This year's Cannes is largely bereft of Hollywood films. But to help cover the blockbuster-sized hole in this year's lineup, the French festival is hosting a midnight screening of the first release in the 10-movie series.

On Wednesday, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster posed for photographers in Cannes. They were joined by Meadow Walker, the 27-year-old daughter of actor Paul Walker. In 2013, Walker died in a Los Angeles car crash.

Diesel looked especially happy for the moment in Cannes, playfully flexing for photographers.

The “Fast & Furious” movies have collected more than $7 billion in box office. An 11th installment titled “Fast Forever” is scheduled to be release in March 2028 by Universal Pictures.

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 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.

Trumparrived in Beijing Wednesday to meet with President Xi Jinping. Aside from discussions about Iran, the two leaders are expected to discuss trade and artificial intelligence.

Here's a look at some of the executives, according to the White House official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Elon Musk

Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, led Trump's Department of Government Efficiency until leaving in the spring of 2025 before the controversial pop-up agency was shuttered in November. The billionaire, who also owns the social media platform X, feuded with Trump last summer in a war of words that included Musk claiming without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president’s association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk eventually said that he regretted some of his posts on X about Trump.

Since then, Musk has refocused his energy on Tesla and his other companies. Tesla has operations in China and Musk has visited there. He's also been dealing with French prosecutors seeking charges against him and X for child sexual abuse images on the platform, deepfakes, disinformation and complicity in denying crimes against humanity by the platform’s artificial intelligence system, Grok. There's also trial pitting Musk against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Musk traveled to China on Air Force One with Trump.

Tim Cook

Cook remains busy as his tenure at Apple winds down. The CEO announced last month that his 15-year reign as the head of the technology company will come to an end on Sept. 1, when he turns the CEO duties over to Apple’s head of hardware engineering, John Ternus. During Cook's years as the top executive, Apple saw the its market value soar by more than $3.6 trillion during an iPhone-fueled era of prosperity. Cook will remain with the company as executive chairman.

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

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

Jensen Huang

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang heads to Beijing just months after the company received approval to sell one of its powerful AI chips to China, with conditions.

In January the Trump administration placed new security requirements on Nvidia’s semiconductor sales to China, but essentially greenlit the export of its H200 artificial intelligence chips.

Nvidia must ensure that there is an adequate supply in the U.S., and the H200 chips must undergo a third-party review before being exported to China, according to new rules set by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. But the new rules lower the bar for exports.

China won’t be allowed to use the chips for military purposes and is not allowed to import more than 50% of the chips sold to U.S. customers.

The H200 is not Nvidia’s most advanced product. Those chips, called Blackwell and the upcoming Rubin, were not part of the approved chips for export.

Huang also traveled aboard Air Force One with Trump to China.

Kelly Ortberg

Robert “Kelly” Ortberg, a former CEO at aerospace manufacturer Rockwell Collins, became CEO of Boeing in 2024. He's spent time focusing on Boeing's recovery, as the aerospace company was dealing with legal, regulatory and production problems and mounting financial repercussions when he took over.

A year ago Ortberg said that he didn't expect the U.S. trade war with China to forestall Boeing's financial recovery, nor prevent it from reaching aircraft delivery targets with Chinese airlines that were refusing to accept its planes. Beijing increased its import tax on American goods to 125% in April 2025 in retaliation for Trump raising the tariff on products made in China to 145%. China’s tariff would more than double the cost of passenger jets that Boeing, the U.S.’ largest exporter, sells for tens of millions of dollars. But Beijing is less of a threat to Boeing now that it used to be, as it has started to send fewer of its finished planes there over time.

Boeing has been in ongoing talks with China over a possible large aircraft sale.

Who else is going

Blackrock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink

Blackstone Chairman, CEO and co-founder Stephen Schwarzman

Cargill Chairman and CEO Brian Sikes

Citi Chairman and CEO Jane Fraser

Coherent CEO Jim Anderson

GE Aerospace Chairman and CEO H. Lawrence Culp

Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon

Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen

Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach

Meta President and Vice Chairman Dina Powell McCormick

Micron Chairman, President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra

Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon

Visa CEO Ryan McInerney

———-

Aamer Madhani in Washington D.C. contributed to this report.

Yet return she does — if only briefly — on the Day of the Dead in “El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego” (“The Last Dream of Frida and Diego”), a Spanish-language opera receiving its Metropolitan Opera premiere this week.

The opera, with libretto by playwright Nilo Cruz and music by Gabriela Lena Frank, imagines Kahlo’s spectral reunion three years after her death with Diego Rivera, the great Mexican muralist with whom she had a tempestuous romantic relationship.

In a twist on the Orpheus legend, Rivera has grown weary of life without Kahlo and — on the holiday that honors the dead and welcomes the return of their spirits — he summons her from the underworld in the hope they may be eternally reunited.

For mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, who stars as Kahlo, the opera is “a journey of emotions that every human can possess, told through the lens or perspective of iconic humans that many of us admire.”

Joining her in the cast are baritone Carlos Álvarez as Rivera, soprano Gabriella Reyes as Catrina, gatekeeper to the underworld, and countertenor Nils Wanderer as Leonardo, a spirit who impersonates Greta Garbo. Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts six of the seven performances Thursday through June 5, with the May 30 matinee broadcast to cinemas worldwide in HD.

An opera two decades in the making

The idea for the work dates back more than 20 years, when the late Joel Revzen, then director of the Arizona Opera, asked Frank to write an opera about Kahlo.

The collaborators agreed they wanted to avoid conventional approaches and instead leaned into magical realism.

“I wasn’t interested in writing a biopic,” Cruz said. “We had the movie with Salma Hayek … and I’d seen a couple of monologues that had to do with Frida and her life.

“So this whole concept of Diego approaching the end of his life, especially on the Day of the Dead, I thought was interesting,” he said. “I think opera should be bigger than life, so anything that’s mythical makes for a good opera.”

In setting Cruz’s text, Frank said she steered away from melodies and rhythms that would too closely echo traditional Latin music.

“What I wanted to convey instead was something very colorful, something that sounded otherworldly, sometimes ancient,” she said.

“You will hear a lot of instruments you won’t always hear in opera,” Frank said. “The marimba is in almost every scene … It might be covering the clarinet line or the voice and you didn’t realize it was there. But it makes it sound to me as if it’s from Central America.”

In praising the score, New Yorker critic Alex Ross wrote that “the challenge of intermingling biography and myth might have defeated a less adroit composer. One can imagine a score cluttered with Mexican folkloric effects and supernatural noises. Instead, Frank establishes a dreamlike, liminal mood from the start.”

Met reunited ‘Ainadamar’ team

The opera had its COVID-delayed premiere in San Diego in 2022. It was a huge success, and the original production has been performed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and elsewhere.

When the Met decided to stage it, general manager Peter Gelb hired the team that worked on Osvaldo Golijov’s “Ainadamar” in 2024 — director and choreographer Deborah Colker and set designer Jon Bausor — to create a new production. Bausor and Wilberth Gonzalez collaborated on the costumes.

“It’s not anything against the original,” Gelb said. “But when you have a work as important and appealing as this there’s no reason why there shouldn’t be more than one production. It’s a sign of its artistic success.”

Finding inspiration in a Kahlo painting

Bausor said his inspiration for the set design was an oil painting by Kahlo titled “Tree of Hope, Remain Strong” that depicts two Fridas. One shows her in an elegant Mexican dress seated on a hospital gurney that rests on cracked earth. Another Frida lies behind her on the gurney, swaddled in sheets with angry red stitches in her back — a reminder of the constant pain she suffered after a 1925 bus collision with a streetcar.

There’s no literal tree in the painting, but the title gave Bausor the idea for one of the centerpieces of his set: a large, blood red tree with twisting branches and roots that resemble arteries of the human body.

“It gave us a symbol for the audience to understand that we weren’t in a real space,” he said. “It’s a link between the living world above with the foliage at the top and the dead world with the roots below,” he said.

The sides and rear of the stage are draped in recycled blue plastic that Bausor calls “a kind of shroud, or blue gauze like you might wrap wounds in.”

Above the stage is a mirror, a nod to the one that was installed under the canopy of Kahlo’s bed to help her paint while she was immobilized from the accident.

And like the Kahlo painting, the stage has cracks from which dancers dressed as skeletons emerge, moving their joints in jerky fashion a bit like break dancers.

Despite its ghostly scenario, the opera has a happy ending of sorts: It grants the lovers the reunion in death that was denied them in reality. Rivera wanted to be cremated and have his ashes mixed with Kahlo’s, but his family refused and buried him in a cemetery.

’It was fascinating to me that he wanted his ashes to be united with hers,” Criuz said, “I thought — this is a story of love after death. So that became the theme of the opera.”

Unlike payment apps run by private banks, PIX is governed Brazil's Central Bank. Its massive popularity drove $7 trillion in transactions last year, though now it faces scrutiny from the U.S. government over claims of unfair trade practices for bypassing traditional credit networks like Visa and Mastercard.

“The best (payment method) is PIX, the most used,” said Luis Felipe de Almeida, a 21-year-old vendor of iced tea and cassava starch biscuits on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro. “No one walks around with cash anymore, everyone just uses their phone, so they use PIX.”

US claims unfair competition

Launched in 2020, PIX allows anyone with a Brazilian individual taxpayer identification, registered companies or government entities to transfer funds in real time. The only requirement is a Brazilian bank account.

PIX also works with QR codes. Individuals pay zero fees for PIX transfers, and while some banks charge companies a fee for transactions, they are significantly lower than regular bank transfers in Brazil, which could also take hours to be completed.

In July, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) of U.S. President Donald Trump opened an inquiry into PIX, alleging it imposes unfair competition to U.S. credit card operators because it offers an alternative to transaction fees.

India has a similar payment system which is not being challenged by USTR, despite processing $300 billion in payments just in March. Similarly, it has no transaction fees.

PIX risks

Middle-class Brazilians use PIX for everything, for small payments and large purchases.

Marcello Palladini, a 57-year-old restaurant owner in Sao Paulo, uses PIX mostly to pay suppliers for transactions above 1,000 Brazilian reais ($200), since many wouldn't take credit cards for that kind of payment anyway. Still, he said most of his clients still prefer to pay him for lunch with credit cards or meal vouchers, though.

“When I want something quickly, I pay with PIX and it comes right away. I also do PIX with some suppliers who keep a tab and at the end of the month they send me a full bill,” Palladini said.

He criticized the unfair manner some banks charge companies transaction fees, but overall is a PIX fan.

“PIX works great, it is all instant,” he said.

Many large corporations in Brazil use PIX to pay their workers. Houses, cars and even helicopters can be bought through the same system — though hefty sums often have to get a bank approval first.

Despite its success, PIX is not without flaws. Criminal networks realized they could exploit the system by stealing phones and transferring tens of thousands of Brazilian reais instantly, leaving Brazil's police, banks and insurance companies struggling to contain the rapid movement of stolen funds.

Brazilian authorities and companies are tracking and often closing bank accounts that are involved in suspicious transactions and putting caps on PIX transfers from 8 p.m. until the next morning, so fraudsters can't move big sums at once as most clients are not paying attention to messages on their phones flagging a transaction has been made in their account.

The Brazilian Forum of Public Security, a think-tank, estimates between 24 million and 28 million people were hit by PIX-related crimes between January and September of last year, although they don't have an estimate of how much was lost.

“From the technical and legal standpoint, PIX is safe. But it is not immune to fraud because its risks are not in its technology; they are in people trying to fool others,” said Ana Paula Siqueira, an expert on Brazil's digital law. “The most common fraud involves psychological manipulation, fake IDs, urgent requests for payment.”

Still, those risks have not stopped 178 million of Brazil’s 213 million residents from registering for PIX.

“Love doesn't happen suddenly, it takes time,” shouted Claudia Quirino, a vendor of Brazilian dumplings at an open-air market in the Sao Paulo region of Pinheiros. “But PIX is instant! Buy now!”

___

AP journalists Lucas Dumphreys, Mario Lobao in Rio de Janeiro and Vineeta Deepak in New Delhi contributed to this report.

School board members discussed cuts needed to close a $14 million shortfall. This comes as the Roanoke City Council approved its budget Monday night.

The School district is cutting back activity buses in the fall, but will keep them running during the spring for sports and tutoring ahead of finals. The district is also shrinking its PLATO Program for gifted students, moving down from two sites with nine classrooms across three grades to one site with four classrooms across two grades.

“We’re contracting on things we had put into our budget because we felt they made a difference for our students,” Frany Apel, Roanoke City School Board Chair Member, said.

The school board is expected to meet again on May 26 to discuss overcrowding in schools.

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 will be formally introduced at a news conference at the Vegas Golden Knights’ home arena later Wednesday, with Hamilton 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 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.

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 in games into the facility's 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.

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 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.

___

AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

A crowd welcomed the princess, commonly known as Kate, as she arrived at city hall in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy to learn about its eponymous child-centered approach to early educatio n. The trip is part of what her office called an international “fact-finding mission” to explore different approaches to supporting young children and their carers.

The Reggio Emilia approach is based on the idea that young children have many different ways of thinking, understanding and expressing themselves, and that teachers need to work with their students to help them learn.

“It is extraordinary and that is why I wanted to come and visit Reggio Emilia because your history is so rich and I have always been fascinated by the philosophy,” the princess said as she began her program.

The choice of destination for Kate’s first trip abroad since her 2024 cancer diagnosis is no coincidence as early years development is the signature cause of the mother of three who will one day be queen.

“She wants to make a point that she is going to keep making this her cause,” said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty Magazine.

Her visit will highlight the idea that the environment and human relationships that surround children are crucial to laying the foundations for a resilient and healthy future, Kensington Palace said in a statement.

“The Reggio Emilia approach clearly suits the narrative at the start of international operations,’’ Little said.

The visit is part of her work with the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood, which she founded in 2021 to increase public understanding of the importance of supporting children in the first five years of life.

One of Britain’s most popular royals, the Princess of Wales has proved to be adept at focusing attention on matters she cares about.

When Kate announced that she had completed chemotherapy treatment in a soft-focus, Insta-ready video, she ventured into realms not previously inhabited by the royal family, whose members traditionally shied away from talking about their health.

And she did it in a new way, using social media to share the fact that for all her wealth and privilege, her life had been upended by cancer, like so many others.

Then, later, when she announced she was in remission, she spent the day supporting other cancer patients at the hospital where she received treatment.

In a statement on social media, she offered her thanks to everyone who helped her and her husband, Prince William, as they navigated the ups and downs of treatment and recovery. She hugged patients at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London and described her own treatment as “exceptional.”

“It is a relief to now be in remission and I remain focused on recovery,” the princess, now 44, wrote in a note signed with her initial, C. “As anyone who has experienced a cancer diagnosis will know, it takes time to adjust to a new normal.”

Her new normal involves becoming the go-to advocate for early years education, which refers to the learning and development of children from birth to five years of age.

There’s lots to do in Britain, where advocates say there aren’t enough spaces to go around and many teachers don’t have the training they need.

Edoardo Masset, associate research director at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said Kate’s focus on early childhood development is important because it brings attention to an issue that really matters to children.

“This relationship between early years education and success later in life is supported not only by strong theoretical arguments, but also by a large body of evidence on the effectiveness of programs for preschool children,’’ Masset said in a blog post.

In Reggio Emilia on Wednesday, residents said they were honored the princess had chosen their city and its public preschools for her first visit since her remission. Francesca Valli was waiting for her and is a teacher of the Reggio Emilia approach.

“I also feel very honored to be here, almost as a representative of my school,” she said. “For her first visit — and, among other things, her first solo visit after a long illness — the princess has made a very judicious, appropriate, and well-considered choice, and this certainly does her honor.”

—-

Kirka reported from London.

In a related note, the Spurs won.

San Antonio took a 3-2 lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves with a dominant 126-97 win in Game 5 of their second-round series, putting the Spurs one victory away from a Western Conference finals showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are 8-0 so far in these playoffs.

Wembanyama had 27 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in the Spurs' win.

The Timberwolves are down but not out. They've been a resilient bunch in these playoffs and get to host Game 6 on Friday.

Wednesday's schedule

— Game 5, Cleveland at Detroit, 8 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: Tied, 2-2.

Odds: Detroit by 4.5.

Home teams are 4-0 in this series, and the Pistons need to continue that trend. Everyone knows Game 5 in a tied series is a swing game, but the Pistons — who fended off elimination three times in the Round 1 win over Orlando — are used to playing amid pressure.

Thursday's schedule

— No games scheduled.

Tuesday's recap

— Spurs 126, Timberwolves 97. Wembanyama atoned for his Game 4 ejection.

Sad day in the NBA

The NBA had a rough day on Tuesday — mourning the death of Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke and the death of former player Jason Collins, who was the league's first openly gay player.

Clarke, 29, was found dead Monday at a home in the Los Angeles area and emergency personnel who responded to the scene found drug paraphernalia in the home, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because those details were not released publicly.

Collins, 47, died after an eight-month battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer.

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 (+300), New York (+650), Detroit (+2500), Cleveland (+5000) and Minnesota (+12500).

Key dates

— Through Sunday: NBA draft combine.

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

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

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

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft.

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft.

Quote of the day

“I feel like we got the Vic that you’ve seen all year,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said after Wembanyama's bounce-back performance. “I think his maturity level was off the charts. I mean, he played smart, didn’t really foul much, took the shots that were there for him."

Stat of the day

Wembanyama (22 years, 128 days) became the third-youngest player in league history with 25 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a postseason game behind Magic Johnson (20 years, 276 days) and Luka Doncic (21 years, 177 days).

___

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

An initial session took place at the office of the Major League Baseball Players Association, a five-minute walk from Major League Baseball's headquarters in Manhattan's Rockefeller Center. The meeting lasted about two hours and was scheduled for initial presentations from each side on their view of the sport and its economics. No proposals were made.

Players who attended included Mets infielder Marcus Semien, a member of the union's eight-man executive subcommittee, along with Mets teammates Clay Holmes, David Peterson, Austin Slater and Sean Manaea. Several Detroit Tigers players, who were in town to play the Mets, also were at the meeting and additional players joined via video conference.

“It’s the first one I’ve been at, so I don’t really have much to compare it to," Holmes said. "It was just kind of initial meetings, first time the sides were getting together and kind of sharing their thoughts on kind of where they thought things were at and what they thought was best for kind of the game moving forward.”

The sport's five-year labor contract expires Dec. 1, and baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has said repeatedly that management prefers offseason lockouts to in-season strikes, aiming to prevent the loss of regular-season games. Baseball has not lost regular-season games to a work stoppage since a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 that caused the first cancellation of the World Series in 90 years.

Talks for the last agreement began in April 2021 and ended with a deal on March 10, 2022, that preserved the 162-game schedule only after the sides bargained past several deadlines and Manfred announced the cancellation of 184 games, which were restored.

Bruce Meyer will lead negotiations for the union, as he did in 2021-22, but in his new role as interim union head. He moved up from deputy director in February after the forced resignation of Tony Clark, a former All-Star first baseman who took over following the death of Michael Weiner in 2013.

Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem heads MLB's negotiations team, as he did in talks for the previous two agreements.

MLB and Meyer declined to comment on the session.

“I think just player engagement as a whole, it just seems like there’s a lot of it right now,” Holmes said. “Guys are wanting to hear and guys are wanting to be there and so, just to be able to kind of be there and pass along things that you may see or learn or just have conversations there.”

Some major league owners have said a salary cap system that also contains a floor is needed and would improve the sport. MLB, unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, has not had a cap system but since 2003 has had a luxury tax designed to slow spending.

“When I talk to the players, I don’t try to convince them that a salary cap system would be a good thing,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America last summer. “I identify a problem in the media business and explain to them that owners need to change to address that problem. I then identify a second problem that we need to work together and that is that there are fans in a lot of our markets who feel like we have a competitive balance problem."

Restraints had not appeared to have had much impact on the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets in recent years. The Dodgers shattered MLB's spending records with a combined $515 million in payroll and luxury tax last year en route to their second straight World Series title, according to final figures compiled by the commissioner’s office, and Los Angeles is projected for the highest total again in 2026. The ratio of the five highest spenders to the five lowest increased from 3.6 in 2021 to a record-high 4.7 last year.

The union maintains a cap system decreases spending on players, while management argues a cap and a floor would benefit most players.

Players increased their potential war chest of cash and investments ahead of collective bargaining to $415 million heading into 2026. MLB also has been accumulating cash ahead of bargaining, about $75 million per club in withheld central fund distributions.

___

AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.

___

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

The 29-year-old Clarke was found dead Monday at a home in the Los Angeles area, and emergency personnel who responded to the scene found drug paraphernalia in the home, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because those details were not released publicly.

Neither the Grizzlies nor Clarke's agency, Priority Sports, provided any details about the nature of Clarke's death.

“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Brandon Clarke. Brandon was an outstanding teammate and an even better person whose impact on the organization and the greater Memphis community will not be forgotten," read a statement from the Grizzlies.

His agents wrote on social media that they were “beyond devastated.”

“He was so loved by all of us here and everyone whose life he touched,” read the statement from Priority Sports. “He was the gentlest soul who was the first to be there for all of his friends and family.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed sympathies to Clarke’s family and friends and the Grizzlies organization.

“We are devastated to learn of the passing of Brandon Clarke,” Silver said. “As one of the longest-tenured members of the Grizzlies, Brandon was a beloved teammate and leader who played the game with enormous passion and grit.”

Clarke was the 21st overall pick out of Gonzaga in the 2019 NBA draft by Oklahoma City, which dealt his rights to the Grizzlies.

He was fourth in the 2019-20 Rookie of the Year balloting — his Grizzlies teammate Ja Morant was the overwhelming winner of that award — and was 11th in the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year voting for the 2021-22 season.

Clarke averaged 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in 309 career NBA games.

He averaged 16.9 points in his one season at Gonzaga, transferring there after starting his college career at San Jose State. At Gonzaga, he was a huge part of a team that also had Rui Hachimura — now with the Los Angeles Lakers — and went 33-4.

“He had such a kind, gentle and warm soul, and I will remember the great smile he had on his face whenever you were around him,” read a statement from Gonzaga and its coach, Mark Few. “BC was one of the most easygoing players we have ever had, and he was part of one of the greatest teams in our program’s history.”

Clarke was arrested April 1 in Arkansas for speeding and possession of a controlled substance that was reportedly kratom, an herbal supplement promoted as an alternative pain remedy that becomes illegal in Tennessee as of July 1. He was released on bond a day later.

Health officials have been warning about the risks of an opioid-related chemical known as 7-hydroxymitragynine and a component of kratom. The plant native to Southeast Asia has gained popularity in the U.S. as an unapproved treatment for pain, anxiety and drug dependence.

A federal report in 2019 found overdose deaths involving kratom were more common than previously reported. Most who died had also taken heroin, fentanyl or others, though officials counted a few instances in which kratom was the only substance listed.

“love you broski. gone way too soon,” Morant wrote in an Instagram post Tuesday.

Clarke joined Morant on the NBA's All-Rookie team in 2020, and the Grizzlies gave him a multiyear contract extension in October 2022.

But injuries dogged him for more than three years. He tore his left Achilles tendon on March 3, 2023, in a loss to the Denver Nuggets in a showdown of what were then the top two teams in the Western Conference. Injuries limited him to 72 of a possible 246 games over the past three seasons, including only two this season.

“This is an incredible loss for the brotherhood," the National Basketball Players Association said. "We will remember Brandon not only for the immense joy he brought to so many throughout his career, but for the genuine friendships he built far beyond basketball.”

Clarke was under contract for the 2026-27 season with Memphis, which went 25-57 this season. The San Antonio Spurs paid tribute to Clarke with a moment of silence — both for him and former NBA player Jason Collins, whose death was announced Tuesday — before a playoff game Tuesday night.

Clarke's “leadership and passion earned him respect throughout the Memphis community and around the league,” the Spurs said.

___

AP Sports Writers Teresa M. Walker and Anne M. Peterson contributed to this report.

___

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

The meat of the summit doesn't start until Thursday, when the leaders hold bilateral talks, visit the Temple of Heaven, where Chinese emperors once prayed for bumper crops, and take part in a formal banquet. But the Chinese offered Trump a pomp-filled welcome, literally rolling out the red carpet for him after Air Force One landed in the Chinese capital.

The president was greeted by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng; Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to Washington; Ma Zhaoxu, executive vice minister of foreign affairs; and the U.S. envoy to Beijing, David Perdue.

The welcoming ceremony included a military honor guard, a military band and some 300 Chinese youths waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” as Trump made his way to his waiting limousine. The youth greeters were decked out in white and robin's egg blue outfits that matched the paint job of the iconic presidential plane.

“We're the two superpowers,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House on Tuesday for the long flight to Beijing. “We're the strongest nation on Earth in terms of military. China’s considered second.”

While Trump likes to project a sense of strength, the visit occurs at a delicate moment for his 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 Republican president is seeking a win by signing deals with China to buy more American soybeans, beef and aircraft, saying he'll be talking with Xi about trade “more than anything else.”

The Trump administration hopes to begin 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.

But Trump is visiting Beijing when Iran continues to dominate his domestic agenda. The war has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, stranding oil and natural gas tankers and causing energy prices to spike to levels that could sabotage global economic growth. The U.S. president declared that Xi didn’t need to assist in resolving the conflict, even though Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Beijing last week.

“We have a lot of things to discuss. I wouldn’t say Iran is one of them, to be honest with you, because we have Iran very much under control," Trump told reporters Tuesday.

Taiwan high on the agenda

The status of Taiwan also will be a major topic as China is displeased with U.S. plans to sell weapons to the self-governing island, which the Chinese government claims as part of its own territory.

Trump told reporters on Monday that he would be discussing with Xi an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan that the U.S. administration authorized in December but has not yet begun fulfilling. The arms package is the largest ever approved for Taiwan.

But Trump has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, an approach that’s raising questions about whether the U.S. leader 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 artificial intelligence, 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.

The Chinese Communist Party's news outlet, People's Daily, published a strongly worded editorial ahead of Trump's arrival underscoring that Taiwan is “the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-U.S. relations” and is “the biggest point of risk” between the two nations.

Trump says relationship with Xi is on solid footing

Trump was already portraying the trip as a success before he even left White House grounds. He openly mused about Xi's planned reciprocal visit to the U.S. later this year, lamenting that the White House ballroom under construction would not be completed in time to properly fete the Chinese leader.

“We’re going to have a great relationship for many, many decades to come,” Trump said of the U.S. and China.

Trump embarked on Air Force One for the big meeting with a coterie of aides, family members and business world titans, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk. While en route to Beijing, he posted on social media that his "first request" to Xi during the visit will be to ask the Chinese leader to bolster the presence of U.S. firms in China.

“I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level!” Trump wrote.

Despite Trump’s outward confidence, China appears to be entering the meeting from “a much stronger place," said Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser on Chinese business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

China would like to reduce tech restrictions on accessing computer chips and find ways to reduce tariffs, among other goals.

“But even if they don’t get much on any of those things, as long as there’s not a blow-up in the meeting and President Trump doesn’t go away and look to re-escalate, China basically comes out stronger,” Kennedy said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met on Wednesday to discuss economic and trade issues at Incheon International Airport, just west of the South Korean capital of Seoul, according to the Chinese state run Xinhua News Agency.

Trump wants 3-way nuclear arms deal

Trump also intends to raise the idea of the U.S., China and Russia signing a pact that would set limits on the nuclear weapons each nation keeps in its arsenal, according to a senior Trump administration official who briefed reporters ahead of the trip. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

China has previously been cool to entering such a pact. Beijing's arsenal, according to Pentagon estimates, exceeds more than 600 operational nuclear warheads and is far from parity with the U.S. and Russia, which each are estimated to have more than 5,000 nuclear warheads.

The last nuclear arms pact, known as the New START treaty, between Russia and the United States expired in February, removing any caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century. As the treaty was set to expire, Trump rejected a call by Russia to extend the two-country deal for another year and called for “a new, improved, and modernized” deal that includes China.

The Pentagon estimates China will have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030.

___

Boak reported from Washington. AP writers Darlene Superville in Washington, Huizhong Wu in Bangkok, Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed reporting.

Now, he is one of 18 Americans under observation at specialized healthcare facilities designed to treat people with dangerous infectious diseases after three people died and others were sickened by a hantavirus outbreak aboard the ship.

Rosmarin, 30, said he expects to spend 42 days at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Fourteen other American passengers from the ship are also there. Another who tested positive for the virus is in the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. Two were being monitored in the serious communicable disease unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Public health officials have said the risk of the virus spreading from passengers into the general public is very low and that healthy people are being quarantined as a precaution.

Rosmarin, a content creator and photographer from Boston, told The Associated Press he intends to make the best of his isolation.

His room is more like a small hotel suite. He has a closet, smart TV, bathroom, small refrigerator, bed, chair and stationary bike. He has windows, but he keeps the blinds closed from peering media.

“It's a very nice room,” Rosmarin said. “I already ordered a mattress pad, new pillows. I think, for now, my plan is to take it one day at a time and that's the best I can do.”

On Tuesday, he received a special treat that he posted to social media.

Nurses at the facility brought him an iced horchata with oat milk and vanilla cold foam. “This is everything I needed, right now. Wow!” Rosmarin said into the camera.

Life in quarantine

Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

“I never got sick,” Rosmarin said Tuesday.

Eleven people who were aboard the MV Hondius fell ill, with at least nine confirmed cases. Three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple that health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

The last remaining passengers on the ship disembarked Monday and boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine.

The quarantine and biocontainment units in Omaha are specialized facilities created to monitor people exposed to serious illnesses. The biocontainment unit is used for treating people who are ill with highly infectious diseases.

Outside of doctors, who wear full personal protection equipment that include gowns and masks when they come into his room, Rosmarin can't receive visitors. Most nurses don't come into his room even when it is time for meals.

“I open the door with a mask on and they kind of put the food toward me and I grab it on the tray,” he said.

Once people began to get sick on the ship, passengers were also advised to stay in their cabins as much as possible.

“I left the cabin about 15 minutes each day to refill my water, get fresh air and grab food for breakfast and lunch,” he said, adding that passengers practiced social distancing and masked up.

Penguins, seals and albatross

Rosmarin began traveling the world in 2022 after quitting his job as a media buyer. He has an influencer partnership with the ship's operator. The company covered the cost of his trip, which included stops at remote islands in the South Atlantic, including South Georgia Island.

“We saw a king penguin colony — the largest in the world, 300,000 to 500,000,” Rosmarin said. “We got to see gentoo penguins, fur seals, elephant seals, chinstrap penguins, albatross.”

Rosmarin described the MV Hondius as an expedition vessel and not a cruise ship. Since passengers and crew would be disembarking on islands, some with fragile ecosystems, biosecurity measures were in place, he said.

“An expedition vessel is much cleaner than any cruise ship you’re ever going to go on,” Rosmarin added. “For South Georgia, there were the strictest biosecurity measures. We have to sit down in the lounge pulling fuzz out of our jackets. A little pebble in your shoe, it needs to come out.”

Those precautions, though, were meant to protect the environment from passengers, rather than the other way around.

His planned trip of five weeks stretched to six because he couldn't get off the ship once the outbreak was discovered.

“We didn't really know it was the hantavirus until the night we were supposed to disembark,” Rosmarin said.

Waiting for Rosmarin back home in Boston is his fiance. The couple plans to marry next year. “I think he tried to be calm for me, but I think he was also very scared,” Rosmarin said Tuesday.

___

Associated Press writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

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.”

___

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

While WIC helps millions by providing supplemental nutrition, it also limits the formula brands and types available to families.

WIC is a federal program that offers supplemental nutrition and resources to pregnant women, infants, and children up to age 5. Babies in the WIC program consume about 56 percent of all infant formula in the United States, making the program a lifeline for many families.

But for those who rely on WIC benefits, the selection of formulas can feel frustratingly narrow.

Jessica D’Argenio Waller, MS, CNS, LDN, of Consumer Reports, explains, “In most states, there’s a single brand available through WIC, and no organic formulas, which can really limit options for parents.”

This limited choice comes at a time when parents are increasingly concerned about contaminants in infant formula, as well as ongoing supply issues due to more frequent formula recalls.

Consumer Reports recently tested 90 infant formulas for contaminants such as lead, inorganic arsenic, and BPA. The findings showed that while some products did contain detectable levels of these chemicals, the levels varied widely.

“We found detectable levels of contaminants in a number of products, including some with inorganic arsenic and lead, chemicals linked to long-term health risks. But levels varied widely across formulas,” said Waller.

Despite the limited options, two of the most commonly covered WIC formulas, Similac Advance and Enfamil Infant, both in powdered form, ranked among Consumer Reports’ top choices for having low to non-detectable levels of contaminants.

Organic formulas, however, are typically not covered by WIC, so families who want them must pay out of pocket.

To help families save, Consumer Reports experts recommend shopping for formula at wholesale clubs like Costco, Sam’s Club, or BJ’s. Signing up for auto-delivery programs through formula websites or Amazon’s Subscribe & Save can also help cut costs by 5 to 15 percent, often with free shipping included.

While the choices may be limited for WIC families, the good news is that some of the most widely available options are also among the safest when it comes to contaminants. For parents navigating both cost and safety concerns, knowing which formulas rank best can offer some peace of mind.

Inflation Update: Cost of living remains high

Inflation is on the rise again, continuing to squeeze millions of Americans’ budgets. For the first time in nearly three years, reports show that wages are no longer outpacing inflation.

According to the Department of Labor, consumer prices increased 3.8% in April compared to a year ago, the highest annual reading since May 2023. This jump comes as energy prices continue to climb, driven in part by the ongoing conflict involving Iran.

Before the war began in late February with coordinated U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, inflation had slowed to 2.4%. But in March, the conflict triggered a major energy price shock, sending inflation higher.

“For consumers, that means the cost of living remains uncomfortable,” Sung Won Sohn, a finance and economics professor at Loyola Marymount University, wrote in a note Tuesday. “For the Federal Reserve, it means rate cuts are likely to be pushed in the future.”

Recall Alert: Meat and poultry products pulled due to Salmonella risk

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a public health alert for several meat and poultry products that may be contaminated with Salmonella.

The affected products include:

• Mamma Cozzi’s Biscuit Crust Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Pizza
• Mamma Cozzi’s Biscuit Crust Cooked Pork Belly Crumbles, Cooked Bacon Topping, Pepper and Onion Breakfast Pizza
• Pork King Good Sour Cream and Onion Pork Rinds (including Party Size)
• Culinary Circle Ultra Thin Crust Chicken Bacon Ranch
• Great Value Thin Crust Chicken Bacon Ranch

Details about establishment numbers and the states where these products were sold can be found here. Product labels are available here.

So far, there have been no confirmed reports of illness linked to these products. If you purchased any of them, you’re advised to throw them away or return them to the store.

To report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, you can access the Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System 24/7 at foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/ .

Everything Is Awesome: LEGO Unveils Epic Lord of the Rings Set

If you’re a LEGO fan, there’s a magical new set that might just top your wish list. LEGO is celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings with an 8,278-piece recreation of the iconic White City of Minas Tirith.

The set captures the majestic city of Gondor, featuring its towering architecture, layered walls, and the iconic citadel. It also includes 10 minifigures: Gandalf the White, Faramir, Denethor, Peregrin Took, Aragorn as King Elessar, Arwen, and four Soldiers of Gondor, plus the legendary Shadowfax horse figure and themed accessories like Gondor helmets, shields, and Aragorn’s crown.

The set will be available for LEGO Insiders Early Access starting June 1, with a general release on June 4. The price is set at $649.99. Plus, those who purchase the set between June 1 and June 7 will receive the LEGO Icons The Lord of the Rings: Grond as a gift.

10 News Community Journalist Bella Walser recently spoke with a local property owner who says thieves broke into a vacant home in a Roanoke City neighborhood and stripped it of copper pipes. Police say it can take just minutes for copper to be stolen, but the damage left behind can take days or even weeks to repair.

Walser was able to go to the home where the crime took place and see the aftermath. The water had been running for days under the house after thieves took the copper pipes, leaving behind hundreds of dollars in damage.

Jack Wilkinson, who works with a local real estate company, explained how the crime unfolded. The home was empty when thieves broke in, so no one realized the pipes were missing until the water authority called.

“We went over there and saw water everywhere, took a couple of days and it cost probably about $800 to fix it,” Wilkinson said. “After we posted about it, we had people commenting saying it happened to them too.”

Police say this isn’t just one case. Roanoke County Police have investigated multiple copper thefts this spring alone. In December, Bedford Police arrested two men accused of a string of copper thefts across the region. And in March, Buena Vista Police recovered more than $3,500 worth of stolen copper fittings.

So why is copper such a target? Metal recyclers and police say copper remains attractive to thieves because it’s easy to remove, easy to sell, and commonly found in vacant homes, construction sites, and air conditioning units.

“Most of the time they’re looking for homes that they can get in and out of it easily,” said an officer with Roanoke County Police.

To help prevent thefts, police recommend that property owners check vacant homes often, install cameras or lighting, and report suspicious activity quickly.

Jack shared his own solution: “We just replaced our pipes with PEX because it’s worth less and no one would steal it.”

10 News is working for you, so if you have any issues or problems you want us to investigate, visit our Help Center here: help.wsls.com/home/

Ever wanted to see a behind-the-scenes look at all that goes into our reporting? Check out this TikTok video from Jack Wilkinson of 10 News Community Journalist Bella Walser working for you:

@jackwilkinson620

We Buy Houses Roanoke VA Text 540-527-2000 oh and we get interviewed too because our home got broken into and the copper pipes were stolen. #roanokeva

♬ original sound - Jack

Random House told The Associated Press that it had acquired a “Godfather” novel authorized by the estate of Mario Puzo and written by bestselling author Adriana Trigiani. “Connie” is scheduled for a fall 2027 release and will center on the Corleone family member played by Talia Shire, sister of director Francis Ford Coppola, in the three “Godfather” films.

“Connie” is the third “Godfather” book approved by the estate and the first written by a woman.

“'Connie' is a novel about how a woman works to forge her own way in a world that’s already decided who she is, what she’s about, and how she should be treated,” Trigiani said in a statement Wednesday. “People underestimated Don Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone at their peril. The same will be true for Connie Corleone.”

Paramount Pictures, which produced the “Godfather” movies,” holds the film rights. Additional details were not immediately available.

Puzo, whose blockbuster 1969 novel “The Godfather,” provided the basis and title for the first film, died in 1999 and his estate has since battled with Paramount over who controls rights to the Corleone characters. In 2012, the movie studio sued to block publication of Ed Falco’s “The Family Corleone.” After the estate countersued, the two sides agreed to a settlement that allowed the estate to continue initiating book projects and awarded film rights to Paramount.

The final release of the original “Godfather” trilogy, “The Godfather Part III,” came out in 1990. The films all starred Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, Connie's brother, with other actors appearing in at least one movie including Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton. The “Godfather” saga has earned more than $400 million worldwide and won nine Academy Awards, two of them to Puzo in the 1970s for best adapted screenplay.

Trigiani, a million-selling author who wrote of her own Italian roots in the novel “The Shoemaker's Wife,” is also known for such favorites as “Lucia, Lucia” and “The Queen of the Big Time.” According to Random House, the Puzo estate “sought out” Trigiani after she published a Substack essay lamenting how little was known about the Corleone women.

“We had been looking for someone to retell the story from a new perspective,” Anthony Puzo, the author's son and executor, said in a statement. “Adriana was knocked out when I told her that the character of Vito Corleone (played in the films by Brando and De Niro) was actually based on my grandmother. We talked about how the women ran both of our families, but behind the scenes. Adriana’s vision for Connie’s life blew us all away. I’m very pleased and excited to have her on board.”

The stress hormone seems to be getting a lot of attention on social media lately, with some health influencers claiming it can cause weight gain.

But is that actually true?

“It might be a minor contributing factor, but the argument that you get in a lot of wellness spaces is this very reductionist model, which is the one issue is cortisol, and if you bring the cortisol down, the weight follows. Which is just an overly simplistic way of thinking about the body’s metabolism, and the body’s hormones, and the things that drive weight gain and weight loss,” said Matthew Badgett, MD, who specializes in internal medicine at Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Badgett said that’s not the only misconception with cortisol.

There’s also the claim that high levels of the stress hormone can cause something called ‘adrenal fatigue’, which is not true.

In fact, cortisol can help improve energy in the short and long term.

It’s only when someone has a cortisol deficiency that they would experience severe fatigue.

So, how is cortisol even tested?

Dr. Badgett said there are a few options available.

“We do a couple of saliva tests, or we do a 24-hour urine test,” he noted. “Or, we do something called a dexamethasone suppression test, which is where we try to suppress cortisol. If it doesn’t suppress like we expect it to, it’s a sign that your cortisol has run away from the body’s natural responses.”

Dr. Badgett reiterates that it’s rarely just cortisol that is causing someone’s weight gain or fatigue, which is why it’s important to discuss any health concerns you may be having with your physician.

As of Wednesday, May 13, the AAA states that the average price for regular gasoline in Virginia is $4.274 per gallon. Premium is averaging $5.109 per gallon, while diesel sits at $5.586.

AAA says the average price of a gallon of regular gas costs more in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford, holding steady at $4.23. Premium is up to $5.07 per gallon.

However, there are still some deals if you know where to look.

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 the Sam’s 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 $4.337 per gallon.

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.

The plan to hold the votes Wednesday, shared exclusively with The Associated Press, is tied to rule changes or regulatory rollbacks by the CFPB since the Republican 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 series of votes is meant to highlight the dozens of rules and regulations that have been impacted by Vought and the White House.

Under the Congressional Review Act, senators can file what are known as Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to overturn recently finalized federal regulations. While none of the resolutions is expected to pass, Democrats are using the votes to highlight their election year message on the economy.

Democrats are expected to propose 20 resolutions that target policy changes involving debt collection, buy now-pay later firms, overdraft fees and other consumer finance issues.

The move is being led by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee. Warren proposed the creation of the CFPB in 2007, when she was a professor at Harvard Law School, and she is considered Congress’ biggest advocate for it.

“Today, we are going to hear from 20 senators about how the Trump administration has hurt American families by rolling back commonsense CFPB rules — and how Congress can make them right,” Warren will say in a planned speech on the Senate floor Wednesday.

The Congressional Review Act 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.

In an election year, those votes could be used as ammunition against vulnerable GOP senators up for reelection, including Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and John Cornyn of Texas.

“I urge my Republican colleagues to listen with open ears and cast their votes on behalf of the consumers they were elected to represent,” Warren says.

The CFPB has been largely inoperable in Trump’s second term. 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.

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.

Polling over the years has shown consistent bipartisan support from voters for the CFPB and its mission. A March survey conducted by the bipartisan polling firms Lake Research Partners and Chesapeake Beach Consulting found that more than 8 in 10 Americans — including majorities of Republicans — said they supported the agency’s role in regulating banks and other financial services companies.

___

Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report from Washington.

Aim for hybrids with the shortest payback periods

New hybrids typically cost more than similar gas-only vehicles, so aim for a hybrid that doesn’t cost much more than its non-hybrid sibling. With this strategy, you will offset the price difference more quickly with the fuel savings a hybrid provides. For example, the SE hybrid version of the 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe, which is one of Hyundai’s three-row SUVs, costs just $1,350 more than the regular Santa Fe. According to the EPA, the hybrid version can save you $850 a year in fuel costs compared to the regular Santa Fe if you drive 15,000 miles a year. So, depending on how much you drive, the fuel savings could cover the extra cost in less than two years.

The Ford Maverick, which is Ford’s compact pickup, and the Lexus NX small luxury SUV are two other models that will pay you back quicker than most if you get the hybrid version. In contrast, some hybrids may take several years to recoup their extra cost. For example, a hybrid version of the Honda Civic costs $2,700 more than a comparable non-hybrid Civic, and the EPA estimates that you’ll save just $450 a year by getting the hybrid.

To find out how long it will take to recover the extra cost of the hybrid you want, visit the EPA’s mpg comparison tool. But if the hybrid you want isn’t there, you can find out for yourself by comparing the price difference between the hybrid you want and the non-hybrid version of it. Then, compare the estimated annual fuel cost of each by entering the vehicles in the EPA’s fuel economy website.

Find models that are mpg standouts

If you aren’t worried about price differences and just want to start saving money on gas, focus on getting a vehicle with high fuel economy estimates. The 2026 Toyota RAV4 is a great choice for a small SUV because it comes exclusively as a hybrid and gets up to an EPA-estimated 43 mpg combined.

Want something smaller than a RAV4? The Kia Niro delivers up to 53 mpg. And what if you want the most efficient hybrid for 2026? The answer is something you’ve probably heard of: the Toyota Prius. A 2026 Prius can get up to an EPA-estimated 57 mpg combined.

Go used or certified pre-owned for a better deal

If you’re OK with a used hybrid, then you can potentially avoid the hybrid price premium entirely. A hybrid model that has more miles or is a year or two older can cost the same or less than a comparable non-hybrid. To help offset the higher mileage or age, aim for a certified pre-owned hybrid because it typically includes an additional warranty.

In some cases, you might be able to find a hybrid that’s priced the same as a non-hybrid regardless of age or mileage if it’s been on the dealership lot for an extended time. Dealerships tend to discount vehicles that aren’t selling quickly to move inventory.

New three-row hybrid SUVs can save you more

Hybrid-powered three-row SUVs are a great choice if you’ve got a large family and want to save on gas. There are also more hybrid models on the market than ever before. The all-new 2026 Hyundai Palisade Hybrid SEL, for example, can save you up to $1,100 a year versus the non-hybrid version, assuming you drive 15,000 miles a year. With savings like that, you recoup the extra cost in about two years. The Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid is another roomy three-row SUV that could pay for itself in about two years.

Edmunds says

Saving money is just one of the advantages of owning a hybrid. Many hybrids are also more powerful than non-hybrids and deliver a smoother driving experience. They also produce lower emissions and have less brake wear because of their regenerative braking system.

____

This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.

Michael Cantu is a contributor at Edmunds.

Major donors aren’t giving. Liberal influencers are publicly questioning Martin's refusal to release an internal report on the party's failures. And Democratic operatives have begun informal discussions about recruiting a new chair, even as most believe that Martin's job isn't in serious jeopardy ahead of the midterm elections.

Amanda Litman, who leads the Democratic-allied organization Run For Something, said she's been approached by senior strategists in recent days gauging her interest in replacing Martin. She declined but said many in the party have lost faith in the DNC leader.

“I think it’s a really hard job, and also Ken is not doing it very well,” Litman told The Associated Press. “I honestly think he’s going to have a hard time rebuilding trust.”

Part of the challenge for those Democrats frustrated with Martin, she said, “is that there’s not really an alternative.”

The criticism has gotten to Martin, said two people who insisted on anonymity to describe private conversations. They said he's become increasingly paranoid, even inside party headquarters in Washington, where he did not install his own team after taking over last year.

Martin tries to press forward

The handwringing comes in spite of the Democratic Party's undeniable success in the vast majority of elections under Martin's leadership, which coincides with Republican President Donald Trump's return to the White House. Democrats over the last year have dominated races for governor and special elections for state legislative and congressional seats. They've also won campaigns for state supreme court, county executive and even county sheriff.

Less than six months before the 2026 midterm elections, however, the concern over Martin's leadership is, at best, an unwanted distraction for a party desperate to break the Republican Party's grip on power in Washington. And, at worst, the conflict will make it harder for Democrats to win in November, while undermining faith in the DNC as it coordinates the party's next presidential nomination process.

Martin declined to comment for this article. He has sought to avoid media interviews over the last week, preferring to keep his head down while focusing on improving the DNC's financial health and scouting potential sites for the presidential convention in 2028.

While in Denver, for example, Martin hosted a crowded fundraising event before three private one-on-one donor meetings in between calls to more donors in other cities.

Former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, whom Martin replaced, said he’s upset and frustrated by those in his party who are publicly challenging Martin's leadership. Harrison was especially angry with Democratic operatives from the podcast “Pod Save America,” who pressed Martin during a recent episode about why he reneged on a promise to release a post-2024 election autopsy.

Even Martin's close allies described the interview as a cringeworthy moment for the first-term chair.

“Am I happy with everything that goes on in the party? No. Am I happy with leadership that sometimes you get? No. But do you see me going out at this juncture trying to make that case? This is not the moment for that,” Harrison said. “We have to be as strong as we possibly can going into November, because we have to win. Once we win, we can fight like hell.”

Asked if he thought Martin's job was at risk, Harrison said, “I don't think so.”

Martin's gamble

Martin is leaning into a 50-state spending strategy that his supporters privately acknowledge is risky.

The DNC each month is distributing $1 million among party organizations in every state and key U.S. territories, besides allocating $5,000 more per month to nearly two dozen Republican-controlled states, to help build party infrastructure.

The investments are overwhelmingly popular with local leaders even as the DNC struggles financially.

The national party reported $22.1 million cash on hand with $18.4 million in debt at the end of March, according to its most recent federal filing. The Republican National Committee, by contrast, reported $116.8 million in the bank with zero debt.

Despite the criticism, DNC national finance co-chair Chris Lowe said the cash disparity is the result of an intentional strategy Martin outlined when running for chair and has executed since taking over the building.

“We made a conscious decision to spend money,” Lowe said. “His view, and I would agree with this view, is the best way to position ourselves for the presidential (election) in ’28 is not just to amass a bunch of money, it’s to have a history of winning elections all across the country up and down the ballot. And that’s what we’ve done.”

Lowe notes that Martin raised more money in his first year as chair than anyone else in an equivalent year when the Democrats did not have the White House. And in 2026 so far, he said, the committee has exceeded its big-dollar fundraising targets every month.

DNC member Michael Kapp, a vocal Martin ally from California, said that he'd “love to have big donors come on board” but that the committee's bank account isn't what matters most.

“Republicans can brag about having more money but they’re not spending it, and they’re not winning,” Kapp said. “At the end of the day the scoreboard matters more than the spreadsheet.”

The secret autopsy

Beyond fundraising, the furor around Martin's leadership centers on his refusal to release the DNC's internal study of the 2024 election — known inside the DNC as the “after-action report” — despite his past promises to do so on his first day as chair.

Kapp, as is the case with many of Martin's allies, said “it's certainly something that should be made public,” but he's willing to accept Martin's argument that it's too close to the November midterm elections to release the autopsy now.

“I know there are lessons to be learned from that,” he said of the report. “I trust Ken. I’ve known the man for 10 years. But at this point, when we’re six, seven months away from the midterms, we need to be focused on the midterms.”

Martin has been aggressively courting big-dollar donors, despite their demonstrated reluctance to give to the committee. He acknowledged pressure related to the autopsy in some of the conversations and indicated changes could be coming soon, according to two people with direct knowledge of the discussions but not authorized to share them.

As Martin looks ahead to 2028, when the DNC is tasked with building out the political infrastructure for the party's next presidential nominee, some presidential prospects are approaching the intraparty conflict with caution.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who is expected to launch a presidential bid, did not answer directly when asked whether Martin should continue to lead the DNC.

“Ken and I work well together. And I say that being somebody who wasn’t originally on board,” Beshear said. “But he made an effort to reach out to me. And, listen, I want to work with whoever’s there. We need a healthy DNC. We need it to work.”

___

AP writer Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed.

Nissan Motor Corp., based in the port city of Yokohama, reported a 533 billion yen ($3.4 billion) loss, smaller than the 670.9 billion yen in red ink racked up the previous fiscal year.

Nissan’s annual sales fell 5% to 12 trillion yen ($76 billion.)

Chief Executive Ivan Espinosa said Nissan was making steady progress and seeing “clear signs” of a turnaround.

“We have moved beyond recovery and are entering a phase of growth,” he said. “We will build on this momentum through disciplined cost management and faster product execution, driving sales and profitability.”

On a quarterly basis, Nissan had a net loss of 282.9 billion yen ($1.8 billion) in the January-March period, compared to the 676 billion yen loss the same period a year ago.

Quarterly sales declined nearly 2% to 3.43 trillion yen ($22 billion).

Nissan said it was working on cost cuts and other efforts to become more profitable. It said it managed to record a better-than-expected operating profit and expects better results for the current year with upcoming model launches.

Nissan, which makes the Altima sedan, Pathfinder sport utility vehicle, Leaf EV and Infiniti luxury models, sold 3.15 million vehicles globally during the fiscal year ended March 31.

Despite the positive spin the executives tried to put on their revival plan, the automaker’s financials are in their worst shape in years. Nissan is slashing thousands of jobs and has sold its headquarters building.

Nissan said it expects to revert into the black for the fiscal year through March 2027, eking out a 20 billion yen ($127 million) profit.

Japanese automakers have all struggled amid powerful competition from the newer Chinese makers, now dominating Asian markets.

There were talks in recent years for Nissan to merge some operations with Japanese rival Honda Motor Co., which has also been struggling, but those talks collapsed. Although a merger is out, there may be limited cooperative partnerships.

Nissan stocks, which have zigzagged over the past year, finished 4% higher.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

Tokyo-based Calbee Inc., which makes potato chips and cereal, said what’s inside remains the same. Calbee's popular snacks are available in Japan's ubiquitous convenience stores and shipped to the United States, China and Australia.

“This measure is intended to help maintain a stable supply of products,” it said in a statement this week.

The change on 14 products in its lineup will start May 25, limiting ink colors to just two, the company said, noting it was necessary to respond flexibly to changing geopolitical conditions.

How long the change might last remains unclear, according to Calbee, founded in 1949. The Calbee group employs more than 5,000 people.

The move is the latest as companies grapple with spiking prices and shortages of oil and other products caused by the war in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Japan, which relies almost entirely on imports for its oil, has so far ridden out the worries relatively calmly, as the government has worked to allay such fears by noting the nation’s oil reserves.

But it's still facing a squeeze on naphtha, an oil-derived product that's used in items like plastics and ink.

There’s no mistaking the stark change in the chip’s packaging.

Calbee’s lightly salted chips, known as “usu shio,” originally came in a bright-orange bag with an image of yellow chips and a potato-man mascot wearing a hat.

The new packaging just has monochrome lettering.

The company, which also makes shrimp chips, or “kappa ebisen,” had just announced an ambitious growth strategy in March.

“Calbee will continue to respond flexibly and promptly to changes in its operating environment, including geopolitical risks, and remains committed to maintaining a stable supply of safe, high‑quality products,” it said. “We ask for your understanding.”

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

But this is the Stanley Cup playoffs and toughness is asked of all the players.

Dorofeyev took a hard shot off his right knee in the second period Tuesday night, forcing him to leave the ice for a few minutes. But Dorofeyev, who earlier had a power-play goal, scored at 4:10 of overtime to give Vegas a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, moving the Golden Knights a victory away from advancing to the Western Conference final.

“I just blocked a shot,” said Dorofeyev, who has seven goals this postseason. “It’s kind of a (lousy) part of my job, but it hurts more when I miss it. I just had to get myself together and get back on the ice.”

Game 6 of the second-round series is Thursday night at Anaheim.

The Golden Knights can reach the conference final for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2023. Anaheim, making its first playoff appearance in eight years, will try force a Game 7 back in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Tomas Hertl had gone 29 games going back to the regular season without a goal, but now has two in two games. He also had the primary assist on Dorofeyev’s power-play goal in the first period.

Jack Eichel had two assists, including the primary one on the winner.

Carter Hart stopped 34 shots, two nights after allowing four goals on 23 shots in a 4-3 loss in Anaheim. Hart bounced back from a similar situation in the opening series, allowing four goals on 12 shots in Game 3 at Utah before winning five of his next six starts.

“We have all the faith in the world in Carter,” said Vegas defenseman Rasmus Andersson, who disputed the notion Hart was coming off a down performance. “I look at the Utah series and he was really good there, and he stole a couple of games for us. ... But every time you lose a game in the playoffs, it’s about how you bounce back. I thought all 20 guys who played tonight bounced back and Carter led that.”

Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger scored his first career playoff goal from the left circle to tie it at 2 with 3:05 left in regulation. Beckett Sennecke extended his goals streak to four games with a power-play score. Mason McTavish and Cutter Gauthier each has two assists and Lukas Dostal made 29 saves.

“I know this group’s going to bounce back,” Zellweger said. “We have all playoffs long.”

Ducks center Ryan Poehling was helped off the ice after being checked hard into the boards by Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb nearly midway through the first period. McNabb received a five-minute major for interference and was sent to the dressing room with a game misconduct, costing the Golden Knights a first-pair blue liner.

Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said he wouldn’t address whether the officials made the right call to make that a major penalty and eject McNabb, but quickly questioned why there wasn’t call when Vegas defenseman Dylan Coghlan was hit at the end of regulation.

“I just don’t get it,” Tortorella said.

The Ducks got a goal off the McNabb-induced power play when Sennecke scored off a rebound. Dorofeyev answered after taking the puck from Chris Kreider, shifting to the slot and snapping a shot past Dostal.

Hertl’s rebound goal at 4:48 of the third period nearly stood up before Zellweger took advantage of extended offensive zone time to force extra play.

___

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

Political activist Denise Powell had a lead of about 2 percentage points over state Sen. John Cavanaugh, out of more than 51,000 votes counted.

Douglas County, which accounts for more than 90% of the district, has a history of counting a significant number of votes after election day, and county officials were unable to provide an estimate of the number of outstanding ballots late Tuesday. The county expects to provide additional information about outstanding ballots on Wednesday afternoon.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Brinkner Harding, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, in what will be one of the Democrats' top targets in the November general election. The seat has been held for much of the last decade by U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican who is retiring.

"Hopefully, we wake up tomorrow morning to some good news," Powell said at her election night party. “I think people are ready for that fired up mom. I think that they’re looking for change, and hopefully they see me as the person to help Nebraska to bring it."

The district draws national attention because Nebraska is one of just two states that splits its electoral votes in presidential elections. 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.

Some Democrats contended that the very survival of the “blue dot,” a point of intense local pride, was at stake on Tuesday.

Powell's supporters argued that a Cavanaugh primary victory would jeopardize the district's special 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.

The issue has defined the primary contest, where the leading candidates have much in common ideologically, perhaps more than any other.

Outside an Omaha polling place, Beth Pepitone said she voted for Powell because she wanted someone who would stand up to Trump.

“I just think we’re going in the wrong direction and it’s very sad,” said Pepitone. “I want to preserve the ‘blue dot.’”

Clarity for key Senate contest

A key Senate contest also got clarity on Tuesday night, as U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts easily won the GOP primary in his bid to seek his first full term. Ricketts was appointed to replace former Sen. Ben Sasse in 2023 and then won a 2024 special election.

Ricketts' real test will come in the November general election against independent candidate Dan Osborn, an industrial mechanic and military veteran who came within 7 points of defeating Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer in her 2024 reelection bid.

Democrats are not expected to promote their own competitor in the general election, even after Cindy Burbank won the party's primary. Burbank has said she plans to drop out of the race and rally behind Osborn as part of her party's broader strategy to defeat Ricketts this fall. On her website, Burbank says Osborn “deserves a fair shot against Ricketts.”

The Nebraska Democratic Party said it would support the independent Osborn for the general election as well.

Meanwhile, in the race for governor, incumbent Republican Gov. Jim Pillen won his party’s primary, while former state Sen. Lynne Walz won the Democratic nomination.

Opponents say the ‘blue dot’ is in danger

In the 2nd District, the Democratic argument against Cavanaugh has little to do with his politics or policies.

His opponents and groups backing them have flooded mailboxes, airwaves and social media warning that if he wins the congressional primary, Nebraska's Republican governor would appoint a conservative Republican to replace him in the Legislature.

That move, they say, could give state Republicans enough votes to enact a conservative wish list that includes stricter limitations on abortion and transgender rights.

It could also empower Republicans to enact midcycle redistricting or change the state's unusual system of splitting presidential electoral votes, some Democrats argue. Republicans failed in 2024 to pass a bill that would have made Nebraska the 49th state to award its Electoral College votes on a winner-take-all basis.

“Our Blue Dot. We fought hard for it. But if John Cavanaugh goes to Congress, it could all fall down,” cautions one TV ad by the super PAC New Democrat Majority.

EMILY’s List, a national group that supports women running for office, has put its reach and money behind Powell, calling Cavanaugh’s candidacy “a gift to MAGA Republicans.”

A contentious primary

While all the Democratic contenders cite affordability and opposition to Trump administration policies — from immigration and healthcare to military actions — the top contenders began attacking one another more aggressively in the days leading up to the primary.

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's 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.

Cavanaugh talked up his support for labor unions, specifically the Teamsters, as he addressed supporters Tuesday night.

“This campaign is fueled by working people,” he said. “We stand in solidarity with those working people.”

The winner of Tuesday's primary will head to a highly competitive general election.

Trump won the district in 2016, and the retiring Bacon, who has clashed with Trump, has held the House seat for five terms.

At an Omaha polling place, independent Hayden Kephart said her biggest concern is inflation.

“Obviously the price of everything has really gone up,” she said. “And the price of oil can be a factor in everyday life and travel plans.”

___

Peoples reported from New York. Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

The Spurs got both, much to the dismay of the Timberwolves.

“They ain’t mutually exclusive,” Wembanyama said. “I’m looking for both.”

Wembanyama had 27 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocks as San Antonio beat Minnesota 126-97 on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their second-round series.

“I feel like we got the Vic that you've seen all year,” Spurs guard Stephon Castle said. “I think his maturity level was off the charts. I mean, he played smart, didn’t really foul much, took the shots that were there for him. So, I mean, when he’s playing like that, playing aggressive with everything that he brings for us defensively, I feel like we’re pretty hard to beat.”

Wembanyama was ejected from Game 4 on Sunday night because of an elbow he threw early in the second quarter after getting tangled with Minnesota’s Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels while grabbing a rebound. Wembanyama swung his arms and his elbow struck Reid in the face.

Officials looked at the play and upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2, which comes with an automatic ejection. The NBA, as it always does in those situations, further reviewed the play after the game and decided Monday that the ejection was sufficient. It could have fined or even suspended Wembanyama for Game 5 and beyond if it felt that was warranted.

“I don’t think we even thought about it much at all,” Timberwolves guard Mike Conley Jr. told reporters at Minnesota’s shootaround Tuesday. “I think once the ruling came down, it was just like, we expected that and just moved forward. It’s one of those things. We don’t want guys to miss games. We want to play against the best. We don’t want to have guys missing games like that.”

Even before it was determined Wembanyama would play in Game 5, the 7-foot-4 star from France went through his normal off-day routines in preparation to play. He quickly put the incident behind him, to the point he misspoke on the timeline between Games 4 and 5.

“I mean, it was two games ago,” Wembanyama said. “It’s the playoffs. I’m focused. I was focused on the game today and now I’m focusing on the game in three days. It’s the playoff. We got to move on and I got to care about my team.”

San Antonio has a chance to reach the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2017 and Wembanyama's historic postseason has been key.

Wembanyama (22 years, 128 days) is the third-youngest player in league history with 25 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a postseason game behind Magic Johnson (20 years, 276 days) and Luka Doncic (21 years, 177 days).

Wembanyama set an early tone, becoming the first Spurs player since Tim Duncan in 2002 with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the first half of a playoff game.

While the series continued to be extremely physical, Wembanyama remained calm.

After being approached by Minnesota’s Ayo Dosunmu after getting tangled up with McDaniels in the first quarter, Wembanyama would run untouched to the rim for an emphatic windmill dunk.

“Yeah, I feel like the rage baiting would’ve been maybe one of the strategies,” Wembanyama said. “I feel like I need to stay composed as a team.”

Wembanyama finished with just one personal foul. He was 9 for 16 from the field, including 2 for 5 on 3-pointers.

___

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

That’s when Will Fowler scored on a breakaway opportunity to score the games lone goal.

In the VISAA, the North Cross girls defeated Walsingham Academy, 7-0 in the state quarterfinals. The Raiders moved to 19-0 as they advanced to the semifinals.

In the VISAA lacrosse tournaments, North Cross boys defeated Trinity at Meadow View, 21-8. The Raiders girls program defeated Fredericksburg Academy, 21-4. Both programs are the top seeds in the VISAA DII brackets as they advance to host semifinals games.

Three people on the cruise died, including a Dutch couple that health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

The French passenger hospitalized in Paris has a severe form of the disease that has caused life-threatening lung and heart problems, said Dr. Xavier Lescure, an infectious disease specialist at Bichat Hospital.

He said the woman is on a life-support device that pumps blood through an artificial lung, providing it with oxygen and returning it to the body. The hope is that the device relieves enough pressure on the lungs and heart to give them some time to recover. Lescure called it “the final stage of supportive care.”

With the evacuation of all passengers and many crew members completed, the MV Hondius is now sailing back to the Netherlands, where it will be cleaned and disinfected.

The director of the World Health Organization said confirmed and suspected cases have only been reported among the cruise ship's passengers or crew.

“At the moment, there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director general. He added: “But of course the situation could change, and given the long incubation period of the virus, it’s possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks.”

The latest person confirmed to be infected is a Spanish passenger who tested positive for hantavirus after being evacuated from the ship, Spain’s health ministry said Tuesday. The passenger was in quarantine at a military hospital in Madrid.

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.

Argentina sending experts to investigate source of outbreak

Argentina’s health ministry said Tuesday a team of scientific experts will be dispatched in the coming days to investigate the origin of outbreak.

A Dutch couple, identified by the WHO as the first cruise passengers infected with hantavirus, spent several months in Argentina and neighboring South American countries before boarding the cruise ship. The husband and wife later died.

Argentine officials have said the couple took a bird-watching tour that included a stop at a garbage dump where they may have been exposed to rodents carrying the infection. The health ministry said its team will investigate the landfill and other locations the couple visited where rats known to carry the virus are found, although local officials in the province where the cruise departed have challenged the theory it began there.

The evacuation of the MV Hondius is complete

A total of 87 passengers and 35 crew were escorted from the ship to shore in Tenerife by personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks in a carefully choreographed effort that ended Monday night.

Two aircraft arrived in the southern Dutch city of Eindhoven overnight carrying Dutch nationals as well as passengers from Australia and New Zealand and crew members from the Philippines. All were placed into quarantine, according to the Dutch government.

Some crew stayed aboard the ship and set course for the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, said ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions.

Hantavirus usually spreads from rodent droppings and is not easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms — which can include fever, chills and muscle aches — usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

WHO chief Tedros has advised that returning passengers should stay in quarantine, either in their homes or in other facilities, for 42 days. He added that WHO cannot enforce its guidance, and that different countries may handle the monitoring of passengers without symptoms in different ways.

Dutch hospital staff quarantined

Twelve employees at a Dutch hospital where a passenger from the Hondius is being treated have to quarantine for six weeks after improperly handling bodily fluids, Radboud University Medical Center said in a statement Monday night.

The “risk of infection is low” the hospital said, but it was requiring the dozen employees to go into preventive quarantine as a “precaution.”

The hospital in the eastern city of Nijmegen received a passenger last week from one of the evacuation flights that landed in the Netherlands and the person has since tested positive for hantavirus.

Blood and urine from the patient should have been handled “according to a stricter procedure,” the hospital said.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the WHO says nine hantavirus cases have been confirmed worldwide. Two suspected cases have been reported but not confirmed. ___

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press writers Mike Corder and Molly Quell in The Hague, Netherlands; Suman Naishadham in Madrid; Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lauran Neergaard in Washington; and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.

At 22 years old, Wembanyama is the third-youngest player in NBA history to post that stat line in a playoff game, trailing only Magic Johnson (20) and Luka Doncic (21).

“I was fresh, feeling good,” Wembanyama said. “Honestly, it’s hard to tell. It was just Game 5. Obviously, I’m going to be excited (and) to have butterflies. So, excitement is not something abnormal at this point in the playoffs.”

Keldon Johnson had 21 points, De'Aaron Fox added 18 and Stephon Castle had 17 as San Antonio moved a game away from the Western Conference finals. The Spurs can advance to face Oklahoma City with a victory in Game 6 on Friday in Minneapolis.

Anthony Edwards, who was limited to eight points in the first half, finished with 20 points for Minnesota. Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels added 17 points apiece.

Wembanyama returned after being ejected early in the second quarter of Minnesota's 114-109 victory Sunday during Game 4 in Minneapolis. Wembanyama received a Flagrant 2 foul after elbowing Naz Reid in the throat.

Both teams continued to hammer each other, with Reid receiving a technical foul for pushing Wembanyama in the back on a Minnesota free throw with 2:24 left in the first half.

“I felt like, to start the game, we knew it was going to be physical,” Castle said. “So, just making that a point of emphasis and trying to keep them off the offensive glass. I feel like we started the game off well and that’s where our runs came from. But obviously they’re a good team. They’re going to go on their own run. So, just try not to hang our head when that does happen and be able to respond and spark another run for ourselves.”

The foul by Reid fired up Wembanyama, not that he needed any additional motivation.

Wembanyama was 6 for 8 from the field and 2 for 3 on 3-pointers in scoring 18 points in the opening quarter.

“I think it’s super important for us the way we start the game, because it sets the tone," Wembanyama said, “Now the challenge is to do it for 48 minutes.”

The Timberwolves opened the third quarter on a 14-2 run to tie the game at 61 after trailing by 18 points in the first half. Minnesota tipped away three attempted alley-oop passes to Wembanyama before they reached the 7-foot-4 post.

The Spurs recaptured a double-digit lead in the third spurred by Johnson's block on Rudy Gobert's attempted dunk followed by his short jumper after bodying Edwards under the rim.

“We went away from what was working," Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. "Our defense just cratered. We gave up 30 points, I think, in the last six minutes of the third quarter. A lot of it was just ball contain, ball contain stuff.”

San Antonio held its opponent under 100 points for the fifth time in 10 games this postseason.

“I thought we did a good job of having resistance early in the clock," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "They’ve shown as the series has gone on, they’ve tried to play faster at times and they’re tough when they get downhill. I think when we’ve had better starting spots, more connectivity at the start of possessions, I think it’s really helped us be on a string and be organized and connected defensively.”

___

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

Tournament officials announced this year’s field will feature 180 elite junior golfers representing 32 states and six countries, including Canada, China, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United States.

Widely regarded as one of the top junior golf tournaments in the country, the Scott Robertson Memorial has built a longstanding reputation for attracting many of the sport’s future collegiate and professional standouts. Organizers expect the 2026 field to once again include some of the top-ranked junior golfers from around the nation and internationally.

“It’s pretty amazing,” said tournament chairman John Newton. “Tom Robertson started it in memory of his son, Scott,and we are continuing to try to build on that tradition and strive for the excellence. We’ll have 180 players this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.Many in the top 50 ranked and in the top hundred. We got some great local kids that are playing and the talent field is unparalleled.”

Players will compete over 54 holes at Roanoke Country Club, a Donald Ross-inspired course known for its rolling terrain, demanding greens and championship-level layout.

Beyond the competition, the tournament also supports First Tee — Roanoke Valley, with all proceeds benefiting the organization’s mission of helping young people develop life skills through the game of golf.

Tournament officials said the event also provides a significant economic boost for the Roanoke Valley by bringing hundreds of visiting families, coaches and supporters to the area throughout the weekend.

The Scott Robertson Memorial has remained one of the region’s signature sporting events by emphasizing competition, sportsmanship and hospitality while continuing its tradition of showcasing some of junior golf’s brightest future stars.

Your out-the-door forecast is a chilly one as well, so you will need to grab the coat as you head out the door. We warm up quickly Tuesday afternoon with our highs reaching back into the 70s! It will be a fantastic day to get outside later on in the day.

We are seeing temperatures slowly increasing for the second half of the week and weekend, thanks to the ridge out toward the west making its way into the eastern half of the country.

Besides the temperature change, we do have a shift headed our way Wednesday as our next weather maker moves into the region. Showers and storms will head our way Wednesday afternoon and evening, some of which could be on the stronger side. Heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts are possible with these storms.

Once we get through Wednesday’s stormy weather, we are dry and beautiful for the second half of the week! Temperatures rebound quickly into the 70s, 80s and possibly 90s for the second half of the week and weekend.

The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner tipped his cap, then disappeared from view for a quick debrief with Pirates manager Don Kelly.

Sure, the competitor in Skenes wanted the opportunity to go back out for the ninth in search for the first complete game victory of his big league career. The remarkably mature 23-year-old who is constantly trying to keep things in perspective knew better.

His first pitch of the eighth, a fastball, hit just 93.7 mph, pedestrian by his standards.

So Skenes told Kelly he was done after 98 pitches and eight innings of two-hit brilliance and the chance for that elusive shutout had to wait. Skenes quietly gave way to Gregory Soto, who got the final three outs of a 3-1 win over Colorado that pushed Skenes' record to 6-2 and whittled his ERA to 1.98.

“It’s a long season,” Skenes said. "That was start nine out of 32, 33 and then hopefully eight or nine more after that. So, just got to see the big picture.”

One that seems to be growing ever brighter for Skenes. Two years and a day after his electric major league debut, Skenes is somehow surpassing the outsized expectations that followed him to Pittsburgh.

Consider this: Skenes took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Rockies, the third time in his last four starts he hasn't allowed a hit until the fifth or later.

Colorado spent six innings flailing away against Skenes before Mickey Moniak's sinking line-drive single to left-center with one out in the seventh. Pirates centerfielder Oneil Cruz stretched out every inch of his 6-foot-7 frame to make the grab, only to see it bounce a foot or two in front of his glove.

“I ran so hard that I’ll tell you right now, I would not run after my kids like that,” Cruz said afterward with a laugh.

And while the Pirates remain without a no-hitter since Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon teamed for a 10-inning masterpiece in July 1997 — nearly five years before Skenes was born — there's a growing sense that it's not a matter of ‘if’ Skenes will make history, but when.

Kelly turned to pitching coach Bill Murphy at one point as Skenes was retiring 18 of his first 19 hitters and admitted he felt like he was enduring a flashback of sorts to his time as a player in Detroit in the early 2010s, when it seemed like Tigers ace Justin Verlander could do no wrong.

“You were shocked when he gave up a hit,” Kelly said. “And Paul is on that type of run right now. Just the way that he’s throwing the ball, the command in the zone too, and then to be able to mix it up with all of his pitches. Impressive to watch."

The rookie whose fastball would hit triple-digits with ease has dialed back a bit on the velocity, focusing more on placement and a deep repertoire that keeps opponents off balance. By his count there are seven different pitches he can call upon at any time.

Nearly all of them were working against Colorado. Skenes struck out his first six batters. Willi Castro tried to break Skenes' rhythm by laying down a bunt to lead off the third.

The ball bounced right back to Skenes, who tossed it to first and said “nice bunt” to no one in particular as the PNC Park crowd booed the attempt.

Skenes didn't boo. He just thought “it was kind of funny" and then went back to work while becoming the first Pirates pitcher since 1961 to have consecutive starts of eight innings or more while allowing two hits without issuing a walk.

It's heady territory to be clear. Not that Skenes wants to talk about it. He prefers to bury himself in the process and let the results speak for themselves.

“He’ll tinker with stuff. Wind up. Stretch. Pitches. Pitch grips,” Kelly said. “It’s just really, honestly, the way he goes about it every day, whether it’s with the actual pitching or his conditioning, the way he gets after in the weight room. It’s amazing to watch.”

And he's still just getting started. Skenes doesn't turn 24 until later this month. His next turn in the rotation comes on Sunday when Philadelphia visits. When his towering No. 30 takes the hill against the Phillies, what happened on Tuesday night against the Rockies won't matter. No one knows that better than Skenes.

“Every start is new,” he said. "And you can get humbled real quick.”

Getting hit, however, is another matter entirely.

___

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

At Glenvar, the school announced the departure of boys basketball coach Hank Luton after a tenure marked by mentorship and player development.

In a statement released by the school, Glenvar officials praised Luton for his dedication to student-athletes and the Highlanders program.

“Coach Luton has dedicated himself to the student-athletes of Glenvar, providing leadership, mentorship, and a strong commitment to the development of our basketball program,” the statement said. “His impact extends beyond the court, as he has helped shape the character and work ethic of the young men he has coached.”

School officials also highlighted the values Luton emphasized during his time with the program, including accountability, teamwork and personal growth.

“We are grateful for Coach Luton’s time at Glenvar High School and wish him and his family the very best in his future endeavors,” the statement continued.

Glenvar said it will immediately begin the search for the next head coach of the boys basketball program.

Meanwhile, Franklin County High School announced the hiring of Tessa Hampton as the Eagles’ new girls basketball head coach.

Hampton arrives at Franklin County after serving as an assistant coach at Shenandoah University. She brings nearly six years of college coaching experience, including previous stops at DeSales University and Emory & Henry University.

A former player at Emory & Henry, Hampton was a four-year player for the Wasps and also enjoyed a decorated high school career at Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School in North Carolina, where she was part of three state championship teams.

Franklin County officials welcomed Hampton to the Eagles family in the school’s announcement and expressed excitement about the future of the girls basketball program under her leadership.

The festival launched with a tribute to director Peter Jackson, handing the “Lord of the Rings” filmmaker an honorary Palme d’Or. He was introduced by actor Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins in Jackson's fantasy franchise, one of many notable faces on the Cannes red carpet, including Bong Joon Ho, Joan Collins, Heidi Klum and James Franco.

“I've never figured out why I'm getting a Palme d'Or. I'm not a Palme d'Or sorta guy,” said the shaggy haired New Zealand filmmaker.

Jackson was then serenaded with a rendition of the song “Get Back,” a nod to his lauded 2021 documentary about The Beatles. The director sat stage right mouthing the lyrics.

Jane Fonda and Gong Li officially opened the festival, with Fonda declaring: “Cinema has always been an act of resistance.”

It was a fitting observation for a film festival that has already seen politics take center stage. At the introduction of the jury that will decide the Palme d’Or, Cannes’ top honor, jury members spoke bluntly about holding a film festival during a time of geopolitical conflict.

The Palme d'Or jury weighs politics in film

Paul Laverty, the Scottish screenwriter known for his films with director Ken Loach, pointed toward this year's Cannes poster, of “Thelma and Louise,” while discussing attending Cannes during what he called “genocide in Gaza.” Quoting “King Lear,” he said: “Madmen lead the blind.”

“Cannes has a wonderful poster,” said Laverty. “Isn’t it fascinating to see some of them like Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo blacklisted because of their views in opposing the murder of women and children in Gaza? Shame on Hollywood people who do that.”

The nine-member jury is being presided over by Park Chan-wook, the South Korean filmmaker of “Oldboy” and “No Other Choice,” who said that politics and cinema go hand in hand.

“Art and politics are not concepts that are in conflict with each other,” said Park. “One cannot disqualify a film on the pretext that it has a political message. Just as one cannot reject a film because it would not be political enough.”

Other jury members include Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård, Ruth Negga and Demi Moore, who two years ago was celebrated in Cannes for her comeback performance in “The Substance.”

Moore spoke about a topic that's already dominated conversation at this year's festival.

“AI is here, and so to fight it is to, in a sense, to fight something that is a battle that we will lose,” she said. “So to find ways in which we can work with it, I think, is a more valuable path,” she said. “Are we doing enough to protect ourselves? I don’t know. My inclination would be to say probably not.”

Hollywood takes a hiatus

What isn’t at Cannes has been as buzzed about as much as what is. Hollywood is largely absent this year.

While recent blockbusters like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Elvis” have touched down at previous incarnations, studio films this year have been either scared away by the possibility of a rocky reception or by the high cost of flying in A-listers to the Cote d’Azur. The closest thing in Cannes' slate is an anniversary celebration for “Fast & Furious.”

Cannes artistic director Thierry Frémaux said Hollywood “is reshaping” in the midst of Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

“I hope the studio films will come back,” Frémaux told reporters on Monday.

Oscar season starts early

Cannes has become better known for its lengthy standing ovations than its boos.

This year, a long list of big-name filmmakers will have center stage. Among the filmmakers set to unveil new movies are Pedro Almodovar (“Bitter Christmas”), James Gray (“Paper Tiger”), Na Hong-jin (“Hope”), Pawel Pawlikowski (“Fatherland”) and Ryusuke Hamaguchi (“All of a Sudden”).

If Cannes has waned as a global launchpad for studio releases, it has grown as a breeding ground for Oscar contenders.

Two years ago, Sean Baker’s “Anora” won the Palme before winning best picture. Last year, Cannes selections like “Sentimental Value,” “The Secret Agent” and “It Was Just an Accident” went on to play prominent roles in awards season.

More often than not, the specialty distributor Neon has been at the forefront of the Cannes-to-Oscars pipeline. Neon has backed the past six Palme d’Or winners, an unprecedented streak that it may be poised to extend. The company is attached to more than a quarter of the 22 films in competition for the Palme d’Or.

While Cannes may be light on big Hollywood movies, it isn’t lacking in stars. Set to appear over the next two weeks are Kristen Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Adam Driver, Javier Bardem, Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rami Malek, Sebastian Stan, Sandra Hüller and many others.

How much any of this will serve as backdrop for “The White Lotus” remains to be seen. The fourth season of Mike White’s acclaimed HBO series is based around a trip to Cannes. Last month, the show began shooting on the French Riviera.

On Monday, the global tribunal in The Hague unsealed an arrest warrant for Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former national police chief who first enforced then- President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drugs crackdowns in which thousands of mostly petty suspects were killed.

Originally issued in November, the warrant 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 in the Philippines.

“If I have something to answer for, I will face those in our local courts and not before foreigners,” dela Rosa told reporters in the Senate, which took him into “protective custody” Monday when he reappeared after months of absence.

“I will avail of all legal processes,” he said, and pleaded to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: “Don’t bring me to The Hague.”

After winning the presidency in 2016, Duterte designated dela Rosa, a loyal ally, as head of the national police force, which enforced the brutal campaign against illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa also once headed the police force in the southern city of Davao, where Duterte was a longtime mayor and built a political name for his extra tough approach to crimes.

“My role was to lead the war on drugs, and that war on drugs was not meant to annihilate people,” dela Rosa said when he was asked about the huge death toll.

“When the lives of police officers came under threat, of course they needed to defend themselves,” dela Rosa said.

Duterte’s six-year term ended in mid-2022. He was arrested last year and detained by the ICC in the Netherlands, where he is awaiting trial for alleged crimes against humanity in connection with several killings under his crackdowns.

Duterte withdrew the Philippines in 2019 from the ICC, in a move human rights activists say was aimed at escaping accountability. The court, however, said it retained jurisdiction over crimes committed when the Philippines was still a member.

Asked if the Philippines will enforce the ICC’s arrest warrant against dela Rosa, officials suggested they were ready and could surrender him to the global court’s jurisdiction like Duterte under a Philippine law enacted to address crimes against humanity like genocide.

“We have an obligation that all those who should be held to account should be held responsible,” Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a news briefing.

Dela Rosa cannot invoke a privilege of immunity from arrest while attending formal sessions or staying within the Senate because the crimes he allegedly committed were serious and punishable by a long prison term, Castro said.

Police have deployed nearly 350 law enforcers outside the Senate, sparking concerns from dela Rosa and allied senators, but officials said they were assigned to keep order and not to eventually help arrest the senator.

Rather than waning, a national redistricting battle that began 10 months ago has intensified — inflamed by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act and provided grounds for states to try to eliminate voting districts with large minority populations.

Republican lawmakers in Louisiana are wrestling with how politically aggressive to be when redrawing House districts after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a majority-Black district as an illegal racial gerrymander.

The ripples of the Louisiana ruling already have led to new U.S. House districts in Tennessee and have extended to Alabama, where Republican Gov. Kay Ivey announced an Aug. 11 special primary for four of the state’s seven congressional districts. That came after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned an order mandating use of a map with two largely Black districts. The state plans to switch to a map passed in 2023 that has only one majority-Black district, giving Republicans a chance to win an additional seat.

Republicans think they could gain as many as 14 seats from new House maps enacted so far in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain six seats from new maps in California and Utah. The Virginia Supreme Court last week struck down a redistricting effort that could have yielded four more winnable seats for Democrats.

Missouri court upholds split of Kansas City

Missouri was the second Republican state, after Texas, to redraw its congressional districts at Trump’s urging last year.

Tuesday's two unanimous state Supreme Court decisions, delivered just hours after arguments, “are a complete victory for Missouri and for the people's elected representatives,” Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said in a statement.

The rulings sided “against voters in every respect,” the ACLU and Campaign Legal Center, which represented suing voters, said in a joint statement. “This state — and our democracy — are worse off for this outcome.”

Attorneys challenging Missouri's new map had focused on changes to a Kansas City-based district long represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who previously was the city’s first Black mayor.

The new map takes a compact urban district that covered 20 miles (32 kilometers) and two counties and stretches it 200 miles (322 kilometers) over 15 counties, distorting it “into a sprawling behemoth that cuts clear across the state to unite territories that share nothing in common,” said Abha Khanna, a partner in the Elias Law Group, a Democratic firm.

But the Supreme Court upheld a March decision by a lower court, which found the map as a whole satisfied the compactness requirement even though the Kansas City district looks less compact. No Missouri court has ever struck down a congressional map for not being compact, said attorney John Gore, who defended the districts on behalf of the Republican Party.

A second case heard by the high court centered on whether the new map took effect in December, as asserted by Hanaway and Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, or whether it should have been suspended when referendum signatures were submitted.

To suspend the map before validating the signatures would let activists temporarily undercut laws by submitting boxes of fraudulent signatures, Missouri Solicitor General Lou Capozzi argued.

But to not immediately suspend the map “would dilute the referendum right, if not destroy it altogether,” said attorney Jonathan Hawley, arguing for voters who sued.

The Supreme Court agreed with Republican officials, who contend the new districts can be suspended only after Hoskins determines the petition meets constitutional requirements and has enough valid signatures. Hoskins has until Aug. 4, the day of Missouri’s primary elections, to make that determination.

South Carolina senator sees risk in redistricting

Trump urged South Carolina to redraw its congressional districts ahead of the November elections in an attempt to help Republicans win another seat.

A House committee endorsed a map Tuesday that could eliminate the state's only Democratic-held seat, and the chamber voted previously to let lawmakers return after their regular work ends Thursday to further consider redistricting.

But the Senate had to give permission too. The 29-17 vote failed, coming just two votes short of the two-thirds needed, as five Republicans joined all Democrats in opposition.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said he expects redistricting to come up again in some way before the June 9 primary.

Trump had said on social media that he was closely watching the redistricting vote, urging South Carolina senators to “be bold and courageous” and to delay the congressional primaries so new districts can be drawn.

Although Republicans have a supermajority in the chamber, some GOP senators weren’t sure the proposed map would guarantee the party could unseat longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn. They also said it could push enough Democrats into other districts to backfire, resulting in a 5-2 or even a 4-3 Republican split.

Massey acknowledged the pressure from Trump but said he doesn’t like being asked to bend to someone’s will instead of doing what’s best for his state.

“I got too much Southern in my blood,” Massey said. “I’ve got too much resistance in my heritage.”

Louisiana teen recounts family's fight

A state Senate committee was considering how to reshape congressional districts — currently represented by four Republicans and two Democrats — in response to the Supreme Court ruling.

Republican-backed options aimed to eliminate either one or both of those Democratic seats.

But Democrats backed a map that still would allow for two majority-Black districts centered on Baton Rouge and New Orleans. They argued that would comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling while retaining fairness.

As a hearing stretched late into Tuesday night, Josiah Hardy, a high school sophomore, told lawmakers that his great-grandfather fought for civil rights and equal representation in Louisiana when Black voters were disenfranchised.

“Why are we still fighting the same fight decades later,” Hardy said. “My great-grandfather believed democracy is stronger when more people are included, not excluded. Further generations should not have to keep fighting the same battles for fairness and voting rights that leaders before us have already fought.”

___

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

Richins, 35, faces several decades to life in prison on five felony convictions, including aggravated murder.

Prosecutors said she laced her husband Eric Richins’ cocktail with five times the lethal dose of fentanyl in 2022 at their home near the ski town of Park City. She then published a children’s book about a boy coping with the death of his father shortly before her arrest in 2023.

Richins' attorneys declined to comment Tuesday before her sentencing hearing, which falls on the day her husband would have turned 44.

The statements from their sons, who were ages 9, 7 and 5 when their father died, came in a memo from prosecutors urging Judge Richard Mrazik to sentence Richins to life without parole.

The oldest child, now 13, said he wants the court to know that he does not miss his mom.

“I’m afraid if she gets out, she will come after me and my brothers, my whole family," he said. “I think she would come and take us and not do good things to us, like hurt us.”

Prosecutors allege that the boy suffered emotional and physical abuse from his mother, which they say is supported by findings from the Utah Division of Child and Family Services that are contained in a sealed court document. Agency officials could not comment on the allegations, as most records concerning minors are heavily protected, spokesperson Josh Loftin said.

Richins was a real estate agent with a house-flipping business who was millions in debt and planning a future with another man, prosecutors said. 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.

Her aggravated murder conviction alone is punishable either by a range of 25 years to life in prison, or a life sentence without parole. Prosecutors did not push for the death penalty.

Jurors also found Richins guilty of 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 that made him black out.

The Richins' middle child, now 11, refuted his mother's claim that she slept in his bedroom with him on the night of his father's death. He recalled unusual circumstances from that night, like being put to bed early without a bath, his parents' bedroom being locked and the television blaring from inside. The boy said his mother yelled at him to go away after he used a broom to try to reach a key to their bedroom, where Richins later told a 911 operator she found her husband cold to the touch.

The 11-year-old told the judge he is sad that his dad can no longer take him camping and fishing, coach him in sports or be present for major milestones. Like his older brother, he said he would feel unsafe if his mom wasn't behind bars.

“With (her) in jail, I will be able to continue to feel safe and live a happy and successful life without fear of (her) hurting me or anyone I love,” his statement read.

The youngest son said he feels “hateful and ashamed” when people talk about his mom because “she took away my dad.” He said he would be ”so scared" if his mother got out of prison.

“Once she is gone I will feel happy and I will feel safer and relaxed and trust people more,” said the boy, whose current age was not included in the memo.

Richins also faces more than two dozen money-related criminal charges in a separate case that has not yet gone to trial.

The reigning National League Cy Young winner carried a no-hitter into the seventh while retiring 18 of the first 19 batters he faced. Colorado's Mickey Moniak broke up the no-hit bid when he dumped a single into left-center field with one out in the seventh. Skenes (6-2) retired Hunter Goodman and TJ Rumfield to end the threat.

Skenes returned for the eighth, giving up a one-out double to Troy Johnston before getting a flyout and a ground ball. The 23-year-old received a standing ovation on his way back to the dugout after throwing out Ezequiel Tovar to end the eighth. Skenes tipped his cap before making his way down the dugout steps after finishing with a season-high 10 strikeouts and lowering his ERA to 1.98.

Six days after allowing two hits over eight shutout innings in a victory over Arizona, Skenes was perhaps even better against Colorado. He struck out the first six Rockies who came to the plate, the second time in his three-year career he has fanned that many hitters to start the game.

Colorado's Willi Castro ended that run when he laid down a bunt with the first pitch of the third inning. The ball went right back to Skenes, who scooped it up and easily tossed to first as the PNC Park booed.

Skenes kept on rolling, his only hiccup coming in the fifth when he hit Johnston in the left foot on a 2-1 pitch with two out. Johnston was promptly thrown out trying to steak second base to end the inning.

Though Skenes threw 68 of his 98 pitches for strikes, he didn't come back on in the ninth in search of his first career shutout. There were brief chants of “We Want Paul! We Want Paul!” when reliever Gregory Soto came on. Soto allowed a a two-out RBI-double by Goodman but recovered for his fourth save.

Oneil Cruz had three hits for the Pirates. Nick Gonzales added two hits, including an RBI-single off Michael Lorenzen (2-5) in the first that gave Skenes all the offense he would need.

Up next

The series continues Wednesday, with Jose Quintana (1-2, 3.90 ERA) set to start for Colorado against Mitch Keller (4-1, 2.87).

___

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

Vast crowds in downtown Buenos Aires marched toward the government headquarters to denounce budget shortfalls eroding the financial foundation of the country's higher education. Argentina's public university system, a cornerstone of its well-educated workforce cherished by its large middle class, has been tuition-free since 1949 and produced five Nobel Prize laureates.

Congress passed a law last year to fund universities’ operational costs and raise teacher salaries in line with high inflation. But the government has not implemented it as it challenges the legislation in court.

Like his powerful backer and ally U.S. President Donald Trump, Milei routinely attacks university campuses as bastions of “woke” indoctrination. He has slashed public education funding as part of his plan to take a chain saw to state funding in a sharp break from what he describes as decades of reckless spending that spawned corruption under his left-leaning predecessors.

Tuesday's protest gathered people of all ages and political persuasions as Milei faces declining approval ratings over slumping economic activity, falling wages and climbing unemployment. A recent series of corruption scandals has also struck a nerve, with fallout particularly growing from an investigation into lavish spending by Milei’s close ally, Cabinet chief Manuel Adorni, that appears inconsistent with his modest public salary and declared assets.

“How much does Adorni cost us?” read one of several student protest signs alluding to the alleged misuse of public funds.

Milei's undersecretary for university policies, Alejandro Álvarez, criticized Tuesday's march as “completely political" and said the government had compensated universities for higher operating costs — marginal increases that unions have rejected as insufficient.

In seeking to annul the legislation, Milei's administration argues that it fails to specify how the state will supply the mandatory funding increases in a time of harsh fiscal austerity. The case is expected to go to the Supreme Court. Student protesters on Tuesday called on the nation's highest court to “listen to the outcry throughout the country's public squares.”

Since Milei took power in late 2023, university professors’ paychecks have declined by roughly 33% after accounting for stubborn inflation, according to the main teachers’ federation.

The rector of the prestigious University of Buenos Aires, Ricardo Gelpi, said the steep losses in purchasing power has driven at least 580 research professors in the engineering and science departments to ditch the public system for private universities or other better-paying jobs.

“It’s very clear this government is determined to defund public education,” said Sol Muñíz, 24, a law student at the University of Buenos Aires at the march. “University is a source of pride for us. It is the best thing we have.”

___

Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre contributed to this report.

___

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

The 76ers were easily ousted by the New York Knicks to end Morey's sixth season in charge, and the organization quickly decided that someone else would lead the basketball operations department.

Sixers managing partner Josh Harris said in a statement that he and Morey had spoken and decided it was time for a fresh start.

Bob Myers, the former Golden State Warriors general manager, will lead the search for Morey's replacement and will oversee the department in the interim.

“To our fans, your frustration and disappointment are understandable and warranted,” Harris said. “We have fallen well short of our own expectations and failed to deliver in the way this city deserves. That bothers me deeply and I have confidence in Bob to establish a path forward for our franchise.”

The Sixers went 270-212 in the regular season under Morey but just 28-26 in the postseason, failing to advance past the second round. They returned to the playoffs this season after missing them for the only time in Morey's tenure in 2024-25, when they went 24-58.

Myers built the Golden State teams that won NBA championships in 2015, ’17, ’18 and ’22. He worked as a commentator at ESPN after leaving the Warriors before joining Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment in October 2025 as president of sports.

Morey joined the 76ers in 2020 after 14 seasons with the Houston Rockets, including 13 as their general manager. The Rockets made the playoffs in his final eight seasons and he was voted the NBA's executive of the year in 2018 after Houston went 65-17 and reached the Western Conference finals.

In 2019, he sent a tweet in support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, angering Chinese officials and wrecking the NBA's lucrative relationship with the country. The Rockets had previously enjoyed enormous popularity in China after drafting Yao Ming with the No. 1 pick in 2002.

Morey, best known for his analytical approach — he has an MBA from MIT and serves as the co-chair of the school’s annual Sports Analytics Conference — failed to build a title contender around oft-injured center Joel Embiid. He acquired James Harden, his former star in Houston, and later added another high-priced veteran in Paul George.

He did well with recent draft choices Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, last year's No. 3 pick. But he also made a heavily criticized deal this season when he sent Jared McCain, a 2024 first-round pick, to Oklahoma City. McCain averaged 11.5 points in the defending champion Thunder's second-round sweep of the Lakers.

___

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

In China's rigidly hierarchical world of diplomacy, protocol and ceremony carry weight. The reception of Trump is shaping up to be warm and designed to flatter him, indicative of Beijing's tactical approach to a U.S. leader known for his love for pomp, but it is unlikely to top the “state visit plus" extravaganza President Xi Jinping extended to Trump in 2017.

“That reflects greater Chinese confidence in their position, greater skepticism of Trump, and the awkwardness of the current relationship,” said Rush Doshi, C.V. Starr senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and an assistant professor of security studies at Georgetown University.

In the past nine years, the China-U.S. relationship has shifted from engagement to competition and has dipped to a low point during the COVID-19 pandemic and trade wars.

Experts say China's economic clout and its ability to leverage its dominance in the global supply chain have allowed the Chinese leadership to negotiate from a position of strength and led to a more pragmatic China policy by the Trump administration. And now the war with Iran, which has left the Strait of Hormuz blocked and rattled the global economy, has given Xi an upper hand coming into the summit.

The war, which began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, delayed Trump's visit, initially scheduled for the end of March. Now, Trump is going to Beijing for a shorter stay than in 2017, and without first lady Melania Trump.

“The context for this visit is wholly different,” said Danny Russel, a former senior U.S. diplomat, who does not expect Beijing to outdo itself this time in receiving Trump. “The schedule has been compressed to basically one day and stripped down to the basics.”

China will roll out the red carpet

But the U.S. holds a special place in China's foreign relations, and China will shower Trump with plenty of ceremonial pomp because Beijing sees it as a diplomatic tool, Russel said.

If the 2017 trip is any indication, Trump can expect to walk down from Air Force One along a red-carpet stairway with golden edging and be greeted by a warm crowd.

At a formal welcome ceremony the next day, he will be greeted by Xi and other Chinese officials, whose rank could be telling. Trump is then expected to inspect military honor guards, lined up precisely by height, their eyes closely tracking him and Xi as the two leaders walk down the red carpet. And he will likely receive a 21-gun salute.

“It’s no secret to any government that President Trump responds positively to flattery and spectacle,” Russel said. “The pomp and pageantry is designed both to flatter Trump and to pacify him, making him more amenable to Chinese asks and reducing the risk of an embarrassing public confrontation.”

Xi also will offer something extra, as he did during past visits by American presidents. In 2014, it was an evening stroll with former President Barack Obama in the leadership compound of Zhongnanhai. In 2017, he hosted a private dinner for Trump at the Palace Museum, on the grounds of the former imperial palace.

This time, the special relationship between the Chinese and American leaders will play out at the Temple of Heaven, a former imperial site, in front of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, an iconic, blue-tiled building known for its circular design and a triple-gabled roof. The White House says Xi will accompany Trump on a tour of the World Heritage site, where Chinese emperors once prayed for bumper harvests.

The entire park is closed on Wednesday and Thursday, while the main attractions, including the hall and the Echo Wall, were closed on Tuesday for “the maintenance of ancient architecture,” park management said.

This is unusual. The park was not closed for the prime ministers of Britain or Spain when they visited the Palace Museum and the Summer Palace in Beijing, respectively, earlier this year. And Xi didn’t accompany them.

But it is not 2017 anymore

Beijing declared Trump’s first presidential trip to China to be a “state visit plus,” and it is the only one China has held for any foreign leader. The trip was full of unprecedented arrangements.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, gave Trump and the first lady a tour of the Palace Museum, where they chatted over afternoon tea and watched a traditional opera performance at a royal theater that had not seen a show for a century. They also dined there — a first for any foreign leader.

During the formal welcome ceremony the next day, “The Stars and Stripes Forever” was played as the presidents inspected Chinese military guards, an unusual choice intended to impress Trump.

Trump, who often boasts of his good relationship with Xi, still harkens back to that visit nearly nine years ago.

“You know, last time I went to China, President Xi, he treated me so well, he gave me a display,” Trump said in February. “I never saw so many soldiers, all the same height, exactly the same height within a quarter of an inch.”

How China treats Trump this time will offer clues about the dynamics of the relationship, said Doshi, who served on former President Joe Biden's National Security Council and helped plan his summits with Xi in 2022 and 2023.

“China uses diplomatic protocol as a method of signaling favor or disfavor. That is why we should pay close attention to how President Trump is received,” Doshi said.

The series highlights the need for foster families in the Roanoke Valley while breaking down common misconceptions about foster care.

10 News is also sharing stories of local foster families to show what it’s really like.

Some people think you need to own a house, live in a big home, or have previous parenting experience in order to foster.

Newlyweds Hannah and Robbie Leslie learned about HopeTree Family Services and the need for foster families while attending church.

They felt called to help.

“We’re just normal, everyday people. I work in an office, he works in a factory. We’re just normal people who said yes,” Hannah Leslie said.

They decided to move forward with the certification process

“It was about a six-month process from start to finish to become certified or licensed for the state,” Hannah said.

As first-time parents living in an apartment with a spare bedroom, the Leslies welcomed a young boy into their home.

“He just puts a spark in my life, and I just really enjoy being with him,” Robbie Leslie said.

Since then, the family has created memories together through trips to the beach, visits to the zoo, and birthday celebrations.

The Leslies said they have also watched their foster child grow in confidence and begin to thrive.

Hannah said a frightened 4-and-a-half-year-old boy came into their home just two days before Christmas after being separated from his half-sisters and placed elsewhere.

She said he initially struggled with self-esteem, often speaking negatively about himself and lacking confidence, but over the past year and a half, they’ve seen a major transformation. Now, she said, they’re celebrating his birthday and watching a confident child who has completed speech therapy, is finishing occupational therapy, and is growing in both independence and self-assurance.

The couple said foster care has impacted their lives just as much as they have impacted their foster child’s.

“People would say we gave him the gift of permanency, but it’s not about us,” Hannah said. “We’ve been blessed by getting to have him in our lives.”

While the Leslies say fostering may not be the right path for everyone, they believe anyone can support foster families in some way.

“Everyone has a part to play,” Hannah said. “So if you’re not someone who’s at a place where welcoming a child into your home is enough, it takes a community.”

She said support can come in many forms, from bringing meals to checking in or spending time together at the park.

“What foster kids are longing for is a place of belonging,” she said. “Not just a roof over their head, but a safe place to belong.”

“It’s a really beautiful thing to get to be a part of and it’s very rewarding,” Hannah added.

Tune into WSLS every Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. during the month of May for more “Foster Facts” stories.

Collins spent 13 years as a player in the league for six different franchises. He revealed in 2013 that he was gay, an announcement that came toward the end of his playing career.

Collins had been diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma, which has an extremely low survival rate. He was 47.

“Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar," Collins' family said in a statement released through the NBA. "We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”

Just last week, Collins received the inaugural Bill Walton Global Champion Award at the Green Sports Alliance Summit. He was too ill to attend and his twin brother, former NBA player Jarron Collins, accepted for him.

“I told my brother this before I came here: He’s the bravest, strongest man I’ve ever known,” Jarron Collins said while accepting that award.

Jason Collins averaged 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in his career. He helped the New Jersey Nets reach two NBA Finals and in his best season averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds for them in 2004-05.

“Jason Collins’ impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador. Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.

“On behalf of the NBA, I send my heartfelt condolences to Jason’s husband, Brunson, and his family, friends and colleagues across our leagues.”

Jason Collins spent the bulk of his career with the Nets, and also played for Atlanta, Boston, Memphis, Minnesota and Washington.

“This one hurts,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd, a former teammate and coach of Collins, wrote on X. “Jason Collins was a pioneer. He had courage like you’ve never seen. He was an incredible teammate. And having him in Brooklyn at the start of my coaching journey meant so much. Those who knew him were blessed to call him a friend. You are already missed my brother. Rest in power.”

Jason Collins revealed his sexuality in a first-person account for Sports Illustrated in April 2013. He was a free agent at the time, said he wanted to keep playing, and went on to play in 22 games with Brooklyn the following season.

“If I had my way, someone else would have already done this,” he wrote at that time. “Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.”

His decision was widely lauded, with star players such as Kobe Bryant quickly speaking out in support of Collins. There was even support from the White House and then-former President Bill Clinton — whose daughter, Chelsea, went to Stanford with Collins. At Stanford, Collins was roommates with someone who was part of another American political dynasty, that being Joe Kennedy III, who spent eight years in Congress representing Massachusetts.

Collins, in the piece for Sports Illustrated, wrote that he realized he needed to go public about his sexuality when Kennedy walked in Boston’s gay pride parade in 2012 — but Collins couldn’t do the same.

Until then, Collins kept his feelings about gay rights close to the vest. He wore jersey No. 98 for the majority of his final three playing stints with Boston, Washington and Brooklyn — a nod to the year that Matthew Shepard, a gay college student in Wyoming, was killed. He also wore 46 in one game for the Nets, since it was the only jersey the team had available when he signed.

Tributes poured in Tuesday from around basketball and beyond. The Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights advocacy group, released a statement that said in part, “stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation. He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community.”

Added Arn Tellem, the agent who represented Collins: “Representing Jason Collins was one of the great honors and privileges of my life — not only as an agent, but as a counselor and confidant. ... The courage he showed changed lives and transcended our game. His impact reached far beyond basketball.”

A moment of silence was held Tuesday before the Minnesota at San Antonio playoff game, in tribute to both Collins and Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke — whose death was announced Tuesday as well. The Spurs lauded Collins not just for breaking barriers, but for “his bravery and kindness.”

Collins made nearly 61% of his shots in his career at Stanford, which remains a school record. He was an honorable mention selection for The Associated Press' All-America team in 2001, a few months before the Houston Rockets took him with the 18th pick in that year's NBA draft.

“It’s a sad day for all of us associated with Stanford basketball when we lose one of the program’s greats," former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. “We all have great memories of Jason and the kind of person he was. It’s hard to separate Jarron and Jason because they thought so alike, but even though he was an identical twin, Jason was unique in his own way. The impact he had on Stanford was immense, as he could match up against anyone in the country because he was big, smart, strong and skilled, all while being a very bright and nice person.”

___

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

“I will not be tarnished by baseless allegations and fraudulent statements from the media,” Patel told Sen. Chris Van Hollen during a testy exchange that began when the Maryland Democrat confronted him about a recent article in The Atlantic magazine that painted an unflattering portrait of his leadership of the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency.

Patel has filed a $250 million lawsuit over the story. The Atlantic has said it stands by its reporting and would vigorously defend against the “meritless lawsuit.”

Patel shouted over Van Hollen and sought to turn the tables by accusing him of “slinging margaritas on the taxpayer dime” in El Salvador, a reference to a visit the Democrat paid last year to Kilmar Abrego Garcia while he was jailed there following his mistaken deportation to the country.

“The only person who has been drinking during the day on the taxpayer dime was you,” Patel said.

“Director Patel, come on,” Van Hollen said. “These are serious allegations that were made against you.”

He at one point asked Patel if he was willing to take a test meant to measure whether an individual has a drinking problem, prompting Patel to shoot back, “I’ll take any test you’re willing to take.”

The senator called Patel's claims of margaritas in El Salvador “provably false.” After last year's meeting, Van Hollen publicly accused El Salvador’s government of having misrepresented the nature of his encounter with Abrego Garcia, saying officials there had staged the meeting with drinks appearing to be alcohol and angled to set the meeting by a hotel pool.

The testy exchange occurred at an annual Senate subcommittee budget hearing featuring Patel and other senior law enforcement leaders. The director used the forum to tout what he described as major crime-fighting achievements since he took the position and received a friendly reception from Republican senators who praised his leadership.

Democrats, by contrast, pressed Patel on headline-generating travel that has blended his professional duties with private leisure — including a trip to the Winter Olympics in Italy, where he partied with the U.S. men's hockey team after their gold medal win — as well as the mass terminations of agents who worked on investigations into President Donald Trump.

“You attended the Olympics in Milan,” said Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat. “How much did your trip cost and to what extent did that help you carry out your mission as director of the FBI?”

Patel responded that the FBI was responsible for security at the Olympics and asserted that his trip to Italy helped facilitate the transfer of a Chinese cybercriminal to U.S. custody, who had been detained by Italian authorities.

’’Children crying, and even babies,” said Ross, the French widow of a U.S. military veteran, whose arrest last month as part of the Trump administration’s i mmigration crackdown made international headlines.

Ross spoke to The Associated Press on Monday about her 16 days in federal immigration custody after being arrested on April 1 in Alabama following an alleged visa overstay, and the late-in-life love story that brought her to the United States. She has been released and returned to France.

The experience in detention, she said, changed her, and her view of politics.

She was held in a dormitory-style room with 58 other women, mostly mothers. ‘’Some of them didn’t know where their children were,'' she said. ‘’I think it’s terrible for a woman not to know where her children are.”

Her arrest in Alabama unfolded so quickly that she barely understood what was happening. Five men, who identified themselves as immigration officers, banged on her door and windows at 8 a.m. before handcuffing her and placing her in a vehicle, she said. She was still wearing her bathrobe, slippers and pajamas.

She was transferred two days later to a facility in Basile, Louisiana. Later that month, she was freed. She is now recovering in a suburb of Nantes in western France with her family. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had publicly called for her release, saying that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement methods are “not in line” with French standards.

Ross had entered the U.S. to start a new life with William B. Ross, a retired U.S. soldier she had met when he was stationed in France in the 1950s and she was a secretary at NATO.

Between 1962 and 2022, they stayed in touch via William's wife, who was friends with Marie-Therese. “After we both became widowed, we decided to spend holidays together,'' Marie-Therese Ross said. ‘’Then feelings came back, and we decided to marry last year.'' She crossed the Atlantic and moved in with him in Anniston, Alabama.

After he died of natural causes in January, a dispute emerged over his estate.

His sons rerouted mail from the Alabama residence, leading their stepmother to miss an immigration-related appointment, an Alabama judge noted in a court order. The judge accused one son — a former Alabama State Trooper who now works as a federal employee — of using his position to prompt the detention of his stepmother, and urged a federal investigation into what happened.

The stepson denied involvement in her arrest. Marie-Therese described warm relations with William's sons before he died. After his death, she said, they ‘’transformed.''

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that Ross overstayed her 90-day visa and that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities are “regularly audited and inspected” to comply with national standards.

“All detainees are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers. ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens," the department said.

At the detention facility in Louisiana, Ross described strict rules, constant shouting from guards and condescending treatment.

“The prison was clean, the food was OK, but it was the way they spoke to us,” she told the AP. “The guards could not speak without yelling.”

She described the place as noisy. ’’Everybody was talking loudly so everybody could hear what they were saying, but when silence came, you could hear children crying and even babies crying,″ she said. ’’There’s babies in this jail.″

Despite the conditions, Ross described moments of solidarity among detainees. “During the night, if my bed cover slipped away, I felt a small hand putting it back,” she said. “I didn’t know who it was, but they pampered me because I was older than them.”

She said the women called her “Grandma.” She kept a handmade friendship bracelet given to her by another detainee, woven from strips of colored plastic, a gift she wears today.

Family members said Ross is still struggling with memory gaps and emotional distress following her detention. She said she wants to seek medical follow-up in France to address symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress and is receiving support.

Ross said she continues to think about the women she met in custody, most of them from South America. Many were mothers separated from their children.

Her experience changed the way she sees the United States and its immigration policies, Ross said. Her husband was a Trump supporter and they used to watch Fox News together. But she was shocked to learn firsthand how immigrants are treated inside immigration facilities.

She used to view the U.S. as a “country of freedom, where people are not arrested based on how they look, and where those who are detained are treated fairly and with respect.” But the women she met did not deserve to be detained, she said. “Their only fault was to be South American.”

As she recovers in France, Ross still thinks about them: “When I left this jail in Louisiana, I told them that if I ever had the chance to speak about them, I would do it, to help them.”

According to officials, the investigation began after the Henry County Sheriff’s Office received information through the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force regarding the suspected online exploitation of children and possession of child sexual abuse material.

The information indicated that the apparent CSAM had been detected with an online account connected to the investigation, prompting investigators to immediately begin identifying the individual responsible and securing evidence associated with the case.

On Monday, investigators obtained multiple warrants related to telephone numbers, IP addresses and an email account believed to be connected to the suspect.

On Tuesday, investigators responded to the 3000 block of Mount Olivet Road in Henry County and confirmed that Joseph Greer lived at the residence. Investigators later located Greer and served a search warrant for electronic devices capable of storing CSAM or accessing the internet, including cell phones, computers, tablets, hard drives and removable storage devices.

After Greer’s devices were recovered, Greer voluntarily agreed to return to the Henry County Sheriff’s Office for questioning.

Officials say during the interview, Greer admitted to downloading known CSAM over a period of years and acknowledged possessing the material on his device.

While the interview was being conducted, investigators performed a forensic examination of the cell phone and located CSAM.

Greer was subsequently arrested and charged in connection with the investigation. Additional charges are possible as investigators continue the forensic examination of electronic devices seized during the investigation.

• Violation of Virginia Code Section: 18.2-374.1:1 - Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) (1 Count)
• Violation of Virginia Code Section: 18.2-374.1:1 – Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) second or subsequent offense (9 Counts

“Crimes against children are some of the most disturbing and sickening offenses law enforcement investigates. The Henry County Sheriff’s Office has absolutely zero tolerance for child predators or anyone involved in the possession, distribution, or exploitation of Child Sexual Abuse Material. Every image investigators recover represents a real child who has been victimized and exploited. We will use every available resource to identify these offenders, remove them from our communities, and hold them fully accountable for their actions. Protecting children will always remain one of the highest priorities of this Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Wayne Davis said.

This investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information related to this investigation is encouraged to contact the Henry County Sheriff’s Office at (276) 638-8751 or Crime Stoppers at 63-CRIME (632-7463). Callers may remain anonymous

The runway fatality underscores the longstanding challenge of keeping intruders out of major airports. Denver International Airport sprawls across 53 square miles (138 square kilometers) — twice the size of Manhattan — on open prairie northeast of the city center.

The 41-year-old trespasser triggered an alarm as he crossed into the airport in a remote area about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the terminal late Friday night. But security personnel mistakenly attributed that alarm to a herd of deer that was nearby and the airport did not find out about the intruder until after the fact, when the pilot notified the control tower that the plane had hit somebody.

___

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org

___

Authorities said the man died by suicide. However, no note from the victim was immediately recovered. The manner of death was determined based on the investigation at the scene, a records review and a postmortem examination, said Sterling McLaren, chief medical examiner for the city and county of Denver.

The collision involving the Frontier Airlines plane as it was taking off for Los Angeles sparked an engine fire that forced passengers to evacuate via slides. Twelve people sustained minor injuries and five were taken to hospitals. Four have since been released, said airport Chief Executive Officer Phillip Washington.

A black-and-white video released by the airport shows, from a distance, a figure walking toward the runway with arms swaying. The person crosses onto the runway at a slight angle and seconds later the plane is seen speeding past. It strikes the person with its right engine, which bursts into flame.

Federal officials notified the airport

A few minutes before the man scaled the 8-foot (2.4-meter) fence, a ground-based radar system activated in the area, triggering an alarm. A worker at the city-owned airport checked a surveillance camera and saw a herd of deer in the same area but did not initially see the trespasser, Washington said.

"The camera view was alternating between the wildlife and the individual. There are some ditches in the area, so the person was out of view for a bit as well,” Washington said.

The man crossed about 650 feet (200 meters) from the fence to the runway and was inside the perimeter for only two minutes before being struck by the Frontier Airlines plane that was traveling at 150 mph (240 kph), he said.

Emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene after air traffic controllers were notified by the pilot about the collision, airport representatives said in response to questions from The Associated Press.

The airport declined to provide details on their procedures for dealing with trespassers or how often they enter its grounds.

The plane’s engine caused the man’s death, McLaren said. She described it as “a purposeful act with a foreseeable fatal outcome.”

Denver police Chief Ron Thomas said investigators were contacting the man’s family and those who knew him to seek more information about his motivations.

Trespassers breaching airport perimeters is a regular problem, with perhaps dozens annually nationwide, said security expert Jeff Price, who was assistant director of security at the Denver airport in the 1990s. The airport is surrounded by about 36 miles (58 kilometers) of perimeter fence, which airport officials say is continuously inspected.

The vast majority of airport trespassers are intoxicated or simply “messing around just to see if they could do it,” said Price, adding that they typically don't pose a real threat. Denver also gets the rare individual who will jump the fence seeking to prove a long-running conspiracy theory about there being a UFO base at the airport, he said.

The Transportation Security Administration oversees airport security programs, including perimeter security requirements.

“It's really not that difficult to jump an airport perimeter fence,” Price said. “They meet the standards for TSA, but the standards are not that robust.”

The fences are typically 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.4 meters) tall with barbed wire at the top, he said. They must be approved by federal inspectors, but there are no set rules on their construction. Major airports such as Denver typically also have intrusion detection systems that include cameras and motion sensors, he said. Some systems detect the seismic impact of people dropping to the ground, Price said.

Evacuation under scrutiny

The person was killed on the airport’s easternmost north-south runway and at least 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) from any airport buildings. Empty fields and croplands surround Denver International Airport in most directions. Distant trees and structures in the video showed that the person was headed toward the airport when they crossed the runway.

The National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday said it is gathering information about the plane's evacuation.

An agency spokesperson said an investigation would be launched if it's determined the injuries meet the agency's definition for “serious." That can include a person requiring hospitalization for more than 48 hours, suffering a broken bone, or second- or third-degree burns affecting more than 5% of their body.

__

Brown reported from Billings, Montana.