It was Orlando’s third consecutive first-round playoff exit, and easily the most disappointing. Not only did the eighth-seeded Magic lose all three chances to upset the top-seeded Pistons, but one of those games saw Orlando have a 24-point second-half lead at home and still lose. Orlando missed 23 consecutive shots in that Game 6 loss on Friday, getting booed by fans when it was over.

That loss probably was the one that sealed Mosley’s fate, even though the loss in Game 7 at Detroit on Sunday was the one that ended the season.

“We’re grateful to Jamahl for all he’s done for the Orlando Magic,” Magic president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said. “We appreciate his leadership and the positive contributions he made as head coach. While this was a difficult decision, we feel it’s time for a new voice and fresh perspective. We wish Jamahl and his family nothing but the best.”

Mosley is the third-winningest coach in Magic history, his 189 wins behind only Brian Hill (267) and Stan Van Gundy (259). He inherited a team that was in the early stages of a rebuild, with Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs entering the league as rookies in his first season and then the Magic winning the lottery to draft Paolo Banchero No. 1 overall before Mosley’s second season.

Orlando won 22 games in Mosley’s first season, improved to 34-48 in Year 2 and has been .500 or better in all three seasons since — 47-35 in 2023-24, 41-41 last season and 45-37 this season.

That makes the Magic one of 10 teams — Boston, Cleveland, Denver, Houston, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma City are the others — to have not finished below .500 in any of the last three seasons.

It wasn’t enough. And with much of the team’s core — Banchero, Wagner, Suggs, Desmond Bane and more — under contract for the foreseeable future, the Magic clearly felt the best way to shake things up was to bring in a new coach.

“It’s been absolutely amazing journey with these guys,” Mosley said. “Their ability to grow, communicate ... we’re going to fight until the final horn goes off. And that’s what you’ve seen for a majority of the five years.”

It is a roster in need of upgrading in some ways, shooting perhaps foremost among them after Orlando was only 27th in the 30-team league in 3-point percentage this season. Injuries have also been a major issue for the Magic, including in the playoffs — with Wagner unable to play in the final three games, all losses, against Detroit.

Mosley’s job security was a talking point for much of the season, especially amid reports that he and Banchero were not on the same page. In March, Banchero acknowledged that were some moments of conflict — but thought Orlando was better for going through that.

“We’re both competitors,” Banchero said when asked then about his relationship with Mosley. “There were times where I was frustrated and I wasn’t playing as well as I think I should be. But it never became me pointing the finger at him or being disrespectful. It was all constructive; he’s talking to me, I’m talking to him. And winning, it cures everything.”

Evidently, there wasn’t enough winning.

Mosley had two seasons left on an extension that he and the Magic agreed on in March 2024. The team lauded his “preparation, work ethic, ability to connect with the players and passion he brings to the job every day brings positive results, both on the court and off” when announcing that deal.

Barely two years later, he and the Magic were parting ways.

Only seven coaches have been in their current jobs longer than Mosley was with Orlando — Miami’s Erik Spoelstra (hired in 2008), Golden State’s Steve Kerr (2014), the Clippers’ Tyronn Lue (2020), Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault (2020), Minnesota’s Chris Finch (2021), Indiana’s Rick Carlisle (2021) and Dallas’ Jason Kidd (2021).

Mosley spent 15 years as an assistant in Denver, Cleveland and Dallas — and was often mentioned as a candidate for head-coaching jobs around the league over that span — before Orlando hired him. He had a long relationship with Weltman, who first took note of Mosley when they worked together with the Nuggets.

Mosley was the 14th coach in Magic history, the 15th if counting Billy Donovan — who accepted the job in 2007, then had second thoughts and returned to the University of Florida. Donovan just left the Chicago Bulls after six seasons as their coach, which sparked speculation that he could be the frontrunner in Orlando if the Magic indeed would be moving on from Mosley.

___

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

Police said no arrests had been made as of late Sunday.

The shooting broke out Sunday night during a gathering of young people near Arcadia Lake, a popular swimming and boating spot in Edmond, just outside Oklahoma City, said Edmond police spokesperson Emily Ward.

“This is obviously a very terrifying situation and we understand the concern from the public and those involved and we are working extremely hard to find the suspects,” she said.

Ten people were transported to hospitals and others drove themselves. She said victims were in “various conditions.”

Police did not immediately respond to a message seeking more information Monday.

Ten people were at Integris Health Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City and three were at Integris Health Edmond Hospital as of Monday morning, according to a hospital system spokesperson.

While police did not provide details about the party, a flyer circulated on social media after the shooting suggested that an event called Sunday Funday was scheduled at a pavilion near the lake until midnight.

It advertised food, drinks, music and “good vibes, good people.”

Arcadia Lake sits just north of Oklahoma City and is dotted with picnic pavilions, campgrounds, a fishing pier, and swimming beaches.

It was built in the 1980s for outdoor recreation and flood control and also provides water to the city of Edmond, a suburb with about with about 100,000 residents.

Forty years ago, Edmond was the site of one of the deadliest workplace shootings in U.S. history. On Aug. 20, 1986, postal worker Patrick Sherrill shot 20 co-workers, killing 14 of them. He then killed himself.

Over the weekend, another shooting at a party in the Texas Panhandle left two people teenagers dead and 10 others wounded. Police in Amarillo said two people opened fire at an apartment complex early Saturday.

___

Stengle reported from Dallas.

The State Department said Monday that Rubio, a Catholic who has visited Rome and the Vatican at least three times since becoming the Republican president's top diplomat, would be in Italy on Thursday and Friday.

“Secretary Rubio will meet with Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere,” the department said. “Meetings with Italian counterparts will be focused on shared security interests and strategic alignment.”

The trip comes as Trump has criticized Leo, the first American pontiff, for his stances on the Middle East and elsewhere and as the president has drawn pushback for posting a social media image likening himself to Jesus Christ. Trump has refused to apologize to Leo and has sought to explain away the now-deleted social media post by saying he thought the image was of him as a doctor.

Rubio has often been called on to tone down or explain Trump’s harsh rhetoric as it relates to Europe, NATO and the Middle East, but the dispute with the pope has domestic political implications in the U.S. with midterm congressional elections approaching.

Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, has said he was not making a direct attack against Trump or anyone else with his general appeal for peace and criticisms of the Iran war and other conflicts around the world.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 216 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%.

The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 2% to $110.37 and briefly topped $114 during the morning. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its war with the United States has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide. That in turn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly $70 per barrel before the war.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the United States would guide ships through the strait, which could get oil flowing again and bring down its price. But prices instead climbed after Iranian news agencies claimed Monday that Iran had struck a U.S. Navy vessel southeast of the Strait of Hormuz, accusing it of “violating maritime security and navigation norms.”

The U.S. military quickly rejected the claims and later said two American-flagged merchant ships had “successfully transited through the Strait of Hormuz.”

Even with all the uncertainty about how long the war with Iran will last, the U.S. stock market has managed to power to record after record. Hope is still high on Wall Street that the global economy can avoid a worst-case scenario because of the war. And in the meantime, companies continue to deliver big growth in profits.

Tyson Foods joined the list Monday, topping analysts’ expectations for both profit and revenue during the latest quarter. It sold less beef than it did a year ago, but it did so at prices that were 11.5% higher, so its total beef revenue edged up. After initially rising, its stock swung lower and was down 2.2%.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings likewise delivered better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But it’s feeling the effects of the war, which has not only raised pressure on fuel prices but also pushed some customers to think twice about travel plans, particularly to Europe. The cruise operator said some “execution missteps” also have bookings below where it would like.

Its stock fell 4.7%.

Jumping to one of Wall Street’s biggest gains was eBay, which climbed 5.6% after GameStop said it wanted to buy its much bigger rival for $125 per share in cash and stock. Coming into the day, eBay had a total market value that was nearly quadruple GameStop’s.

GameStop said it has already built a 5% stake in eBay and sees opportunities to cut $2 billion in annual costs quickly. GameStop, whose stock briefly soared to market-shaking heights during the meme stock craze of 2021, fell 4%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes jumped 5.1% in South Korea and 1.2% in Hong Kong, while markets were closed in mainland China and Japan for holidays.

European indexes fared worse, with France’s CAC 40 falling 1%.

In the bond market, Treasury yield edged up as oil prices climbed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.41% from 4.39% late Friday.

___

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

The four-time Pro Bowl wideout pleaded not guilty in February to a felony strangulation charge and a misdemeanor assault and battery charge stemming from the alleged dispute with his former private chef.

Diggs declined to speak to reporters as he arrived at Norfolk County District Court in Dedham, a Boston suburb.

According to court records, the chef told officers that she and Diggs had argued about money he owed her for work. During the Dec. 2 encounter at his home in Dedham, Massachusetts, she said, he “smacked her across the face” and then “tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow around her neck,” leaving her feeling short of breath. She told officers she had trouble breathing and felt she could have blacked out.

Diggs’ attorney has said he “categorically denies these allegations,” calling them unsubstantiated and motivated by a financial dispute. Diggs did not speak to reporters outside court in February.

Diggs signed a three-year, $69 million contract with New England last year and was a key target for quarterback Drake Maye during the Patriots’ AFC East title run. Before joining the Patriots, Diggs was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 2015 and played for the Buffalo Bills before a brief stint with the Houston Texans in 2024.

Diggs’ 1,000-yard season with the Patriots marked the seventh of his career. It helped complete a successful career revival after a season-ending knee injury derailed what turned out to be a one-year stay with the Houston Texans in 2024.

Diggs, who led the team with 85 receptions and 1,013 yards receiving with four touchdowns in his only season with the Patriots, was released by the team in March. Diggs posted a goodbye on social media, thanking the Patriots for the season and saying: “We family forever.”

Diggs has yet to sign with another team.

The sheriff’s office said early Sunday morning, deputies responded to Ocean Pond Camp Ground in Olustee for a well-being check. Officials said there were several unsuccessful attempts to contact a camp host at his campsite.

Deputies entered the RV where Christopher Osbourne, 51, and his wife, Anissa Osbourne, 56, were found dead with gunshot wounds.

Sheriff’s office detectives, FDLE, and the Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating, but early indications are that this was a murder suicide, officials said.

The MV Hondius, which was on a weekslong polar cruise from Argentina to Antarctica and then several isolated islands in the South Atlantic, had requested help from local health authorities on Sunday after making its way to the island of Cape Verde off the coast of West Africa, but no one has yet been allowed to disembark, the company operating the cruise said.

There are 88 passengers — including one who has died — and 61 crew members, two of whom are sick, onboard, the operator said Monday. The passengers include 17 Americans, 19 from the U.K. and 13 from Spain, among other nationalities.

The three passengers to die were from the Netherlands and Germany. The German remains on board. A British man is in intensive care in South Africa.

A 70-year-old Dutch man who presented with fever, headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea was the first victim and died onboard on April 11, the ship's Netherlands-based operator Oceanwide Expeditions said in a statement giving new details. His body was taken off the vessel nearly two weeks later on the British territory of Saint Helena, some 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) off the African coast, and was awaiting repatriation.

His 69-year-old wife was transferred to South Africa at the same time but collapsed at a Johannesburg airport and died at a nearby hospital, the South African Department of Health said.

The ship then sailed on to Ascension Island, another isolated Atlantic outpost about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the north, where a sick British man was taken off the ship and evacuated to South Africa on April 27. He later tested positive for hantavirus, a rare infection spread by rodents that can cause serious respiratory illness or hemorrhagic fever, the South African health department said.

He is in a critical condition and is now in intensive care in a South African hospital, where he is being kept isolated, authorities said.

A third passenger died onboard on Saturday and was identified as a German national. The body is still on the ship, the cruise operator said. It specified that the three deaths are not yet confirmed to be hantavirus as the only person confirmed to have the virus is the man in intensive care in South Africa.

WHO said that while only one hantavirus case was confirmed through tests, the other five cases were suspected to be hantavirus.

The cruise ship is asking Cape Verde for help

Two crew members still onboard the Hondius — one British, one Dutch — need urgent medical care, Oceanwide said, adding it was still awaiting permission from local authorities in Cape Verde on Monday to evacuate passengers and crew members. The company said it was considering moving to one of the Spanish islands of Las Palmas or Tenerife if it couldn't get people off the ship in Cape Verde.

The World Health Organization had said Sunday that it was working with local authorities and the ship's operators to conduct a “full public health risk assessment” and was trying to coordinate the evacuation of the two sick people from the ship.

“Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, and epidemiological investigations,” WHO said. “Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing.”

The Dutch Foreign Ministry said it was also exploring the possibilities of evacuating some people from the ship.

A Dutch organization called On Behalf of the Family issued a comment from relatives of a Dutch couple who they said were on the cruise and had died in April.

“The beautiful journey they experienced together has been abruptly and definitively cut short. ... We wish to bring them home and commemorate them in peace and privacy,” the statement said, without identifying the family.

Hantavirus is rare and not often spread person to person

Hantaviruses, which are found throughout the world, are a family of viruses spread mainly by contact with the urine or feces of infected rodents like rats and mice. They gained attention after actor Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from hantavirus infection in New Mexico last year. She was not immediately found and her ailing husband died around a week later from heart disease.

In rare cases, hantavirus infections can be spread between people, WHO said. There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival.

Hantaviruses cause two serious syndromes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, affecting the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, affecting the kidneys.

“While severe in some cases, it is not easily transmitted between people,” Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said in a statement Monday. “The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions.”

The weekslong cruise started in Argentina

South Africa's Department of Health said the ship had left Ushuaia in southern Argentina for a cruise that included visits to Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and other isolated islands in the South Atlantic.

While Oceanwide Expeditions didn't say exactly which cruise the ship was on, it advertises 33-night or 43-night “Atlantic Odyssey” cruises on the 107-meter (351-foot) -long Hondius on its website that follow that route.

The Hondius has 80 cabins and a capacity of 170 passengers, the company said. It typically travels with around 70 crew members, including a doctor, it said.

Though there was no information from authorities on the possible source of the suspected outbreak, a previous hantavirus outbreak in southern Argentina in 2019 killed at least nine people. It prompted a judge to order dozens of residents of a remote town to stay in their homes for 30 days to halt the spread.

South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases, meanwhile, was conducting contact tracing in the Johannesburg region to identify if other people in South Africa were exposed to the infected cruise ship passengers. The 69-year-old woman who died was trying to catch a flight back home to the Netherlands at Johannesburg's main international airport, regarded as the busiest in Africa, when she collapsed.

“There is no need for (the) public to panic,” South Africa's health department said, adding WHO was “coordinating a multicountry response with all affected islands and countries to contain further spread of the disease.”

———

AP writer Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed.

The announcement came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new initiative to help guide ships through the critical waterway for global energy. Iran has effectively closed the strait since the U.S. and Israel started the war on Feb. 28, rattling the global economy.

The U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center has advised ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.” U.S. Central Command did not say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.

It was unclear whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so. Hundreds of ships have been bottled up in the Persian Gulf for weeks.

Iran has said the new U.S. effort is a violation of the fragile ceasefire reached in early April. Its control of the strait has allowed it to inflict pain on the global economy despite being outgunned on the battlefield.

The United Arab Emirates meanwhile issued an emergency missile alert urging residents to immediately seek shelter. It was the first such alert since the ceasefire war went into effect in early April. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage and an all-clear order was later issued.

US denies Iranian claims to have struck a Navy vessel

Iranian news agencies, including the semiofficial Fars and the Iranian Labour News Agency, had earlier claimed that Iran struck a U.S. vessel near an Iranian port southeast of the strait, accusing it of “violating maritime security and navigation norms.” The reports said the vessel was forced to turn back.

The U.S. Central Command said on social media that “no U.S. Navy ships have been struck.”

The U.S. military has said the new initiative might involve guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 service members but has not specified what kind of assistance it would provide.

Trump's announcement that the U.S. would “guide” ships out of the strait warned that Iranian efforts to block them “will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”

He described “Project Freedom” in humanitarian terms, designed to aid stranded seafarers, many on oil tankers or cargo ships, who have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began. Crews have described to The Associated Press seeing drones and missiles explode over the waters as their vessels run low on drinking water, food and other supplies.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency called “Project Freedom” part of Trump's “delirium.”

Iran’s military command on Monday said ships passing must coordinate with them.

“We warn that any foreign military force — especially the aggressive U.S. military — that intends to approach or enter the Strait of Hormuz will be targeted,” Maj. Gen. Pilot Ali Abdollahi told state broadcaster IRIB.

And the United Arab Emirates on Monday accused Iran of targeting a tanker linked to its main oil company with two drones as it passed through the strait. It did not say when the attack took place. No injuries were reported.

The Joint Maritime Information Center urged mariners to coordinate closely with Omani authorities “due to anticipated high traffic volume.” It warned that passing close to usual routes, known as the traffic separation scheme, “should be considered extremely hazardous due to the presence of mines that have not been fully surveyed and mitigated.”

But the head of security for the Baltic and International Maritime Council, a leading shipping trade group, said no formal guidance or details about the U.S. effort had been issued to the industry. Jakob Larsen questioned whether the effort was sustainable in the long run or envisioned as a more limited operation, and said there is a “risk of hostilities breaking out again” if it goes ahead.

Iran stands firm on its grip of the strait

The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.

Trump has promised to bring down gas prices as he faces midterm elections this year.

The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran for transit of the strait. It has enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling 49 commercial ships to turn back, U.S. Central Command said Sunday.

The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.

U.S. officials have expressed hope that the blockade forces Iran back to the negotiation table.

“We think that they’ve gotten less than $1.3 million in tolls, which is a pittance on their previous daily oil revenues,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Sunday, adding that Iran’s oil storage is rapidly filling up and “they’re going to have to start shutting in wells, which we think could be in the next week.”

Iran’s latest 14-point proposal for ending the war, made public over the weekend, calls for the U.S. lifting sanctions, ending the U.S. naval blockade, withdrawing forces from the region and ceasing all hostilities, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon, according to the semiofficial Nour News and Tasnim agencies, which have close ties to Iran’s security organizations.

Iranian officials said they were reviewing the U.S. response, though Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters on Monday that changing demands, which he did not detail, made diplomacy difficult.

Iran has claimed its proposal does not include issues related to its nuclear program and enriched uranium — long a driving force in tensions with the U.S. and Israel.

Iran’s proposal wants other issues resolved within 30 days and aims to end the war rather than extend the ceasefire. Trump on Saturday said he was reviewing the proposal but expressed doubt it would lead to a deal.

Iranian crew was taken off seized tanker

Pakistan said Monday it has facilitated the transfer of 22 crew members from an Iranian vessel seized earlier by the U.S., describing the move as a confidence-building measure as Islamabad attempts to revive talks. Pakistan hosted face-to-face talks last month.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the crew members, who had been aboard the Iranian container ship MV Touska, were flown to Pakistan overnight. They were expected to be handed over to Iranian authorities.

The vessel will be brought into Pakistani territorial waters for necessary repairs before being returned to its original owners, the ministry said, adding that the process is being coordinated with the support of Iran and the U.S.

___

Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Munir Ahmed contributed from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Throughout May, the initiative will collect essential items to support active-duty U.S. military members and their families.

Donations can be dropped off at area Navy Federal Credit Union locations, making it easy to participate and make a meaningful impact. Find your nearest location here.

Here are the priority donation items being requested: snack items such as granola bars, snack fruit packs, single-serve juice, and ready-to-eat options like macaroni and cheese, cookies, cheese and crackers, cup of soup, ramen noodles, Pop-Tarts, instant oatmeal, trail mix, chicken, or tuna; as well as travel-size toiletries including toothbrushes, toothpaste, wet wipes, deodorant, disposable razors, shaving cream, female hygiene supplies, hand sanitizer, eye drops, and lip balm.

Community members are encouraged to get involved and learn more about how to contribute by visiting navyfederal.org/homeofthebrave.

And Navy Federal Credit Unions all over the country are taking part in various Military Appreciation efforts, so if you have loved ones out of state, spread the word and help us multiply this incredible campaign!

Navy Federal Credit Union is a member‑owned financial institution that serves the military community, including Active Duty service members, veterans, Department of Defense civilians, and their families. Guided by a mission of service, integrity, and community, Navy Federal goes beyond traditional banking by championing military communities through partnerships, volunteerism, and initiatives such as Military Appreciation Month, which highlight its longstanding commitment to those who serve.

Please note that Navy Federal Credit Union is unable to accept monetary donations for this campaign.

Lukehart, 53, is scheduled to die by lethal injection June 2 at Florida State Prison in Starke, according to the warrant. The window to carry out the sentence runs from noon, June 2, through noon, June 9.

Lukehart was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse for the February 1996 death of 5-month-old Gabrielle Hanshaw, his girlfriend’s daughter, in Duval County.

According to court records, Hanshaw would not lie flat as Lukehart attempted to change her diaper. Lukehart would later testify he “forcefully and repeatedly pushed her head and neck to the floor.” The infant’s body was then thrown into a nearby pond.

Lukehart left the house and drove away in his girlfriend’s Oldsmobile. He called his girlfriend about 30 minutes later and claimed an individual in a blue Chevy Blazer took Hanshaw, and that he was chasing the Blazer.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Department reported the Oldsmobile was found abandoned after being driven off the road. Lukehart turned up in the yard of a Florida state trooper.

Lukehart told officers that Hanshaw was abducted from the front of his girlfriend’s home, but later claimed the abduction occurred at a store before eventually admitting to killing the girl.

A jury in March 1997, a month after Lukehart’s conviction, voted 9-3 to recommend the death penalty.

As DeSantis continues the rapid pace of executions, following a record year of 19 in 2025, opponents to the death penalty are getting more vocal.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty on Friday announced its latest effort to gather signatures to advise DeSantis of the “vast number of people around the world who oppose this execution.”

“And even as we grieve, the machinery of execution continues,” FADP Executive Director Grace Hanna wrote. “The cell where (Hitchcock) once sat is now occupied by a new man who has been told he has a month to live.”

Hitchcock, 69, convicted in the 1976 rape and murder of his step-niece Cynthia Driggers in her bedroom in Orange County, was the sixth inmate put to death by the state this year on Thursday.

The 19 executions last year were a modern era record. The modern era represents the time since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, after it was halted by a 1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Richard Knight, 47, is the next Florida Death Row inmate scheduled to be executed.

Knight’s execution is set for May 21 for the 2000 murder of Odessia Stephens and her 4-year-old daughter, Hanessia Mullings, in Broward County.

Michigan Democrats won a state government trifecta in 2022 — control of the governorship and both chambers of the state Legislature — but they lost the state House in 2024 and now cling to a 19-18 state Senate majority. A Republican victory on Tuesday would deadlock the body at 19 senators each.

While the state constitution allows Democratic Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II to break ties, Republicans could still block measures by withholding votes and preventing Democrats from reaching the 20-vote threshold required to pass legislation.

The nominees for the seat are Democrat Chedrick Greene, Republican Jason Tunney and Libertarian Ali Sledz.

Greene, a firefighter and former state Senate aide to McDonald Rivet, received 60% of the vote in the Feb. 3 Democratic special primary against five others. Tunney, an attorney and former executive at his family’s roofing company, won the GOP special primary with 51% of the vote against three opponents. Sledz, a graduate student and Army spouse, received the Libertarian Party nomination at a local party convention in January.

State Senate District 35 includes parts of Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties and borders Lake Huron. Although Republican Donald Trump carried all three counties in the 2024 presidential race, the portions of the counties that fall within District 35 are more competitive. McDonald Rivet won the seat in 2022 with 53% of the vote. Democrat Kamala Harris barely edged Trump in the district in 2024, 49.7% to 48.9%, on the strength of her 17-percentage-point lead in the Saginaw portion of the district. Trump posted smaller leads in the parts of the district in Bay and Midland counties. District voters also preferred Democrat Joe Biden over Trump in the 2020 presidential race by a slightly larger margin.

McDonald Rivet vacated the seat in January 2025 following her election to Congress. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced in August 2025 that the special primary would be held Feb. 3 and the special election on Tuesday.

The winner will complete the remaining eight months of the term. Both Greene and Tunney have filed to run in the Aug. 4 primaries for nomination to a full term.

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

Michigan’s mandatory recount law does not apply to state Senate races. Instead, candidates may request and pay for a recount, with the payment refunded if the recount changes the outcome. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

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

When do polls close?

Polls in Senate District 35 close at 8 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The AP will provide vote results and declare a winner in the state Senate special election. Three candidates are on the ballot. Write-in votes are not permitted for this election, since no write-in candidates filed the necessary paperwork with election officials.

Who gets to vote?

Any voter registered in state Senate District 35 may participate in the special election. Voters may register on Election Day.

How many people actually vote?

Nearly 46,000 voters cast ballots in the Feb. 3 special primary in District 35. There were slightly more than 17,000 votes from Saginaw County, just shy of 17,000 from Bay County and about 11,000 from Midland County.

In the regularly scheduled 2022 general election, about 116,000 ballots were cast in the district, with the share of votes from each county about the same as in the special primary.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

In the Feb. 3 special primaries, early and absentee votes made up about 43% of the total Democratic primary vote and about 29% of the Republican vote.

By comparison, about 60% of the vote in the 2024 presidential general election was cast before Election Day.

As of Friday, about 32,000 ballots had already been cast in the special election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Bay, Midland and Saginaw counties tend to release a relatively small amount of the vote in their first vote update, both in terms of advance votes and in-person Election Day votes. Bay County tends to release results from pre-Election Day voting at the end of the vote tabulation process, while Midland and Saginaw counties release them throughout the night along with results from in-person Election Day voting.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

The last time this seat was up, in 2022, the AP first reported results in state Senate District 35 at 8:53 p.m. ET, or 53 minutes after polls closed. About 89% of the vote had been tallied by 2:23 a.m. ET, with the last vote update of the night at 5:33 a.m. ET, with about 99.9% of total votes counted.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 91 days until the Aug. 4 state primary and 182 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

___

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

One of dozens of AI cameras installed for the utility Arizona Public Service had spotted early signs of what came to be known as the Diamond Fire. Firefighters raced to the scene and contained the blaze before it grew past 7 acres (2.8 hectares).

As record-breaking heat and an abysmal snowpack raise concerns about severe wildfires, states across the fire-prone West are adding AI to their wildfire detection toolbox, banking on the technology to help save lives and property.

Arizona Public Service has nearly 40 active AI smoke-detection cameras and plans to have 71 by summer's end, and the state’s fire agency has deployed seven of its own. Another utility, Xcel Energy in Colorado, has installed 126 and aims to have cameras in seven of the eight states it serves by year's end.

“Earlier detection means we can launch aircraft and personnel to it and keep those fires as small as we can,” said John Truett, fire management officer for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

Where there are fewer eyes, AI looks for fires

ALERTCalifornia is a network of some 1,240 AI-enabled cameras across the Golden State that work similar to the system in Arizona.

Human intervention keeps the risk of false positives low and trains the technology to become more accurate, said Neal Driscoll, geology and geophysics professor at the University of California, San Diego, and founder of ALERTCalifornia.

“The AI that’s being run on the cameras is actually beating 911 calls,” he said.

In Arizona, California and beyond, the technology is mostly used in high-risk areas that are sparsely populated, rural or remote, where a blaze might not be quickly spotted by human eyes.

“It’s just the ones where we won’t get a 911 call for a long time, it is extremely helpful to have that AI always monitoring that camera,” said Brent Pascua, battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. “In many cases, we’ve started a response before 911 was even called, and in a few cases, we’ve actually started a response, went there, put the fire out, and never received a 911 call.”

A technology driven by worsening blazes

Pano AI, whose technology combines high-definition camera feeds, satellite data and AI monitoring, has seen a growing interest in its cameras since launching in 2020. They've been deployed in Australia, Canada and 17 U.S. states, including Oregon, Washington and Texas. Its customers include forestry operations, government agencies and utilities, including Arizona Public Service.

Last year, its technology detected 725 wildfires in the U.S., the company said.

“In many of these situations, we hear from stakeholders that the visual intelligence, the time, really, really gives them a head start and some of these could have taken off into hundreds if not thousands of acres,” said Arvind Satyam, the company’s co-founder and chief commercial officer.

Cindy Kobold, an Arizona Public Service meteorologist, said the technology notifies them about 45 minutes faster on average than the first 911 call.

Satyam said development of the technology was driven by the lack of hardened solutions to combat worsening wildfires. Climate change — caused by burning oil, gas and coal — is warming the planet and fueling dry conditions that supercharge infernos, making them burn hotter, faster and more frequently. The technology helps firefighters to safely and effectively respond while protecting communities and infrastructure, he said.

Challenges and limitations

One of the biggest obstacles to implementation is the price tag; Pano AI, for instance, charges around $50,000 annually per camera. The cost also includes fire risk analysis and 24/7 intelligence center.

False alarms present a challenge, which can be costly in terms of time and attention, said Patrick Roberts, a senior researcher with the nonprofit research group RAND who recently finished a project on accelerating innovation in wildfire management.

And when the AI accurately detects a fire, it doesn’t tell stakeholders the best course of action.

“Do you send help right away? Do you monitor? Should you worry about it? Where do you send help? Do you think about evacuation? All this still requires people and decision support systems,” said Roberts.

In highly populated areas, people tend to spot and call in fires pretty quickly, and the tech is not so useful when extreme weather events, such as hurricane-force winds, intensify and rapidly shift the flames, as happened in Los Angeles last year.

Pascua says the technology complements Cal Fire’s work.

“As the fire moves and shifts around, that’s where the human factor comes in and decides which tactics are best in fighting the fire. AI can only do so much,” he said. “It just provides that real time information where we can make better decisions on the fire ground.”

AI firefighting assistance is not limited to detection

AI can also be employed to identify the best places to thin vegetation and burn cool fires, and even to monitor air quality for signs of smoke, just like your home's carbon monoxide sensor, said Roberts, but “1,000 times more sensitive.”

At George Mason University in Virginia, professor Chaowei “Phil” Yang is working with researchers from California State University of Los Angeles, the city of LA and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to create a system that forecasts where a fire will burn and which communities will be hardest hit by smoke pollution.

The idea is to give agencies real-time maps so they can make quick, life-saving decisions about evacuations, school and road closures, and send out early air quality warnings. Yang said they hope the technology will be operational in three years.

“AI in wildfires, it’s no longer just speculative. It’s really being used,” said Roberts, and it's use will only continue to grow.

“The future is AI everywhere,” he said, “and the lines will blur between AI wildfire detection and just wildfire detection as the lines will blur in other areas of our life.”

___

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Teachers returned to their schools Thursday for the first time since the fires broke out, getting campuses ready ahead of the student return.

The Highway 82 Fire forced two schools to be evacuated on April 21, the day many in the community lost everything they owned when the drought-fueled wildfire exploded out of control.

The wildfire eventually grew to 22,471 acres and is now 75%.

RELATED: Brantley County school counselor stayed on campus to help students as his home burned, superintendent says

Because of the trauma they know many students have endured in losing their homes, Brantley County School District officials have made it clear that families dealing with displacement or property loss should not feel rushed to send their children back.

The district shared this information on Friday when the announcement was made about schools reopening:

“With the improvement of fire conditions, we plan to welcome our students back to school on Monday. We also want to say this clearly and with care for families who have been impacted, displaced, or are still navigating property loss, please do not feel any pressure to return to school right away. Your safety, your needs, and your time to recover come first.”

Families are encouraged to take the time they need to heal and recover, and counselors will be available at the schools, officials said.

“Our schools will be open and ready to provide a sense of normalcy, care, and support for the students who are able to return to school,” the district wrote. “At the same time, we remain committed to standing alongside those who are not yet able to come back, continuing to support you in every way we can.”

Atkinson Elementary School, which was one of the two schools that had to evacuate students on April 21, shared the following post on its Facebook page on Sunday:

Our Wolves are coming back home tomorrow.

After days of uncertainty, worry, and real hardship in our community, we are grateful to welcome our Wolves back where they belong—together. School will be a place of comfort, routine, and support as we take these next steps forward side by side.

We also understand that some of our Pack may not be ready to return just yet—and that’s okay. Take the time you need. We are here for you whenever you’re ready.

Our Pack takes care of one another.

We can’t wait to see those smiling faces when the time is right.

Assistant Brantley County Superintendent Dr. Angela Haney said the district has been working with multiple agencies to slowly bring everyone back, but they’re really just so excited to see their staff and students again.

“We are anxious and eager to see our kids, and that’s why we are educators,” Haney said. “We love them, and we are a Brantley County Schools family here.”

Haney said efforts would continue to support families in the weeks and months ahead.

“We want them to know that they’re not alone,” Haney said. “We’re here for them, and we will continue to provide resource support in the coming weeks because we know this is not a short span that we’ve got ahead of us here.”

Dozens of dancers in vivid oranges, greens and blues stomped, leaped and collapsed into the sand of the sun-baked village of Toubab Dialao, an hour from the capital Dakar.

Founded in 1997, the African Dance Biennial has spent nearly three decades rotating across African cities — most recently Maputo, Mozambique, in 2023 — with the aim of raising the visibility of choreographic work on the continent.

The three-day event, which closed late Sunday, was held at the École des Sables, or School of Sands, in Toubab Dialao.

The school has become the continent’s most prominent professional dance training institution in recent years. It was founded in 1998 by Germaine Acogny, who is widely regarded as the mother of African contemporary dance.

Its open-air sand studio, a hallmark of Acogny’s nature-rooted teaching philosophy, has drawn dancers from dozens of countries for intensive courses blending her original contemporary technique with traditional West African and Black modern dance styles.

The École des Sables gained international attention in recent years as the home of the first African production of Pina Bausch’s “The Rite of Spring,” which toured globally from 2021 to 2025.

The biennial comes as the school faces an uncertain future. A billion-dollar deep water port project overseen by Dubai Ports World, under construction just south of the fishing village, threatens to expropriate surrounding land, including property the school acquired to protect its natural ecosystem.

Arts institutions in the area have formed an association to resist the development.

___

This version corrects the company name to Dubai Ports World.

The man who was shot is expected to survive, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, and investigators are now looking for the shooter.

According to JSO, officers responded around 1 a.m. to Edgewood Avenue North, less than half a mile south of Old Kings Road, after reports of a shooting.

JSO said a man was taken to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg.

Investigators said the victim was shot in a parking lot by an unknown suspect, who then left the area.

A witness who asked to remain anonymous spoke to News4JAX and described what he said was an afterparty that erupted into chaos.

“They just had like a party or something, I guess, for like prom, like an afterparty. But out of nowhere, a lot of commotion was going on, and they started shooting,” the man said. “Kids was running everywhere. It was crazy.”

News4JAX saw multiple cars in the parking lot with what appeared to be bullet holes. There was also damage to the windows of nearby businesses in the shopping center near Rio Grande Avenue.

A video posted to social media purportedly showed the shooting, but News4JAX has been unable to verify when and where it was recorded.

Another witness, Jada Conyers, who said she lives nearby, described how far she said the crowd and cars stretched during the gathering.

“I live five streets that way. There were cars from here all the way to my house,” Conyers said.

Conyers said investigators remained at the scene for hours.

“The detective sat here until 1:30 this afternoon. But if you go online, you got videos, tons of videos of the shooting here, all over the place. They came to a graduation party,” Conyers said.

As graduation parties ramp up, Conyers said she hopes more safety measures are in place.

“There are more parties next weekend,” she said. “Better security might have saved somebody.”

Conyers said residents are growing tired of the gun violence, especially when it involves teens.

“When the funeral homes are making more money off of our youth, we have a problem,” Conyers said. “They have no problem making money off our youth dying. I’m tired of putting kids on my shirts.”

Anyone with information is asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500, email JSOCRIMETIPS@Jaxsheriff.org, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.

The national gaming retailer said that its approximately 1,600 U.S. stores could become drop-off and shipping locations. One proposal includes live sales broadcasts from GameStop locations featuring eBay products.

“EBay has the second largest commerce franchise and there’s a big opportunity to do something much larger,” Cohen said in a CNBC interview Monday.

GameStop's bid is $125 per share in cash and stock. The equity value of the proposed deal is $55 billion on paper.

EBay confirmed the huge bid on Monday and said that it has had no talks with GameStop or received any outreach from the company before it received the proposal.

The company's board, along with financial and legal advisors, will review the offer and determine what course of action to take, eBay said.

GameStop said that it started accumulating shares in eBay beginning in February and currently has a 5% stake.

The company is looking to lower costs at eBay, saying that the online seller spent $2.4 billion on sales and marketing in fiscal 2025 while only adding 1 million net active buyers. GameStop says it will achieve $2 billion in annualized cost cuts within a year of the proposed transaction's closing.

Cohen, who owns about 9% of GameStop, would serve as CEO of the combined company. He would only be compensated based on the combined company's performance.

Cohen became CEO of GameStop in 2023. At the time the position had become a rotating door with the company trying to survive as streaming upended the gaming industry. GameStop became one of the most well-known meme stocks to create a frenzy among retail traders on Wall Street. The company’s shares took off in 2021 after a band of smaller-pocketed investors helped boost its stock by 1,000% in two weeks.

GameStop shares have fallen since then, but are still up more than 30% this year.

Shares of eBay jumped more than 7% in premarket trading, while GameStop's stock declined nearly 3%.

In a series of social media posts, Trump has lobbed various insults at the incumbents, calling them incompetent, RINOs — Republicans in name only — or losers.

In 2025, Trump urged Republicans in several states to redraw their congressional maps to help the party maintain control of the narrowly divided U.S. House. Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio answered the call, but the effort to create new GOP seats in Indiana failed when more than half the state’s Republican senators sided with Democrats to defeat the plan backed by Trump. Eight of those state senators are up for reelection in 2026, and Trump has targeted all but one for defeat.

Voter-approved maps favoring Democrats in California and Virginia have offset some expected Republican gains in other states, but a new plan in Florida, as well as last week’s Supreme Court decision to weaken the Voting Rights Act of 1965, have given Republicans a boost in their effort to reshape the electoral landscape heading into November.

The Trump-targeted Indiana state senators all represent districts he carried in 2024, mostly by 20 percentage points or more. The most competitive was District 1, near Lake Michigan and just southeast of Chicago. Trump won with about 53% of the vote and a margin of about 7 percentage points over Democratic then-Vice President Kamala Harris. His best performance of the seven targeted districts was in District 19, on the Ohio border, where he received about 68% of the vote and a margin of about 39 percentage points.

Only one of the incumbents, state Sen. Spencer Deery of District 23, faced a contested primary in 2022. He won with about 31% of the vote against a four-candidate field that included Paula Copenhaver, Trump’s pick to oust him this year. Another Trump-targeted incumbent, state Sen. Greg Goode of District 38, filled a vacant seat in 2023 and has not previously faced a full districtwide election.

Half of Indiana’s 50 state Senate seats and all 100 state House seats are up for election in 2026. Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers.

Indiana voters will also choose nominees for the U.S. House under the existing boundaries, although none of the state’s nine seats is expected to play a key role in the effort to win control of the chamber in November.

Among the notable contests is the Democratic primary in the 7th Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Andre Carson faces three challengers in his bid for renomination to a 10th full term. George Hornedo is an attorney and political consultant. Destiny Wells is an attorney, an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel and the 2024 nominee for state attorney general. Denise Paul Hatch, a former Center Township constable, is appealing her 2024 felony conviction for official misconduct.

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

There are no automatic recounts in Indiana, but the losing candidate may request and pay for a recount regardless of the vote margin. The costs may be partly or fully refunded depending on the results of the recount. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

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

When do polls close?

All polls in Indiana close at 6 p.m. local time. Polls in most of the state are in the Eastern time zone and close at 6 p.m. ET, but some polls are in Central time and close at 7 p.m. ET. State Senate District 1 is the only Trump-targeted seat where polls close at 7 p.m. ET. The last polls in the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 8th Congressional Districts also close at 7 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for the U.S. House, the state Senate and the state House. Republican incumbents face Trump-backed challengers in state Senate Districts 1, 11, 19, 21, 23, 38 and 41.

Who gets to vote?

Indiana does not register voters by party, so registered voters are asked to select the primary ballot for the party of their choice. Voter ID is required. An unusual provision in state law requires voters in a party’s primary to have voted for a majority of that party’s candidates in the last general election or plan to do so in the next general election if they didn’t vote in the last election. This is essentially unenforceable, but voters whose party affiliations are challenged at the polls must vote by provisional ballot unless they sign an affidavit aligning themselves with the party.

How many voters are there?

There were about 4.8 million registered voters in Indiana as of the November 2024 general election. Registration totals in the state’s nine congressional districts ranged from about 442,000 in District 7 to about 505,000 in District 5.

How many people usually vote?

Most of the targeted state Senate races did not have a contested primary in 2022, but those that had a contested general election ranged from about 32,000 to 45,000 total votes.

About 34,000 votes were cast in the 7th Congressional District Democratic primary in 2024, the most of any district. That was about 8% of registered voters. About 25,000 votes were cast in the Republican primary.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 29% of the 2024 primary vote was cast before Election Day.

As of Friday, more than 175,000 ballots had already been cast in the Democratic and Republican primaries combined.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Absentee ballots in Indiana may be processed once they are received, and counting may begin before the polls close on Election Day. This leads to relatively quick counting of absentee ballots. Elections officials from more than three-quarters of Indiana’s 92 counties have indicated they tend to include all or nearly all the results of absentee and early voting in their first vote update of the night.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In 2024, the AP first reported results in the Republican presidential primary at 6:06 p.m. ET, or six minutes after polls closed in most of the state. The last vote update of the night was at 11:34 p.m. ET, with more than 99% of total votes counted.

The last election night vote update for each congressional district with a contested primary was much earlier. The earliest was 9:10 p.m. ET in the 5th Congressional District, and the latest was 11:34 p.m. ET in the 1st District. The last vote update of the night in the 7th District Democratic primary was at 10:04 p.m. ET.

The first vote result in the state Senate District 23 primary was at 6:59 p.m. ET, almost an hour after polls closed in the district. The last update was at 11:11 p.m. ET, with more than 99% of the total votes counted.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 182 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

___

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

For 15 years, Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun worked in Saudi Arabia, sending money home to his family in one of the poorest areas of Bangladesh. This year, he had planned to return, build a larger house with his savings and spend time with the child he barely knew.

Then, on March 8, a missile struck his workers’ camp. He suffered severe burns and later died. He was among more than two dozen foreign workers killed across the Mideast after the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February.

Tens of millions of foreign workers have helped build the Gulf Arab states' modern, oil-fueled economies — with many not fully sharing in their prosperity. Now they face an even sharper dilemma: Keep working in the Mideast, where wages are far higher, hoping that a shaky ceasefire endures; or return to already poor countries where prices have soared because of the conflict.

Mamun's choice was made for him. He arrived home in a coffin earlier this month.

“We don’t know what we will do next,” said his widow, Sadia Islam Sarmin.

Millions work with little protection

Migrant workers make up a majority of the population in many Gulf Arab states. Westerners, Arabs and Indians dominate business and finance, while laborers from poor countries in Asia and Africa toil for long hours in scorching temperatures at oil facilities and construction sites — often with few protections.

The Coalition for Labour Justice for Migrants in the Gulf, an advocacy group, says few had access to bomb shelters and many were stranded by the conflict. It says attacks killed at least 24 foreign workers in the Gulf and four in Israel as Iran and allied armed groups launched waves of missile and drones strikes. Their count includes eight mariners killed at sea.

“It’s a very precarious situation for migrant workers,” said Udaya Wagle, who studies labor and migration at the Northern Arizona University.

A ceasefire was announced in early April, but negotiations to end the war have repeatedly stalled. Iran has effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil and gas, and says it will only reopen it if the war ends and the U.S. lifts its blockade.

The resulting spike in the price of gas, fertilizer and other goods has hit Asian countries particularly hard.

Remittances from the Gulf make up about 1% of the gross domestic product of India, 3% to 5% of the GDP in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; and nearly 10% in Nepal. Now they are more vital than ever, as household incomes are strained and governments seek foreign currency to buy oil and gas.

The Gulf economies also face a bleak outlook, with exports bottled up and key energy facilities in need of repair after missile strikes. The fighting could resume, as Iran rejects U.S. President Donald Trump 's demands.

Low-wage laborers are the most vulnerable

Mamun's family awoke on March 9 to phone calls saying the 35-year-old had been hurt. Video footage shot by another worker showed him sitting in the open, badly burned and bleeding, crying out for help.

“He never imagined he would be hurt. That a missile would fall on him,” said Maruf Hasain, his younger brother.

Workers like Mamun are the most vulnerable since they do the “most dirty, dangerous and difficult” jobs, said Shariful Islam Hasan of the Bangladeshi development organization BRAC.

In Qatar, a 27-year-old Bangladeshi factory worker labored through 12-hour shifts as missiles flew overhead. Shrapnel from one strike fell near his living quarters. When alarms sounded, he said, workers went to a designated room.

He earns less than $400 monthly and sends two-thirds home. “We have no choice but to keep working,” he said on condition of anonymity for fear of angering the authorities.

Qatar enacted several reforms in the run-up to hosting the 2022 World Cup, including the partial dismantling of a system that tied workers to their employers. But activists say abuses are still widespread and that workers have few avenues to pursue justice.

Ahmed al-Aliyli, a taxi driver in Qatar, has not sent money home to his family in Egypt for two months. He once earned as much as $3,000 a month but his income has plunged to a third of that as the war has disrupted travel. “We are the collateral damage of this war,” he said.

A slowdown in key sectors like real estate and construction will hit migrant workers directly, said Hasan of BRAC. Workers from Bangladesh and Pakistan are especially vulnerable, as they are often employed informally and without fixed contracts, he said.

Despite reforms in some countries, work permits are also often tied to a single employer and, in some cases, workers are effectively stranded, according to the labor coalition. It warned that some employers may use the conflict to withhold wages, deny leave or carry out arbitrary dismissals.

For many, going home isn't an option

When the war began, Mamun’s mother, Shahida Khatun, urged him to come home.

He had been saving up since November. In his last call home, he promised his younger brother and sisters he would pay for their studies, that he would build a larger house for his parents and return for good this spring.

Now, his family is struggling to recover his wages and piece together a life without him.

“The pain of losing a child. There are no words to describe the agony,” Khatun said.

For many workers, going home would mean giving up a steady income and much higher wages.

Marlene Flores, a Filipina worker in Qatar, said she felt the shudder each time a missile was intercepted. But the tax-free pay and health insurance made it feel safer — in a way — than the Philippines, which has declared a ″ national energy emergency.”

“It’s not easy for me to say,” she admitted, “But I would really stay here.”

Israel also has a large population of foreign workers. Filipino caregiver Jeremiah Supan continued caring for his two elderly charges despite near-daily missile alerts, sometimes dashing out for food or medicine despite the danger. He questions whether his own family could survive if he returns to the Philippines.

“I know that in the blink of an eye, one can die,” he said. “But what life shall we return to?”

___

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Shahida Khatun's last name on second reference.

___

Gomez reported from Manila, Philippines. Associated Press writers Al Emrun Garjon in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sam Magdy in Cairo, and Eileen Ng from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.

___

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

Germany’s defense minister responded by saying: Europeans “must assume more responsibility for our security.”

Poland’s prime minister condemned the “ongoing disintegration” of the Transatlantic alliance.

The move has rattled Europe with worries that this is the beginning of what some have called a disastrous trend.

Garret Martin, co-director of the Transatlantic Policy Center at American University, joined us on The Morning Show to share some perspective and agreed, it might be the start of a dangerous trend.

Ohio is expected to play a high-profile role in the midterm elections, with a prominent ally of President Donald Trump vying for an open seat for governor and competitive races for the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House that could decide control of both chambers for the final two years of the Republican's presidency.

In the race to replace outgoing GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, tech entrepreneur and 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy faces auto racing engineer and internet personality Casey Putsch for the Republican nomination.

Ramaswamy has endorsements from Trump and the Ohio Republican Party and entered the final stretch of the primary campaign with a $31 million war chest, including $25 million from his personal funds. Putsch raised about $123,000 and had about $8,700 in his campaign account as of the most recent filing in April.

A third candidate, Heather Hill, was disqualified from the race after her running mate withdrew from the ticket in an acrimonious split. Their names will still appear on the ballot, but votes cast for them will not be counted.

The winner will face Dr. Amy Acton, who is unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Acton was director of the Ohio Department of Health during the early days of the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response until her resignation in June 2020.

In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown is running to reclaim his old job in Washington. A Brown victory in November is again pivotal to Democratic hopes of winning control of the Senate, as was the case in 2024, when his loss to Republican Bernie Moreno helped secure a GOP majority.

Brown faces Ron Kincaid for the Democratic nomination. Brown had an enormous fundraising advantage over Kincaid as of mid-April.

The Republican nominee will be Sen. Jon Husted, who faces no primary challengers. Husted was lieutenant governor when he was appointed to fill the Senate seat JD Vance vacated to become vice president. The seat will be up again for a full term in 2028.

Among the notable U.S. House races, a crowded Republican field is competing to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the 9th Congressional District. The 22-term incumbent narrowly won reelection in 2024 over Republican Derek Merrin in one of the final races to be called that cycle.

Merrin is again running for the GOP nomination against a field that includes former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Madison Sheahan, state Rep. Josh Williams and two others.

Lucas County, home to Toledo, is by far the most influential in the 9th Congressional District primaries. It contributed more than one-third of the total vote in the 2024 Republican U.S. House primary. Merrin and Williams are from Lucas County, while Sheahan’s home base is Ottawa County.

Franklin and Cuyahoga counties, home to Columbus and Cleveland, respectively, are the state’s most populous and play big roles in both Democratic and Republican statewide primaries, as do Hamilton, Montgomery and Summit counties.

Trump’s endorsement should be a boost to Ramaswamy. Trump carried every county in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.

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

Recounts in Ohio are automatic if the margin is less than 0.25% of the total vote in statewide races or 0.5% in congressional district races. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

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

When do polls close?

Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, the state Supreme Court, the state Senate and the state House.

Who gets to vote?

Any registered voter in Ohio may participate in any party’s primary. Ohio does not register voters by party, but voters who participate in a party’s primary will be considered affiliated with that party.

How many voters are there?

As of Friday, there were about 7.9 million registered voters in Ohio.

How many people actually vote?

The 2022 Republican primaries for the U.S. Senate and governor each had about 1.1 million total votes cast, which was roughly 14% of registered voters at the time. The Democratic U.S. Senate primary had about 518,000 total votes cast, and the Democratic gubernatorial primary had about 509,000 votes cast.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 17% of the vote in the 2022 primaries was cast before primary day. About 25% of the vote was cast before primary day in the 2024 presidential primary.

As of Friday, more than 153,000 Democratic primary ballots and about 122,000 Republican primary ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election.

When are early and absentee votes released?

All 88 counties in Ohio tend to release all or almost all of their early and absentee voting results in the first vote update of the night, in most cases before any in-person Election Day results are released.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the 2024 Ohio presidential primary, the AP first reported results at 7:36 p.m. ET, or six minutes after polls closed. About 90% of the vote had been counted by 10:19 p.m. ET, and the last vote update of the night was at 1:28 a.m. ET, with more than 99% of total votes counted.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 182 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

___

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

The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters on Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.”

He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger over European allies’ reluctance to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.

Asked about the American decision, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said: “I wouldn’t exaggerate that because I think we are expecting that Europe is taking more charge of its own security.

“I do not see those figures as dramatic, but I think they should be handled in a harmonious way inside the framework of NATO,” he told reporters in Yerevan, Armenia, where European leaders held a summit.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that “there needs to be a stronger European element in NATO, I have no doubt, about that.” He told his European partners that there is ”more tension" in some of their international alliances "than there should be, and it is very important that we therefore face up to this.”

Taken by surprise

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said “there has been a talk about withdrawal of U.S. troops for a long time from Europe. But of course, the timing of this announcement comes as a surprise.”

“I think it shows that we have to really strengthen the European pillar in NATO,” she said.

Asked whether she believes that Trump is trying to punish Merz, who said that the U.S. has been humiliated by Iran in talks to end the war, Kallas said: “I don’t see into the head of President Trump, so he has to explain it himself.”

Merz did not attend the European Political Community summit of around 30 European leaders, plus Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, in Armenia. But his spokesman Stefan Kornelius, asked in Berlin whether the U.S. can still be relied on as a military partner, replied: “Absolutely.”

He said that the trans-Atlantic alliance has grown over decades and argued that “we have a very resilient and broad relationship.” But on what Trump meant when he said the troop cuts would exceed 5,000, Kornelius said: “You’d have to ask the American government.”

In response to Trump's threats over the last year, European countries and Canada have increased defense spending and military recruitment efforts.

NATO seeks clarity

Over the weekend, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said officials at the 32-nation military alliance “are working with the U.S. to understand the details of their decision on force posture in Germany.”

European allies and Canada have known since just after he came to office again last year that Trump would pull troops out of Europe, some already left Romania in October, but U.S. officials had pledged to coordinate any moves with their NATO allies to avoid creating a security vacuum.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte played down the move, saying that “there has been at this point disappointment on the U.S. side” about European support for the war on Iran.

Notably, France, Spain and the U.K. have declined to give U.S. forces free rein to use bases on their territory to attack Iran. Spain has denied them the use of its airspace and bases for the war.

But Rutte, who has championed Trump’s leadership at NATO despite the U.S. president's criticism of the majority of the allies, said: “I would say the Europeans have heard a message. They are now making sure that all the bilateral basing agreements are being implemented.”

Iran and trade trouble

Rutte added that European nations “have decided to pre-position assets, key assets, close to the theater for the next phase.”

He provided no details, but the Europeans have insisted they would not help police the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy trade route, until the war is over.

French President Emmanuel Macron said: “If the United States is ready to reopen Hormuz, that’s great. That’s what we’ve been asking for since the beginning.” But he underlined that Europeans are not ready to get involved in any operation “that does not seem clear.”

In another sign of friction with Merz, Trump has accused the EU of not complying with its U.S. trade deal and announced plans to increase tariffs next week on cars and trucks produced in the bloc to 25%, a move that would be particularly damaging to Germany, a major automobile manufacturer.

Without mentioning Trump or the United States, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen listed recent trade deals that the bloc has sealed with Australia and India, and is now working on with Mexico.

“With like-minded friends, you have stable, reliable supply chains and Europe has the biggest network of free trade agreements,” von der Leyen, who is from Germany, told reporters.

___

Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Fifteen people were killed when two gunmen opened fire at the celebration on Bondi Beach in December. Father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram are accused of carrying out the massacre with guns they owned legally, in a country with tight controls on firearms. The attack, which followed a wave of separate antisemitic crimes in Australia, was inspired by the Islamic State group, authorities said.

The mass shooting prompted a Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, the highest form of inquiry in Australia, that began public hearings in Sydney on Monday. The two-week sitting is due to scrutinize the nature and prevalence of antisemitism in Australia’s institutions and society.

Further hearings this year will examine other topics before the commission publishes its final report in December.

“The sharp spike in antisemitism that we’ve witnessed in Australia has been mirrored in other Western countries and seems clearly linked to events in the Middle East,” said Commissioner Virginia Bell. “It’s important that people understand how quickly those events can prompt ugly displays of hostility toward Jewish Australians simply because they’re Jews.”

Bondi attack followed a surge in hate crimes

All witnesses called to give evidence Monday were Jewish Australians who recounted their experiences of hatred, some speaking under pseudonyms out of fear for their safety. The daughter of one of those killed in the Bondi attacks said that a year earlier she was verbally abused while carrying her baby in a Sydney shopping mall by a man who spotted her Star of David necklace.

“I felt shocked, exposed and unsafe,” said Sheina Gutnick. “There were many people around me but no one intervened.”

Her father Reuven Morrison, 62, hurled a brick at one of the gunmen who attacked the gathering at the popular Sydney beach in December, before Morrison was shot and killed. Gutnick said she was cautious of attending events with her family in public places or traveling to certain parts of Sydney.

Australian Jews told the hearing Monday that the Bondi attacks followed a surge in antisemitic incidents since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, 2023. In the following year, more than 2,000 episodes were reported to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which tracks such figures, compared to a previous record of just under 500 the year before.

Jewish Australians recount assaults and abuse

Such escalation has also been reported in Britain and elsewhere. But Australia's small Jewish population was particularly shocked because its members had not registered such a volume of serious threats before, witnesses said Monday.

“Now everyone is scared all the time,” said Toby Raphael, vice president of Sydney’s Newtown Synagogue, which was daubed with swastikas during a wave of antisemitic crimes in the city in 2025.

Raphael said he had once told congregants there was no need for security at the synagogue, but the ramp-up in hate-fueled attacks had changed that. He added that he was part of a parent security group at his son’s Jewish school, which is also protected by professional guards carrying guns.

“Why do kids have to go to school like that?” Raphael said. “This is the world that the Jews of Australia live in now and it needs to change.”

Antisemitism in Australia was growing in profile before the Bondi shooting because of a spate of attacks on Jewish schools, businesses and places of worship. Australia’s government in August said Iran had orchestrated at least two of the crimes and cut diplomatic ties with Tehran.

Some of those giving evidence to the inquiry on Monday cited these episodes when they said they were considering leaving Australia or already planned to move abroad.

Others spoke of being verbally or physically attacked or having crowds of pro-Palestinian protesters arrive at their synagogues. Alex Ryvchin, a Jewish group leader whose house was targeted by arson in 2025, said he believed Australia was “on a path to catastrophe,” after the crime at his home and he warned reporters that someone would die.

“This was January, and by December there was a horrific massacre which has transformed us permanently,” he told Monday’s hearing.

The hearings follow a report urging gun reform

The massacre roiled Australia, where serious gun crime has been rare since controls were tightened after a mass shooting in Tasmania 30 years ago. Australia’s federal and state governments are now considering further reforms.

An interim report from the Royal Commission released in April, which examined the capacity of Australian law enforcement and the security services to respond to antisemitic crimes, recommended that Australia’s leaders prioritize enacting nationally consistent gun laws and a weapons buyback.

Sajid Akram was shot dead by police at the crime scene. He was a licensed shooter who legally owned the guns used.

His son was wounded but survived. Naveed Akram has been charged with committing a terrorist act, 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of attempted murder. He has entered no pleas.

Republican Donald Trump may have won the state by double digits in the last presidential election, but growing dissatisfaction with his leadership and rising costs from the Iran war could help set the stage for Democrats to make previously unattainable gains.

Iowa Democrats plan to have 60 field organizers on the ground by June, nearly double from eight years ago during the midterm elections of Trump's first term. Another two dozen people will staff a coordinated campaign that's intended to support candidates for governor, U.S. House and U.S. Senate, among others.

“Iowa is still, in my view, a purple state," state party chair Rita Hart said in an interview. "We just haven’t given them an opportunity to show that lately.”

Republicans insist that Iowa will remain red, but White House travel plans suggest there may be some concern. Vice President JD Vance is visiting on Tuesday to support Rep. Zach Nunn, who represents Des Moines, its suburbs and the state's rural center. Trump also chose Iowa as his first stop when he began his midterm campaigning earlier this year.

Iowa has an unusual number of competitive races for open seats this year, with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Republican Sen. Joni Ernst both opting out of reelection bids.

Leading what Hart called “the best statewide ticket we’ve had for a generation" is Rob Sand, the state auditor running for governor. He ended last year with $13 million in his campaign account, and he often highlights his rural roots, Christian faith and bowhunting prowess, as well as a disdain for partisan politics, to try to appeal to Iowans of all backgrounds.

Josh Turek and Zach Wahls, both state lawmakers, are seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the June 2 primary. The party is also targeting three of the four Republican-held U.S. House seats.

Democrats focus on cost of living

Democrats believe a populist economic message could resonate in Iowa when farmers are squeezed by tariffs and face higher prices for fertilizer and diesel fuel. In addition, hundreds of people have lost jobs as factories and meat processors shut down, and rural residents are driving further to see doctors as healthcare clinics close.

This year's candidates are also willing to take swings at their own party, even though they will likely benefit from campaign spending by national organizations.

Turek and Wahls say Democrats have abandoned the rural and small-town voters who placed hope in Trump to change the status quo. Turek, who calls himself a “prairie populist,” says there are too many millionaires in Congress who don’t know what it is to live paycheck to paycheck. Wahls, endorsed by several labor unions, says corruption in politics benefits corporate interests over working people.

Christina Bohannan, who is running for a third time to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks in a southeast Iowa district, said both major political parties “have failed to really fight for working people.”

“Everybody’s talking about affordability,” she said. “I don’t want it just to become a catchphrase that people can kind of just brush aside as political rhetoric. This is real.”

Sand targets the entire political system, which he said "helps incumbents get reelected, rather than actually forcing them to solve our problems.” He recently introduced policy proposals, including term limits, bans on stock trading while in office, and open primaries.

Republicans say Democrats remain out of touch

Before Trump’s dominance in the region, it wasn’t uncommon to find Democrats representing the Midwest and Plains states in governors’ mansions or in Congress. Trump’s promises to resurrect American manufacturing jobs and “drain the swamp” won over voters who traditionally supported populist Democrats, said Iowa Democratic strategist Jeff Link.

“Because the knee-jerk reaction to Trump is to be the opposite of Trump, we went away from economic populism to our detriment,” Link said. “By just being anti-Trump, it is being condescending towards people that chose him three times.”

Tom Harkin, a former Democratic senator from Iowa, said Trump’s stumbles have created an opportunity for change.

“I think a lot of people wanted to get things shaken up a little bit," he said. "But I don’t think they wanted them shaken up like this."

Harkin said his party has an opportunity to rebrand itself.

“I think Democrats in the Midwest especially got painted with this broad brush, and we didn’t fight back well enough," he said. "We became more defensive.”

Republicans argue that Democrats' left-wing positions remain out of touch with Iowans' values.

“You can’t have political born-again experiences,” said Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. He said tweaking the message and running away from the national party is not going to “erase your history in one election cycle."

Kaufmann acknowledged that the cycle wouldn’t be easy but said Iowans trust Trump’s long game, knowing that he intends for tariffs to protect Iowa farmers and war with Iran to eliminate the country’s nuclear threat. But, he said, it took years for Democrats to lose the Iowa communities that flipped from supporting Barack Obama to backing Trump.

“It’s going to take a long time for them to build it back up again,” Kaufmann said.

Democrats try to rebuild

The political environment for Democrats has been bleak since Obama won the state in 2008 and 2012. Republicans have had total control in the Iowa state government for nearly a decade. All six members of the federal delegation are Republicans.

Democrats also lag Republicans by roughly 200,000 registered voters statewide and run at a deficit in each of the four congressional districts.

Iowa Democrats said 7,000 people have signed up over the past year to volunteer for Democratic candidates, and the state party will hold volunteer training sessions. The party has signed leases on eight field offices with plans to open at least seven more, including in blue-collar areas in eastern Iowa along the Mississippi River that supported Obama before pivoting to Trump.

“We’re investing so much in these organizers and in our county parties and supporting and training our volunteers,” Hart said. “It’s through these kinds of conversations where we build trust with voters.”

Senior leaders expect their spending this cycle to be on par with presidential years, reaching the high seven figures. They’re also pivoting from text messages and digital advertising to face-to-face conversations.

“Since the pandemic, we’ve really struggled with getting back to the basics with person-to-person communication," Hart said, adding, “We’ve got to get back to that.”

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

“If you scripted that one," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said, “I don’t know how you do. I can't explain it."

Cale Makar scored twice in the third period after returning from an earlier injury and the Avalanche overcame blowing a three-goal lead to beat the Minnesota Wild 9-6 on Sunday night in a wacky Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.

Makar, who left in the first period with an undisclosed ailment, scored his second goal of the game with 2:54 remaining to make it 8-6. Nathan MacKinnon added an empty-net goal with 2:08 remaining to seal it.

This was the 10th playoff game ever with at least 15 combined goals and just the second since 1994. There were five goals in each period.

“Just a weird game,” Makar said. “I don’t think we’re going to see that again. It’s probably a one-off, but glad we were able to stick with it and find a way to win.”

Who figured this? A high-scoring affair between two of the stingiest teams in the league with two elite goaltenders. There were 14 different players who notched a goal in a game that turned into a track meet. It's tied for the second-most in a playoff game.

“It’s nice to be able to win games like this,” captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “Not necessarily a coach’s dream or a player’s dream — we don’t want to give up six goals. It’s good to win this one but we’ve got lots of things to clean up.”

The Avalanche improved to 72-1 since moving to Colorado in 1995-96 when leading a playoff game by three or more goals. The lone loss was Game 5 against St. Louis in a season they went on to win the Stanley Cup.

A well-rested Colorado team led 3-0 with 6:47 left in the first period. But the Wild steadily climbed back and took a 5-4 lead on a short-handed goal from Marcus Foligno late in the second.

Devon Toews tied at 5-apiece in the second period. It was just the fourth Game 1 in playoff history with both teams scoring five or more goals through two periods.

“Listen, the game was helter-skelter,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “We lost the game. There are certain areas we've got to clean up and be ready to clean up. If you lose a game, you’ve got to take the lessons out of it, move on.”

Both goalies struggled, but made some timely saves, too. Scott Wedgewood, who had the league's best goals-against average this season, allowed one more goal than he did in the entire sweep of the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1.

He made 30 saves while Jesper Wallstedt stopped 34 shots.

“He’s great. He’s going to bounce back,” Marcus Foligno said of Wallstedt. “He’ll be fine next game. He’s a beast. This wasn’t on him. I mean, there’s a lot of things, (but) we got to play a little bit faster for him.”

Game 2 is Tuesday night in Denver.

The Wild were without forward Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin. They've been ruled out of Tuesday's game as well.

Makar took a scary hit along the boards from Foligno early in the first period. The Avalanche defenseman's right leg flew into the air before falling to the ice. Makar tested out his skating with some twirls at the end of the first and returned for the second. He had an assist on Nick Blankenburg's goal.

“I was just trying to get back and feel good,” Makar said. "It’s not fun when you kind of tweak something, but it happens. Got to be ready for it. Had to check a couple things out, make sure it was good to go.”

___

AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow contributed.

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Surrey, one of the most successful teams in England, is encouraging hybrid workers to come and do their jobs at The Kia Oval, the 180-year-old ground just south of the River Thames.

Over the winter, it upgraded the Wi-Fi and set aside work areas with desks, access to power and clear views of the game. “Work From Oval,” it's been dubbed.

It pondered whether it is the “best home office in the country” and crucially assured would-be-workers that “we won’t tell your boss.”

Over the three home four-day County Championship matches it has hosted this season, hundreds have taken up the chance to work at the Oval.

England's premier competition has been mocked for decades for its relatively low attendances — one man and his dog is a regularly voiced description, however unfair.

That certainly wasn't the case at The Kia Oval on Friday when Surrey hosted Sussex on the first day of their match. Over 6,000 attended, the crowd swelled by the glorious weather and the prospect of a full-day — more than seven hours — of cricket ahead.

Though the ground has a capacity of around 27,500, that's really not a bad crowd during a work day. The Oval does sell out for England test matches against other nations and for Surrey's short-format games.

Harry Ashton, director of Elite Finance Solutions, usually works from a coworking space in nearby Wimbledon. He jumped at the chance of working at the Oval for just 15 pounds ($20).

“It’s not quite as good as Lytham Cricket Club,” he quipped, referencing his local club in the northwest of England.

Ashton was joined later by some friends, and after a few hours of work, they enjoyed a beer or two. It was Friday, after all, and the start of a three-day weekend as Monday is a public holiday in the U.K.

In recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, it's been evident that many people at the Oval have their laptops to hand. Arguably, the shift toward hybrid work has become the main legacy of the pandemic.

Though more and more firms are forcing their staff to come into the office, more than a quarter of working adults in the U.K. work remotely part of the time, according to the Office for National Statistics. Critics argue that hybrid working is negatively impacting productivity, an individual's work ethic and the wider economy as a whole.

All the evidence on this particular Friday was that the dozens or so working at the ground were doing just that. Numbers were crunched and Zoom calls were held.

“I have great belief in life generally, if you treat someone like an adult, they will behave like an adult,” said Neil Munro, owner of Munron Consulting Ltd. “I don’t see any downside provided everyone treats it with respect.”

Matthew Balch, a keen club cricketer himself, agrees.

“I think all of the counties should lean into the remote worker-freelancer market to grow attendances,” he said.

Some workers were a bit more coy.

One 46-year-old woman working for a global company insisted on maintaining her anonymity, voicing concerns about how she would be perceived.

There's still a stigma.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Experts say about 60% of what we buy isn’t planned—and there’s a reason why.

Welcome to your brain on bargains.

Why deals are so hard to resist

From limited-time offers to deep discounts, grocery stores are carefully designed to create urgency.

And when you feel rushed, your decision-making can drop by as much as 30%.

“I see a good price, a good deal, I gotta get it,” one shopper said.

But that pull toward a “good deal” isn’t accidental—it’s psychological.

That feeling of scoring a bargain? That’s dopamine—the brain’s feel-good chemical tied to anticipation and reward.

The more deals you see, the more your brain wants to chase that feeling.

And even the way prices are displayed can influence you.

Think about it: $7.99 vs. $8.00.

Your brain tends to focus on that first number—seven instead of eight—even though the difference is just a penny.

And those prices ending in .99?

They’re designed to feel like a bargain, shifting your focus to what you think you’re saving… instead of what you’re actually spending.

The BOGO trap

Then there’s the classic: buy one, get one free.

But here’s the catch—if you didn’t need two items, you didn’t save money. You spent more.

And shoppers are starting to notice.

“I wonder if I find myself spending more money, and I wonder if I shop based on the BOGOs every week,” one shopper told News4JAX.

Another agreed that BOGOs are a big shopping draw.

“I feel like it works… it gets you in the door every week… and I do spend more than I normally would—but I do love a deal," they said.

Against this backdrop, there has been a long-running discussion about the role that religion can play in enhancing personal well-being and lowering the risk of mental health problems.

A positive view of religious faith’s relation to mental health is shared by several prominent U.S. mental health organizations, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health America.

“Religion gives people something to believe in, provides a sense of structure and typically offers a group of people to connect with” those with similar beliefs, according to NAMI. “Research suggests that religiosity reduces suicide rates, alcoholism and drug use.”

The American Psychological Association takes a nuanced approach, reflecting the views of several experts who shared theirs with The Associated Press. The APA says its Handbook of Psychology, Religion and Spirituality “sheds light on the many purposes religion serves, the rich variety of religious and spiritual beliefs and practices, and the capacity of religion and spirituality to do both good and harm.”

At St. John Fisher University — a Catholic school in Rochester, New York — visiting psychology instructor Timothy Powers says he sees that duality in his own counseling practice.

“While faith community participation can confer real and well documented protective benefits, those same communities can also be sources of shame, spiritual bypass, trauma, and significant barriers to seeking help,” Powers said via email. “Clinically, both realities show up in the counseling room, sometimes in the same person.”

“The task for therapists is to approach the subject without assuming that religion/spirituality is a resource or that it is a wound, to be open to ambiguity, and to ask rather than presume,” Powers added.

Charles Camosy, a professor of moral theology and bioethics at The Catholic University of America, also shared nuanced thoughts.

“We expect on the one hand that being faithful will bring with it good things in this life,” Camosy said in an email.

Yet “living out the Gospel doesn’t lead to healthy, flourishing lives for everyone. People still get sick, including mentally ill,” he added. “Christians, and especially faithful Christians who are salt and light in a world full of violence and injustice, are not promised mental health as a reward for faithfulness in this life.”

On Monday, there was a new contribution to the discussion, a report assembled by a team of professors and researchers for the Wheatley Institute at Brigham Young University. The institute describes as its basic mission: “Research-supported work that fortifies the core institutions of the family, religion, and constitutional government.”

Citing an analysis of hundreds of previous studies, the report says that committed religious involvement — corresponding to at least weekly attendance at worship services — was linked to lower suicide risk, better stress management, reduced substance misuse, and higher levels of hope.

“Although harmful or coercive forms of religion do exist, the overall pattern across the best available studies is clear: religious belief and practice are overwhelmingly associated with better mental and emotional well-being,” the report said.

The executive director of the American Humanist Association, Fish Stark, said he had no quibble with the assertion that religious engagement may have psychological benefits. But he stressed that nonreligious people had ways to fare equally well.

“If you have a strong secular, atheist identity, and actively participate in a nonreligious community, you get the same benefits,” Stark said.

“The key is whether you have core convictions and participate in social groups,” he added. “Those with strong religious identities and strong secular identities are equally happy.”

Sociology professor Ellen Idler, director of Emory University’s Religion and Public Health Collaborative, suggested that the effect of religion on mental health should not be measured solely among those who attend religious services regularly.

“Those who have been, or perceived that they have been, harmed by religion will stay away, leaving those less troubled in the pews,” she said, citing people who had been sexually abused by clergy as children or were stigmatized by their congregations because they were LGBTQ+.

___

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

We kicked off this morning with temperatures dipping into the upper 40s for spots like Jacksonville at 48 degrees and Brunswick at 47, while the coast, including places like St. Augustine, held onto some extra warmth at 62 degrees.

Expect a mild pattern for the kids waiting at the bus stop—I’m seeing 58 degrees at 7 a.m., and by 3 p.m., we’re reaching a sunny 78 degrees, so it’s perfect weather for being outside.

Today is dry and clear, with the high around 81 degrees. Tonight, expect things to cool off to about 59 degrees under mostly clear skies.

As we move into the week, Monday and Tuesday both look mostly sunny with little or no rain expected.

But keep an eye on the middle of the week: scattered showers pop into the forecast, at just a 5% to 10% chance by Tuesday, and that increases to 10% Wednesday and 30% Thursday and Friday.

Most of these showers will be light, so don’t expect your rain gauge to fill up.

When you look at the next several days, temperatures really jump into the 90s starting Wednesday and Thursday.

After a mild start, Jacksonville’s highs will roll from 81 on Monday to 85 on Tuesday, all the way up to 92 on Wednesday and 93 on Thursday, before a return to the 80s by the weekend. Overnight lows will stick in the 50s and 60s all week long.

Drought monitor: Still waiting for relief

Right now, across our area, we’re still in a significant rain deficit—roughly 15 to 25 inches down.

The recent rain we’ve seen helped in some spots, but it’s going to take a lot more than a couple of quick showers to turn our drought situation around.

The Exact Track 4D radar is quiet today, and while we are hoping for a little more rain mid- to late-week, forecasts show only spotty and brief showers on the way.

If you’ve been watching dry lawns or wondering about wildfire risk, just know this dry pattern isn’t shifting much for now. Any rain is better than no rain, but we’re still a long way from catching up.

Memorial Day projects

All this dry, sunny weather is great news for folks planning outdoor activities or community projects.

This week will be just about perfect if you’re heading out—I’ve been watching inspiring stories, like the local Girl Scout organizing a Memorial Day tribute at the cemetery.

Early week weather sets up beautifully for anything you’ve got planned outdoors, though you might want to plan those events before rain chances increase midweek.

Remember, we love seeing what you’re up to around town! Share your weather photos and community stories with us at SnapJAX.

Looking ahead: What to expect

So, here’s the bottom line: Prepare for climbing temperatures and plenty of sun at the start, with just a few chances for some showers as we move toward Thursday and Friday.

The drought is sticking around until we see more consistent rain, but your Memorial Day projects are looking good for now.

Grab your sunscreen, stay hydrated, and count on The Weather Authority to keep you updated all week long!

Karen Gleason, public information officer with the Southern Area Complex Incident Management Team, says Highway 32 is open to residents but remains closed to other traffic between 110W and Browntown Road due to ongoing fire operations.

“We expect it to dry out again very quickly today and this week,” Gleason said.

According to the Brantley County Sheriff’s Office, roughly 1.5 inches of rain fell across the fire perimeter on Saturday into Sunday, helping to slow fire activity.

The blaze remains at 22,471 acres and is now 75% contained, as of Sunday night, with 629 personnel continuing suppression efforts.

The Brantley County Sheriff’s Office announced that all evacuation orders impacting residences have been lifted.

The countywide curfew has also been lifted. Residents are still asked to avoid areas around Zones 23 and 24, which are hunting clubs that remain active fire zones.

While the rain provided overnight relief, officials warn that conditions will shift quickly. The Brantley County Sheriff’s Office says temperatures around 50 degrees with light sea mist and minimal northern wind Sunday morning will give way to sun and drying conditions this afternoon. As the ground dries, smoldering areas and heat are expected to resurface in spots.

“The fire is not out,” the Sheriff’s Office said. “Please continue to stay alert, use caution, and be mindful of crews still working throughout the area.”

The American Red Cross shelter in Brunswick has closed, along with other local temporary shelters now beginning to wind down. Donation coordination and distribution are being handled primarily through Brantley Family Connection, with Waynesville Missionary Baptist Church also assisting in distributing donations to those in need.

Highway 32 could reopen as soon as tomorrow if conditions hold, said Gleason.

Multiple agencies held a one-stop information session Saturday morning to connect Brantley County residents with aid at Atkinson Elementary School.

The Highway 82 Fire destroyed 110 homes and forced residents to seek guidance on next steps.

“Many people have lost everything, so they don’t have clothes [and] they have to worry about getting medicine. They don’t have anything,” said Gleason. “Whatever people think that they may need to be able to recover, that’s really what this event is about.”

The following agencies were at this event and are available for future assistance to Brantley County residents:

• American Red Cross
• Board of Commissioners
• Brantley County School System
• Family Connection
• Emerge Ministries
• Other local agencies

Jeremy McLendon, director of disaster relief operations for the American Red Cross, said assistance can range from food to housing, and people in need can call 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

“They will get that information to my team that’s on the ground, and we’re triaging those calls to make sure that we contact those individuals,” McLendon said.

Gregory Brooks, executive administrator for the Emerge Chaplains Response Team, said the group is bringing in about 50 RVs to support those displaced. The group is also providing mental and spiritual aid.

“A lot of them when they’re facing a lot of trauma in their life, it disrupts them completely to the point where they feel like giving up,” he said.

The Brantley County Sheriff’s Office shared that residents in Zones 25 and 26, which includes Northern Browntown, were able to return to their homes Saturday. Browntown Road is now open.

Drew Mickolay, a public information officer with the Southern Area Complex Incident Management team, said patrols would continue in the area.

“With all the rain, crews will still be out doing some patrolling. If they come across some hot spots they find, they’ll be working on those,” he said.

One truck eases in, brakes hissing, as a pump growls beside a private pond off Browntown Road.

The hoses snap into place. Water surges. Minutes later, the tanker pulls out, headed toward the smoke — and the next rig takes its place.

Ponds like these have become a crucial supply point for the Highway 82 Fire, and the operation running it is staffed by volunteer firefighters from Waynesville.

“Here in Waynesville Georgia, we don’t have a water main or a large water supply,” David Clark, a volunteer with the Waynesville Fire Department, said. “So we rely on our ponds and rivers to provide water.”

Clark said crews are drafting water from the pond to refill trucks that shuttle it to firefighters working hot spots deeper in the fire zone. With crews coming in from across the country, he said the demand is constant.

Clark served 12 years in the Navy. After leaving the military, he said he still wanted a way to serve the people around him — and volunteer firefighting gave him that opportunity.

“It’s an opportunity to help people on their worst day,” he said.

He said that “worst day” has meant long shifts since the Highway 82 began.

He was among the first to respond to the now historic fire.

“It’s been pretty rough on us and our families,” Clark said. “The first week or so we were doing about 20 hour days.”

Clark said more resources have arrived as the incident has grown, including crews traveling from outside Georgia.

But he said local volunteers continue to carry their part of the load because the impact is close to home.

“This is my home,” he said. “As a volunteer fireman these are my friends, my family, my neighbors so we come out here and do what we can to make that impact and help.”

And it starts with helping get hundreds of thousands of gallons of water into the heat of the battle.

Fire officials say residents will have a chance to get information and resources this weekend. A multi-agency information center is scheduled for Saturday at the Atkinson Elementary School gym from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for anyone with questions as the community moves forward.

The Highway 82 Fire started April 20 and is impacting the communities of Atkinson and Waynesville. Fire officials said the fire has burned 22,532 acres and was 45% contained as of Friday morning.

Teachers returned to their schools Thursday for the first time since the fires broke out, getting campuses ready ahead of the student return.

District steps up to support community

Even as schools remained closed, Brantley County Schools Nutrition delivered meals to students throughout the week, and school officials said they are working with multiple agencies to determine the best path forward for everyone’s return.

The district also made clear that families dealing with displacement or property loss should not feel rushed to send their children back.

“Please do not feel any pressure to return to school right away,” the district said in a statement. “Your safety, your needs, and your time to recover come first.”

Schools ready to provide ‘sense of normalcy’

For students who are able to return, district officials said campuses will be fully prepared to receive them.

“Our schools will be open and ready to provide a sense of normalcy, care, and support for the students who are able to return to school,” the district said.

Officials added that those not yet able to come back will continue to receive support.

“We remain committed to standing alongside those who are not yet able to come back, continuing to support you in every way we can,” the statement read.

Fire danger remains, officials urge caution

While fire crews are making progress, officials warn the danger is not over. Families returning to evacuation zones are being urged to remain alert as conditions continue to evolve.

The district said it will keep families informed as the situation develops.

In a post shared on the sheriff’s office Facebook page, deputies said the agency will never call someone and ask them to pay bond money over the phone.

The sheriff’s office says if you get a call like that:

• Don’t share personal information or send any payment
• Hang up immediately
• Block the number

Deputies are also encouraging people to share the warning with friends and family to help prevent others from becoming victims.

Firefighters are steadily getting a handle on the Highway 82 Fire, which has now grown to 22,532 acres and is 37% contained. But officials have repeatedly warned that the danger is not over yet.

During the 75-day partial shutdown, FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund fell from about $9 billion to about $3 billion in roughly two months, forcing the agency to restrict spending and focus on what it calls “Immediate Needs Funding.”

That approach prioritizes lifesaving and life-sustaining work, along with critical, ongoing disaster obligations. Other, non-urgent recovery work can be delayed or paused.

News4JAX political analyst Rick Mullaney said the shutdown exposed vulnerabilities and created significant risk.

“Like most Americans, I’m very pleased that they’ve resolved this,” Mullaney said.

In Brantley County, Georgia, wildfire victims have been waiting to learn whether additional FEMA assistance would be available as recovery begins. Georgia officials, including Gov. Brian Kemp and Sen. Raphael Warnock, have pushed for more federal help.

Mullaney said it may take months or longer for FEMA and other agencies to fully recover from the shutdown’s disruption, but he hopes future shutdowns can be avoided.

“I don’t think they’re good public policy and they hurt the public,” Mullaney said.

President Donald Trump is expected to sign bipartisan legislation funding FEMA, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, the Secret Service and federal cybersecurity efforts.

“It was a day very much like our May 3 that we’re living in, the contemporary moment here in 2026,” said Dr. Alan Bliss, CEO of the Jacksonville History Center.

The fire erupted on May 3, 1901, and became the most destructive event in Jacksonville’s history. Historians estimate that about 90% of downtown was destroyed, including large homes and hotels.

Much of Jacksonville at the time was built with timber, Bliss said, a conveniently available supply found in the pine flatwoods of Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia.

“If you know anything about burning pine, you know that it burns very cheerfully,” Bliss said.

Historians say the fire started when a spark landed on dry Spanish moss at the Cleveland Fibre Factory. The University of North Florida’s Thomas G. Carpenter Library has noted that the fire burned for nearly eight hours, cutting a path through more than 150 city blocks and destroying about 2,400 structures.

“It caused a lot of people to lose everything, displaced from their homes for months and years afterwards,” Bliss said. “It destroyed businesses.”

A grim reality that is all too familiar in recent days in Brantley County, Georgia.

After digging through the numbers, Meteorologist Michelle McCormick says April 1901 and April 2026 both had hot and dry conditions, less than two inches of rainfall, and winds that affected the fires.

“It took one spark from these winds to travel and make this great fire,” McCormick said.

Officials say the cause of the fire in Southeast Georgia was a balloon from a child’s party landing on a powerline.

Bliss said anniversaries like this are about more than remembering what burned. They are reminders that today’s choices will shape what Jacksonville – and other towns – become next.

“It will take people’s spiritual, emotional and psychic resilience. It will, of course, take money,” Bliss said. “The city that we occupy now in the 21st century was shaped by the choices and the decisions and the experiences of the people who lived in the city and the aftermath of the great fire.”

A new poll out Monday, as AAPI Heritage Month begins, from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that about one-quarter of AAPI adults have personally experienced a hate crime or incident in the past year, such as verbal harassment or physical assault. That's consistent with a survey conducted last summer, but down from an October 2023 poll where 36% said they were victims of an act of abuse tied to their race or ethnicity over the prior year.

Preliminary FBI data also reflects a decline as the pandemic receded into the background. Based on information submitted by law enforcement agencies, anti-Asian hate crimes and bias crimes overall fell between 2024 and 2025.

However, about 3 in 10 AAPI adults in the new survey think it’s “extremely" or "very” likely that they’ll be a victim of discrimination based on their race or ethnicity in the next five years.

“The key is there's been a decline but a stabilization. So, it hasn't declined since last year, ” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director of AAPI Data. “Both hate crimes and hate incidents are still an issue in our community.”

Racial discrimination and rhetoric amplified in anti-immigrant climate

The poll finds that fewer AAPI adults report experiencing verbal assaults compared to the survey from two years ago.

About 1 in 10 say they have been called a racial or ethnic slur in the past 12 months, down from roughly 2 in 10 in October 2023. Around 15% say they have been verbally harassed or abused by another person in the past year because of their race or ethnicity, down from 23% in 2023.

Advocates report that the tone of the rhetoric has shifted away from COVID-19-related tropes toward anti-immigrant sentiments.

“We're seeing things like ‘Go back to China’ still. But, it's more like ‘ICE is going to deport you,'” said Stephanie Chan, data and research director at Stop AAPI Hate. “The rhetoric that’s being used to justify very harsh and aggressive immigration enforcement, all of this is also feeding into anti-AAPI hate persisting.”

Being made to feel like a foreigner is something Ambar Capoor, 52 and India-born, has encountered even in his diverse Los Angeles neighborhood. Last year, while waiting in line at a restaurant, a white man pushed him unprovoked to get to the front.

Capoor said the man told him: “You don’t belong here. You should go back to your country."

Capoor, who is a naturalized citizen and has lived in the U.S. for 26 years, tries to shrug off these racist interactions.

“None of this stuff normally bothers me,” he said. “If somebody starts an altercation, that I’ll walk away from.”

But Capoor, a Democrat, thinks the divisive political climate has emboldened people to openly say racist things.

Nosheen Hamid, 36 and a stay-at-home mother with a toddler, has lived in Salt Lake City since 2009. In her native Pakistan, her family was considered a minority because of their Catholic faith. In her community in Utah, which is mostly white, she says she gets racially profiled, too.

A couple of months ago, a door-to-door salesman approached her home and seemed surprised she lived there.

“He was like, ‘Are you renting here?’ He asked me a few times and it got to me for just a second,” Hamid said. “People didn't expect me to be in the space that I was, work-wise, school-wise.”

Dealing with discrimination and economic stress

With inflation and higher gas prices as the Iran war continues, AAPI adults are much more preoccupied with economic concerns than discrimination. Around 4 in 10 say personal finances are a “major source" of stress. And about 2 in 10 say the same thing about health concerns and relationships with family or friends. In contrast, only about 1 in 10 say discrimination is currently a major source of stress in their lives. Around half don't see discrimination as a source of stress at all.

John Magner, 58, is half white and also of Hawaiian and Chinese ancestry. He says he actually faces more discrimination from Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders around his home of West Jordan, Utah, who don't believe he is part Hawaiian. The state is home to around 60,000 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, according to U.S. census data.

Last year, a Pacific Islander customer at the hardware store where Magner works called him "cracker and a little wannabe Pacific Islander.”

But he doesn't dwell on those interactions. He is more focused on juggling family expenses, working and getting a master’s degree in counseling.

“I work full-time but we’re struggling,” Magner said. “Inflation and then also some family stuff that's gone on, having to pay medical bills. It's just bills.”

Ramakrishnan, from AAPI Data, also considers whether there is less scapegoating of immigrants of color because people understand that it has no bearing on the current economy.

“The likely reasons for those economic struggles have nothing to do with race or immigration,” he said. “They have to do with other factors, like tariffs, war on foreign policy, AI data centers. Those are all the things that people see that are driving up costs.”

Rise in hate incidents within some Asian groups

Hate crimes and incidents are often underreported, and experts note that some groups under the AAPI umbrella may be experiencing incidents at a higher rate than others.

"If you look at it in the longer term, (hate incidents) are still really high compared to what it was like pre-pandemic, Chan said, referring to the FBI data.

There has recently been a rise in incidents among South Asians, according to FBI data and Stop AAPI Hate. The largest spikes tend to occur “in moments of South Asian visibility,” such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s election, Chan said.

Between the current political climate and being Indian, Capoor has been carrying his U.S. passport card on a lanyard for the past six months.

“After seeing all the reports of actual white folk getting arrested and thrown into camps and taking them like three days to get out of it,” Capoor said. “I don’t have friends in high places. I don’t have the correct skin color.”

___

The poll of 1,228 U.S. adults who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders was conducted March 23-30, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based Amplify AAPI Panel, designed to be representative of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

This poll is part of an ongoing project exploring the views of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, which are usually not highlighted in other surveys because of small sample sizes and lack of linguistic representation.

Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 22 points and James Harden added 18 in a series in which the home team won all seven games.

Cleveland, the No. 4 seed, will visit top-seeded Detroit on Tuesday night in Game 1 of the second round. The Central Division rivals split their four regular-season meetings.

“I think we’ve already moved on (to focusing on Detroit),” Mitchell said on the court immediately after the final buzzer. “We understand we won this game, but we play in a couple days.,”

Scottie Barnes had 24 points and nine rebounds and RJ Barrett scored 23 for the Raptors, who were in the playoffs for the first time since 2022.

All-Star forward Brandon Ingram missed his second straight game with a bruised right heel.

“We gave it all, everything we had today," Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said. "Our guys were awesome. We made it hard on them.”

Allen had 14 points and 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, as Cleveland went on a 49-21 run during a 15-minute span over the second and third quarters where it turned a nine-point deficit into an 19-point advantage.

One of Allen's baskets during the third quarter was a fast-break dunk after Max Strus stole the ball from Barnes to make it 74-59.

Cleveland was 17 of 33 from the field, including five 3-pointers, during the run while converting seven of Toronto's turnovers into 14 points. The Raptors shot 6 of 23 and were 1 of 8 behind the arc.

The Cavaliers also had a 25-8 rebounding advantage during the spurt, and converted 10 offensive boards into 14 points.

“They were scoring in transition, getting some offensive rebounds," Barnes said. “The offensive rebounds were giving them extra possessions. That really hurt us, giving them momentum.”

Toronto led for most of the first half and had a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter before Cleveland began its comeback.

The Cavaliers were down 47-38 with 2:58 remaining before going on a 11-2 run to close the half and tie it at 49. The Cavs were 4 of 17 on 3-pointers before Harden, Strus and Jaylon Tyson connected from beyond the arc.

“Sam (Merrill) said this whole series, we haven’t closed out the second quarter. We all took that to heart. We all looked at ourselves and decided that now was the time to do it,” said Allen, who had his 11th double-double in a playoff game. “I think the defensive stops, rebounds and the offense is still shaky in some areas, but I think when we rebound the ball and get stops, that just translates to the offense so much better and transition and open shots for everybody.”

Cleveland took the lead with nine straight points to open the third quarter as Mitchell scored five and Mobley added four.

“In the first half, we were forcing it too much, driving down tunnels and forcing it to the basket," coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Sometimes you have to move the defense. We just kept hammering that message.”

The Cavaliers are 6-5 in Game 7s, including unbeaten in five home games. Toronto fell to 3-4 in Game 7 and 0-2 on the road.

___

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

Days after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Simon feared what the decision would mean not just for Black Americans like himself but an entire country where the political guardrails seem to be coming apart.

Simon, who leads the Shelby County Democratic Party in Tennessee, said the court's conservative majority set a precedent that if you're “not in the in-crowd group, they can just erase us.”

By weakening a requirement that states draw congressional districts in a way that gives minorities an opportunity to control their own fate, the court escalated the nationwide redistricting war that has seen Democrats and Republicans casting aside decades of tradition in hopes of gaining an edge over the competition. New sessions are scheduled to begin this week in two Republican-controlled states to eliminate U.S. House districts represented by Democrats, and there's more on the horizon.

It's the latest example of how the American democratic experiment has been pushed to the breaking point in the decade since Donald Trump rose to power. Extreme rhetoric has become commonplace. There's been a spike in political violence and a rash of assassinations. Five years after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Trump's allies are trying to harness the same falsehoods about voter fraud to reshape elections.

The rules and norms that once helped smooth over an unruly country's vast differences have given way to a race for power at all costs.

“I’ve never subscribed to the idea we’re in a civil war, but the gerrymandering wars and the recent decision from the Supreme Court do not make the United States more united,” said Matt Dallek, a political scientist at George Washington University. “It speeds up the hyperpartisan force and atmosphere that people feel on both sides.”

'No more rule of law'

Trump ignited the conflict over redistricting last year by urging Republicans to redraw congressional maps to reduce the likelihood that his party loses the U.S. House in the November midterm elections.

It was an unusual step, since redistricting normally only takes place after the once-a-decade census to accommodate population shifts. But in 2019 the Supreme Court ruled federal courts cannot prevent partisan gerrymandering, and Trump saw a chance to push the limits.

Once Republican-led states like Texas started shifting district lines, Democratic-led states like California countered. The fight was heading for a draw until the Supreme Court's conservative majority issued its long-awaited decision in Louisiana v. Callais.

The court weakened the last remaining national impediment to gerrymandering — the Voting Rights Act's requirement that, in places where white people and outnumbered racial minorities vote differently, districts be drawn to give those minorities a chance to elect representatives they prefer.

The ruling opened a new set of political floodgates.

Republicans in Tennessee plan to erase the only Democratic congressional district, which is majority Black and centered in Memphis, by splitting it up among more conservative suburban and rural white communities. More than a dozen other majority-minority districts, mainly in the South, could face the same fate.

Louisiana moved to postpone its congressional primaries, set for May 16, to have a chance to redraw two majority-Black Democratic seats it was required to maintain before the recent ruling. Alabama is trying to get the Supreme Court to let it redraw its two majority-Black seats.

"We should demand that State Legislatures do what the Supreme Court says must be done,” Trump wrote on social media on Sunday. “That is more important than administrative convenience.”

He said Republicans could gain 20 seats through redistricting.

Democrats have threatened to retaliate by splitting up conservative bastions in states like New York and Illinois, which would reallocate Republican voters to more liberal, urban districts.

With fewer limits — either legal or self-imposed — people expect the issue to become a perpetual race to squeeze every possible advantage out of legislative maps.

“It’s hard to know where it ends,” said Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA.

Partisans gleefully shared color-coded maps of California with all 54 House seats drawn for Democrats, or southern states with only a couple of blue districts. Most agreed that eventually it will be very hard for Democrats to get elected to the House in any Republican-run state, even if there are large swaths of blue-leaning terrain, and vice versa for Republicans in Democratic-run states.

That seems un-American, said Jonathan Cervas, a political scientist at Carnegie Mellon who’s redrawn maps on behalf of judges reviewing redistricting litigation. The country's system, he said, “was founded on this idea that it’s majority rule with minority rights.”

“There is no more rule of law in redistricting,” Cervas said. “There have to be some constraints, somewhere. Otherwise we don’t really have elections.”

Politicians' best tool to game elections

The arcane art of drawing legislative lines is the most powerful tool that politicians have for gaming elections. They can make districts an almost guaranteed win for their side by drawing lines that scoop up a majority of their voters and just enough of the opposition's supporters to ensure the other party cannot win that seat or the one next door, either.

Lawmakers have used the trick since the country's founding. Democratic gerrymanders helped the party hold onto the House through the Reagan revolution. After the 2010 midterms, Republican majorities in state legislatures allowed the GOP to draw districts to lock up control of the House even during President Barack Obama's reelection two years later.

However, that didn't prevent the “blue wave” in 2018, during Trump's first term, when Democrats retook the House. It was a reminder that even the most partisan gerrymanders may stifle shifts in public opinion but eventually crack as political tides turn.

“When you try to get every last ounce of blood from the stone you can end up shooting yourself in the foot,” said Michael Li of the liberal Brennan Center for Justice in New York.

Political coalitions also change, and voters that a party thinks will be reliable can switch sides. That's what's happened in the Trump era, as Democrats have expanded their support among wealthier and suburban voters and Republicans among Blacks and Latinos.

Although Republicans won't be able to exploit the full force of the Supreme Court ruling until after the November midterms, it will be challenging for Democrats to find enough seats to counter those gains.

Sean Trende, a political analyst who has drawn maps for Republicans, agreed that the court decision is likely to lead to partisan gerrymandering run amok. He said it's been hard to find neutral arbiters to rein in politicians who draw lines to benefit themselves.

The coming storm, Trende said, will be more of a symptom of polarization than its root cause.

“All our institutions are broken. We don't speak a common political language,” Trende said. “This is what you get.”

Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has called legislators back to Montgomery starting Monday to approve contingency plans for special primary elections in hopes that the Supreme Court will allow the state to switch congressional maps ahead of the November midterms. It's a move that Republicans legislative leaders said would “give our state a fighting chance to send seven Republican members to Congress.” The seven-member delegation currently has two Democrats.

In Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Lee also announced a special session starting Tuesday for the GOP-controlled Legislature to break up the state’s one Democratic-held House district, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis.

The Supreme Court decision striking down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana said the drawing of the district map relied too much on race. The ruling began reverberating through statehouses across the South as Republicans eyed the possibility of getting new lines in place for the 2026 midterm elections, or at least 2028.

President Donald Trump encouraged the latest round of redistricting in a post on social media on Sunday, saying his party could gain 20 seats in the House.

“We should demand that State Legislatures do what the Supreme Court says must be done,” Trump said. "That is more important than administrative convenience."

Florida approved new districts the day of the Supreme Court ruling, and Louisiana moved quickly to postpone its May 16 congressional primary, drawing lawsuits from Democrats and civil rights groups. The state’s Republican leadership started planning for a redraw that could eliminate one or both of its congressional districts now represented by a Black lawmaker. South Carolina’s governor suggested his state might also reconsider its congressional map.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, described the court decision and the redistricting scramble as an attempt to roll back the Civil Rights Movement.

“They said we’re going to allow partisan politicians to gerrymander you, so that even when you show up, your voice won’t have as much impact because we’ll play with the lines,” he said Sunday from the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. once served as pastor. “That isn’t a new method. That’s an old method. That’s a Jim Crow method."

The Supreme Court ruling boosted an already intense national redistricting battle by providing Republican officials in some states potential new grounds to redraw voting districts.

Federal judges previously ordered Alabama to use a court-selected map with a second district with a substantial number of Black voters. The judges also ordered Alabama to use the new map until after the 2030 Census. Alabama is appealing that decision and is hoping the court, in light of the Louisiana ruling, will let Alabama revert to a 2023 map drawn by state lawmakers.

“As I continue saying, Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best,” Ivey said.

Tennessee's move comes after a pressure campaign by Trump and other Republicans to reconfigure the state’s 9th Congressional District. Republicans have always been checkmated by the Voting Rights Act in their desire to spread the district’s Democratic voters around neighboring conservative districts and make it winnable, but the law may no longer be an impediment.

“We owe it to Tennesseans to ensure our congressional districts accurately reflect the will of Tennessee voters,” Lee said Friday. The move was encouraged by Trump, who wrote on social media Thursday that Lee had promised to work hard to give Republicans one extra seat.

The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6. Democrats noted that in 2022 the state Supreme Court checked additional redistricting because it was too close to an election. They argued that the court is their best hope this time around too.

“We cannot keep doing things like this and calling ourselves a democracy," Democratic State Sen. Ramesh Akbari said at a news conference outside the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

Alabama Democrats also sharply criticized the decision to try to change the maps ahead of looming elections.

“This special session is a blatant power grab by Republican leadership in Montgomery to eliminate seats held by Black Democrats,” said former Sen. Doug Jones, a Democratic candidate for Alabama governor.

Louisiana has suspended its May 16 congressional primary to allow time for lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts, though that is being challenged in court.

Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to redraw U.S. House districts to give the party an advantage. Democrats in California responded by doing the same, then other states joined the battle. Lawmakers, commissions or courts have adopted new House districts in eight states.

___

Associated Press writers Jeff Amy, Bill Barrow, Jack Brook, Nicholas Riccardi and David A. Lieb contributed to this report.

The question of whether fashion is art has long been topic of conversation for fashion insiders, and this first Monday in May the dress code is leaving nothing up for debate.

The dress code for the starry fundraising event calls for guests to “express their relationship to fashion as an embodied art form."

Fashion has long drawn inspiration from works of art, leaving guests with no shortage of artistic references to show off.

Embodying art

But will guests pull from the fashion archives on Monday or wear custom artistic creations from fashion houses?

Archival fashion looks have become a red carpet phenomenon with fashion savvy stars wanting to get their hands on some of the rarer pieces of fashion history.

Designer Elsa Schiaparelli famously collaborated in 1937 with Spanish artist Salvador Dalí to design a white silk dress with a lobster printed on the front. Years later, Yves Saint Laurent would design shift dresses filled with Piet Mondrian’s blocks of color in 1965, and more recently, Marc Jacobs collaborated with artist Takashi Murakami in 2002 to add his designs to Louis Vuitton.

Monday’s carpet is also chance for celebrities to deliver their own performance art.

The late designer Alexander McQueen was heavily regarded by fashion insiders as an artist. He closed his Spring 1999 show with a piece of performance art when machines sprayed Shalom Harlow’s white dress with black and yellow spray paint as she posed on a rotating turntable.

Past Gala dress codes have honored designers and pulled from literature. Last year, the art of tailoring was center stage with the dress code “Tailored for you.” The high-profile event raises money for the museum's Costume Institute, and each year the dress code for the gala takes cues from the Costume Institute’s spring exhibition.

On display this Spring, the “Costume Art” exhibit will “examine the centrality of the dressed body.”

The relationship between fashion and art has not always been embraced. Art historian and author Nancy Hall-Duncan writes in her book, “Art X Fashion: Fashion Inspired by Art” that in the 19th century, art was perceived as classical and fashion was frivolous.

When Yves Saint Laurent held the Met’s first fashion exhibit in 1983, the exhibit was met with heavy criticism. Since then, the museum has held countless fashion exhibits throughout the years with museums around the world following suit. The Louvre put on its first fashion exhibition “Louvre couture” last year.

The dress code set by Wintour and the Met's Costume Institute curator, Andrew Bolton, is the final seal of approval that fashion is art, Hall-Duncan told The Associated Press.

“Isn’t that a giant step?” she said. “It will indeed change perceptions.”

How to watch the Met Gala carpet and celebrity looks

Didn't snag one of the pricey tickets or a spot on the ultra-exclusive guestlist?

The red carpet spectacle is available for all to watch online with the Vogue livestream. Ashley Graham, La La Anthony and Cara Delevingne will be hosting the livestream starting at 6 p.m. with Emma Chamberlain interviewing guests throughout the night.

The Associated Press will have a livestream of celebrities leaving a pair of New York hotels on their way to the gala beginning at 4:30 p.m. on APNews.com and YouTube. It's the first chance to see what attendees will be wearing before they hit the gala's carpet.

Opening statements are scheduled Monday in the three-week bench trial to decide whether the platforms of Meta, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp, pose a public nuisance under state law.

In the first phase, jurors ordered $375 million in civil penalties against Meta, determining that it knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

Prosecutors are now asking a judge to impose fundamental changes aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.

Meta has vowed to appeal the jury verdict and warned that it could eliminate Instagram and Facebook service in New Mexico if forced to comply with impractical mandates.

“The fact that we’re having a trial on nuisance is itself a remarkable outcome,” said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law in California. “That theory is not well accepted as applied to the internet, and that theory doesn’t really fit the internet.”

Trial could alter algorithms that define social media

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the jury verdict punctured the aura of invincibility protecting tech companies from liability for material on their platforms under Section 230, a 30-year-old provision of the U.S. Communications Decency Act.

A Los Angeles jury separately found both Meta and YouTube liable for harms to children, validating long-standing concerns about dangers of social media.

New Mexico prosecutors are demanding that Meta help remedy a mental health crisis among children through a series of safeguards and changes, including a redesign of algorithms that make content recommendations so they no longer prioritize constant engagement.

Prosecutors are also targeting other features linked to compulsive use such as “infinite scroll,” which continuously loads content; push notifications; and default settings that show tallies for “likes” and sharing. Their lawsuit also seeks improvements to age verification and other steps aimed at curbing child sexual exploitation.

And New Mexico wants child accounts on Meta platforms to have an associated parent or guardian, as well as a court-supervised child safety monitor to track improvements over time.

Meta asserts free speech protections

Executives have said the company continuously improves child safety and addresses compulsive use and that many demands from prosecutors are redundant.

Meta plans to call an array of technical experts as witnesses in arguing that the demands are impractical if not impossible and would force it to “disregard the realities of the internet.”

The company also argues that its platforms are being singled out among hundreds of apps that teens use, leaving children vulnerable on platforms with less robust protections.

The company is invoking free speech protections that have shielded social media for decades.

“The state’s proposed mandates infringe on parental rights and stifle free expression for all New Mexicans,” Meta said last week in a statement.

Influence could be far-reaching

The case is the first to reach trial among lawsuits filed by more than 40 state attorneys general on allegations that Meta contributes to a youth mental health crisis. Most are pursuing remedies in U.S. federal court.

Torrez, the state attorney general, said that puts the case in a unique position not only “to try and change the paradigm of how this company does business, but also how Big Tech generally is expected to do business going forward.”

Goldman said prosecutors may be venturing into uncertain legal waters just in seeking age verification mandates.

“In practice a court order saying that Facebook had to impose age authentication would have no Supreme Court textual support,” he said. “The Supreme Court might bless it. We don’t know.”

The first phase of the trial saw six weeks of testimony from witnesses including teachers, psychiatric experts, state investigators, top Meta officials and whistleblowers who left the company.

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Sam Raimi’s movie “Send Help” starring Rachel McAdams, a TV series based on the unassuming, oft-forgotten Jane Austen sister Mary leads “The Other Bennet Sister” and country star Ashley McBryde heading into the “Wild” on her latest album.

New movies to stream from May 4-10

— “The Drama,” starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, arrives Tuesday on premium on demand after a much-talked-about run in theaters. The film, written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, recently became the fifth A24 release to clear $100 million at the box office. Pattinson and Zendaya play a couple whose wedding engagement is derailed after a disquieting revelation. In his review, AP’s Mark Kennedy wrote that the film “wastes two of the planet’s most gorgeous people and will surely get everyone involved in trouble for using a current American tragedy as a plot point.”

— In Sam Raimi’s “Send Help,” a woman (Rachel McAdams) and her overbearing boss (Dylan O’Brien) are stranded on an deserted island after a plane crash. Raimi’s comic survivalist thriller grows increasingly unhinged as their roles reverse. After a theatrical run earlier this year, it debuts Thursday on Hulu.

— The Netflix adaptation “Remarkably Bright Creatures” (streaming Friday, May 8) turns Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling novel into a film starring Sally Field as a widow working at an aquarium. There, she develops a healing bond with a giant Pacific octopus. Lewis Pullman co-stars.

— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

New music to stream from May 4-10

— The synth-pop group MUNA will release their fourth studio album on Friday, May 8. “Dancing on the Wall” arrives just in time for the approaching warmth — and hedonistic decision-making — of summer. It’s tank top party-pop for the once-heartbroken, now-victorious crowd (like what is found on “So What” and the familiar sounds of the title track) and whoever is the object of affection on the too-fun “Wannabeher.”

— Also on Friday: Country star Ashley McBryde heads into the “Wild” on her latest album. It is her most personal and most rock ‘n’ roll collection yet, embodying McBryde’s fiery spirit found on “Lines in the Carpet,” a cutting treatise on domesticity, the heartfelt mission statement of the title track and everywhere in-between. The record opens with four barnburners fans will recognize as staples of her live show — “Rattlesnake Preacher,” “Arkansas Mud,” “Water in the River” and “Creosote” — and diversifies from there. Expect big feelings and a playful, wizened heart.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

New series to stream from May 4-10

— If you're a Jane Austen devotee who loved “Pride and Prejudice,” you'll recall that Elizabeth and Jane aren't the only two daughters in the Bennet family. A new series called “The Other Bennet Sister” follows the introspective and awkward but adorable Mary, played by Ella Bruccoleri. Mary steps out of the shadows of her other siblings and finds romance and independence. The show is already a hit in the UK and on social media. Mary gets her time to shine beginning Wednesday on BritBox.

— From the backwoods lakes of the Ozarks to the turquoise waters of the Florida Keys, Bill Dubuque, a co-creator of “Ozark,” has created a new series set against the drug world called “M.I.A.” In this crime drama, a daughter who wants nothing more than to separate herself from her family's drug-running business is pulled into a quest for vengeance after it's destroyed. All nine episodes drop Thursday on Peacock.

— Dan Stevens is wrongfully committed to a mental hospital where he must battle both supernatural and psychological demons in “The Terror: Devil in Silver.” This “Terror” is the third season of a horror anthology. Besides Stevens, the series features an impressive cast including CCH Pounder, Judith Light and John Benjamin Hickey. It premieres Thursday on both Shudder and AMC+.

— Another classic gets reimagined in the new “Amadeus” limited-series starring Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany. Sharpe plays superstar composer Amadeus Mozart and Bettany is Antonio Salieri, also a successful composer of the time whom history has cast as the lesser talent. Salieri becomes increasingly obsessed with achieving the respect and acclaim that Mozart enjoys. It premieres on Starz on Friday, May 8.

— Alicia Rancilio

New video games to play from May 4-10

— Annapurna Interactive’s Mixtape includes tunes by Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Roxy Music and Devo — the kind of alt-rock you might expect in a movie like “Sixteen Candles” or “Dazed and Confused.” So, yes, we’re back in the 1990s, with three teenagers seeking adventure on their last night of high school. That means skateboarding, sneaking beers, making out, looking for trouble, running from trouble and, to judge from the trailer, floating through space. You can press play Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch 2 or PC.

— The soundtrack to Wax Heads is more diverse, but all the bands are completely made up. You’ve landed a job at a gnarly store called Repeater Records, and you get to deal with an assortment of eccentric customers who may or may not know what they want. The result is a kind of puzzle game in which you have to sort through their suggestions to track down the perfect vinyl. Patattie Games, the two-person U.K. studio behind Wax Heads, calls it “cozy-punk.” Drop the needle Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch or PC.

— Lou Kesten

Prosecutors charged the 44-year-old pop superstar with one misdemeanor count on Thursday after her March 4 arrest.

Since then, she voluntarily checked into a substance abuse treatment center. The misdemeanor charge level means she is not required to appear and her absence won't count against her. She is unlikely to show up, though her representatives haven't commented on the court case or her plans.

A representative previously called her actions inexcusable and said it would ideally lead to overdue change in her life.

The singer has a home in Ventura County just outside the Los Angeles County line. She was arrested near there. Her arraignment will be held in the city of Ventura, a seaside community of about 110,000 people about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of downtown LA.

Prosecutors said the case will be handled according to their standard protocol for defendants with no DUI history, no crash or injury on the road and a low blood-alcohol level.

They have said that in court on Monday, she will be offered what is commonly known as a “wet reckless.” If she chose that plea, she would be sentenced to a year of probation and be required to take a DUI class and pay state-mandated fines.

The offer is common especially for defendants who have independently shown motivation to address their problems and seek treatment, the district attorney’s office said.

Spears was pulled over for driving her black BMW fast and erratically on U.S. 101, the California Highway Patrol said. She appeared to be impaired, took a series of field sobriety tests, was arrested and was taken to a Ventura County jail, the CHP said.

The former teen pop phenomenon and “Mickey Mouse Club” alum became a defining superstar of the 1990s and 2000s with hits like “Toxic,” “Gimme More” and “I'm a Slave 4 U.” Most of Spears' nine studio albums have been certified platinum, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, with two diamond titles: 1999’s “ … Baby One More Time” and 2000s “Oops! … I Did It Again.”

She became a tabloid focus in the early 2000s and a source of intense public scrutiny as she battled mental illness and paparazzi fought to document the details of her private life.

In 2008, Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship, run primarily by her father and his lawyers, that would control her personal and financial decisions for well over a decade. It was dissolved in 2021.

Since then, she has married and divorced, and she released a bestselling, tell-all memoir, “The Woman in Me.”

She has essentially been retired as an artist in recent years, releasing only a few collaborative singles since her last full album, “Glory,” in 2016.

But the actor-comedian, currently starring in the Fox comedy “Going Dutch” and best known as the voice of Diego in the “Ice Age” movies, needed more donations for his Leary Firefighters Foundation. He came up with what he called a “crazy idea” to host a “Firefighter for a Day” event and teamed up with the Fire Department of New York and The FDNY Foundation to make it happen, in honor of International Firefighters Day celebrated every May 4.

Since 2016, the foundation’s Denis Leary FDNY Firefighter Challenge has been the only day each year when the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall’s Island in New York City is open to non-firefighters, who get a rare, hands-on opportunity to experience some of the training needed for emergency response.

“It was exciting from the get-go,” Leary told The Associated Press. “Now, 10 years in, it just gets better and better every year. It’s truly amazing.”

The participants train with actual firefighters and rush into burning buildings, carry in fire hoses to extinguish the flames, and search for survivors. They also rappel down buildings to safety.

Leary, who has long been connected to firefighters through the foundation and the long-running firehouse FX drama “Rescue Me,” said participants aren’t required to do anything they don’t want to. But once they see the teamwork and expertise involved, they often take on more than they planned.

He laughs when he remembers how “The Good Wife” star Julianna Margulies came one year, planning on being a coach rather than a participant when he left her with her new team.

“Maybe two hours later, I went over by the high-rise simulator and she was coming out in full bunker gear and she’s like, ‘I just rappelled down the side of the building!’” Leary said. “And I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ She’s like, ‘I know! I overcame all my fears.’”

Fire departments ‘fighting for every $100’

Because of Leary, the event draws a lot of actors, as well as athletes and corporations looking to lend their support. Each year, the event raises enough money for the foundation to make several additional grants to fire departments across the country to purchase new equipment or receive additional training they would otherwise not be able to afford, said David Morkal, retired FDNY battalion chief and a member of the Leary Firefighters Foundation board of directors.

“When we started this 10 years ago we were giving out maybe $200,000 in grants a year and now we’re giving out $850,000,” said Morkal, adding the foundation hopes to reach $1 million in grants this year. “There are volunteer fire departments out there that are fighting for every $100 they can get.”

The criteria for the gifts, Morkal says, remains the same today as it was when Leary started the foundation in 2000, following the tragic fire in Worcester, Massachusetts, that killed six firefighters, including Leary’s cousin and a childhood friend.

“His mission is to provide them with all the equipment and training that (firefighters) need to walk away from a fire after it’s out and go home to their families,” Morkal said. “That’s the kind of stuff we’re doing. We’re giving them training and equipment.”

John Tyson, assistant fire chief at the Talladega Fire Department in Alabama, said the forcible entry trainer that his department received from Leary’s foundation is used almost every day.

The equipment, which enables firefighters to quickly breach locked doors, makes the department more effective when it answers emergency calls, but it paled in comparison to high-priority items in the department’s always-tight budget, Tyson said. Having spent decades as both a firefighter and a paramedic, Tyson said he believes people appreciate the fire service, but they don’t always recognize that first responders often need support.

“We’re a small department in rural Alabama,” he said, adding how grateful he was that Leary’s foundation wanted to help. “It’s touching to me that someone who has achieved the success he has still wants to give back.”

Leary's foundation fills ‘the giant void’ of budget shortfalls

International Association of Fire Fighters General President Edward A. Kelly said he wished that the Leary Firefighters Foundation wasn’t needed, that fire departments were able to afford the equipment and training they need without philanthropic help.

“When you think about the core role of government, first and foremost, it is to protect its citizens and that’s what fire departments do every day,” said Kelly, whose union represents 360,000 firefighters and first responders in the U.S. and Canada. “We have a problem where fire departments in the United States are on budgets where they’re competing with a multitude of other demands on city government -- whether it’s the schools or new bridges or parks or anything that’ll get a politician reelected. That’s a flawed system.”

Kelly said Leary’s foundation stands in “the giant void,” trying to address the shortfalls created by the system. He adds that most fire departments in the country have equipment donated by the foundation, after its 26 years of gifts.

“We owe a great debt of gratitude to Denis and to all the people that have helped support the Leary Foundation,” he said. “Whatever will fill the gap that will prevent the next tragedy is well worth the investment.”

Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Leary hoped the federal government would make his foundation unnecessary.

“There was a brief moment about six months later when we thought, ‘Is the government gonna step in?’” he said. “It was the tiniest glimpse of hope but we realized, ‘No, of course not.’ But that’s OK. I love doing this.”

Leary said he is following the example of his friend Boston Bruins hockey great Cam Neely, now the team’s president, and his work supporting cancer patients at Tufts Medical Center.

“He was the first person I saw where I thought, ‘Wow, somebody famous can really make a difference,’” Leary said. “So by the time I had to do something, I had a good example of what you can use fame for.”

_____

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.

A small group of demonstrators has been protesting at the drilling location and at the mining company's headquarters since they learned ground was broken on the drilling project in late April.

The tribes filed their federal lawsuit Thursday in South Dakota against the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging that the agencies violated federal law by greenlighting a project near a site called Pe’Sla, a meadow in the central Black Hills used for tribal ceremonies, prayer and youth camps year-round.

The project is the latest point of tension between tribes and mining interests in the lush pine-covered Black Hills, which encompass over 1.2 million acres (485,000 hectares), rising from the Great Plains in southwest South Dakota and extending into Wyoming.

The region is a yearly destination for millions of tourists boasting such attractions as Mount Rushmore and wildlife-filled state parks. Yet for even longer, it has been sacred to Sioux tribes who call the area He Sapa and consider it “the heart of everything that is,” according to the complaint.

Some of the landscape has already been altered by the gold rush of the 1870s that developed the region and displaced Native Americans. And in recent years, a new crop of miners driven by rising gold prices have sought to return to the landscape.

The complaint said the project by Rapid City-based mining company Pete Lien & Sons would impact the use of Pe’Sla for traditional, cultural and religious purposes by the tribes, and that the Forest Service did not consult with the tribes before approving the project.

Parts of Pe’Sla are owned by Sioux tribes after they bought the land in 2012, 2015 and 2018, and an agreement between the tribes and the Forest Service established a two-mile (three kilometer) buffer zone on public lands around the site, according to the complaint.

Because Pe'Sla was not included as an affected area and no environmental review was conducted, the approval violates the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act, the lawsuit alleges.

Pete Lien & Sons, which supplies materials like limestone, sand and gravel, did not return email requests or voicemails for comment Thursday and Sunday.

Frank Star Comes Out, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said in a statement that the lawsuit is “a historic demonstration of unity" between the nine tribes. The tribes are separate, distinct federally recognized tribes sharing cultural and linguistic roots, but each with its own government and land base.

“We as Lakota people have been coming and praying and holding ceremony at these places for over 2,000 years,” said Wizipan Garriott, president of Indigenous advocacy group NDN Collective and a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. “And so us being here is a continuation of countless generations before us. And it’s important that these sacred places be protected for future generations to come.”

The project was granted a permit from the Forest Service in February without conducting an environmental review because the agency said it met the requirements for a categorical exclusion, like having a duration of less than a year and not posing impacts to environmental and cultural sites.

But tribal opponents disagree that those requirements were met and said drilling projects are often a first step leading to future mines.

Besides the lawsuit from the tribes, NDN Collective and other environmental groups filed a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt the project.

Some of the drilling pads are in the buffer zone around the site, according to NDN Collective. The project calls for the company to drill up to 18 holes down some 1,000 feet (300 meters) into the Earth to collect samples.

On Thursday, opponents demonstrated with signs reading “Protect Pe'Sla” and “Sacred ground not mining bound” near two drilling pads to block access. NDN Collective said the Forest Service told them drilling was paused for the rest of the day and the contractors were sent home.

The Forest Service said in a statement that it had no comment on the project when asked for a response.

“The Forest Service does not comment on the specifics of the case or on issues that are part of ongoing legal proceedings,” the statement said.

It is unclear when drilling began, but NDN Collective said it noticed drilling pads in operation last week. The group said protest actions will continue as needed to protect Pe'Sla.

“As Lakota, we pray as long as we need to,” Garriott said.

Trump gave few details about what could be a sweeping attempt to help hundreds of vessels and some 20,000 seafarers. Iran quickly denounced the move as a ceasefire violation.

Trump said in a social media post on Sunday that “neutral and innocent” countries have been affected by the Iran war, and “we have told these Countries that we will guide their Ships safely out of these restricted Waterways, so that they can freely and ably get on with their business.”

“Project Freedom” would begin on Monday morning in the Middle East, Trump said, adding that his representatives are having discussions with Iran that could lead to something “very positive for all.”

U.S. Central Command said the initiative would involve guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 aircraft and 15,000 service members. The Pentagon did not immediately answer questions about how they would be deployed.

Iran’s effective closure of the strait, imposed after the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, has shaken global markets.

Ships and seafarers, many on oil and gas tankers and cargo ships, have been stuck in the Persian Gulf since the war began. Crew members have described to The Associated Press seeing intercepted drones and missiles explode over the waters as their vessels run low on drinking water, food and other supplies. Many sailors come from India and other countries in South and Southeast Asia.

“They are victims of circumstance,” Trump wrote, and described the effort as a humanitarian gesture “on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran.” But he sounded a warning: “If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.”

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency called Trump's announcement part of his “delirium,” and Ebrahim Azizi, head of the national security commission of Iran's parliament, said on X that any interference in the strait would be seen as a ceasefire violation.

Trump spoke hours after Iran said it was reviewing the U.S. response to its latest proposal to end the war and made clear these are not nuclear negotiations. The fragile three-week ceasefire appears to be holding.

Cargo ships attacked near the strait

Earlier Sunday, a cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz said it was attacked by multiple small craft, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported, while another ship was hit by “unknown projectiles.” They were the latest in at least two dozen attacks in and around the strait since the Iran war began, and a reminder of the risks if the new U.S. effort goes forward.

No injuries were reported.

They were the first reported attacks in the area since April 22. Tehran has effectively closed the strait by attacking and threatening ships, and the threat level in the area remains critical.

The first ship was an unidentified cargo ship traveling north near Sirik, Iran, east of the strait, the British monitor said. Iranian officials have asserted that they control the strait and that ships not affiliated with the United States or Israel can pass if they pay a toll, challenging the freedom of navigation guaranteed by international law.

Iran denied an attack, the semiofficial Iranian outlets Fars and Tabnak reported, and said a passing ship had been stopped for a documents check as part of monitoring.

Iranian patrol boats, some powered only by twin outboard motors, are small, nimble and hard to detect. Trump last month ordered the U.S. military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the strait.

The second ship was a tanker that reported being struck around 11:40 p.m. Sunday while off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

The British military monitor also said Sunday that ships near Ras al-Khaimah, the northernmost emirate in the United Arab Emirates and close to the strait, reported receiving radio warnings to move from anchorages. It was not clear who sent the VHF messages.

Iran reviews US response to its latest proposal

Tehran is reviewing the U.S. response to its latest proposal to end the war, Iran’s judiciary Mizan news agency cited Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei as saying.

But “at this stage, we have no nuclear negotiations,” Baghaei said. Iran’s nuclear program and enriched uranium have long been the central issue in tensions with the U.S., but Tehran would rather address it later.

Iran’s proposal wants other issues resolved within 30 days and aims to end the war rather than extend the ceasefire, according to Iran’s state-linked media. Trump on Saturday said he was reviewing the proposal but expressed doubt it would lead to a deal.

Iran’s 14-point proposal calls for the U.S. lifting sanctions on Iran, ending the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdrawing forces from the region and ceasing all hostilities, including Israel’s operations in Lebanon, according to the semiofficial Nour News and Tasnim agencies, which have close ties to Iran's security organizations.

Pakistan's prime minister, foreign minister and army chief continue to encourage the U.S. and Iran to speak directly, according to two officials in Pakistan who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Pakistan hosted face-to-face talks last month and has passed messages between the two sides.

Iran stands firm on Strait of Hormuz

Trump has offered a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes, along with fertilizer badly needed by farmers around the world and other petroleum-derived products.

Tehran “will not back down from our position on the Strait of Hormuz, and it will not return to its prewar conditions,” Iran’s deputy parliament speaker, Ali Nikzad, said earlier Sunday.

The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran in any form, including digital assets, to transit the strait safely.

Meanwhile, the U.S. naval blockade since April 13 is depriving Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy. The U.S. Central Command on Sunday said 49 commercial ships have been told to turn back.

“We think that they’ve gotten less than $1.3 million in tolls, which is a pittance on their previous daily oil revenues,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on Sunday. He said Iran's oil storage is rapidly filling up and "they’re going to have to start shutting in wells, which we think could be in the next week.”

___

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Anna from Lowville, New York. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

The spokesperson, Ted Goodman, didn't say what sent Giuliani, 81, to the hospital, how long he's been there or what his prognosis is.

“Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak,” Goodman said in a statement. He said that Giuliani “remains in critical but stable condition."

Giuliani’s eight-year tenure as the mayor of the nation's largest city was punctuated by the 9/11 attack in his final months in office, and he became celebrated as “America’s mayor” for his leadership after the 2001 al-Qaida terrorist attack that felled the World Trade Center twin towers.

Giuliani later made an unsuccessful run for president and was an adviser to President Donald Trump, spearheading his efforts to stay in office after his 2020 election loss.

Last year, Trump said he was awarding Giuliani the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Giuliani coughed as he began his nightly online show "America’s Mayor Live” on Friday. As he spoke, he sounded more raspy than usual. Before launching into a commentary on the Iran war, he remarked: “My voice is a little under the weather, so I won’t be able to speak as loudly as I usually do, but I’ll get closer to the microphone.”

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Giuliani “a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR.”

“What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL — AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!" Trump wrote. "They cheated on the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!”

As Trump’s personal attorney and adviser, Giuliani became a vocal proponent of the president's allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits claiming fraud, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error.

Two former Georgia elections workers later won a $148 million defamation judgment against Giuliani. As they sought to collect the judgment, the former federal prosecutor was found in contempt of court and faced a trial this winter over the ownership of some of his assets.

Giuliani ultimately struck a deal that let him keep his homes and various belongings, including prized World Series rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of the ex-election workers.

Giuliani was previously hospitalized last September after suffering a fractured vertebra and other injuries in a car crash in New Hampshire.

A native New Yorker, Giuliani was elected mayor in 1993 after serving as one of the nation’s highest-profile federal prosecutors, taking on mobsters and crooked Wall Street traders.

He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000 but abandoned his race against Hillary Rodham Clinton after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

In 2007, Giuliani ran for president. Buoyed by his post-9/11 popularity, he started as the front-runner for the Republican nomination. But that was short-lived. He withdrew from the race after struggling in the primaries amid GOP concerns about his past support for abortion rights, gay rights and gun control, and questions about his personal life and business ties to the Middle East.

He toyed with running for other offices before pivoting to political commentary.

In 2016, Trump leaned on Giuliani’s political acumen and loyalty and put him to work as a surrogate leading attacks on Clinton, his Democratic rival. After Trump won, Giuliani continued as his attack dog, even traveling to Ukraine to seek damaging information about Biden’s son, Hunter.

___

Weber reported from Los Angeles.

The airline said none of the passengers or 10 crew members aboard United Airlines Flight 169 were injured.

The New Jersey State Police said a landing tire and the underside of the plane also hit a truck, and the light pole then struck a Jeep that was on the highway. The driver of the truck was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and was released, said the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Boeing 767 aircraft landed safely after it “came into contact with a light pole” on its final approach to Newark.

Aircraft landing on one of the main runways at Newark come sailing in, low, over multiple lanes of traffic on the Turnpike, which is one of the most congested parts of Interstate 95. The runway begins a stone’s throw from the edge of the highway.

Officials with the port authority confirmed that an object was struck and that a delivery truck on the turnpike at the time also was damaged. Minor damage to the aircraft was observed, airport staff inspected the runway for debris and normal operations were quickly resumed, according to the port authority.

United said its maintenance team was evaluating damage to the aircraft and that the crew was removed from service while it conducts a “rigorous” flight safety investigation.

The National Transportation Safety Board said an NTSB investigator would arrive in Newark on Monday and that it had directed United to provide the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder for the investigation.

A preliminary report was expected within 30 days, the NTSB said.

Alex Newhook broke a tie with 8:53 left and Montreal — with only nine shots on goal — outlasted the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 7 on Sunday night to end the thrilling first-round series.

The Canadiens will face the Buffalo Sabres in the second round after finishing off their first series victory since losing the Stanley Cup Final to Tampa Bay in 2021. Game 1 is Wednesday night in Buffalo.

Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes made 28 saves and Nick Suzuki got his first goal of the series for Montreal. The Canadiens are the first team to win a playoff game with fewer than 10 shots on goal since shots were first tracked in the 1959-60 season.

“Sometimes you win the game and not the score,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “When it's Game 7, there's no moral victory.”

Each game of the series was decided by one goal and four went to overtime. The score was tied or within one goal for all but six minutes in the seven games.

“It's a tough building to play in, it's a chaotic environment out there,” Suzuki said. “We've been a good road team all season. We knew we had to come in here and anything can happen in a Game 7.”

The Lightning were eliminated in the first round for the fourth straight season after falling two wins short of a Stanley Cup three-peat in 2022.

Tampa Bay’s tough defense held the Canadiens without a shot for nearly 27 minutes from the first period into the third and just four through two periods. Brandon Hagel made an outstanding, sliding stick save with an open net in the final minute but the Lightning couldn't get the tying goal during a 6-on-5 and 6-on-4 for the final six seconds.

Montreal got a couple lucky bounces to score twice on its first eight shots on goal.

After Lane Hutson fired a slap shot that went wide and bounced back out, Newhook backhanded the puck out of the air and in off Andrei Vasilevskiy’s pad and his backside.

“Great hand-eye coordination by Newy,” Suzuki said. “He's been a big-game player. I'm definitely happy for him.”

Playing in front of their 461st consecutive sellout crowd and hundreds more fans watching from Thunder Alley outside Benchmark International Arena, the Lightning lost for the 11th time in their last 13 playoff games at home, including three times in this series.

“You can't lose three at home,” Hagel said.

The Canadiens didn’t have a shot on net in the second period despite two power-play chances. They became the first team to have zero shots in a playoff period since Pittsburgh in Game 1 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals against Nashville.

Dominic James tipped in Charle-Edouard D’Astous’ one-timer from just inside the blue line to tie it at 1 on a power play in the second period.

Suzuki opened the scoring 1:21 left in the first. After scoring 29 goals in the regular season, Suzuki needed a lucky bounce to get one. His redirection of Kaiden Guhle’s slap shot was heading wide but the puck hit Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser and went in.

Montreal’s Martin St. Louis, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose No. 26 is retired by the Lightning, became the fifth player to appear in a Game 7 for a team and coach against them in another.

___

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

Cunningham averaged 32.4 points for Detroit, which last won a postseason series by beating Orlando in the second round in 2008. The Pistons advance to play the winner of Sunday night's Game 7 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors. Game 1 will be Tuesday at Little Caesars Arena.

“We were pushed to the limit," Cunningham said. "And it made us really reflect on how we were playing, what got us to this position and what made us win as many games as we won in the regular season. And it got us back to playing the basketball that we knew we were capable of.”

The Pistons became the 15th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit and the second in the last two nights, after the Philadelphia 76ers came back to eliminate Boston.

“I mean, it's expected,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of his team's resiliency. “And that's the amount of belief that we have in this group. This is a special group. And you can't count us out. No matter the circumstances, no matter the situation, I like our chances to fight our way back.”

They trailed by 24 points in Game 6 in Orlando before rallying to take the series at home. Orlando only scored 113 points in the final six quarters of the series — an average of 18.8 per period.

Cunningham and Harris became the first Pistons teammates to score 30 points in a playoff game since Bob Lanier (33) and Howard Porter (30) against the Golden State Warriors on April 17, 1977.

“We really bonded this season," Cunningham said. "This group is super tight. We think we can do anything. We've had our backs against the wall at times in the regular season, but we stuck together and we found our way out of it.”

Paolo Banchero scored 38 for the Magic.

Each team needed a second scoring option in Game 7. Cunningham had carried the Pistons while Banchero was Orlando's only weapon after Franz Wagner was injured in Game 4.

Harris filled that role for Detroit, but Orlando only had one other player reach double figures in the first three quarters, as Desmond Bane had 10.

“We just couldn’t find the basket,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We were playing well on defense, but we couldn’t put the ball in the hole.”

The Pistons also got a big game from All-Star center Jalen Duren. He was outplayed by Wendell Carter Jr. in the first six games, but put up his first double-double of the series with 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Harris scored 17 points in the second quarter as the Pistons finished the half on a 9-2 run to take a 60-49 lead.

The Pistons' surge continued into the second half, as they opened the third quarter with a 11-2 run to go up 71-51. Nine of the points came from Cunningham and Harris.

The Magic finished the third quarter with 15 points — the third time in their last five periods they couldn't reach 20 points.

Daniss Jenkins hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give Detroit a 83-64 lead going into the fourth, and the Magic never threatened down the stretch.

“They fought and battled the whole way," Mosley said. "We just didn’t get the job done.”

___

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

In a statement to The Associated Press, WHO said an investigation was underway but that at least one case of hantavirus had been confirmed. One of the patients was in intensive care in a South African hospital, the U.N. health agency said, and it was working with authorities to evacuate two others with symptoms from the ship.

The Dutch company that operates the cruise said the ship was now sitting off the coast of Cape Verde, an island nation off Africa's west coast, and local authorities were assisting but had not allowed anyone to disembark. It said the two sick people onboard requiring urgent medical care were crew members.

Hantavirus infections are spread mainly by rodents

Hantaviruses, which are found throughout the world, are a family of viruses spread mainly by contact with the urine or feces of infected rodents like rats and mice. They gained attention after the late actor Gene Hackman’s wife, Betsy Arakawa, died from hantavirus infection in New Mexico last year.

Hackman died around a week later at their home from heart disease.

Hantaviruses cause two serious syndromes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a severe disease that effects the lungs, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, a severe disease that affects the kidneys.

While rare, WHO said hantavirus infections can be spread between people. There is no specific treatment or cure, but early medical attention can increase the chance of survival.

“WHO is aware of and supporting a public health event involving a cruise vessel sailing in the Atlantic Ocean," the organization said. "Detailed investigations are ongoing, including further laboratory testing, and epidemiological investigations. Medical care and support are being provided to passengers and crew. Sequencing of the virus is also ongoing.”

The weekslong cruise started in Argentina

South Africa's Department of Health said the ship, the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, had left Argentina around three weeks ago for a cruise that included visits to Antarctica, the Falkland Islands and other stops. It was due to ultimately head to Spain's Canary Islands on the other side of the Atlantic.

The first victim was a 70-year-old man who died on the ship and whose body was removed in the British territory of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, the South African health department said in a statement. The man's wife collapsed at an airport in South Africa trying to take a flight to her home country of the Netherlands, the department said. She died at a nearby hospital.

The department identified the patient in intensive care in a hospital in Johannesburg as a British national. It said that person fell ill near Ascension Island, another remote island in the Atlantic, after the ship left Saint Helena and was transferred from there to South Africa.

Around 150 passengers were onboard

Around 150 tourists were onboard at the time of the outbreak, South Africa's health department said. Several online tour operators said the Hondius, which is described as a specialist polar cruise ship, usually travels with around 70 crew members.

Oceanwide Expeditions, the company that runs the cruise, said the third victim's body was still onboard the ship in Cape Verde and its priority was to ensure the two crew members who were ill received medical care.

“Local health authorities have visited the vessel to assess the condition of the two symptomatic individuals,” the company said. “They are yet to make a decision regarding the transfer of these individuals into medical care in Cape Verde.”

WHO said it was working with national authorities and the ship's operators to conduct a “full public health risk assessment” and provide support for those still onboard.

South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases, meanwhile, was conducting contact tracing in the Johannesburg region to identify if other people were exposed to the infected passengers in South Africa.

Elliott stayed ahead of Denny Hamlin for the closing four laps after a final restart at Texas on Sunday for his second victory this year. He finished just ahead of Hamlin in both of those wins.

On that final restart at the 1 1/2-mile Texas track, Elliott took the bottom line and had teammate Alex Bowman behind him. He cleared Hamlin going onto the backstretch and remained in front to the checkered flag.

“I just felt like, man, if I didn’t get clear off of (Turn) 2, I was going to be in a lot trouble,” Elliott said. “So fortunately Alex gave me a great push. I was able to execute Turns 1 and 2, get clear, and then just kind of manage the last few laps.”

Elliott, voted NASCAR's most popular driver each of the past eight seasons, got his 23rd career win and his second at Texas, where two years ago he ended a 42-race winless streak. He led five times Sunday for a race-high 87 laps, finishing 0.407 seconds ahead of Hamlin, closer than the 0.565-second margin when they finished 1-2 at Martinsville in late March.

Bowman, whose spin brought out a caution on lap 93, finished third. Tyler Reddick was fourth after winning five of the first 10 races this season for Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing.

Hamlin said the late push Elliott got from his teammate was the difference in Texas.

“It was just enough to slow my momentum and pick his momentum up,” Hamlin said. “Good, decent day, just one (spot) short.”

Elliott, who started 14th, had already taken the white flag when John Hunter Nemechek wrecked in the back of the field after contact with Kyle Busch. The caution flag never came out since Nemechek was able to get his car to the apron.

Chris Buescher was fifth, his first top-10 finish in 17 starts at track less than an hour from his hometown of Prosper.

Carson Hocevar, the polesitter at Texas for the second year in a row, finished seventh, a week after his breakthrough win at Talladega. He also won the Truck Series race in the Lone Star State on Friday night. He finished a spot behind Daniel Suarez, his Spire Motorsports teammate.

Hocevar led the first 22 laps last year, three more than he did at the start of this 267-lap race, though he did get back in front for 18 more laps later Sunday.

Corey Heim, in only his third start this year for 23XI Racing, led 69 laps, but with 11 laps left brought out the final caution of the day, the fourth because of a single-car spinout. The 23-year-old Heim was the Truck Series champion last year.

Bell rung out of the race

Christopher Bell, an Oklahoma native who considers Texas his home track, led 22 laps and was still near the front on lap 69 when he got clipped by Todd Gilliland, who spun ahead of him.

Bell bobbled and then slammed hard into the outside wall along the frontstretch, doing significant damage to the front right of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He finished last in the 38-car field.

“I thought that I could shoot the gap on the bottom,” said Bell, who had led only six laps total his first seven starts in Texas. “I thought I did shoot the gap on the bottom but I got clipped.”

Pit road crashes

Joey Logano, who won at Texas last year, was going about 180 mph when he just avoided hitting the spinning car of Byron on lap 93.

Going much slower on the ensuing yellow-flag stop, the front left of Logano’s car was crushed when he was unable to avoid contact when Cole Custer stopped on pit lane with Ty Gibbs pulling out ahead of him. That knocked out Logano, whose winless streak is now 36 races.

During that same round of stops, Chase Briscoe got damage to his front right when pulling out of his box and getting hit by Kyle Larson. Hamlin was pulling out when he had a close call with Connor Zilisch.

Up next

The 2.45-mile road course at Watkins Glen in upstate New York, where last year Shane van Gisbergen of Trackhouse Racing became only the third driver to win four consecutive Cup races on road or street courses. In the first road race this year, Reddick held off van Gisbergen to win at the 2.4-mile Circuit of the Americas on March 1.

___

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

This story originally published at GatorsBreakdown.com

Want more Gators Breakdown? Join Gators Breakdown Plus

Get Gators Breakdown merchandise. Shop here

LISTEN: Catch up on previous episodes of Gators Breakdown

Follow David Waters on Twitter @GatorDave_SEC to stay plugged in, or click one of the following to tune in:

Megaphone | Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify

It will be warmer on Monday with plenty of sunshine. Highs will be in the upper 70s to low 80s.

High pressure will be overhead for most of the upcoming week, which means we will see plenty of sunshine. It will turn warmer with highs on Tuesday in the 80s, low 90s on Wednesday and Thursday.

Another front will cross our area Thursday into Friday, bringing with it the potential for showers and storms each day. Highs on Friday will be lower behind the front, in the low 80s.

Regarding the drought, the latest drought monitor reflects the overall pattern over the past few months. Most of our area remains in an extreme drought. An exceptional drought classification has been expanded to include more of our area.

The good news is that our area is highlighted in seeing a higher probability of above normal rainfall over the next few weeks.

TONIGHT: Mostly Cloudy. Breezy. Low 55.

MONDAY: Mostly Sunny. High 81, Low 59.

TUESDAY: Mostly Sunny. High 85, Low 64.

WEDNESDAY: Partly Cloudy. High 92, Low 67.

THURSDAY: Partly to Mostly Cloudy & Breezy. Isolated Rain & Storms. High 93, Low 67.

FRIDAY: Partly to Mostly Cloudy & Breezy. Isolated Rain & Storms. High 84, Low 65.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Sunday after a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals that he believes in his star to “come out of it at some point.”

“He certainly has high standards,” Roberts said. “We all do of him. I know he’s frustrated, but you can’t tell from his demeanor."

Ohtani’s 0-for-3 day pushed him to 0 for 14 over his last four games, his longest hitless streak since going 0 for 12 over five games with the Los Angeles Angels from May 24-28, 2022.

Ohtani’s struggles have mirrored those of the team around him. The Dodgers have not homered in six straight games for the first time since going homerless in eight straight from July 10-21, 2014.

Freddie Freeman went 2 for 4 and drove in a run in Sunday’s win that snapped a four-game losing streak in which the Dodgers scored two runs or fewer in every game.

“Offensively, we just haven’t been very good the last week,” Freeman said. “Just call spade a spade sometimes. There’s no way to sugarcoat it. We just haven’t been very good, and we’ve got to be better.”

Ohtani drew a walk in the third inning to snap a streak of ten straight plate appearances without reaching base, and his 12 hitless at bats versus the Cardinals are his most in a single series in his career.

“There’s a little bit of a mechanics part that he’s been talking about, and I thought we kind of figured that out at home,” Roberts said. “This series, I don’t think he felt great, in between a little bit on the pulled grounders, getting beat with the fly balls to the big part of the field, so a little in between, I think. But, safe to say, fair to say that he’ll figure it out soon.”

___

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

Edwards will be listed as questionable for Monday night’s series opener, the Timberwolves said.

The All-Star guard, who averaged 36.7 points in three games against San Antonio this season, has been “cleared for on-court basketball activities,” the Timberwolves said Sunday.

Edwards was hurt in Game 4 of Minnesota’s first-round series against Denver and diagnosed with a left knee hyperextension and bone bruise.

___

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

The two players who have been at the heart of Inter Milan's success in recent seasons carried the club to the Italian league soccer title with a 2-0 victory over visiting Parma on Sunday.

Inter, which needed only a draw to secure the trophy, moved an unassailable 12 points clear of 2025 champion Napoli with three rounds remaining.

It’s Inter’s 21st Serie A title, trailing only the record 36 held by Juventus, and third in six years. But Inter hadn’t sealed the title before its home fans at the San Siro since the 1989 title — nearly four decades ago.

When the game was over, there were fireworks, dancing and plenty of celebrations.

Thuram scored just before the break with an angled shot placed just beyond the reach of Parma goalkeeper Zion Suzuki. Then 37-year-old Henrikh Mkhitaryan added another in the 80th after taking a pass from Serie A scoring leader Lautaro, who came off the bench to mark his return from an injury layoff.

Thuram was born in Parma while his father, Lilian Thuram, played there.

“Since I arrived at Inter, it’s been a team that loves to stay together — on and off the field — and that’s our strength,” Thuram said.

For Cristian Chivu, Inter’s first-year coach, the trophy was secured against the club he coached last season — having helped Parma avoid relegation.

Chivu, who was hired to replace the departed Simone Inzaghi nearly a year ago, played on the Inter team that won a treble under José Mourinho in 2010.

In the running for two trophies this season, Inter will face Lazio in the Italian Cup final in 10 days.

The domestic success has come in sharp contrast to Inter’s ouster from this season’s Champions League playoffs by tiny Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt. Last season, Inter was routed 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.

Still, it’s an improvement from last season’s Serie A when Inter finished one point behind Napoli.

"(Chivu) did so well bringing fresh energy, enthusiasm," Lautaro said. “After four great years with Simone, perhaps we needed a change of scenery after that Champions League final. Chivu made sure everyone felt involved and could even train with a smile. That really helped.”

Inter midfielder Nicolò Barella was reminded how he was a leader on the Italy team that failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.

“That’s football and life. There are difficult moments,” Barella said. “For example, last season we came so close to everything and won nothing. In life you’ve always got to get back up on your feet.”

AC Milan and Juventus at risk

While Inter was celebrating, AC Milan and Juventus were at risk of losing their Champions League places.

Milan was reduced to 10 men and beaten 2-0 at Sassuolo for its fourth loss in seven matches. Then Juventus drew 1-1 with relegated Hellas Verona.

Third-placed Milan was left only two points ahead of fourth-placed Juventus, which is just three points ahead of fifth-placed Como, which is trying to get into the top four and secure a Champions League spot.

Three rounds remain in the Italian league.

Domenico Berardi scored early on for Sassuolo for his 12th career goal against Milan and Fikayo Tomori was sent off before Armand Lauriente doubled the advantage after the break.

Milan has scored only one goal in its last five matches.

Christian Pulisic, who came on in the second half, extended his goalless streak to a career-high 17 league matches.

Vlahovic equalizes for Juventus

Juventus also dropped points at home against Verona but extended its unbeaten run to nine matches.

Kieron Bowie put Verona ahead after intercepting a pass from Juventus defender Gleison Bremer then Dusan Vlahovic equalized for Juventus with a free kick around Verona’s wall for his first goal since October.

Also, Bologna was held 0-0 by Cagliari in a regional derby.

___

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

“They started within an hour or so coming up to us, wanting attention. Some crawled in people’s laps. Every single one of them are super sweet,” Lauree Simmons, president and founder of Big Dog Ranch Rescue, said Sunday. “I think they are loving the attention. I just know they know they’re safe.”

Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy negotiated a confidential agreement to purchase the 1,500 dogs for an undisclosed price from Ridglan Farms, where police used tear gas and pepper spray to repel activists trying to take beagles from the facility last month. Protesters also broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Sixty-three people were referred by the sheriff’s department to the district attorney for potential charges related to that break-in.

Talks to purchase the animals began months before the April disturbance, and Simmons said her group wasn't connected to the protests. Now, Big Dog Ranch Rescue is working with partners all over the country to find homes for 1,000 of the dogs, while the Center for a Humane Economy is taking the rest.

Simmons said her group has received over 700 adoption applications, but it might take some time before the hounds are ready for their new homes as the organization screens potential dog parents, moves the animals to shelters around the country and ensures the beagles are housebroken.

The first 300 dogs were taken from Ridglan on Friday, with more scheduled for removal over the next week. The animal groups have set up a staging area with play yards in Wisconsin, where the dogs are being vaccinated, microchipped, spayed or neutered and prepared for transport, Simmons said. Big Dog Ranch Rescue has already started moving dogs to its location in western Palm Beach County, Florida.

“The younger dogs will adjust quicker, and the older dogs will take time,” Simmons said. “A lot of them are more willing to accept love and want to be with people.”

Ridglan Farms didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Beagles are the most common breed of dog used for animal testing, primarily because of their smaller size and gentle temperament, Simmons said.

“A Belgian Malinois is not going to put up with being tested on, being confined in a kennel their whole life,” Simmons said of the athletic shepherd dogs commonly used by police and the military. “Beagles are just so trusting and docile and calm and forgiving, so they are the most chosen dogs for animal testing. And so we’re going to take one of the sweetest, kindest, most trusting breeds and abuse them? This is wrong. This needs to stop.”

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

About 1,000 activists from across the country came to Ridglan Farms in the rural village of Blue Mounds, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Madison, on April 18 in an attempt to take the beagles. They were met by police who used tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. The Dane County Sheriff’s Department said 29 people were arrested and five face felony burglary charges.

Activists have filed a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin alleging that police used unnecessary force. Ridglan has said those who tried to break in were a “violent mob” who launched “an assault on a federally licensed research facility.”

He called a one-stroke penalty on himself while playing the par-4 second hole, after he caused his ball to move in the fairway. And then he made par anyway.

It was that sort of week: Young was unflappable and unbeatable. He went wire-to-wire alone on the lead at the Cadillac Championship, a final round of 4-under 68 getting him to 19 under for the week and six shots clear of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (68).

“When the golf course is difficult, when the conditions are difficult, that tends to make it easier for me mentally,” Young said.

With President Donald Trump in place to watch most of the round at Trump National Doral, Young picked up $3.6 million for the second-biggest payday of his career. He made $4.5 million earlier this year for winning The Players Championship.

Trump arrived with several members of his family — including granddaughter Kai Trump, who plans to play at the University of Miami when she enrolls later this year — shortly after noon and remained until the tournament was over. He stood for the ovation as Young walked up the 18th hole, as a number of fans in attendance were allowed to move into the fairway for a look at the final putts of the week.

And when it was over, Young got a thumbs-up from Trump, followed later by a quick handshake.

“It’s very unique. He’s nothing if not a very, very interesting man,” Young said. "He’s very powerful and it’s an honor to get to play in front of him.”

A bit more than an inch of rain fell on the course in the early morning hours Sunday, delaying a planned 7:30 a.m. start (which had already been rescheduled Saturday in anticipation of bad weather) to the final round by two hours. And the Blue Monster was no longer a monster, not with everything softened by the rain.

The average scores in the first three rounds were between 71 and 71.6. The average score Sunday, with preferred lies, was 69. There were nine birdies — total — on the par 18th in the first three rounds and 12 at the finishing hole on Sunday alone.

Scheffler finished second for the third consecutive start, after finishing a shot behind Rory McIlroy at the Masters and losing a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick at Hilton Head. Those were near-misses; this one wasn't.

That's how good Young was. Even the best player in the world never had a real chance on Sunday.

“Some good takeaways from this week,” Scheffler said. “Cam played fantastic golf all week. I played with him three out of the four days and he was hitting a lot of quality shots and making putts from anywhere. He was going to be to be a tough man to beat this week.”

Young called the violation on himself with his ball in the middle of the fairway on the second hole — it moved at address, something he said has happened to him before — and said he didn't hesitate to do the right thing.

“Your heart sinks when you see it move,” Young said. “But it moved. That's part of what's golf about. There's no one who's going to give me a penalty there but myself.”

Ben Griffin (68) was third at 12 under, while Si Woo Kim (70), Sepp Straka (66) and Adam Scott (64) tied for fourth at 11 under.

Scott likely clinched a spot in the U.S. Open — which would be his 100th consecutive major start, assuming he starts in the PGA Championship later this month — after shooting 66-64 on the weekend. Scott finished at 11 under, meaning he should remain comfortably inside the top 60 in the world ranking and qualify for the U.S. Open.

“To win a major I’m going to need to put four days together, not just a weekend coming from behind,” said Scott, who was the winner of the World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship — until this week, the most recent PGA Tour event at Doral — in 2016. “I feel like my game is there. I’m doing all the things that I think I need to do to be in that kind of contention.”

Young can say the same. The world's No. 4 player was 67th in those rankings at this time last year, and is already over the $11 million mark in earnings in 2026.

“I think the self-belief just continues to build,” Young said.

___

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

Good luck with that. One way or another, the Knicks know the New Yorkers are coming.

The 76ers and Knicks begin the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday at Madison Square Garden, which is expected to be packed with Knicks fans, from the celebrities in the front row all the way to the die-hards way up top.

Both teams already are looking ahead to what happens when the series moves to Philadelphia for Games 3 and 4.

When they met two years ago in the first round, Knicks fans swarmed Philadelphia and Embiid pleaded with fans not to let it happen again.

“Last time we played the Knicks it felt like this was Madison Square Garden East. So we’re going to need the support,” Embiid said. “Don’t sell your tickets. This is bigger than you. We need you guys. The atmosphere we’ve had the last couple games in Philly, especially the last one pushing it to Game 7, I mean, we need all of it."

The 76ers are trying to do their part. A message on their website reads: “Xfinity Mobile Arena is located in Philadelphia, PA. Sales to this event will be restricted to residents of Greater Philadelphia area. Residency will be based on credit card billing address. Orders by residents outside Greater Philadelphia area will be canceled without notice and refunds given.”

Even if that works, there's nothing that can prevent big-spending backers of the Knicks from buying from Philadelphia fans who choose to sell.

“Good thing about New Yorkers, man, they’re persistent. They don’t care, bro. They're going to do it, man,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said. “And for a lot of people, everything revolves around money. So, you know, if they get a good price for those tickets, they’re going to sell them.”

Hart, who played in college at Villanova, noted that it's less than a two-hour drive from New York to Philadelphia — even quicker by train — and that it's likely far cheaper to buy tickets for the road games.

Embiid was disappointed in 76ers fans during the 2024 series, when Jalen Brunson received raucous “MVP! MVP!” chants while scoring 47 points as the Knicks won Game 4 in Philadelphia. Embiid said afterward that: "I don’t think that should happen. It’s not OK.”

Sixers owners then bought and gave away more than 2,000 tickets to people who serve the Philadelphia community when the Knicks returned for Game 6.

If any Philadelphians are looking to sell, Embiid is ready to buy.

“Knicks fans, they travel," he said. "There’s going to be some people that need the money and probably going to sell tickets, but don’t do it. We need you guys. We’ve got a pretty good chance. We’re going to need our support. We’re going to need them to be extremely loud and if you need money, I got you.”

___

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

Sinner beat the third-ranked Zverev 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday for his 23rd straight win. He had already won Master 1000 tournaments in Monte Carlo, Miami and Indian Wells this year, and in Paris last year.

“I think there is a lot of work behind it,” Sinner said. “A lot of dedication and sacrifice I put in every day. Obviously, it means a lot to me, seeing these results."

Zverev lost to Sinner in the semifinals of each of those tournaments. He won in Madrid in 2018 and 2021, and was runner-up to Carlos Alcaraz in 2022.

“He’s very good, of course. But I think today I would have lost to anybody, to be very fair. I think today I played an awful tennis match,” Zverev said.

Sinner converted all four break points he earned and did not face any break points himself in a comfortable win over Zverev at the Caja Magica tennis complex in Madrid. Sinner had not been past the quarterfinals in three previous appearances in Madrid.

“I’m very happy that I’ve continued to believe in myself," Sinner said. "I’m showing up every day, at every practice session, trying to put in the right work with the right discipline. To do so, you need to have the right team behind you, which I have. I’m very happy about me, but also the team, and this means a lot to all of us.”

Sinner next plays in Rome with a chance to lift the trophy in the only Masters 1000 tournament he is yet to win. The 24-year-old Italian is looking to join Novak Djokovic as the only man to complete the Career Golden Masters. The Serbian won all nine tournaments twice.

“It’s quite simple," Zverev said. "I think there’s a big gap between Sinner and everybody else.”

In the women's final on Saturday, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine beat Mirra Andreeva of Russia 7-5, 6-3.

___

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

A 3-2 win against Liverpool on Sunday confirmed United's return to European club soccer's top competition after a two-year absence.

Kobbie Mainoo settled a thrilling Premier League clash at Old Trafford with his first-time strike from the edge of the area after defending champion Liverpool had fought back from two goals down.

The victory saw head coach Michael Carrick achieve the target he was set in January when he was handed the job until the end of the season. Rescuing United's season from freefall, he has led the club to third in the standings and produced statement wins against Arsenal, Manchester City and now Liverpool.

Victory will strengthen calls for Carrick to be given the role on a permanent basis.

“When Michael comes, he came with magic. Alex Ferguson vibes," United forward Matheus Cunha said with reference to the club's iconic former manager. "At the end of the day, this is just the start of the journey. It’s the beginning, a beautiful beginning.”

Ferguson had planned to watch the match at Old Trafford but left the stadium and went to the hospital as a precaution when feeling unwell before kick off.

The fact United secured a Champions League return against its fiercest rival Liverpool only added to the scenes of celebration after the final whistle. It was the first time United has completed a league double of home-and-away wins against the Merseyside club since the 2015-16 campaign.

United is six points ahead of fourth-placed Liverpool with three rounds of the season to go. It marks a significant improvement on last term when it was 42 points behind Arne Slot's title-winning team.

‘A good run’

Since Carrick was hired on Jan. 13, United has picked up 32 points from 14 games - more than any other team in the top flight.

“It’s been a good run. We’ve beaten some very, very good teams and it’s been challenging,” he said. “I love doing what I’m doing. It’s a great position for me to be in and it feels pretty natural if I’m totally honest.”

United gave Carrick the job until the end of the season in order to allow the club time to weigh up coaching candidates after Ruben Amorim was fired in January. The 20-time English champion has not won the title since Ferguson retired in 2013 and has had six permanent managers or head coaches since then.

Carrick has repeatedly shied away from discussing his future beyond the end of the campaign.

His team is doing the talking for him on and off the field.

“You want to follow him, you want to fight for him, you want to die for him on the pitch," Mainoo told Sky Sports.

United's latest win came after a flying start - Cunha opening the scoring after six minutes with a left-footed strike from inside the box. Benjamin Sesko doubled the lead in the 14th when bundling in from close range.

United's dominance should have produced more goals with Bruno Fernandes wasting a good chance to add a third.

But the game was turned on its head after the break as Dominik Szoboszlai pulled one back for Liverpool two minutes into the second half and then a mix-up in United's defense allowed Cody Gakpo to equalize in the 56th.

United regained its composure and Mainoo's strike saw Old Trafford erupt in celebration.

Defeat means Liverpool is still not guaranteed a place in the Champions League next season with three rounds to go.

“The reality at this point is that it’s been a very disappointing season, below the standards of Liverpool," captain Virgil van Dijk said. "We shouldn’t accept it, but it is the reality. We have to get Champions League football for next year. After the World Cup we have to build to a much better - a much better - season than we’re having.”

Crucial win for Tottenham

Tottenham climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win at Aston Villa.

It's back-to-back league wins for Spurs for the first time since the opening two games of the season. The latest victory saw Roberto Di Zerbi's team move a point above relegation rival West Ham and out of the drop zone.

Conor Gallagher and Richarlison scored both of Spurs' goals in the first half to continue De Zerbi's positive impact on the club since he was hired in March. Substitute Emiliano Buendia pulled a goal back for Villa in stoppage time.

Having failed to win a league game in 2026 before De Zerbi's arrival, Tottenham has picked up seven points from a possible nine.

Bournemouth's Champions League bid

Bournemouth earlier strengthened its unlikely push for Champions League qualification with a 3-0 win against Crystal Palace.

Bournemouth is sixth in the standings, with the top five guaranteed to qualify for the Champions League. That could be extended to the top six if Villa wins the Europa League and finishes fifth.

___

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

___

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

In a post on X, Lai said he arrived in Eswatini — Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Africa — to “affirm our longstanding friendship.” He said that Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy that China considers part of its territory, “will never be deterred by external pressures.”

Lai was originally scheduled to visit the southern African country from April 22, but Taiwanese officials said that flight permits were revoked by Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar over “strong pressure from the Chinese authorities, including economic coercion.”

In a separate Facebook post on Saturday, Lai wrote that the visit was made possible following careful arrangements by his diplomatic and national security teams. He said the trip will further deepen the friendship between Taiwan and Eswatini through closer economic, agricultural, cultural and educational ties.

“Our resolve & commitment are underpinned by the understanding that Taiwan will continue to engage with the world — no matter the challenges faced,” Lai wrote on X. Taiwan did not announce latest plans of Lai's Eswatini visit prior to his arrival.

A spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement shortly after Lai posted on social media about his visit that he was “performing a laughable stunt in front of the world,” and referred to him being “smuggled” out of Taiwan.

Lai's “undignified act” and visit “will always be a losing cause and nothing will ever change the fact that Taiwan is part of China,” the ministry said. “We urge Eswatini and some other individual countries to see where the arc of history bends and stop serving as the prop of ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists.”

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry hit back, saying Lai's trip was conducted “in accordance with international law, international norms, diplomatic practices” and Taiwan’s regulations.

Lai's arrival in Eswatini was only announced after he landed safely, the ministry said in a written statement, a precaution which it said had numerous international precedents.

China has not ruled out using force to take control of Taiwan and has sought to block other countries from maintaining formal diplomatic ties with Taipei.

In 2023, Tsai Ing-wen was the most recent previous Taiwanese president to visit Eswatini, the small, landlocked nation with a population of around 1.2 million. Eswatini became the only African country excluded from tariff-free access to China's market because of its ties to Taiwan.

On Friday, Taiwan’s government expressed concern after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call that Taiwan is the “biggest risk” when it comes to relations between Beijing and Washington.

One week after Korda crushed the field at The Chevron Championship for her third career major, she left everyone feeling hopeless at El Camaleon with precision that carried the No. 1 player in women's golf to another dominant victory.

Korda went 60 consecutive holes without a bogey, a streak that ended when it no longer mattered.

She had a six-shot lead playing the 18th when she sent her drive to the right and deep into the tropical bushes, never finding the golf ball. She hit a provisional into a bunker, the next one into the gallery and finished by making a 20-foot putt for bogey, only her second of the tournament.

Korda stretched out her arm and casually threw her right fist with whatever energy she had left.

She finished at 17-under 271, four shots ahead Arpichaya Yubol of Thailand, who celebrated her 24th birthday with a 70 to finish alone in second. Yu Liu of China (69) was another shot back.

None had much of a chance against Korda, who became the first player since Annika Sorenstam in 2001 to start a season with nothing worse than a runner-up finish through six events.

Korda started with a three-shot lead, and then it was over. She holed a 12-foot eagle putt from the collar of the par-5 fifth hole, followed with a 10-foot birdie putt from the fringe on No. 6 and then hit a lob wedge to 4 feet for birdie on the par-5 seventh.

She didn't need to do anything more the rest of the way, following with 10 straight pars until taking her hands off the wheel on the final hole.

Asked if she was playing the best golf of her career, Korda demurred.

“I’m just enjoying myself and I love the competition. I love traveling to places like Mexico, all over the world. I’m just having fun,” she said.

Starting times were moved up to avoid thunderstorms moving along the coast of Mexico that looks out across the Caribbean Sea. It was still steamy, and Korda doused her head with a bottle of water as she walked off the 16th tee. Nothing could cool her off.

Korda could only laugh at her blunder on the final hole that kept her from matching or surpassing her largest margin of victory, set last week with her five-shot win in Houston at a major.

“On the last hole here I was humbled by golf,” she said. “I had a pretty smooth day and on the last hole just kind of like humbles you a little bit. You put in the work. Everyone out here puts in the work. Sometimes it works out.”

She now has 18 wins on the LPGA, making the 27-year-old the youngest American with 18 titles since Nancy Lopez at age 23 won her 18th in 1980.

Arkansas senior Maria Jose Marin, who delighted the crowd with her Augusta National Women's Amateur title last month, had a 69-69 weekend to finish fifth. The top 10 would make her eligible for next week at the Mizuho Americas Open, but she has finals.

Korda also is skipping next week after two straight wins. She had talked about lacking energy this week, but also making sure she was working instead of on vacation at a Mexican resort.

“I'll enjoy a few days off,” Korda said.

___

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

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said last week there was no evidence the agent was hit by friendly fire during the incident at a Washington hotel on April 25, but she went beyond that Sunday in saying a shot from one of Cole Tomas Allen's weapons hit the officer's bullet-resistant vest.

“We now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant’s Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the fiber of the vest of the Secret Service officer,” she told CNN's “State of the Union.” “It is definitively his bullet."

Allen, who remains behind bars for now pending his trial, was injured during the attack but was not shot. The officer survived.

His attorneys on Sunday filed a document with the court saying they learned he was no longer on suicide watch and sought to withdraw a motion formally seeking to remove him from such supervision.

On Thursday, Pirro posted a video on social media showing the moment that authorities say a man with guns and knives attempted to storm the media gala. Questions have lingered about whose bullet struck the officer as the suspect ran through security with a long gun toward the ballroom packed with journalists, administration officials and others.

A phone call to lawyers representing Allen went unanswered on Sunday.

Allen has been charged with attempted assassination of the president, as well as two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone.

Allen, 31, is from Torrance, California. He worked as a part-time tutor for a test preparation company and is an amateur video game developer.

Getting an official invitation checked off one detail for DeVaux, who on Saturday became the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner. Golden Tempo's Preakness fate could be answered later this week as DeVaux monitors the horse's recovery from a remarkable yet demanding rally from last place that won the 152nd Derby at Churchill Downs by a neck as a 23-1 long shot.

“As long as he's in tip-top shape, we'll talk about it,” said DeVaux, who vanned Golden Tempo over to Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky, the morning after the race. “It is on the table, but it's really up to him.”

The usual post-Derby dilemma for trainers and owners is whether their horses are up for the two-week turnaround at the Preakness. This year, the race is at Laurel Park on May 16 while the traditional Pimlico Race Course is rebuilt. The Triple Crown’s middle jewel will go off at a shorter 1 3/16-mile distance with a presumably smaller field.

Some entrants will be rested from skipping the Derby altogether or being scratched in the days leading up to the "Run For The Roses." In either case, it’s a tough ask of Saturday’s competitors.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday that second-place Renegade “came back in good order” after a “tough beat,” which also involved a rally from the back. He will take the colt and his other Kentucky horses to Saratoga in New York, the site of next month's Belmont Stakes, on Tuesday.

Whit Beckman said third-place Ocelli, a 70-1 long shot who rallied to lead at the 1/16 pole before finishing 3/4 lengths behind Renegade, was “doing fine,” but offered no indication about the Preakness. Trainer Bill Mott said a trip to Maryland isn't in the cards for Chief Wallabee, who finished fourth.

“Nobody talks about the Preakness,” the Hall of Famer Mott said. “The Belmont at Saratoga; we need to discuss that. (Co-owner) Kay Kay (Ball) was thrilled with the way he ran (Saturday). He has done a lot since the first of the year.”

The focus nonetheless remains on Golden Tempo and a possible encore to his gutsy Derby run with jockey Jose Ortiz.

Dead last of 18 horses early on and mostly off the radar, the bay colt weaved through traffic to find space outside and then hit overdrive to outrun the field and edge Renegade in a wild finish with just one length separating the top three. Golden Tempo earned his third win in five career starts, (placing third in his two losses), and collected $3.1 million.

Golden Tempo appeared at ease in the Sunday chill, occasionally sticking his head out of his stall to munch on feed. Meanwhile, DeVaux was trying to regain her bearings from a whirlwind 12 hours that involved a celebratory family dinner at a local steakhouse and just a few hours of sleep.

She still has congratulatory phone messages to answer along with fulfilling media requests. As packed as DeVaux's immediate future will be, her priority is helping determine if Golden Tempo's sixth start comes sooner or later.

“There is a lot of racing in him,” she said. “I really am grateful that he’s the horse that you can just do what you need to do and he responds well and kind of just does whatever.

“We’re all just absorbing this and we have to have a lot of conversations. ... Factors like that are not what’s at the forefront of our minds. We want to do what’s best for the horse.”

___

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

It was the third consecutive victory for Antonelli, the current points leader who is proving early this season to be a legitimate championship contender.

“It is just the beginning, the road is still long, but we're working super hard,” Antonelli said. “The team is doing an incredible job and without them I wouldn't be here. I'm going to enjoy this one and then get back to work.”

The Italian and teammate George Russell have won the first four races of this season for Mercedes and all four poles to date. They were blocked from the podium in Saturday's sprint race, which was a 1-2 finish for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of McLaren in the only thing the Mercedes drivers have not won this season.

“Kimi, that was very, very impressive. You know I like to complain, but there was nothing to complain about today,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told his young driver. “Very good."

Antonelli holds a 20-point lead over Russell in the championship standings.

Antonelli started from the pole but had a slick start on a damp surface at the Miami International Autodrome. Threats of heavy rain led F1 to move up the start of the race by three hours, and there was an early morning thunderstorm with lightning strikes directly over the Hard Rock Stadium, but it cleared by the time the event began.

Still, the first 25 laps were attacked by the drivers as if the rain could return at any moment, and that led to early chaos, even for Antonelli.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari had a spectacular start from third and surged to the lead when Antonelli went wide off course trying to defend. A split-second later, Max Verstappen spun trying to hold off Leclerc when the two cars made contact.

The contact caused Verstappen, who started a season-best second, to plummet to ninth after the spin.

Antonelli recovered and reclaimed the lead on the fifth lap, and the leaders briefly swapped positions as Leclerc moved back to the front before reigning world champion Norris took over on Lap 14.

Verstappen worked his way through the field and briefly took the lead as others pitted, but Antonelli beat Norris off pit lane and reclaimed the lead for good once everything cycled out.

Norris finished second, 3.2 seconds behind Antonelli.

“A mixed bag, really. We just got undercut (in the pits). There's no excuses other than that,” Norris said. “We should have boxxed first. Kimi did a good job. Hats off to Merc and Kimi. They drove a good race.”

Leclerc was poised to finish third until Oscar Piastri of McLaren passed him on the final lap. Leclerc spun and settled for sixth.

Russell was fourth and Verstappen finished a season-best fifth for Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari was seventh.

Cadillac, in its first race in the United States, had an unimpressive weekend on the track even as it splashed its way through Miami with appearances and events. Sergio Perez finished 16th and Valtteri Bottas was 18th — the last car to finish in the 22-driver field.

Messy start

Isack Hadjar had been disqualified after qualifying and started last, but his race lasted five laps before he drove his Red Bull into the wall. Hadjar was openly angry at the result as he pounded his helmet before climbing from his car and angrily stomping away.

Seconds later, Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson made contact that caused Gasly's car to do a full rollover. The Frenchman's car ended stuck with its rear tires atop a barrier and he climbed from the half-suspended BMW on his own.

Up next

The Canadian Grand Prix is next for F1 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on May 24. That date was traditionally held by the Monaco Grand Prix but a tweak to the schedule shifted it to Canada, and F1 will no longer be the opener for what had traditionally been the most prolific day in motorsports.

The F1 race typically opened the morning ahead of the Indianapolis 500 and then NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600. Because the race is in Canada and not Monaco, it has a late afternoon start time and will follow the Indy 500 and end during the NASCAR race.

___

AP Auto Racing: https://apnews.com/hub/formula-one

In April, Tyler Gibson, who served in the Air Force, was walking his service dog “Zuma” along the Jacksonville beach when he stumbled upon a bale of marijuana that had washed ashore after high tide.

No two calls for service are ever alike.

Take this call, for example, from Monday, April 13, when a man was walking his dog (that happened to be a retired narcotics canine) at Hanna Park. The two stumbled upon a bale of marijuana washed ashore after high tide and called our… pic.twitter.com/vRMxbPuCEe

— Jax Sheriff's Office (@JSOPIO) May 2, 2026

Gibson, who thought the plastic was actually a Portuguese man o’ war, quickly contacted the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

Officers responded, collected what is commonly known as a “square grouper” — a slang term for bales of marijuana or other drugs that wash ashore from the ocean — and transported it to the property and evidence vault.

The shelves once laden with goods during his childhood sat nearly empty in late April, with barely anything to offer the 5,000 clients who depend on the state-run store for subsidized food.

Government ration books that once provided for a healthy diet and kept families fully fed for a month are now shrinking.

As the economy collapses and prices soar, a growing number of Cubans find themselves unable to afford alternatives to state-run stores and struggle to subsist on meager salaries in a socialist country of nearly 10 million where basic goods increasingly are sold in U.S. dollars.

“No Cuban can truly survive on the products from the ration book anymore,” Amate López said.

‘Living

off air’

Revolutionary leader Fidel Castro established the ration book — “la libreta”— in the early 1960s. It offered heavily subsidized goods ranging from milk to fish and even cigarettes. Cubans knew their assigned bodega would be stocked with everything they needed by the first of the month.

The ration book shrank during the “Special Period,” when Soviet aid plummeted in the 1990s and deprivation hit Cuba. During that time, Cubans lost an average of 5% to 25% of their body weight, according to one study published in a medical journal, with goods including bread, milk, eggs and chicken in scarce quantities.

Even so, many Cubans who lived through that period say the current situation is worse.

Amate López recalled that his assigned bodega was so full decades ago “you could barely walk.”

It’s now an empty room with dusty old posters detailing the prices and amounts of nearly two dozen goods no longer available, including yogurt, pasta and bars of soap. Two industrial freezers once packed with meat and chicken serve only to keep Amate López’s water bottle cold. In April, the only items he had available to sell were rice, sugar and split chickpeas.

Cuban teens turning 15, a landmark birthday in Latin America, used to receive cake and several cases of beer. Now they only get 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of ground beef. The government recently opted to celebrate those turning 65 by awarding them sardines, a bar of soap and a package of toilet paper. But Amate López said he doesn't have those items.

Havana resident Ana Enamorado, 68, said she only was able to buy split chickpeas and 2 pounds (1 kilogram) of sugar at her assigned bodega in April.

She struggles to buy the remaining basic goods at small, privately owned stores known as “mipymes” with her salary and pension totaling some 8,000 Cuban pesos ($16) a month.

A carton of 30 eggs costs roughly 3,000 pesos ($6), 2 pounds of meat hash are nearly 900 pesos ($2) and 1 pound of cornmeal is roughly 200 pesos (50 cents).

“There’s hardly anything in the ration book,” she said. “We’re practically living off air.”

Her lunches and dinners are a rotation of rice, seasoned ground meat and cornmeal, or sometimes nothing at all. She recalled once upon a time being able to eat pork, lamb, fricassee, fried plantain slices and red beans and rice.

“Now we have to cut back, have one meal a day and live on memories,” Enamorado said.

Subsidizing people in need instead of goods

Cuba imports up to 80% of the food it consumes, including goods offered at state stores that are increasingly unavailable given a lack of government resources.

“They just don’t have the money to do it anymore,” William LeoGrande, a professor at American University who has tracked Cuba for years, said about the government running out of funds. “Things come in an ad hoc way.”

LeoGrande said the government “bungled” the 2021 merging of two Cuban currencies and the resulting inflation has persisted because the state spends far more money than it takes in.

The government has to stop printing money and balance its budget without drastically cutting social services, a challenge since the bulk of state funds is spent on health, education, social welfare and food imports, he said.

“Any major cuts in state spending are going to have a profound social impact, which is why they haven’t done it,” LeoGrande said, adding that the government’s investment in tourism is “way higher” than the demand for tourism, which has plummeted.

In recent years, Cuba’s government has talked about subsidizing people in need instead of goods. That would free up money to import fuel, medicine and other items, LeoGrande said.

But many Cubans still depend on their ration books while the island's crises deepen as severe power outages, petroleum shortages and a U.S. energy blockade persist.

Cuban comedians have spoofed the ration book, creating a character named “Pánfilo" who sings a rhyming chorus in a recent video posted online: “Place the notebook in a cemetery, because it's ready to be buried.”

Struggling to buy basic goods

On a recent sunny afternoon, Lázaro Cuesta, 56, stood in line to receive a daily allowance of two small bread rolls for him and his wife.

“Before it was 80 grams and cost 5 (Cuban) cents. Now it’s 40 grams and costs 75 cents,'' he said. “And the quality is worse.”

Cuesta works in food preparation and earns 6,000 Cuban pesos ($12) a month. His wife, a retired nurse, receives 4,800 pesos ($10) in monthly pension. They also receive $200 a month from her brother and daughter who live abroad.

The remittances allow them to eat avocados, eggs and red beans and rice, Cuesta said.

“If not for the remittances,” he said as he grabbed his neck with his right hand, “hang yourself.”

Roughly 60% of Cubans on the island receive remittances, but Rosa Rodríguez, 54, of Havana is not one of them.

“Everything is scarce here — everything — even that wretched bread they give us,” Rodríguez said. She earns 4,000 Cuban pesos ($8) a month, which she said isn’t a bad salary for Cuba, but “no matter how hard you work, it’s simply not enough.”

Rodríguez said the only product she obtained at her assigned bodega in April was a donation of 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms) of rice, while she struggles to buy other basic goods.

“If you buy beans, then you can’t buy sugar,” she said, noting that most of her salary is spent on a large carton of eggs. “If I retire, I die.”

___

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

Neither player made the trip to Denver. Wild coach John Hynes said the team is still “making a couple decisions on the lineup" ahead of Game 1 on Sunday night.

The Avalanche will be without defenseman Josh Manson, who missed the series clincher against the Los Angeles Kings last Sunday with an upper-body injury. Avs coach Jared Bednar said Nick Blankenburg will slide into Manson's place. The team acquired Blankenburg in a deal with Nashville on March 4.

“He's played good in the time he's been with us,” Bednar said. “We got him for a reason — like the way he moves, like the way he moves the puck. He plays with a little bite. He’s got to stay within himself. It’s going to be a challenge for him tonight, because the thing we'll miss with (Manson) is the size, the strength, the physicality."

Eriksson Ek had three goals and two assists in the Wild's first-round series win over Dallas. He finished with a 56.4% faceoff win rate. Danila Yurov and Hunter Haight could be possibilities to take Eriksson Ek's place.

“Ekky's a big part of the team," Hynes said. "When you lose a guy that plays that many situations, you have to do it collectively as a group, and it’s not all on one guy.”

Brodin didn't play in Game 6 against Dallas.

Hynes said given the break between Games 2 and 3 — the teams play Tuesday and not again until Saturday — that “both those guys will be reevaluated and see where it goes from there.”

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Mountaga Tall’s home in the capital, Bamako, was stormed shortly before midnight on Saturday, his relative Mahmoud Touré told AP. The men did not identify themselves, nor did they say why they were seizing Tall, but Touré said they were from the armed forces.

“They did not explain why and did not present an arrest warrant,” he said. “The soldiers mistreated Mountaga Tall’s wife and took his phone.”

Tall served as Mali's education and science minister from 2016 to 2017 and is the president of the National Congress for Democratic Initiative, a political party opposed to the military government. As a lawyer, he represents politicians and other individuals who have been arrested for criticizing the junta.

Mali was struck on April 26 by one of the biggest coordinated attacks on its army in Bamako and several other cities by jihadis and rebels who seized several towns and military bases. Several people were killed in the attack including the defense minister, Sadio Camara.

The Islamic militant group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and the Azawad Liberation Front, a Tuareg-led separatist group, jointly launched the heaviest attack on the government since 2012.

On Friday the military government said it had evidence that soldiers collaborated with the groups to launch the attacks. It has since carried out a wave of arrests.

Tall's family said they have filed a complaint “regarding kidnapping and disappearance” with the security forces. The government has not commented on the arrests.

The iconic former United manager was at Old Trafford for the match, but left before kickoff.

A person with knowledge of the situation said the 84-year-old Ferguson was taken to the hospital as a precaution and was “OK.” The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

United coach Michael Carrick was unable to offer updates after the match, which his team won 3-2.

“I did hear about it before the game,” Carrick said. “I was very affected by it, the news. I just don’t know the latest, but we hope for him to be in good shape and we wish him all the best and certainly hope the result, when he hears about it, can give him a good boost.”

In 2018 Ferguson suffered a brain hemorrhage and underwent emergency surgery, before making a recovery.

Ferguson frequently attends home matches and was pictured on social media at the stadium earlier in the day.

Ferguson won 13 Premier League titles with United and two Champions Leagues during a trophy-laden 26-and-a-half years at the club. In total he won 28 major titles with United.

He retired in 2013 having won the last of his 13 league titles.

___

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

The Eastern Conference semifinals are a rematch of a tight series between Atlantic Division rivals from nearby Northeast cities, a Knicks victory in six games in 2024.

Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Maxey delivered unbelievable performances. Both teams made unimaginable rallies.

Knicks fans were deafening inside Madison Square Garden — and in Philadelphia. (And no, Joel Embiid hasn't forgotten).

When it was over, the Knicks had outscored the 76ers 650-649. They start up again Monday night, believing this series can be even better.

“I expect nothing less. Actually more,” Maxey said. “That was a first-round matchup. This is a second-round matchup. So I think both teams are going to come out there and be extremely competitive. It’s going to be a dogfight, it’s going to be a chess match and I’m just ready to get started.”

The Knicks had a few days to rest after finishing off Atlanta with a 140-89 victory on Thursday in Game 6, setting an NBA postseason record by building a 47-point halftime lead. The 76ers have only one full day to recover after completing the NBA's 14th comeback from a 3-1 deficit by beating the Celtics 109-100 on Saturday.

Philadelphia became the first No. 7 seed to beat a No. 2 since the first round became a best-of-seven format. That was the matchup when the 76ers and Knicks met two years ago.

The 76ers were on the verge of tying that series in Game 2 before the Knicks came from five points down with under 30 seconds remaining. Brunson scored a Knicks playoff-record 47 points in Game 4 and New York was poised to wrap it up at home in Game 5 before Maxey scored seven points in the final 25 seconds of regulation and the 76ers won in overtime.

“Man, that was a fun series. We were going punch for punch," Josh Hart said after the Knicks practiced Sunday. "When you think about that, you always think of the good games, so you guys can guess what games those are. But you know that you've got to turn the page. Those are memories. They don't affect tomorrow but they're fun memories.”

Embiid returned midway through the Boston series after an appendectomy and was limping late in Game 7 after a player fell into his knee. He appeared in worse shape in the series two years ago, dealing with lingering problems from a surgically repaired left knee and having been diagnosed recently with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis.

“I had a lot going on at that time, so hopefully everything is good this time,” Embiid said. “We've got a much better team than we had at that time, so it's going to be a fun series.”

The Knicks also appear better, having since acquired All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges. They are in the second round for the fourth straight season and the No. 3 seed surprisingly ended up with home-court advantage in it thanks to Philadelphia's first-round rally.

Now the Knicks have to deal with the Embiid-Maxey duo that's clicking.

“If we expect to be who we are,” coach Mike Brown said, “we’ll figure it out.”

Embiid's plea

Brunson received booming “MVP! MVP!” chants in the Game 4 victory in 2024 after Knicks fans poured into Philadelphia, and Embiid expressed his disappointment with 76ers fans after the game. He implored them not to let the noisy New Yorkers take over again.

“Last time we played the Knicks it felt like this was Madison Square Garden East. So we’re going to need the support,” Embiid said. "Don’t sell your tickets. This is bigger than you. We need you guys. The atmosphere we’ve had the last couple games in Philly, especially the last one pushing it to Game 7, I mean, we need all of it.

“Knicks fans, they travel. There’s going to be some people that need the money and probably going to sell tickets, but don’t do it. We need you guys. We’ve got a pretty good chance. We’re going to need our support. We’re going to need them to be extremely loud and if you need money, I got you.”

Season series

Home-court advantage didn't exist, with the road team winning all four games. The first two were at Madison Square Garden before the Knicks took two in Philadelphia, capped by a 139-89 romp on Feb. 11.

Maxey vs. Brunson

The two star guards seem ready to pick up where they left off in 2024. Maxey averaged 26.9 points in the first round, third in the league, and Brunson was right behind him at 26.3.

Torrid Towns

New York's All-Star center is the biggest addition to the rivalry since the last meeting and showed his entire offensive arsenal in the first round, getting the first two postseason triple-doubles of his career against Atlanta.

___

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

The Braves owned the best record in baseball at 24-10 entering Sunday's game against the Colorado Rockies. But they'll have to get by for now without one of their top players.

Acuña left Saturday night’s game in the second inning. He was attempting to run out a ground ball before he pulled up about halfway down the base path and grabbed at his hamstring.

The five-time All-Star and 2023 National League MVP is batting .252 with two home runs, nine RBIs, 17 runs and a team-high seven steals. He had played in all 34 games after a torn ACL he suffered in May 2024 limited him to a combined 144 games over the past two seasons.

The Braves activated right-hander Spencer Strider from the injured list prior to Sunday's start. The 2023 All-Star was set to make his season debut after being sidelined with a strained oblique. The Braves optioned right-hander Hunter Stratton to Triple-A Gwinnett following Saturday's game to make room for him. They also selected outfielder José Azócar's contract from the minor league club on Sunday with Acuña going on the injured list.

___

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

The Walt Disney Co.’s 20th Century Studios opened “The Devil Wears Prada 2” in 4,150 locations in North America. Women made up about 76% of the ticket buyers, according to PostTrak exit polls; 74% said they would “definitely recommend” the movie to friends. Critics were a bit mixed on the sequel, which finds Anne Hathaway’s Andy Sachs working once more for Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly at the fictional “Runway” magazine in a much-depleted media landscape.

The movie cost a reported $100 million to produce — a significant boost from the first movie’s $35 million production budget. But as filmmaker David Frankel told The Associated Press recently, “As it turns out, you know, by the time you finish paying all the biggest movie stars in the world, you still end up with basically the same budget for making the movie as we did the first one.”

Stars Streep, Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci have been on a fashion-forward global publicity blitz for weeks, with glamorous stops in Tokyo, London and New York. Even Anna Wintour, the inspiration for the Prada-clad devil, has been involved this time, appearing with Hathaway on the Oscars stage and with Streep on the cover of “Vogue.”

The first movie opened in June 2006 and would go on to earn over $326 million worldwide, not adjusted for inflation. And perhaps more importantly, it firmly became part of the culture thanks in part to its ever-quotable likes (“gird your loins,” “groundbreaking,” “that’s all”). Legacy sequels are never a sure thing, but this time anticipation was high: According to Nielsen, streaming viewership for “The Devil Wears Prada” was up 428% from March 2026 to April 2026.

Second place went to Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic “Michael,” which made $54 million in its second weekend in North America, where it’s playing on 3,955 screens. Its running worldwide total is already $423.9 million. Universal Pictures is handling the international release.

“This is on the great end of what we had speculated might happen, but we were very confident that we were going to have a great hold even with the assumption that ‘Prada’ would do a lot of business,” said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chairman Adam Fogelson. “The conventional wisdom that a new giant movie can knock out a movie that has planted itself is constantly proven inaccurate.”

This weekend marks the start of Hollywood’s summer movie season, a crucial 18-week corridor that runs through Labor Day and often accounts for around 40% of the annual box office. There are often Marvel blockbusters programmed as the season's kickoff, but the combined power of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” and “Michael” wasn't a shabby substitute.

“This is a really solid weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore. “It’s this irresistible combination that more than makes up for the fact that there’s not a Marvel movie to kick off the summer movie season.”

“Prada” alone actually did better business than last year’s summer kickoff Marvel movie, “Thunderbolts.” There were several other new films in theaters this weekend as well, including the Adam Scott-led horror movie “Hokum,” Andy Serkis’s animated adaptation of “Animal Farm” and the Aaron Eckhart- and Ben Kingsley-led survival movie “Deep Water.”

They all opened behind “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which made $12.1 million in its fifth weekend, and “Project Hail Mary,” which made $8.6 million in its seventh weekend. Neon's “Hokum” led the newcomers with $6.4 million, rounding out the top five, followed by the very poorly reviewed “Animal Farm” with $3.4 million. “Deep Water” opened to $2.2 million.

In the top four movies, Dergarabedian has noticed a trend: “Over the past couple of months, moviegoers have really embraced pure, escapist entertainment,” he said.

The annual box office is currently running about 14% up from last year, with about $2.8 billion in domestic ticket sales to date.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” $77 million.

2. “Michael,” $54 million.

3. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $12.1 million.

4. “Project Hail Mary,” $8.6 million.

5. “Hokum,” $6.4 million.

6. “Animal Farm,” $3.4 million.

7. “Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,” $2.2 million.

8. “Deep Water,” $2.2 million.

9. “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea,” $1 million.

10. “The Drama,” $908,303.

Victor Wembanyama was only 13 when Gobert first heard of him. It didn't take long for Gobert to see the enormous potential in his French countryman. When they would talk, Wembanyama asked the questions and Gobert gave him the answers.

“And the rest is history,” Gobert said.

The basketball world is now fully aware of what Gobert saw in Wembanyama years ago. A French center will be headed to the NBA's Final Four in a couple of weeks; which one it'll be hangs on the outcome of a Western Conference semifinal series between Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs and Gobert's Minnesota Timberwolves. Game 1 is Monday night in San Antonio.

“I’m very, very proud and I’m very excited to watch him grow every day, to see his work paying off,” Gobert said. “Outside of the talent, he’s someone that has a very unique soul, a very unique mind and nothing is an accident. It’s not an accident that he’s having the success that he’s having.”

There's never been a playoff series that is entirely about a 1-on-1 matchup, though it's easy to understand why so much attention will be devoted to the Wembanyama vs. Gobert element of these games.

It's reasonable to think many basketball fans learned of Wembanyama when the now-infamous video of a 2-on-2 game featuring he and Gobert came out six years ago. The first three baskets on the clip were Wembanyama making two jumpers over Gobert, then cutting free for a dunk.

Wembanyama is now a defensive player of the year and MVP finalist, a bona fide superstar. But he's still asking Gobert for advice — including a recent query about what water filter Gobert uses in his home. A small detail, sure, but an illustration of how Wembanyama's thirst for knowledge remains in place.

“He's meant a lot as a role model,” Wembanyama said. “There’s lots of (ways) that he inspired me and I think he should inspire more people in terms of taking care of your body. He should be a model for all big men. So, I would say that’s the main thing.”

Minnesota is trying to reach the Western Conference finals for the third consecutive season, while San Antonio is bidding for its first trip there since 2017. The Timberwolves found a way to defeat third-seeded Denver in Round 1, finishing that off even after Donte DiVincenzo tore his Achilles and Anthony Edwards was sidelined with a knee injury.

DiVincenzo is lost for the season; Edwards is lost for the short-term and the belief is that he'll have a chance to play at some point in this series. And the Spurs insist they won't have any false sense of security just because Minnesota's starting backcourt is missing.

“They guard. They’re physical. They try to impose that will and impose their will and their competitiveness on you,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And they've got a lot of individuals that take pride in that.”

The series

Minnesota went 2-1 against San Antonio this season, and Edwards was certainly among the biggest reasons why — he averaged 36.7 points in the three games on 58% shooting, 52% from 3-point range.

The Spurs blocked only seven shots against the Timberwolves, by far the lowest total they had against any Western Conference opponent this season. Wembanyama appeared in only two of those three games, but that's still a sign of how Minnesota probably picked the right shot more often than not.

“It’s going to be decisions that you make in the paint,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “It’s going to come down to them.”

Wemby vs. Gobert

The French centers have gone head-to-head eight times in the regular season, and both can claim bragging rights.

Gobert's teams have gone 6-2 in those games. Wembanyama has scored 20 or more points in five of those meetings.

Oddsmakers say

The Spurs are huge favorites in the series — oddsmakers have them at minus-2000 to win, meaning a $100 wager at those odds would earn a bettor a whopping $5 in profit.

The Timberwolves' odds going into the series are +950; that means a $100 wager would return $1,050.

2 vs. 6

This is the 19th time in this playoff format — in place since 1984 — where a No. 6 seed has met a No. 2 seed in the conference playoffs.

There have been four upsets in such matchups:

— 2024, Indiana defeated New York 4-3.

— 1995, Houston defeated Phoenix 4-3.

— 1989, Chicago defeated New York 4-2.

— 1984, Phoenix defeated Utah 4-2.

Busy times in Minnesota

Starting Sunday, there could be either a Timberwolves game or a Minnesota Wild game in the Stanley Cup playoffs on 10 of the next 11 days (assuming those series don't end in sweeps). The Wild are playing the Colorado Avalanche in the West semifinals.

The Minnesota teams play their home games in different buildings — the Wild play in St. Paul — but if both series go six games then the Timberwolves and Wild will both be home on May 15 for Game 6s.

___

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

Facey, a Jacksonville student, accelerated through her coursework by completing Florida Virtual School Flex classes and homeschooling, skipping five grade levels in less than two years.

Her path wasn’t always smooth.

“This whole journey started when I was in sixth grade,” Facey said. “I was failing because I didn’t have motivation. My mom pulled me aside … and that’s when things changed.”

Her mother, Deidra Facey, said that moment marked a turning point for the family.

“We were up day and night, sometimes 1 a.m.,” she said. “She had that drive, and I just kept motivating her — telling her, ‘You can do it.’ And she did.”

Facey said the transition to accelerated learning wasn’t easy at first, but it helped her recognize her potential.

“At first it was difficult, but once I got used to it, I realized I had a lot more in me,” she said.

Along the way, she reached milestones years ahead of schedule — including taking the ACT at 13 years old. She said being in a testing room with older students was intimidating but ultimately a positive experience.

Now 14, Facey has received more than 90 college acceptance letters and has decided to attend Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama. She plans to begin her studies online before transitioning to in-person classes in the coming years.

Despite the academic pace, her mother said maintaining balance remained a priority.

“We made sure she still had time to be a kid,” Deidra Facey said. “We took trips, she spent time with friends, and stayed involved in church.”

Facey said one of the biggest sacrifices along the way has been growing up faster than her peers.

“I had to mature quicker,” she said. “But it helped me realize there’s more to life, and it made me stronger.”

Looking ahead, she hopes to pursue a career combining law and real estate.

She also has a message for other students.

“Stay focused,” Facey said. “Don’t let distractions or other people hold you back. Believe in yourself.”

Officer Anthony “Junior” Lucano, a dedicated member of the force, has died. The department remembered him as someone who dedicated his life to service, leaving a lasting impact on those he worked alongside and the community he served.

Lucano was known for his kind heart, unwavering commitment and a genuine love for helping others — including animals. Colleagues and community members alike will remember him for the difference he made each and every day.

The department extended its condolences to everyone touched by his passing.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and all who had the honor of knowing him during this incredibly difficult time,” the department said.

For those who served with him, his legacy is one that will not be forgotten.

“Rest easy, Officer Lucano. Your service and your legacy will not be forgotten. We’ve got it from here,” Duval County School Police said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the man’s wife was in labor at a local hospital when she was informed of his death.

The Red Crescent said five people were hit by gunfire during an Israeli military operation. Nayef Firas Ziad Samaro, 26, was killed, according to the Health Ministry, and his body was brought to the hospital where his wife was giving birth. Additionally, a 12-year-old was shot in the shoulder, according to the Red Crescent.

The raid took place as schools were letting out for the day, in an area crowded with civilians, witnesses said.

Israel's military in a statement said it responded to a confrontation in the Nablus area in which several “terrorists” threw rocks toward soldiers. Soldiers fired and “several hits were identified.”

Palestinians, rights groups and international observers are warning about the worsening violence, where young Palestinian men are being killed with increasing regularity amid a broader climate of arson, vandalism and the displacement of farming communities near Jewish settlements and outposts in the West Bank.

At least 42 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the year, according to the United Nations humanitarian office. Armed settlers were responsible for at least 11 of those fatalities.

HiPP, which recalled some of its baby food jars in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after the case came to light last month, said in a statement Saturday it was “greatly relieved” by the arrest, and would provide further updates as verified details come in.

The Burgenland State Criminal Police Office, under the direction of prosecutors, said a probe was launched after poison turned up in a baby food jar purchased at a supermarket in the city of Eisenstadt on April 18.

It said the suspect was being questioned, and that no further details would be immediately provided. The Burgenland public prosecutor’s office has announced an investigation into suspected “intentional endangerment of the public.”

In an email to The Associated Press on Sunday, the Burgenland police office said the suspect was arrested in Salzburg state, to the west.

The Austrian Press Agency reported that an expert report on the toxicity of the poison was pending. A total of five tampered baby food jars were seized before they could be consumed, APA reported.

Authorities said previously they believe the tampering occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-olds that were sold from SPAR supermarkets in Austria.

HiPP responded by recalling all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution. Vendors in Slovakia and the Czech Republic also removed all of the brand’s baby jars from sale.

The company said the recall was not due to any product or quality defect on its part, and said the jars left its facility in “perfect condition.”

Police said a customer at the time of the discovery had reported that a jar appeared to have been tampered with, but no one had consumed the baby food.

Pfaffenhofen, Germany-based HiPP said it has been a “victim of extortion,” adding that an unspecified “blackmailer” sent a message to a shared mailbox in the case, prompting it to immediately inform police.

The commitment from the seven countries, also including Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait and Oman, to raise production by 188,000 barrels per day comes after a virtual meeting they held on Sunday.

The move is mostly symbolic because it comes as Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, where about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes, in the midst of the U.S.-Israeli war. That has stopped much of the oil shipped from Gulf producers and knocked millions of barrels a day off the global market.

It also follows a decision by the United Arab Emirates to leave the OPEC oil cartel, shaking up the 65-year-old alliance that produces some 40% of the world’s crude oil and exerts major influence over the price of energy around the globe.

Iran is one of OPEC's 12 member countries, and Russia is not — it works with the Vienna-based oil producers alliance through the OPEC+ grouping.

The seven countries said they would hold monthly meetings “to review market conditions, conformity, and compensation” and plan to meet again on June 7.

The Greek goddess stands on a pedestal, holding a golden apple bestowed on her for her beauty — a classic ideal of beauty as old as, well, ancient Greece.

But the idea of “Costume Art,” which examines the dressed body through centuries of art history, is not to celebrate the classical form. It is rather, says Andrew Bolton, longtime curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, to use that form as a launch pad.

“Now, we go through and reclaim the body,” he says, leading a reporter through the gleaming new Conde M. Nast galleries that the show will inaugurate.

The corpulent body. The disabled body. The pregnant body. The aging body. The new show, which gala guests will view before it opens to the public May 10, is the most consciously body-positive show the museum has attempted. Perhaps its most prominent feature is a group of new mannequins, based on real people with a wide variety of body types.

There is even, in the “aging body” section, an enormous gray hoodie, emblazoned with the phrase: “I’M RETIRED. (This is as dressed up as I get.)” Just in case you’re tired of the whole glittery glamour thing.

Bolton took The Associated Press through the exhibit late last week as a huge team of installers was busy hammering, nailing, posing and otherwise adjusting the 400 items on display. Here are some of the highlights.

A new space, giving fashion its due

Last year, the Met Gala, a fundraiser for the Costume Institute, brought in a record $31 million. That gargantuan sum alone — it grows every year — can explain why the museum has granted its only self-funding department some prominent new digs, fashioned from former retail space on the museum’s main floor, right off the Great Hall. “We're in the epicenter of the museum,” notes Bolton, with evident pride. It will house all future fashion exhibits, making them easier to reach for guests and enabling shows to last longer; “Costume Art” will be up for 8 months.

The universality of … diversity

The show travels through centuries of art history by pairing art objects with fashion garments, making the argument that not only is fashion art — that's indeed the gala dress code — but more profoundly, art is fashion. Its first main gallery bears the title “Bodily Being in its Diversity,” and begins with flowing Grecian-style gowns, paired with images on Greek vases or flasks. But the display soon veers from classic forms into those that fashion has traditionally ignored.

The pregnant body, unhidden

Bolton argues that the pregnant body has either been ignored or stereotyped in art. Here, he presents designers — often female, working in the late 20th century or later — who have explored and accentuated the expectant form. The so-called “pregnancy dress” from British designer Georgina Godley, which appeared in her 1986 “Bump and Lump” collection, is a straightforward celebration of the extended pregnant belly. It is paired with a rare (for the time) 1920 sculpture by French artist Edgar Degas, “Pregnant Woman” — a nude figure holding her belly and seeming to reflect on what's to come.

The corpulent body, unfettered

Garments on display here include the corsetry of designer Michaela Stark, who posed herself for three of the new mannequins. One of them displays the corsetry ensemble “Fat Not Fertile” — fighting the trope that a larger body represents reproduction and fertility. Stark uses corsets to bind the flesh and accentuate, not hide it — to “bring back power to the female form.” The ensemble is paired with an ancient marble statuette resembling the same body type.

The disabled body takes center stage

A striking subset of the Reclaimed Body section explores the disabled body, itself divided into different types of disability: physical, sensory and cognitive.

In one ensemble, a mannequin based on Paralympian athlete, model and actor Aimee Mullins wears a pair of Victorian-esque Alexander McQueen boots, which are really prosthetic limbs. The outfit is paired with a 1965 sculpture, “The Amputee,” by John Gutmann.

Irish disability activist Sinéad Burke, who was born with dwarfism, also posed for two mannequins. One wears a Burberry trench coat, cut down for length — and including part of a discarded sleeve, refashioned into a headpiece. The other is a Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren “Mickey and Minnie” dress, paired with an ancient Egyptian statue of a dancing dwarf.

Model and activist Aariana Rose Philip, who uses a wheelchair, also posed for a mannequin, placed in its own chair — wearing a pair of denim shorts and a shirt bearing the slogan: “Queer Capital.” The display is accompanied by a work from artist Lucy Jones, who, like Philip, lives with cerebral palsy.

Exploring a less visible disability is a coat by Scottish designer Nadia Pinkney, who paid homage in her “Remember Me Knot” collection to both her grandmother and great-grandmother, who had Alzheimer’s. The coat’s pattern — derived, according to curators, from brain scans — is meant to reflect the “physiological tangles” the disease inflicts on the brain’s structure.

It's paired with a lithograph by Willem de Kooning, whose own experience with Alzheimer’s affected his late-career work.

The vital body — colorful and bloody

The second main gallery is devoted not to diversity so much as commonality — those things that unite us all. Like aging, which the show seeks to reframe as “a mode of sophistication rather than biological decline.” And mortality. There’s also a whole bloody section on, well, blood.

This includes Westwood’s “Martyr to Love” evening jacket where shiny beads represent a muscled torso, and deep red beading portrays blood dripping from a wound. It is paired with German painter Albrecht Dürer’s “Man of Sorrows with Arms Outstretched.”

“Costume Art” opens to the public May 10 and runs through Jan. 10, 2027.

The service members are U.S. Army soldiers who went missing while on a hike, a U.S. defense official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the issue.

“They were not actively taking part in any training. The day’s exercises had concluded, and, from our understanding, they were out on a recreational hike,” the official said.

AFRICOM said the U.S., Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise have launched a search and rescue operation.

“The incident remains under investigation and the search is ongoing,” it said in a statement.

The incident happened on Saturday at about 9 p.m., the Moroccan military said, near the Cap Draa Training Area near Tan Tan, close to the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is mountainous, a mix of desert and semidesert plains.

The search team includes helicopters, ships, mountain rescue units and divers, the defense official told the AP.

“The soldiers were last seen near ocean cliffs in the vicinity of the Cap Draa Training Area during scheduled training. When they did not return as expected, U.S. and Moroccan personnel immediately initiated a joint search effort,” the official added.

The war games exercise started in April and runs across four countries, including Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal. It is scheduled to end in early May.

The exercise began in Tunisia with active-duty members of different branches of the U.S. military, including the National Guard, Army Reserve, Air Force, and the Marine Corps.

In all, over 7,000 personnel from more than 30 nations are participating across the four host countries.

African Lion, which has been running since 2004, is the largest U.S. annual joint military exercise on the continent and usually features high-ranking military officials from the U.S. and its top African allies.

U.S. military officials have said the annual multinational engagement serves as a venue for strengthening regional security cooperation and refining the readiness of participating forces for global crises.

In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured during a helicopter crash in Morocco’s southern city of Agadir while taking part in African Lion.

Morocco is a major ally of the United States in a troubled region. Since 2020, military officers disillusioned with their governments’ records of stemming violence have overthrown democratically elected governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and began distancing themselves from Western powers.

———

Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

Trump started stoking interest in the extraterrestrial in February, directing federal agencies to release their records related to extraterrestrial life and UFOs. Since then, he has built suspense with tantalizing updates, teasing an imminent release of documents never before shared by the U.S. government.

“We’re going to be releasing a lot of things that we haven't,” Trump said Wednesday at a White House event celebrating NASA astronauts. “I think some of it’s going to be very interesting to people.”

Trump has relished in portraying himself as the president who spills the secrets. In the first week returning to office, he ordered the release of records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. The disclosures revealed little beyond what was already known.

In the buildup to that release, Trump said “the American people deserve transparency and truth.” Now, as he turns to the sky, the president has struck a similar tone, suggesting answers to decades-old questions may be on the way. His February directive on social media called for transparency around "alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).”

“The first releases will begin very, very soon,” he told supporters in April at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix. “So you can go out and see if that phenomena is correct. You’ll figure it out.”

An expert cautions against raising expectations

Even before Trump's directive, the Pentagon was years into a process to declassify and release government documents related to UFOs, now often referred to as unexplained anomalous phenomena, or UAP.

Citing concerns over national security, Congress created an office in 2022 to investigate UAP and declassify as much material as possible. The office's 2024 debut report revealed hundreds of new UAP incidents but found no evidence that the U.S. government had ever confirmed a sighting of alien technology. A second report covering more recent sightings is expected to come soon.

That agency, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, is now working with the White House to release “never-before-seen UAP information,” according to a Pentagon statement.

The office's previous director, however, said Trump's promises were bluster, a “shiny object” to distract Americans from the war with Iran. Sean Kirkpatrick, a physicist and former career intelligence officer who led the office until 2023, said he has seen the government's records and believes there are no bombshell revelations to be found.

“Readers should not get their hopes up that there’s going to be some document with photos, interviewing the aliens when they came down,” he said. “Because that just doesn’t exist.”

Videos purporting to show alien technology tend to have mundane explanations, he said. Modern infrared cameras used by the U.S. military often capture jet engines and other hot objects in a long thermal bloom, which, Kirkpatrick said, explains viral videos of speedy, pill-shaped objects.

Pentagon not forthcoming on UAP reports, GOP-led panel says

On Capitol Hill, those types of videos have caught the attention of a small group of Trump-aligned Republicans who insist the Pentagon is holding back secrets.

The Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets has been conducting its own investigation into reports of mysterious aircraft near U.S. military installations, which the panel says pose a threat to national security and the armed forces.

Last fall, the task force heard testimony from current and former service members who described UAP encounters. In one case, a senior Navy officer said he was off the coast of California in 2023 when he saw a glowing “Tic Tac” shaped object emerge from the ocean and link up with three similar objects. They sped away in an instant, he said.

Trump's interest in the subject has energized congressional Republicans, including Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, an Air Force veteran who co-chairs the task force. Luna has criticized what she calls “less than adequate” transparency from the Pentagon.

In a March letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Luna demanded dozens of UAP videos identified by whistleblowers and labeled with names such as “Spherical UAP in clouds.” Her deadline for Hegseth came and went, and no videos were produced.

Trump's entry to the UFO fray drew applause from Luna, who last year told podcaster Joe Rogan that she has seen evidence of “interdimensional beings.” The Pentagon “can’t hide from our docs request anymore!” Luna said on social media after Trump's directive.

Vance professes to be ‘obsessed’ with UFO files

Trump appears skeptical about the existence of extraterrestrial life. Addressing the Turning Point USA crowd in Phoenix, he said, “I figured this was a good crowd because I know you people, you’re really into that. I don’t know if I am.”

Why he made the revelation at that event, held at a megachurch, is unclear. A day earlier, Trump had spoken in Las Vegas, not far from Area 51, a top-secret Cold War test site that has fueled UFO conspiracy theories.

Vice President JD Vance has described himself as “obsessed” with UFO files. In March, he said he has been trying to find time to investigate Area 51 since he took office.

“I’ve still got three more years as vice president,” Vance told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. “I will get to the bottom of the UFO files.” Invoking his Christian faith, Vance said he believes sightings reported to be aliens are actually the work of spiritual demons.

Even before Trump tackled the topic, alien buzz was already in the air.

It's back in Hollywood with an upcoming Steven Spielberg movie, “Disclosure Day.” Former President Barack Obama made a splash in February when he declared on a podcast that aliens are real. He later clarified that he had seen no evidence but that “the odds are good there’s life out there.”

Trump is hardly the first president drawn to UFO mysteries. President Bill Clinton has said he once ordered a review of the Roswell Incident — something had crashed in 1947 at a New Mexico ranch and officials later said the debris was the remnants of a high-altitude weather balloon — around its 50th anniversary in 1997. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan claimed to have seen UFOs before their time in the White House.

The U.S. government has been investigating UFO reports since the 1940s, in part to determine if they represent advanced technology from competing nations or “evidence of off-world technology,” according to the Defense Department's 2024 report.

In online communities devoted to UFOs, some see Trump's promise as a step in the right direction; others believe it will come to nothing. For people who follow the topic closely, promises of big revelations have never lived up to the hype, said Greg Eghigian, a Pennsylvania State University professor who wrote a book on the history of UFO sightings.

“There is almost no satisfaction that is possible for many of the really die-hard folks,” he said. “So in a sense, I think disappointment can almost be guaranteed to be expected no matter what comes out of this.”

A nighttime drone strike sparked a blaze at Russia’s largest oil exporting port on the Baltic Sea, the port of Primorsk, according to Russian regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko.

The port, operated by Russia’s state oil firm Transneft, is capable of handling hundreds of thousands of barrels per day. Primorsk, which was targeted multiple times in March, lies over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Ukraine, between the Russian-Finnish border and Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg.

Local Gov. Drozdenko said that the drone strike did not cause an oil spill, but gave no immediate further comment regarding casualties or damage.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces destroyed several military and other targets, while also inflicting significant damage on oil port infrastructure.

“One more Russian carrier of Kalibr missiles is out of action. Major General Yevhen Khmara reported on the successful destruction of targets in the Primorsk port," Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post on Sunday.

According to Zelenskyy, Ukrainian drones also hit a Karakurt missile ship, a patrol boat, and a tanker belonging to Russia's so-called shadow oil fleet, used to evade Western sanctions and price caps on Russian energy.

In a separate post earlier on Sunday, Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces had struck two more “shadow fleet” tankers near the entrance of the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

“These tankers were actively used to transport oil. Now they won’t,” he said. He added the operation was led by the chief of Ukraine’s general staff, Andrii Hnatov.

Moscow did not immediately acknowledge Zelenskyy's claims regarding either strike.

Kyiv has recently stepped up its attacks on Russia’s oil export infrastructure. Ukrainian officials argue that oil revenue directly funds Moscow’s full-scale invasion of the country, now in its fifth year.

Drone strikes kill civilians near Odesa and Moscow

Elsewhere, two people were killed and three others wounded as Russian drones struck Ukraine's southern Odesa region overnight into Sunday, Ukraine's Emergency Service reported. It said the attack damaged three residential buildings.

The drones also hit port infrastructure, causing a fire that was later extinguished by emergency teams, the emergency service reported.

Nighttime Russian strikes also wounded six people in the Dnipropetrovsk region in central Ukraine, the agency said. A passenger bus transporting 40 children was damaged, but no one inside was injured, it added.

In Russia, a Ukrainian drone strike west of Moscow killed a 77-year-old man, local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov reported on the Telegram messenger app. He said the fatal attack occurred near the town of Volokolamsk, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) from central Moscow.

Vorobyov added that six drones were shot down in the Moscow region, which surrounds but does not include the Russian capital. At least five more drones were downed on the approach to Moscow itself, according to mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Separately, in Russia's western Smolensk region, a man, woman and child were injured after Ukrainian drone debris flew into an apartment block, according to local Gov. Vasiliy Anokhin.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Sunday that a total of 334 Ukrainian UAVs were downed overnight over Russia and occupied Crimea.

Also overnight into Sunday, Russia attacked Ukraine with 269 drones and ballistic missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Ukrainian forces shot down and repelled 249 drones, while hits from ballistic missiles and 19 drones were recorded in 15 locations, the air force said in a Facebook update.

It turned out to be just enough.

After debuting in Game 4 following appendectomy surgery last month, the former MVP played some of the best playoff basketball of his career over the final four games of the series to lead the 76ers to a 109-100 Game 7 victory over a Celtics team that had looked like a potential NBA title contender.

The No. 7 seed’s reward is an Eastern Conference semifinals matchup with the No. 3 seed New York Knicks that begins Monday.

In leading Philadelphia to just its second road Game 7 victory ever and first since 1982 against Boston, Embiid finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to become the first player in NBA history to score 100 points in a playoff series despite missing the first three games.

“Sometimes I’ve been in those positions where I’ve come up short,” Embiid said. “I’ve always said it, you can’t win alone. You need a team. ... The way we’re playing right now, we’re so in sync, offensively, defensively.”

He and Tyrese Maxey (30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists) also became the third duo in league history to each have 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a Game 7.

Maxey said this series demonstrated how he now knows when to be assertive and when to defer to Embiid.

“It’s a growth, because I had to learn when to be aggressive, when not to be aggressive,” Maxey said. “It got a little bit difficult in the middle of this season. I was basically being first option every single night. Then he comes back and I’ve got to find a way to do both. And he does a really good job of just keeping me engaged and keeping me confident and keep me like, ’Hey I need you to do what you do.'"

The 76ers will need everything Embiid gave and more to compete with a Knicks team that plays a much more physical game than Boston.

Nurse said he believes Embiid is up for the challenge. He was limping at times in Game 7 but then got extra treatment while on the bench just to be able to contribute late.

He had reason to be fatigued because even though nine 76ers players touched the floor in Game 7, only six logged double-digit minutes. Embiid played 39 minutes, tying his series high.

“He was doing everything he could to stay in the game,” Nurse said. “Obviously, we ran a lot of things through him and we did just enough.”

Nurse said being able to come out the hostile environment of TD Garden with a victory will serve his team well going forward.

“It’s really good for us to go through that and respond to it,” Nurse said. “It’s going to be like that in the playoffs. You’re going to be in tight games and it’s going to be super loud. ... And you just have to play through it.”

Nurse said he believes the difference was making Boston play halfcourt sets over the final three minutes after the Celtics were able to play in transition for about 12 straight minutes in the third and fourth quarters.

That’s a lesson he hopes can be applied to New York.

“In the last two (games) and portions of this one, we just guarded really well,” Nurse said.

While there was satisfaction in beating Boston, Embiid said they have loftier goals.

“One series. Got more to go,” he said.

___

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

Far from it.

For the 11th consecutive season, a road team has won a Game 7 in the NBA playoffs. Philadelphia did the honors on Saturday night, and on Sunday, the Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors will look to join that club.

Orlando goes to Detroit, and Toronto goes to Cleveland to wrap up the first round. The winners of those games will meet Tuesday in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Sunday's schedule

— Game 7, Orlando at Detroit, 3:30 p.m. EDT (ABC)

Series: Tied, 3-3.

Odds: Detroit by 8.5.

The Pistons are playing a Game 7 for the 11th time and the first since 2006. The Magic are playing their fifth Game 7, the first since 2024.

— Game 7, Toronto at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m. EDT (NBC/Peacock)

Series: Tied, 3-3.

Odds: Cleveland by 8.5.

The Raptors are in their seventh Game 7 and first since 2020. The Cavaliers are in their ninth Game 7, their first since 2024.

Monday's schedule

— Game 1, Philadelphia at New York, 8 p.m. EDT (NBC/Peacock)

Odds: New York by 7.5 points.

It's the fifth time (including the Syracuse era for the 76ers) that the teams have met in a conference semifinal series. Philadelphia won each of the previous four, going a combined 14-2 in those games.

— Game 1, Minnesota at San Antonio, 9:30 p.m. EDT (Peacock/NBCSN)

Odds: San Antonio by 13.5.

Spurs beat the Timberwolves 3-1 in the first round of the 1999 and 2001 playoffs. The teams haven't had a playoff series since, until now.

Saturday recap

— 76ers 109, Celtics 100 to win series 4-3. Jayson Tatum didn't play.

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: Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio's Mitch Johnson or Boston's Joe Mazzulla.

Betting odds

Defending champion Oklahoma City (-140) is favored to win the NBA title, oddsmakers say.

Entering Sunday, the Thunder were followed by San Antonio (+300), New York (+900), Detroit (+2000), Cleveland (+2200) and the Los Angeles Lakers (+3000). Philadelphia (+3500, from +10000 on Saturday) is next, followed by Minnesota (+15000). Orlando entered Sunday at +40000.

Philly has moved The Boss

The Flyers are in the second round of the NHL playoffs. The 76ers are in the second round of the NBA playoffs.

This is a great thing for Philadelphia — and a bit of a scheduling headache for the Sixers' home arena.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were supposed to play there on Friday, but that night will be Game 3 of Knicks-76ers. Springsteen's concert was moved to May 30, which will become the final night of his 20-stop tour.

He also is going to play at Madison Square Garden twice in the next two weeks, but those dates — May 11 and May 16 — won't conflict with any planned Knicks home games.

Key dates

— Monday and Tuesday: Conference semifinals begin.

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

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

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

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

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft

Quote of the day

"There’s two sides of every coin. When you go after greatness, you have to accept the other side of that." — Boston coach Joe Mazzulla, after the Celtics lost to Philadelphia in Game 7 of their East first-round series.

Stats of the day

— Even with Saturday's season-ending loss, Boston won 57% of its games this season when missing 30 or more 3-pointers. The rest of the league has won in that scenario 35% of the time this season.

— Philadelphia's Kyle Lowry has been part of two Game 7 road wins in his career. Both were at Boston — the 2023 East finals with Miami, and then Saturday night's victory.

___

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

The Black Creek Young Marines is a national youth program open to children and teens ages 8 to 18 who want to develop leadership skills — and have a little fun along the way.

Navy veteran leads next generation

At the helm of the program is a local Navy veteran, Melinda Wood, whose dedication to young people recently earned her a prestigious national honor.

Wood’s path to service started young. At 17, she left home without much of a plan. But something drew her toward serving her country.

She went on to serve 20 years in the United States Navy, deploying seven times before retiring. But retirement didn’t mean the end of her service.

“My service to our country was incredible. It definitely shaped me to be the person I am, and I miss it so much, and that’s why I saw this opportunity to give back to our youth,” Wood said.

National recognition in Washington

Wood’s dedication and accomplishments didn’t go unnoticed. She was named Adult Volunteer of the Year — a title that took her to Washington, D.C., where she was recognized at a leadership banquet.

The program she leads mirrors the structure of the U.S. Marine Corps, focusing on leadership, discipline and a drug-free lifestyle.

“Black Creek Marine is a youth group based off ages 8 to 18, and we really focus a lot on drug demand reduction, teaching a healthier lifestyle and to say no to drugs, leadership and discipline. And we love any child that comes in and is willing to challenge themselves,” Wood said.

A head start for future Marines

For youth interested in one day enlisting, the program offers a significant advantage. Florida already plays an outsized role in military recruitment — according to the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, about 9.1% of Regular Army recruits come from the Sunshine State, meaning roughly one in 10 U.S. Army service members hails from Florida.

Young Marines who go on to join the Marine Corps get a head start when they do.

“If you join the Marine Corps out of the Black Creek Young Marines, you’re automatically promoted to E2 at boot camp for doing this program, the second step on the enlisted career progression,” Wood said.

Importantly, participation in the program does not obligate youth to join the Marines or any branch of the military — but those who choose to enlist will enter boot camp already one step ahead.

Perseverance over obstacles

Beyond the rank and structure, Wood said the biggest lesson she hopes young people take away is simple: obstacles don’t define you — perseverance does.

“You cannot stop when you have a hurdle put in front of your face. If I had stopped at my first hurdle, I would not be sitting here right now,” she said.

“Neither side really wants to hear what I say," says Frazer, a professor of history and political studies at The Master’s University, a Christian school in Santa Clarita, California.

The founders, Frazer says, did not create a Christian republic. Several key founders either rejected core Christian doctrines or were vague enough to keep historians debating. For Frazer, that often disappoints audiences of his fellow Christians.

But, he says, nor were the founders a cluster of rationalist deists — believers in a God who set the universe in motion like a clockmaker and then left it alone — and anti-religious skeptics, as they are sometimes portrayed. That disappoints audiences who favor a high firewall between church and state. Most of the founders were religious in one form or another.

The long-running debate over the founders’ intentions about religion has been turbocharged with the approaching 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. Amid the America 250 celebrations, some Christian activists and authors are redoubling claims that the U.S. had a Christian founding.

They have an ally in the White House.

President Donald Trump is promoting “ America Prays,” culminating in a May 17 gathering on the National Mall in Washington. Official participants include many Christian organizations and individuals, some who champion the idea of a Christian founding. Cabinet officials are issuing Christian messages in their official capacity. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth proclaimed that “America was founded as a Christian nation … in our DNA.”

In short: The long-standing debate — secular government on one hand, faith on another — rages and matters still.

Countering the Christian nation narrative

Critics and advocacy groups are pushing back.

“Most — nearly all — serious historians agree that America was not founded as a Christian nation in any meaningful legal, philosophical, or constitutional sense,” says the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State. It decries efforts “to redefine America according to the Christian Nationalist disinformation and then reshape our law accordingly.”

Six in 10 U.S. adults surveyed say they believed the founders originally intended America to be a Christian nation, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center report.

Why do the founders’ beliefs and intentions matter?

“Everyone’s looking for what we historians call a usable past,” says John Fea, author of “Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?”

“We go into the past looking for what we want in order to advance a particular political or cultural agenda,” says Fea, a fellow at the Lumen Center, a Christian research institute and study center in Madison, Wisconsin.

Advocates often skirt history's nuances. For example, public officials and others did indeed offer prayers on behalf of the new republic at important historical moments.

“But are those prayers the central part of the story of what happened when we, in the United States, declared independence?” Fea wonders. “Last time I checked, it was about taxation and representation and shutting down the port of Boston and all these more economic and political things.”

Church and state in the new nation

Historian Mark David Hall argues that Christianity did strongly impact the founding. While core founders did not hold traditional Christian beliefs, he contends many other founders did, and that this shaped their thinking about how to form the new republic.

“There’s plenty of evidence Christianity had an influence,” says Hall, author of “Did America Have a Christian Founding?”

He says founders’ attention to human dignity harmonizes with the Bible’s teaching of humanity created in God’s image. The system of checks and balances — to prevent the concentration of power — reflects teachings about human sin that would have permeated a largely Protestant culture, he says.

He also notes that some early presidents and Congresses issued proclamations for prayer and thanksgiving, though some drew opposition and controversy. Some states sponsored churches for decades after the country's Constitution was ratified, indicating the founders did not believe religion should be absent from public life.

They believed that faith was important in forming moral, responsible citizens of the new republic. They promoted “toleration without eliminating the importance of real religious commitment on the part of differing adherents,” Frazer wrote in his book, “The Religious Beliefs of America’s Founders.”

There is no reference to any specific religion in the Constitution beyond the date — “in the year of our Lord” 1787. It forbids religious tests for officeholders. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees religious freedom and forbids “establishment” of a national religion.

Twentieth-century Supreme Court rulings applied the First Amendment to the states on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits states from denying citizens’ rights. The court cited founder Thomas Jefferson’s metaphor of a “wall of separation between church and state.” Courts have since wrestled with how to apply that principle in areas such as school prayer, healthcare, labor law and crosses on public lands.

Frazer argues that the Bible is not cited as a source for any governing principles in the documented proceedings of the Constitutional Convention or in the influential Federalist Papers, which advocated for the Constitution. He says the founders drew on influences such as Enlightenment thinking on such concepts as human equality, accountable government and freedom of religion. Early critics of the Constitution faulted it for lacking religious content.

The Declaration of Independence does have religious language, declaring that rights come from the “Creator.” It appeals to “divine Providence” and to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.”

Thomas Jefferson and other founders — adroitly, Frazer says — used terms acceptable to Christians as well as followers of other religious and philosophical movements.

America's complicated religious history

Even the seemingly straightforward question, “Did the founders intend America to be a Christian nation?” raises questions: Who were the founders? When was the actual “founding”?

Some see the founding as the original colonial settlements — a century and a half before 1776. Colonial charters for Massachusetts Bay and Virginia declared the spread of the Gospel as a fundamental purpose. Puritan Boston endeavored to be a Christian “city upon a hill.”

In practice, the religious nature of the colonies varied. They had economic and territorial ambitions alongside heavenly ones. State religious persecution of religious minorities in Virginia and Massachusetts drew pushback.

The religious values of a colonial system that decimated Native communities and imported enslaved Africans has also come under enduring scrutiny.

Decades before the American Revolution, an evangelical revival known as the Great Awakening reached many colonists. Church membership and attendance declined steadily throughout the 18th century, according to studies, even as the colonies remained mostly Protestant.

The Protestant label also covered a range of beliefs, as some churches shifted toward Unitarian views that esteemed Jesus as a prophet or sage, not divine.

By the Revolution, rationalistic approaches to religion strongly influenced many college-educated and propertied elite men, such as those who produced the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, Frazer wrote. So did Freemasonry, a fraternal order based on beliefs in a universal God and morals.

Some founders were devout Christians such as John Jay, Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry. Others believed in God but not in Jesus’ divinity, including key founders like Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. The enigmatic Washington kept active in his Episcopal church but avoided sacraments and also was an active Freemason. He spoke about God in terms most people at that time could accept, such as “Providence” or “Supreme Ruler.”

Challenging misconceptions about deist founders

But contrary to popular belief, most founders were not deists.

Frazer instead describes many founders as “theistic rationalists.” George Washington believed that divine “Providence” saved his life in battle and intervened on America’s behalf. He was far from alone.

“They did believe in an active God,” Frazer says. “Therefore, prayer matters, because there’s someone listening.”

Even the skeptics thought religion was important in forming virtuous citizens. Franklin donated toward building projects for various churches and a synagogue in Philadelphia. Many scholars believe the First Amendment created a sort of religious free market in which Christianity and other faiths have flourished to this day.

At speaking engagements, Frazer hands out a flyer with 12 points on why the Christian America view is dangerous for both church and state.

“It’s mostly dangerous for Christianity,” Frazer contends. By claiming people or ideas as Christian if they aren’t, it “muddies the waters in terms of what Christianity is all about.”

___

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

Now, the 57-year-old Texan is hoping to get some relief.

Haines is among more than 1,500 property owners who filed a federal lawsuit arguing the moratorium enacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention violated the Fifth Amendment by unlawfully denying them compensation. Plaintiffs range from those who lost thousands of dollars to one who lost over $14.5 million.

After initially losing in the Court of Federal Claims in 2022, the plaintiffs won on appeal and are now in settlement discussions with the Justice Department. Landlords are hoping to recoup as much as $1.5 billion — a fraction of what the industry lost.

“It’s important for us to stand up when a group like the CDC unilaterally, functionally, decides that they have a right to oversee our business,” said Haines, who owns three rental communities with 240 units in Arlington and Irving, Texas.

“What I hope that we will accomplish and, to some extent, we already have, is vindication for ourselves,” he said. “But what’s more important to me is that hopefully my investors will recover some of that money that they should have had coming in over the last six years.”

The federal eviction moratorium lasted from September 2020 through July 2021, and was among the pandemic's most divisive policies. It ended after the Supreme Court ruled the CDC lacked authority to impose the ban without congressional authorization.

The Justice Department, responding to Associated Press questions about the landlords' case, said it does not comment on ongoing litigation.

Landlords say moratorium was bad for business

Moratoriums were also imposed in 43 states and scores of cities, which lasted longer than the federal ban because states and cities have broader regulatory powers than federal agencies like the CDC.

Landlords say the bans devastated their businesses. Unable to collect rent, many were forced to take on debt, lay off staff, delay repairs and, in some cases, sell their property. They say the impact lingers, with longer delays for evictions, tighter screening for riskier tenants and growing numbers of owners getting out of the rental business altogether.

Tenant advocates counter that eviction bans were a lifesaver. They credit them with keeping millions of tenants housed during the pandemic and slowing the spread of the coronavirus. They also argue landlords were already paid — in the form of tens of billions of dollars in rental assistance.

From the moment the pandemic hit, Haines said he knew he was in trouble: Many tenants lost their jobs, so he didn't require new leases and tried to be flexible with those who couldn't pay.

But when the moratorium took hold, it was the biggest threat he'd faced in 30 years in real estate.

“It was terrifying,” Haines said. “We knew almost immediately that we were going to a massive deficit in cash flow that we probably weren’t going to be able to cover.”

A survey by the National Rental Home Council, a trade association, published weeks after the federal moratorium ended, found that half of small landlords had tenants who missed rent and a third sold or planned to sell properties. The moratorium and backlog of eviction cases cost owners $57 billion, according to the lawsuit, with more than 10 million delinquent renters in just the ban's first four months.

“Public health measures like this, they may be well intentioned,” said Creighton Magid, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “But when the government imposes this type of moratorium, the financial burden should be borne by the government, not individual property owners.”

Liz Leone, who has 52 apartments in Las Vegas and is part of the lawsuit, said the moratorium almost forced her out of business. She lost over $250,000, she said, and borrowed $60,000 from the federal Small Business Administration “just to keep my nose above water.” She's still paying it off.

“I was definitely questioning whether I would survive,” said Leone, who's been in the business for 35 years. "You delay all the expenses you can, but we still had to pay our property taxes. We still have to pay our utilities. ... So that’s what you did: I borrowed.”

Moratorium prevented homelessness

Housing advocates maintain the policy kept families housed, noting a significant spike in evictions after the moratorium ended.

Eviction bans "were a powerful intervention to keep people in their homes,” said Kathryn Leifheit, assistant professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and lead author of a study published in April in the medical journal JAMA Network Open that found homelessness rose 11% in a typical state in 2022, and would have increased 20% without state eviction moratoriums.

That was the case for Dulcee Barnes. The 28-year-old and her two roommates lost their restaurant jobs in Miami during the pandemic. Two months behind on rent, they would have been evicted if not for the moratorium.

“It gave us breathing room. It took away the fear of having to possibly pack up within 24 hours and live in somebody's car or couch surfing," she said.

Landlords already got paid

Eric Dunn, director of litigation at the National Housing Law Project, a tenants' rights nonprofit, disputed that landlords suffered significant losses, saying they were able to collect rent and sell their properties during the moratorium.

They also benefited from $46.5 billion in federal emergency rental assistance, which the Eviction Lab at Princeton University found in April was largely targeted to areas where landlords filed the most evictions before the pandemic.

Landlords said rental assistance never fully compensated them for their losses, contending programs were often mired in red tape and poorly run. States were slow to spend the money, struggled to set up programs and, in the case of Arkansas and Nebraska, didn’t accept all federal funding.

Landlords also complained some tenants took advantage of the moratorium to live rent free. “They were doing things like buying cars,” Leone said. “They didn’t have to pay rent, and here I was driving a car that was 18 years old.”

Lingering effects of moratorium

Despite the moratorium ending five years ago, landlords say fallout from the policy remains. They are taking fewer risks and being more cautious about renting to tenants with checkered rental histories.

Rick Jones, vice chairman of Management Services Corporation, which owns 4,000 apartment units in Virginia and is party to the lawsuit, said that's partly due to increasing fraud. Applicants fake employment records and payroll checks, he said, adding: “There are companies that just advertise really creating a whole new identity for you.”

“Most property owners and managers realize that it’s more important to keep that unit vacant than to put a bad resident in. That’s probably what the eviction moratorium reinforced,” said Jones, whose company lost more than $230,000 in unpaid rent during the pandemic.

“When you have somebody that’s bad and you can’t get them out, you’re helpless."

Haines said he's increased tenant screenings and turns away some low-income applicants he might have accepted before the pandemic. That's partly because evicting a tenant takes months longer than before the pandemic, he said.

“It’s done more harm," he said, to low-income people "that we might have considered leasing an apartment to that now we simply can’t take the risk.”

He just didn’t yet know her name.

“He goes, ‘you know the young girl from ‘House of the Dragon’? The young queen or princess? That’s how I picture it, like a young punk rock girl who is just totally badass and tough,’” Safran told The Associated Press. “I was like, yeah, that sounds fantastic, and we haven’t seen that before.”

Milly Alcock, now 26, had just started to break out playing Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (later portrayed by Emma D’Arcy) in the “Game of Thrones” prequel, when she got a request for a self-tape for the secretive Supergirl project. Alcock had been working in her native Australia since she was a teenager, but her world was suddenly getting bigger very quickly.

A few weeks later, she was summoned for a screen test (her first ever). She boarded a 24-hour flight from Sydney to Atlanta and gave it her best shot.

“I kind of had a feeling, I remember I like got back to my hotel room and I like sat down and I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna, something’s gonna happen,’” Alcock said. “I just had like an intuition that like, this is going to be a very exciting challenge if it goes in my favor.”

‘This is crazy, what have I done?’

Ten days later, Gunn texted her an article in the trade publication Deadline: “‘Supergirl’: New Woman Of Steel Is ‘House Of The Dragon’s’ Milly Alcock.” No phone call. No context. And all she could think was, “This is crazy, what have I done?” A few days later, she was back on that 24-hour flight to film her cameo in “Superman.”

And things have not slowed down. If shooting the film was a marathon of stunts and action and emotion, the promotion of new DC’s second major film is going to be its own non-stop ride.

When Alcock spoke to the AP earlier this month, she had just arrived in Las Vegas from Kyoto, where she was filming another movie, and on just two hours of sleep had to muster the energy to get up on stage in front of thousands of movie theater owners to hype “Supergirl,” which is out June 26.

“It’s a really original and unique take on a superhero movie,” Safran said. “I think it’s just a great movie for audiences. It’s not just for superhero fans.”

‘She’s just that girl’

The character might be less widely known than her famous cousin, but the response to her appearance in “Superman” was encouraging.

“She’s in the ‘Superman’ movie for, you know, 12 seconds, yet one of the things audiences wanted to see ... more of was her,” Safran said. “And Milly in real life, she’s just that girl … she is authentically a badass.”

Perhaps part of the intrigue is that she’s not straightlaced Superman, who got to be raised by loving and gentle parents on Earth. Supergirl saw her planet destroyed and everyone she knew killed and had to fend for herself.

Directed by Craig Gillespie, best known for two other films about complicated young women, “I, Tonya” and “Cruella,” this film finds the jaded Kara on an intergalactic odyssey with Krypto the Superdog and a young woman seeking revenge against the murderous Krem of the Yellow Hills.

“Kara surprisingly reminded me a lot of myself, which I never thought I would get from playing like a superhero, from playing someone who isn’t human. There’s a lot of humility in her and that kind of made me fall in love with her immediately,” Alcock said. “Sometimes you can get swept up in what other people expect, and then you kind of lose your intrinsic you-ness. And that’s why people hire you in the first place, because of what you bring to something just innately being who you are.”

‘Why would someone have a toy of my face?’

Alcock didn’t grow up a big film fan, but in acting found a lifeline and an outlet to communicate feelings that she struggled to in real life. It helps her exist as a person, she said.

Recently, Alcock has been living in London, where she said she has a great group of friends, none of whom are actors. And she’s adjusting to the reality that her face is going to be everywhere for a bit.

“It’s been kind of disorientating,” she said. “I do this job because it gives me the ability to disappear. So then to like suddenly be so visible and so exposed is a very vulnerable experience. I’m just trying to learn how to deal with that relationship. But I mean, it’s exciting. Of course it’s exciting. But like anything exciting, it’s also terrifying.”

When she was on the “Superman” set, she remembered talking to David Corenswet briefly and realizing that they had very different perspectives about the experience.

“I remember him being like, ‘We’re gonna have action figures, isn’t that cool?’” she said. “And I was like, ‘That’s so weird. Why would someone have a toy of my face?’”

After sunrise, light northerly winds will settle in as high pressure builds over the region. Those conditions will usher in noticeably cooler and drier air, with clear skies expected to dominate the day.

Temperatures trend below normal

Afternoon highs will run below normal, with most of the area topping out in the 70s. Locations inland and along I-75 corridor could see temperatures climb a bit higher, reaching into the lower 80s.

Once the sun goes down, clear skies will allow temperatures to drop quickly. Overnight lows are expected to fall into the upper 40s to lower 50s across the region, with cooler readings focused on inland southeast Georgia. Coastal areas will stay a bit warmer, with lows ranging from the upper 50s to lower 60s.

Monday temperatures will climb back in the normal range with mostly clear skies and calming winds.

Next chance of rain comes late Wednesday into Thursday.

The performance followed similar shows by Madonna in 2024 and Lady Gaga last year, which also were attended by huge crowds that danced on the sprawling sands. For Shakira, it was part of her “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran,” or “Women No Longer Cry,” world tour named after her 2024 album.

Shakira's set kicked off around 11 p.m., more than an hour after the scheduled slot, to her fans screaming with excitement and frantic applause as skywriting drones flew overhead, spelling out in the sky, “I love you Brazil” in Portuguese.

The megastar spoke fondly about the first time she came to Brazil, some three decades ago.

“I arrived here when I was 18 years old, dreaming about singing for you,” Shakira told the crowd shortly after coming on stage. “And now look at this. Life is magical.”

The much-loved pop star sang fan favorites such as “Hips Don’t Lie,” “La Tortura” and “La Bicicleta." She ended with “BZRP Music Sessions #53/66,” which followed her separation from Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué.

She also took the time to celebrate women’s resilience during the show. “Us women, every time we fall we get up a little wiser,” she said.

One of the first places where Shakira became successful

Rio Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere said on X that 2 million people attended the performance. “The She-Wolf made history in Rio,” he posted, referring to Shakira's 2009 hit.

When Shakira first performed in Brazil in the 1990s, she established an amazing connection with the Brazilian public, according to Felipe Maia, an ethnomusicologist pursuing a doctoral degree in popular music and digital technologies at Paris Nanterre University.

That success in Brazil “has a lot to do with the fact that she comes from Colombia, a country whose culture has many similarities with Brazil,” Maia said, adding that Saturday’s performance “crowns the relationship she has had with Brazil for a very long time.”

Erica Monteiro, a 38-year-old accountant, said she has listened to Shakira since childhood.

“For me she represents the strength of our Latino community,” Monteiro said ahead of the concert. “We’re treated as if we were inferior but in fact we have much more strength.”

Heading home after Saturday's show, Hellem Souza da Silva said Shakira's performance, like Bad Bunny's concerts in Sao Paulo in February, helped consolidate Brazil's Latino identity.

These artists “are making it clear that Brazil, Puerto Rico, Colombia and other countries are part of Latin America. And that America is not the United States,” she said.

Crowds started piling onto the beach Saturday morning to nab a good spot for the show. Street vendors sold sweet corn and other Brazilian snacks, bottled water and caipirinhas, the popular Brazilian cocktail, but also toilet paper, deodorant and even bags of sand for concertgoers to stand on to get a better view of the stage set up opposite Copacabana Palace, a historic luxury hotel.

Street vendor Simone Paula da Cunha arrived on the beach on Friday evening, hoping to sell all the beer and water bottles she had bought ahead of the show and make about $100 in all.

Despite being tired, da Cunha was excited at the prospect of seeing Shakira live. “I remember her from when she still had black hair,” she said. “I'm a huge fan of hers.”

An effort to boost the city's post-Carnival economy

The free concerts are part of City Hall's attempt to boost economic activity after Carnival and New Year’s Eve festivities and before the monthlong Saint John’s Day celebrations in June.

“For us, parties are serious business. Because parties generate jobs, income, development, and identity for the city,” Cavaliere, the mayor, said on Wednesday as he presented the city’s operational plan for the event. “Our investment in this show will give us a financial return 40 times greater,” he said.

Shakira’s performance could generate around 777 million reais (around $155 million), according to a study by City Hall and Riotur, the municipality’s tourism company, thanks to the influx of tourists and cash spent in restaurants, hotels and shops.

More tourists headed to Rio in the month of May in the years with shows — 2024 and 2025 — compared to 2023, according to City Hall data. In 2024, the growth was 34.2% on May 1, just ahead of the concerts, compared to the previous year. In 2025, the increase was 90.5% compared to 2023.

Ahead of Shakira’s performance, Airbnb said in an April 22 statement that it was seeing an increase in guests expected to travel from different parts of Brazil, Latin America and even European capitals such as Paris and London.

Wanderson Andrade, a 30-year-old architect, said he flew in especially for the show from the city of Goiana in central Brazil on Saturday and planned to fly back the following day.

“I tried to get tickets to see her in Brazil last year but I didn't succeed,” said Andrade, whose first tattoo is a wolf in honor of Shakira. “Today is a dream come true.”

___

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

Benavidez put on a show with Alvarez sitting ringside on Saturday night, moving up 25 pounds in weight and dominating former sparring partner Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez.

He twice sent Ramirez to the canvas, including knocking him out at 2:59 of the sixth round to win the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles and become the first boxer to win championships at 168, 175 and 200 pounds.

Benavidez (32-0, 26 knockouts) not only remained undefeated, but showed why he was a -600 favorite over Ramirez (48-2, 30 KOs).

Ramirez was taken to a hospital to receive a head scan, according to Jane Murcia, communications director for Golden Boy Promotions.

“He’s in good spirits and has a swollen eye,” Murcia said. “There’s no determination of a fracture at this point.”

In the co-main event, WBA super middleweight championship fight, Jaime Munguía (46-2, 35 KOs) upset title holder Armando Reséndiz (16-3, 11 KOs) by winning a resounding unanimous decision. Reséndiz was a -200 favorite, but Munguía — the former WBO junior middleweight champ — was the aggressor from the start and won by scores of 117-111, 119-109 and 120-108.

“It feels great to have this championship belt with me, but this is just the beginning," Munguía said. "I’m excited for what comes next. We are ready for big challenges and great fights.”

Benavidez has chased Canelo with hopes of setting up a showdown, but Alvarez never agreed to it and it has been looking unlikely to happen.

Maybe now it's different, and Benavidez didn't waste the opportunity to make the case yet again.

“I see Canelo in the building. Let me just ask the fans this. Do you guys want to see Canelo versus David Benavidez?" the man known as “The Mexican Monster” asked, drawing a roar from the crowd.

“Enough said. That means we can’t leave that fight on the table. I have respect for Canelo. He’s a great champion. I’m a great champion, too. Let’s do it.”

Benavidez said he would be willing go back down in weight to make it happen.

“I’m still champion at 175," Benavidez said. “I’m champion at 175 and 200. So if they want to come get it at 175, let’s get it at 175.”

Boxing fans, or least those who support Benavidez, haven't forgotten how Canelo has yet to take on the match. Alvarez, wearing a black Munguía T-shirt, was booed all three times he was shown on the large video board. Benavidez, who was born in Phoenix and lives in Miami, later was cheered while shown going through prefight preparations.

He then gave his fans plenty more to cheer about and they reciprocated by regularly chanting his nickname “Monstruo” in the Cinco de Mayo weekend showcase fight.

Benavidez, even when being backed down by Ramirez, delivered his signature rapid-fire combinations, usually pelting his opponent's head. A right hand to Ramirez's head in the fourth staggered him, and Benavidez went for the knockout but settled for the knockdown at the end of the round when Zurdo went down to his left knee.

Then two rounds later, Ramirez again went to a knee. This time, the fight was over.

“We came up together," Benavidez said. "We came up sparring together. I got him ready for his world championship fights. He got me ready for my world championship fights. I just want to say I love Zurdo Ramirez, but, you know, it is what it is in here. There’s only one ‘Monster.’”

And now the 29-year-old Benavidez can make a credible argument after dominating the 34-year-old Mexican that he one of the sport's best pound-for-pound boxers if not right at the top.

The statistics underscored how much Benavidez owned the fight.

According to Compubox, he landed 151 punches at a 46.2% to 89 for Ramirez, who reached his target on 19.8% of attempts. The power punches were 137-64 and the percentage 56.8-27.7.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to overpower him because it was my first time coming up to 200 pounds," Benavidez said. “So I knew I had to use the gifts that God gave me: speed, power, movement, punch selection and IQ. That’s exactly what I did.”

___

AP boxing: https://apnews.com/boxing

Bishop Snyder swept Bolles and Trinity Christian did the same to Ocala Trinity Catholic in the regional semifinals to set up a district championship rematch in Region 1-2A on May 8. It’s Part II of an epic district title game, won in an 11-10 thriller in 13 innings by Trinity.

The Conquerors used an unreal display of power (six home runs) to sink Trinity Catholic 9-6 to finish off the sweep. Jordan Martinez belted three homers, with Brady Harris, Parker Loew and Chris Reali also going deep.

Snyder swept Bolles 8-5 and 10-0, the capper on a one-hit gem by Cody Boshell. Ilias Mamea homered in that rout. Cole Dennis belted a pair of homers for Snyder in the Game 1 win.

In Region 1-1A, Brayden Harris continued his torrid postseason, blasting a couple homers in Game 2 for an 8-2 win for St. Johns Country Day over University Christian. A night earlier, Harris whiffed 10 and allowed just one unearned run in a 4-2 win.

Union County also sailed into the regional finals with a sweep of Madison County in the Rural class.

In games that weren’t finished due to the weather, Clay is up 1-0 in its series against Escambia in Region 1-4A, and Fernandina Beach and Suwannee are tied 1-all in Region 1-3A.

Regional finals

Friday, May 8 (best of 3 series)

Region 1-2A

(2) Bishop Snyder (22-6) at (1) Trinity Christian (22-7)

Region 1-1A

(3) St. John Paul II (18-8) at (1) St. Johns Country Day (22-8)

Rural

(3) Lafayette (16-10) at (1) Union County (20-7)

Regional semifinals

Region 1-6A

Friday, May 1 (best of 3); games 2 and 3 (if necessary) on Saturday

(1) Pace 2, (5) Tocoi Creek 0 (12-2, 7-2)

(2) Buchholz 2, (6) Oakleaf 0 (5-3, 7-1)

Region 1-4A

(1) Choctawhatchee 2, (5) St. Augustine 1 (2-3, 4-1, 4-1)

(3) Clay 1, (7) Escambia 0 (5-0)

Region 1-3A

(2) Fernandina Beach 1, (3) Suwannee 1 (12-0, 3-4)

Region 1-2A

(1) Trinity Christian 2, (4) Trinity Catholic 0 (5-0, 9-6)

(2) Bishop Snyder 2, (3) Bolles 0 (8-5, 10-0)

Region 1-1A

(1) St. Johns Country Day 2, (4) University Christian 0 (4-2, 8-2)

(3) St. John Paul II 2, (7) Covenant School of Jacksonville 0 (7-6, 7-2)

Rural

Friday, May 1 (best of 3); games 2 and 3 (if necessary) on Saturday

(1) Union County 2, (4) Madison County 0 (7-6, 10-7)

Regional quarterfinals

Region 1-7A

Friday, April 24 results (single elimination)

(8) Lake Mary 6, (1) Creekside 3

(4) West Orange 4, (5) Sandalwood 1

(2) Spruce Creek 11, (7) Flagler Palm Coast 1

Region 1-6A

(5) Tocoi Creek 2, (4) Tate 1

(2) Buchholz 12, (7) Mandarin 2

(6) Oakleaf 12, (3) Bartram Trail 2, Thursday

Region 1-5A

(1) Chiles 5, (8) Ponte Vedra 3

(2) Niceville 3, (7) Beachside 2

(3) Mosley 5, (6) Columbia 2

Region 1-4A

(1) Choctawhatchee 9, (8) Baker County 0

(5) St. Augustine 10, (4) Arnold 6

(7) Escambia 3, (2) Bishop Kenny 1

(3) Clay 4, (6) Wakulla 0

Region 1-3A

Saturday, April 25 results

(1) South Walton 13, (8) Wolfson 0

(4) West Florida 1, (5) Baldwin 0

(2) Fernandina Beach 10, (7) Bay 0

(3) Suwannee 12, (6) West Nassau 1

Region 2-3A

(4) South Sumter 12, (5) Palatka 0

Region 1-2A

(1) Trinity Christian 6, (8) Florida High 3

(2) Bishop Snyder 9, (7) Providence 5

(3) Bolles 6, (6) Pensacola Catholic 5

Class 1A

(1) St. Johns Country Day 15, (8) Rocky Bayou Christian 0

(4) University Christian 6, (5) North Florida Christian 2

(7) Covenant School of Jacksonville 10, (2) St. Joseph 5

(6) Christ’s Church Academy (13-13) at (3) St. John Paul II (15-8), postponed to April 27

Jackson Blake also scored for Carolina, and Frederik Andersen stopped 19 shots for his second shutout of these playoffs and seventh in his postseason career.

Game 2 of the series is Monday night in Raleigh, with Carolina yet to trail in any of its five postseason games so far after jumping to a 2-0 first-period lead in this one.

“We had a good start, obviously,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “That’s what won the game.”

Carolina closed a first-round sweep of Ottawa last weekend, then had an extended break while the Flyers battled to push past Pittsburgh in overtime of Game 6 on Wednesday night. That led to rest-versus-rust conversations about how the Eastern Conference’s top seed would start Saturday night.

Instead, the Hurricanes pounced from the opening puck drop, a departure from how all four regular-season meetings went to overtime or a shootout.

Stankoven scored in each of the four wins against the Senators, then scored on a redirect from the slot just 1:31 in.

“I think you’re just trying to get it off quick,” Stankoven said. “Obviously, it’s nice to have that confidence that comes with putting the puck in the net, and yeah, you just kind of build off of it.”

Blake followed at 7:30, splitting two defenders as he entered the zone and charging in to slip a puck behind Dan Vladar.

That was more than enough offense on this night with the Flyers struggling to apply much pressure on Andersen — who opened the Ottawa series with a shutout, too.

“We definitely came ready to play,” Andersen said.

Philadelphia started its first postseason since 2020 by battling through Pittsburgh to close out a six-game series in overtime on Cam York’s Wednesday night winner. But the Flyers sputtered from the start, managing just nine shots on goal through two periods and being outshot 3-2 on their four power plays for the night.

Otherwise, they struggled to find much open ice with Carolina’s aggressive style closing in rapidly to shut down lanes toward Andersen or for the pass.

“We talked about it, we just didn’t live it on the ice,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said, pointing to a need to react quicker against Carolina’s pressure. “We weren’t quick enough for their speed. ... It’s a good baptism how some of our players are going to have to play.”

By the final 10 minutes, the game had turned testy with players having to be separated multiple times. That included 10-minute misconduct penalties on Philadelphia’s Trevor Zegras and Nick Seeler, along with Blake and Shayne Gostisbehere for Carolina.

Both teams were down key players. The Flyers didn’t have regular-season goals leader Owen Tippett because of an undisclosed injury, while the Hurricanes were missing defenseman Alexander Nikishin after he suffered a concussion in Game 4 against Ottawa.

Carolina veteran Mike Reilly drew in for Nikishin and had the primary assist on Stankoven’s first goal and the secondary assist on Blake’s score.

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Embiid finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Tyrese Maxey added 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. VJ Edgecombe scored 23 points and Paul George had 13.

Philadelphia, the No. 7 seed, will visit No. 3 New York on Monday night in Game 1 of the second round.

The Sixers franchise, including its time as Syracuse Nationals, improved to 2-10 in road Game 7s. Its only other win came in 1982 at the Boston Garden. It's a small measure of revenge after Boston blew out Philadelphia in Game 7 in the second round of the 2023 playoffs.

“We had a chance to beat them three years ago, didn’t do it. We came in and got it done," Maxey said.

Embiid, who debuted in Game 4 after recovering from appendectomy surgery, is the first player in NBA history to score 100 points in a playoff series despite missing the first three games. He and Maxey also became the third duo in league history to each have 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a Game 7.

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 33 points and nine rebounds. Derrick White had 26 points, including five 3-pointers. Neemias Queta finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. The Celtics struggled from the 3-point line for the third straight game, finishing 13 of 49.

Brown said Embiid changed tenor of the series.

“He put a lot of pressure on us,” Brown said. “We didn't really have the answers for him.”

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla shrugged off any notion that his team was too dependent on 3s in the series.

“I love the looks that we got. I love the process that we had.. But I hate the result," Mazzulla said.

The second-seeded Celtics made their earliest exit from the playoffs since the 2020-21 season. Boston fell to 32-1 when leading a series 3-1.

The Celtics played without Tatum after he was ruled out about 90 minutes before tipoff with left knee stiffness. Brown said he didn’t find out until about 45 minutes before the game.

“Nobody told me anything. But my mindset was the same,” Brown said.

Philadelphia led for all but 31 seconds in the game, increasing a five-point halftime edge to 18 points in the third quarter. It was down to 13 at the start of the fourth and Boston opened the period on a 16-4 run to pull within 92-91.

The 76ers were leading 101-98 when Maxey got free for a layup with 1:15 remaining. Boston missed its next four shots and Philadelphia pushed it to 105-98 on a pair of free throws by Maxey.

Mazzulla said Tatum came to the team facility Saturday with knee discomfort, and the medical team decided for him not to play. Tatum briefly left Game 6 in the third quarter for unspecified treatment to his left calf. Mazzulla downplayed the significance, saying initially Tatum would play in Game 7.

With Tatum out, Mazzulla made radical changes to the starting lineup, opting to start Baylor Scheierman, Luka Garza and Ron Harper Jr. alongside Brown and White.

It was the first time that group started together this season and the Celtics quickly fell into a 9-0 hole. Philadelphia led by 15 in the first quarter and 32-19 when it ended.

Unlike in their losses in Games 5 and 6, the Celtics weren’t as quick to fire up 3s, instead opting to attack the interior of Philadelphia’s defense to get easier looks.

Boston started the second on an 18-4 run to take its first lead of the night, 37-36, on a 3-pointer by Payton Pritchard. The 76ers led 55-50 at halftime.

___

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

The Narges Mohammadi Foundation said the Nobel Prize laureate had two episodes of complete loss of consciousness and a severe cardiac crisis.

Earlier Friday, Mohammadi had fainted twice in prison in Zanjan in northwestern Iran, according to the foundation. She was believed to have suffered a heart attack in late March, according to her lawyers who visited her a few days after the incident. At the time, she appeared pale, underweight and needed a nurse to help her walk.

The hospital transfer comes “after 140 days of systematic medical neglect,” since her arrest on Dec. 12, the foundation said.

“This transfer was done as an unavoidable necessity after prison doctors determined her condition could not be managed on-site, despite standing medical recommendations that she be treated by her specialized team in Tehran,” the foundation said.

Help may be little too late, family says

Mohammadi’s family had advocated for her transfer to adequate medical facilities for weeks.

The foundation, quoting her family, said her transfer Friday to a hospital in Zanjan was “a desperate, ‘last-minute’ action that may be too late to address her critical needs.”

Mohammadi's brother Hamidreza Mohammadi, who lives in Oslo, Norway, said in an audio message shared with The Associated Press by the foundation that her family is “fighting for her life.”

“My family in Iran is doing everything they can. But the prosecutors in Zanjan are blocking everything,” he said.

On March 24, Narges Mohammadi’s fellow inmates found her unconscious, her lawyers said she told them during the visit a few days later. Upon later examination at the prison’s clinic, a doctor told her that she probably had had a heart attack. She had chest pain and breathing difficulties since.

Her legal representative in France, Chirinne Ardakani, said at the time that Mohammadi had been denied transfer to the hospital or to visit her cardiologist. A prison official was present throughout the brief visit by Mohammadi’s lawyers.

Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023

Mohammadi, 53, a rights lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 while in prison, was arrested in December during a visit to the eastern Iranian city of Mashhad and sentenced to seven more years in prison.

Her family said in February that her health was worsening in prison, in part because of a beating she endured during her arrest in December. He said multiple men hit and kicked her in her side, head and neck. The Nobel committee condemned the “ongoing life-threatening mistreatment” of Mohammadi in a statement in February.

“In recent days, her blood pressure has experienced severe fluctuations, going very high and low, and today she suddenly fainted due to a sudden drop in blood pressure,” her lawyer Mostafa Nili posted on X.

At first, the prison doctor injected Mohammadi with drugs but she refused to be transferred to a hospital, demanding to see her cardiologist. A few hours later, Mohammadi fainted again. This time a neurologist ordered her immediate transfer to a hospital, the lawyer added.

Mohammadi was urgently transferred to the hospital and admitted to the cardiac care unit, “but her blood pressure continues to fluctuate severely,” Nili wrote. He said a medical official in Zanjan recommended a one-month suspension of her sentence for treatment, but the public prosecutor in Zanjan referred the matter to his counterpart in Tehran.

Prior to her arrest Dec. 12, Mohammadi had already been serving a sentence of 13 years and nine months on charges of collusion against state security and propaganda against Iran’s government, but had been released on furlough since late 2024 over medical concerns.

Continued her activism on furlough

During that furlough, Mohammadi kept up her activism with public protests and international media appearances, including demonstrating in front of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, where she had been held.

In February, a Revolutionary Court in Mashhad sentenced Mohammadi to an additional seven years. Such courts typically issue verdicts with little or no opportunity for defendants to contest their charges.

Mohammadi suffered multiple heart attacks while imprisoned before undergoing emergency surgery in 2022, her supporters say.

In 2023, Mohammadi became the fifth laureate to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison, further amplifying her voice in support of widespread protests that swept Iran after the death the year before of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the country’s morality police for not properly wearing the mandatory headscarf.

Her selection enraged Iran’s hard-line Shiite theocracy, which increased her prison time and later sent guards to rough her up along with other prisoners who were protesting inside Evin Prison.

Yet Mohammadi remained defiant, even issuing boycott calls for the 2024 election that President Masoud Pezeshkian won. She maintained that one day Iran’s government would change due to popular pressure.