The fire is being managed as rescue units and forestry crews deal with the flames.

Officials tell News4JAX that the fire is now 85% contained, and that one fire tractor plow unit remains at the scene, adding that crews will be there to continue interior mop-up until it’s safe to leave. 

The sheriff’s office urges people to avoid the area and follow any instructions from emergency personnel.

Asterisk Talley never imagined the nightmare that helped make it possible Saturday in the Augusta National Women's Amateur.

Marin stuck to her plan of staying close until a moment that changed everything with shocking swiftness — her changing her mind and going for the green on the par-5 13th for a go-ahead birdie, and Talley adding to the sad history of collapses on the back nine at the home of the Masters.

“I just reminded myself that I had to stay really, really patient because anything can happen out here,” Marin said after closing with a 4-under 68 for a four-shot victory. “When that last putt sank in, I just thought to myself, ‘Well, I made it.’ All of my hard work has paid off, and I’m just extremely proud of myself.”

Talley was devastated. The 17-year-old Californian twice went from the back bunker into Rae's Creek for a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 12th hole. That allowed Marin to go from a tight contest to a five-shot lead.

Talley, who didn't make her first bogey of the tournament until the 11th hole of the final round, shot 42 on the back nine for a 75 to finish six shots behind.

“I’m just a little emotional, not only because I didn’t get it done today, but also just everyone is so supportive,” Talley said. “It’s hard when they have to watch that and see you not do well or not accomplish what you wanted. I still played fine today even though that one hole just kind of got me.”

Marin, a junior at Arkansas, becomes the third NCAA champion to win at the home of the Masters, following Jennifer Kupcho and Rose Zhang, and this one featured a shocker on the back nine.

Talley, who led by as many as four shots early, missed a short birdie chance on the 10th and a short par putt on the 11th to fall into a tie with Marin.

And then it all came undone.

Talley went long with an 8-iron into a back bunker on the 12th, the hole that ruined Jordan Spieth's chances of a repeat Masters victory in 2016. She went at the right pin with a shot too strong, and the ball rolled off the front, down a slope and into the water. Talley decided to drop in the bunker, and then did the same thing again.

“I didn’t think going to the other side was the best option at the time,” Talley said. “I thought since we could rake the bunker, maybe we could get it to not be so hard. It was still the same after dropping. The same thing happened. Just couldn’t really get under the ball there.”

Stunned, she took her next penalty drop on the other side of the water, pitched to about 8 feet and holed that for a quadruple-bogey 7.

“Probably should have done that the first time,” Talley said. “But you don’t really think of that when you’re in the moment.”

Marin had far better fortune on No. 12. Her shot came up short, and was close enough to the bunker that it stayed up on a small shelf of grass instead of rolling into the water. She saved par, and began to pull away with her two-putt birdie on the 13th and Talley's big blunder on No. 12.

“I think it was just God holding the ball there,” Marin said.

The last challenge for Marin came from Andrea Revuelta, who birdied Amen Corner to stay on the fringes of contention.

Marin finally saw a leaderboard showing her four shots ahead and said the adrenaline played a part in hitting a wedge over the green. She had to make a 5-foot putt for bogey, right after Revuelta narrowly missed an 8-foot birdie.

Marin hit 7-iron to 6 feet for her sixth birdie that put it away.

Revuelta closed with a 68 and was runner-up. Talley took a double bogey on the 16th — she played par 3s in 6 over on the back nine — and wound up in a five-way tie for fourth. Meja Örtengren of Sweden, playing in the final group with Talley, shot 74.

Marin set an Augusta National Women's Amateur record at 14-under 202. The smile never left her face as she walked up the 18th green, raising her right hand when she tapped in for par. Among those who celebrated with her was Maria Fassi of Mexico, another Arkansas star who was runner-up in the inaugural tournament. Marin has called that moment a big inspiration.

Masters chairman Fred Ridley presented the trophy to her in Butler Cabin, and Marin held it aloft, smiled wide and said, “It's so pretty.”

“Winning in this place, I don’t think there’s ever going to be a feeling to describe it. It’s just magical,” she said. “This is the temple of golf, and just getting this win, it’s amazing for me.”

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

Verlander, the major league's oldest active player at 43, was placed on the 15-day injured list with left hip inflammation. On Sunday night, Verlander was scheduled to make his first start in a Tigers uniform at Detroit's home park since Aug. 20, 2017.

“It's frustrating for me, obviously,” Verlander said. “I also know a lot of fans were excited about tomorrow night.”

Verlander was dealt to Houston at the trade deadline in 2017. He re-signed with Detroit on a one-year, $13 million contract in February after spending last season with San Francisco.

Verlander made 380 starts for Detroit from 2005-17. In his first start this season, Verlander gave up five runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings on Monday against Arizona and took the loss.

The injury popped up during that start. Verlander said it wasn't serious and that he might have been able to pitch on Sunday but the organization wanted to take a cautious approach.

“It was really sore the next day or two but it's been trending in the right direction,” he said. “So it was kind of a wait-and-see game if it could get good enough. To be quite frank, it probably is good enough if we wanted to push it. But AJ (manager AJ Hinch) and the front office — and I agree with them — felt it was not the time of year to do that. And unfortunately we don't have an off-day to finagle with it, which also kind of hurts.”

Verlander believes he'll have a short stay on the IL.

“It's not ideal but nothing too bad,” he said. “I think we got it under control.”

RHP Keider Montero was recalled from Triple-A Toledo and is expected to start the finale of a three-game series against St. Louis.

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

Trump has called Tehran “beaten and completely decimated " in the war, now in its sixth week, but the downing of two U.S. warplanes on Friday and Iran’s call to find the “enemy pilot” have again raised the stakes.

“The doors of hell will be opened to you” if Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi with the country's joint military command said late Saturday in response to Trump’s renewed threat, state media reported. In turn, the general threatened all infrastructure used by the U.S. military in the region.

The war began with joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Feb. 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes.

“We will continue to crush them,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, and confirmed that Israel's military struck a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr that he said helps to fund the war. Five people were killed and 170 injured, Iranian state media reported, citing a provincial security official.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said that an airstrike hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a security guard and damaging a support building. The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said that 198 workers were being evacuated. It was the fourth time the facility was targeted.

Hopes for talks

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, told The Associated Press that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire are “right on track" after Islamabad last week said that it would soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that Iranian officials “have never refused to go to Islamabad.”

Mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt were working to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials.

The proposed compromise includes a cessation of hostilities to allow a diplomatic settlement, according to a regional official involved in the efforts and a Gulf diplomat briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy.

Trump reminded Iran of his deadline in a social media post: “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them."

A missing US pilot

The U.S. warplane, identified by Iran as a F-15E Strike Eagle, was one of two attacked on Friday. Iran’s joint military command on Saturday said that it also struck two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters, but the AP couldn’t independently verify that.

The search for the U.S. pilot focused on a mountainous region in Iran’s southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. An anchor on a channel affiliated with Iranian state television urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police.

In an email from the Pentagon, obtained by the AP, the military said that it received notification of “an aircraft being shot down” in the Middle East. A U.S. crew member was rescued. The Pentagon notified the U.S. House Armed Services Committee that the status of a second service member wasn't known.

Trump told NBC News that what happened wouldn't affect negotiations with Iran.

A second U.S. Air Force combat aircraft went down in the Middle East on Friday, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military situation. It wasn't clear if the aircraft crashed or was shot down, or whether Iran was involved.

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

Oracle's Dubai headquarters struck

The Dubai offices of tech company Oracle was hit after Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened the firm. Footage verified by the AP outside the UAE showed a large hole in the building's southwestern corner.

The sheikhdom’s Dubai Media Office, which speaks for its government, noted a “minor incident caused by debris from an aerial interception that fell on the facade," saying there were no injuries. Oracle Corp., based in Texas, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Guard has accused some large U.S. tech companies of being involved in “terrorist espionage” operations against the Islamic Republic and called them legitimate targets. Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE and Bahrain were hit in earlier drone strikes.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a veiled threat late Friday to disrupt traffic through a second strategic waterway in the region, the Bab el-Mandeb.

The strait, 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships pass through it.

“Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?” Qalibaf wrote.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began.

In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. service members have been killed. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed and there have been more than 1 million displaced people. Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.

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Jon Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Samy Magdy from Cairo. Munir Ahmed in Islamabad; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; and Konstantin Toropin, Seung Min Kim, Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price, Lisa Mascaro and Ben Finley in Washington, contributed to this report.

Meanwhile, the search continued for a second day in a remote area of Iran for a missing U.S. pilot whose warplane was shot down. Iran has urged residents to turn in the “enemy pilot” for a reward.

And Israel vowed to “continue to crush” Iran and confirmed it struck a petrochemical complex Saturday. Iranian state media reported at least five people were killed.

Here is the latest:

Five university professors and 60 students killed since war started, Iranian official says

Iran’s Minister of Science, Research and Technology Hossein Simaei Sarraf spoke to reporters Saturday while checking the aftermath of strike on a university research center in southern Tehran.

A laser and plasma research center at the prestigious Shahid Beheshti University was damaged Friday following an airstrike.

“The enemy with no roots in history, culture and civilization is acting worse than (humans living) in the stone age and attacks a scientific center,” he told reporters while standing in the midst of the wreckage. AP video from the scene shows fallen ceilings and walls, blown out windows and damaged equipment.

It wasn’t clear if the strike was carried out by the United States or Israel or why the center was targeted. Iranian media did not report any casualties.

Since 2011, Shahid Beheshti University has been sanctioned by the EU for its involvement in nuclear weapons development.

AP journalists witness destruction at Shiite religious complex in Zanjan, Iran

Residents in the northwestern Iranian city told the AP an airstrike that hit the Grand Husayniyya of Zanjan on March 31 also caused damage to a library and clinic within the complex where people used to get treated for free. Part of the Husayniyya, a congregation hall for Shiite commemorations and rituals, is centuries old.

Damage could be seen in the building’s golden dome and nearby minaret during a visit Saturday. A nearby building within the complex was heavily damaged. Workers were still cleaning up debris.

Jaafar Mohammadi, director general of cultural and Islamic guidance in Zanjan province, said the strike killed two people, including the caretaker of the library, Alirezza Soubatlo, and a volunteer with the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

The library was home to more than 35,000 books, many of which are very old and handwritten.

Prediction market taking bets on search for missing US military service member has been shut down

A prediction market accepting bets on the search for a U.S. military service member still missing from a fighter jet shot down in the Iran war Friday has been shut down by Polymarket for violating its standards.

Polymarket, which has turned prediction markets into an increasingly popular phenomenon alongside rival operator Kalshi, disclosed it blocked the wagering on the search for the missing military member about two hours after U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton posted a note of outrage on social media.

“This is DISGUSTING,” wrote Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts who was in combat in the Middle East while serving in the Marines.

In its response on the X platform, Polymarket said Friday it had removed the market cited by Moulton and was investigating how it slipped through the safeguards set up to protect its integrity standards.

Polymarket has recently been coming under increasing scrutiny, including calls for tougher regulation of prediction markets.

The criticism has mounted after some of its users made substantial bets ahead of the war in Iran and the military action in Venezuela earlier this year.

Police forcibly dispersed anti-war protest in Tel Aviv amid wartime restrictions

Several hundred people attended the demonstration at Habima Square in Tel Aviv calling for an end to the war, in between sirens warning of incoming missiles from Iran and from Yemen.

Israeli wartime restrictions currently limit gatherings in public areas to 150 people. But in response to an appeal, supreme court justices on Saturday evening issued an interim ruling saying at least 600 people would be allowed to gather at Habima Square and 150 at each of several other locations across the country.

At around 8 p.m., police declared the demonstration unlawful, claiming there were “hundreds more than the court ordered” at the protest. Police officers forcibly removed protesters from the square and arrested at least 17.

Argentina says Iran’s top diplomat has been expelled from the country

Argentina’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said Saturday it had expelled Iran’s top diplomat as tensions increase between Iran’s theocratic regime and Argentina’s libertarian government, which is closely aligned with the Trump administration.

In a message on X, Argentina’s Foreign Affairs Minister Pablo Quirno said Iran’s Charge D’Affaires, Mohsen Soltani Tehrani, had left the country “in compliance” with a resolution issued Thursday that gave the Iranian diplomat 48 hours to leave the South American country.

Tensions between both nations intensified earlier this week after Argentina declared Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. The measure will enable the Argentine government to issue financial sanctions against those conducting business with that branch of Iran’s armed forces and seize any assets it could own in Argentina.

Iran’s Foreign Affairs Ministry replied to the terrorism designation with a statement which said Argentina’s actions amounted to an “unforgivable offense” influenced by the United States.

Iran state media say five killed in strikes on petrochemical facilities

The U.S.-Israeli strikes also wounded others in the attack on the facilities in the Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Economic Zone in southwestern Iran, state media cited a provincial security official as saying.

The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the attack on the facilities earlier Saturday and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in a video statement on X to press ahead with more attacks. He claimed the complex was “responsible for producing and exporting chemical materials to the regime’s armed forces” and that the targeted facilities were “used to produce materials for explosives, ballistic missile, and additional weaponry.”

White House says Trump is ‘working nonstop’

As the clock ticks closer to the U.S. president’s Monday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the White House says Trump is firmly at work.

“There has never been a President who has worked harder for the American people than President Trump,” Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, posted on X. “On this Easter weekend, he has been working nonstop in the White House and Oval Office. God Bless him.”

The president often travels to his Palm Beach, Florida, club on the weekends, but he’s staying in Washington for the Easter weekend. Since he delivered his prime-time address on Iran on Wednesday night, the president has held a series of closed-press meetings at the White House.

Meloni says Gulf visit aimed at solidarity and protecting Italy’s energy and security interests

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said in a video message released by her office Saturday that her mission to the Gulf was aimed at showing solidarity with countries “that continue to suffer unjustified attacks by Iran,’’ while also addressing Italian security and energy interests.

Meloni is the first EU leader to travel to the Gulf since the U.S.-Israel war on Iran began, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on a two-day visit.

“I think it is important for Italy in such a difficult moment to be present in the places where a fundamental part of our security is being decided, and also our economic future,’’ Meloni said in the video shot as she was being driven in the back of a car through Doha, Qatar. “Because when instability increases in the Gulf, not just the international balance is impacted, but also energy prices,’’ which affect companies’ cost and families’ purchasing power.

She noted Italy receives 10% of its natural gas from Qatar and the Gulf region supplies 15% of its petroleum needs.

Netanyahu confirms Israel hit Iranian petrochemical factories, says they’ll continue to ‘crush’ Iran

“After we destroyed 70% of its ability to create steel, which is used as the raw material for the weapons used against us, today we attacked their petrochemical factories,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement posted on his X account.

The Israeli military said that earlier Saturday its air force struck a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr, in southwestern Iran. It alleged the complex was “responsible for producing and exporting chemical materials to the regime’s armed forces” and that the targeted facilities were “used to produce materials for explosives, ballistic missile, and additional weaponry.”

“I promised you that we will continue to crush the terrorist regime in Tehran, and that is exactly what we are doing,” Netanyahu said.

World commodity prices rise for 2nd straight month with Strait of Hormuz closure posing additional risks

World food commodity prices rose for a second consecutive month in March, driven largely by increasing energy costs linked to the escalating conflict in the Middle East, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization reported Friday.

The latest FAO benchmark index, tracking monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities, rose 1% from a year ago, highlighting how geopolitical tensions are pushing up production and transportation expenses, adding renewed pressure on global food markets. Prices were up 2.4% from a month earlier.

Price surges have been relatively contained compared with after the start of the Ukraine war in 2022 because markets remain well-supplied following strong harvests in major growing regions, said David Laborde, the FAO agrifood economics director.

With a large portion of the world’s fuel and fertilizer moving through the Strait of Hormuz, he noted that a long-term closure will force farmers to make difficult planting decisions. That will affect the cost of producing the next harvest, as well as yields.

Iran says Iraq is exempt from transit restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s joint military command spokesperson said in a statement in Arabic on Saturday that the restrictions imposed in the Strait of Hormuz “only apply to enemy countries.”

Addressing Iraqis, Ebrahim Zolfaghari said in a speech carried by state media that “you are a nation that bears the marks of American occupation on your chest, and your struggle against America is worthy of appreciation and praise.”

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks on U.S. bases and other facilities in the country in solidarity with Tehran since the war began.

The Iran war, now its second month, has dealt a massive blow to Iraq’s economy. The country is heavily dependent on oil revenues for almost 90% of its budget and most of its oil is exported through the Strait of Hormuz, where cargo traffic has effectively been stopped by Iran during the conflict.

Israel says a ballistic missile from Yemen was launched against the country

The attack triggered sirens across the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The Houthis in Yemen have launched several missiles against Israel since joining the war last week in support of Iran.

Israel says another soldier killed in Lebanon

The death brings the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon in the current war to 11.

A military official said the soldier was killed by friendly fire. He spoke anonymously in line with military regulations.

Meloni wraps Gulf tour in UAE, discusses end to conflict and new investments

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni concluded her two-day visit to three Gulf states in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, discussing with the country’s leader additional investments by both countries in energy, defense and security, her office said in a statement.

Meloni is the first EU, G20 and NATO leader to visit the Gulf region since the start of the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. She began her two-day visit Friday in Saudi Arabia and visited Qatar earlier Saturday. The start of the mission was unannounced due to security concerns.

Meloni and UAE’s president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also discussed ways to bring an end to the conflict in the region and open the Strait of Hormuz, Meloni’s office said. The Italian leader also expressed her support for the country, which has suffered attacks from Iran following the launch of the war.

US revokes green cards and visas of several Iranian nationals connected to Tehran government

The Trump administration has revoked the green cards or U.S. visas of at least four Iranian nationals connected to the current or former Iranian government, including two who’ve been detained by immigration authorities and are to be deported.

The latest actions were taken just this week when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined they were no longer eligible for either lawful permanent resident status, or to enter the United States. The steps follow a move late last year in which the visas of several diplomats and staffers at Iran’s mission to the United Nations were also revoked.

In a statement Saturday, the State Department said the niece and grand-niece of former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike near the Baghdad airport in 2020, had been arrested late Friday by immigration agents after Rubio revoked their green cards.

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Pakistan says US-Iran talks effort on track as Tehran denies refusing Islamabad visit

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Saturday there was no truth to speculation in local media that the mediation effort had stalled due to Iran’s refusal to send a delegation.

He dismissed reports suggesting an impasse in the regionally backed initiative, saying the peace efforts are right on track.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a post on X also said Tehran had “never refused to go to Islamabad” but was seeking a “conclusive and lasting” end to the conflict. “We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad,” Araghchi wrote.

He said “What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting end to the illegal war that is imposed on us.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar welcomed Araghchi’s remarks, saying he appreciated the clarification.

Pakistan, with backing from regional partners, is still working to bring Washington and Tehran to the negotiations table. However, no dates have been set for the proposed talks and it remains unclear whether any such engagement would be direct or indirect.

Israel says it identified another launch of missiles from Iran, the 8th on Saturday

It comes shortly after an attack that damaged buildings in East Jerusalem. Sirens were activated across northern Israel.

Buildings damaged in East Jerusalem after the latest barrage in a day of consistent fire from Iran

For the seventh time Saturday, missiles launched from Iran triggered sirens in multiple cities and towns in Israel.

Fire and Rescue services said their teams were treating two sites in East Jerusalem where buildings were damaged in the latest round. It wasn’t immediately clear if the impact was from parts of a missile or of an interceptor. No injuries were reported.

The military had said its defense systems were activated to try and intercept the missiles.

Hezbollah on Saturday also kept up its rocket fire on communities in northern Israel. Most were intercepted and there were no reports of injuries.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claims it struck two US Black Hawk helicopters

In a briefing Saturday, Iran’s joint military command spokesperson said it hit other enemy targets Friday, including the two helicopters.

The AP could not independently verify the claims. Some media outlets in the U.S. have reported the helicopters were hit.

Ebrahim Zolfaghari said in a statement carried by state media that it “must be called a black and humiliating Friday for the American and Zionist enemies.”

Iran had claimed the downing of two American warplanes Friday.

On Saturday, the U.S. military was pressing ahead with its search for a missing pilot over a remote area in southwestern Iran.

Israeli fire kills one Palestinian in central Gaza, health officials say

The airstrike on a civilian vehicle wounded two others, according to health officials at Al-Aqsa hospital, where the casualties arrived.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Gaza Strip has seen near-daily Israeli fire and strikes since a fragile ceasefire was reached in October, and nearly 713 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

Since the Iran war began over a month ago, Gaza militants have sat out the conflict and haven’t claimed any attacks against Israel.

US military jets hit in Iran war are the first shot down by enemy fire in more than 20 years

Iran shooting down two American military jets marks an exceedingly rare assault for the U.S. that hasn’t happened in more than 20 years and shows the Islamic Republic’s continued ability to hit back despite President Trump asserting it has been “completely decimated.”

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

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

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

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Kuwait continues to intercept Iranian aerial attacks

In its daily briefing posted on X, the Kuwaiti army said Saturday that it had intercepted eight ballistic missiles and 19 drones over the last 24 hours.

Since the war began, Kuwaiti air forces have engaged with a total of 709 Iranian drones, 327 ballistic missiles and nine cruise missiles, according to the briefing.

Relatives of the late Gen. Soleimani have been arrested

The U.S. State Department says the niece and grand niece of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who had lead the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, are now in ICE custody.

Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were arrested after the State Department terminated their green cards.

The State Department said “as identified by both press reporting and her own social media commentary, Soleimani Afshar is an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran.”

Afshar’s husband is also banned from entering the U.S.

Pride with how interest and investment in women's hoops has skyrocketed since her days dominating at Southern California. Pride with how women's athletes are celebrated. Pride with the development in player skill over the years.

“A lot of these players are so dedicated, not just the X's and O's or the physical, their skillset," said Miller, who was honored this week as one of the greatest players of The Associated Press women’s basketball poll era, "but taking care of their bodies, the nutrition and sleeping better and what’s provided for them now at certain universities and programs. It’s just the evolution of the game itself.”

Miller and other women's basketball trailblazers, including Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman and former UCLA standout Ann Meyers Drysdale, spoke about the state of college sports at “The AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience,” which was held at Arizona State’s First Amendment Forum in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix.

Most conversations centered on how name, image and likeness along with the transfer portal are shaping the college game.

The changes in college sports have permeated politics, and ahead of the start of the Final Four for both men and women, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at restoring “order, fairness and stability” to college athletics.

The order directs federal agencies to bolster the effectiveness of key rules on transferring, eligibility and pay-for-play by evaluating whether violations of such rules render a university unfit for federal grants and contracts.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, whose team will play Sunday in the national championship game for the fourth time in five years, recently said her conversations with recruits nowadays reflect the new college sports landscape. While Staley's talks with recruits once centered on earning degrees, they're mostly focused now on money, especially with players in the transfer portal.

That's the same adjustment Arizona State coach Molly Miller has been forced to make.

"Recruiting a high school athlete is a lot different than recruiting a portal athlete," Miller said on a panel hosted by the AP on Thursday.

“Their questions are totally different than the portal kids,” she added. "Their questions are, ‘What’s the student-to-teacher ratio?' When you get in the portal they’re like: ‘Am I going to play? What’s the depth chart like, is the culture good and how much (money)?’”

Ackerman, who was the first president of the WNBA, sees tremendous growth in institutional investment in women's college sports, which she pointed out was evident in the success of the Final Four teams — South Carolina, UConn, Texas and UCLA — in Phoenix.

While that growth is paying off in brand value and fan engagement, Ackerman worries that it will lead to a wider disparity between schools with major football revenue and institutions that rely on smaller revenue streams.

“I’m not sure what the future holds,” she said. “I think it’s going to require leadership on campuses and innovation in terms of how to deploy resources that are finite for all sports.”

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AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience: https://apnews.com/https:/apnews.com/projects/arizona-state-fan-poll-experience/

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Fresh off losing the English League Cup final to City before the international break, Arsenal saw another potential trophy slip from its grasp when conceding in the 85th minute to lose 2-1 at Southampton — a team in seventh place in the Championship.

It left City as the big favorite to clinch a cup double this season, with the thrashing of Liverpool securing a place in the FA Cup semifinals for a record eighth straight season.

Mohamed Salah’s failure from the penalty spot added to the woes of Liverpool, whose meltdown at Etihad Stadium will put more heat on under-pressure manager Arne Slot.

Chelsea also advanced, routing third-tier Port Vale 7-0. The semifinal line-up will be completed Sunday when West Ham hosts Leeds, after which the last-four draw will be made.

Haaland's 12th hat trick for City

Haaland's 18-minute hat trick started with a penalty in the 39th minute, heading home a cross from Antoine Semenyo in first-half stoppage time, and sweeping in a finish off the crossbar in the 57th. His first hat trick of the season for City was his 12th since he joined the club in 2022.

Semenyo scored the other goal in the 50th for City. which sealed a return to Wembley Stadium two weeks after beating Arsenal there in the League Cup final.

“This club has to win trophies,” said Haaland, who was described after the game as a “machine” by City assistant coach Pep Lijnders — the former Liverpool No. 2 who was deputizing in the dugout while Pep Guardiola served a touchline suspension.

Salah, who announced during the international break he’s leaving Liverpool after nine trophy-filled seasons, was beginning his long goodbye to the Reds but couldn’t mark it with a goal. The best of the many chances he spurned came from a penalty, which City goalkeeper James Trafford palmed away in the 64th.

It was a record 18th straight home win for City in the FA Cup, dating to 2017. Guardiola's team shared a record with Clapham Rovers for reaching seven consecutive FA Cup finals but now holds it outright.

Many Liverpool fans were seen leaving the stadium after the fourth City goal.

“The fighting spirit wasn’t there enough, the mentality wasn’t there enough," Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai said. "None of us were there to be honest as much as we could.

“It’s a hard time but we have to stick together."

Chelsea overwhelms Port Vale

Like City, Chelsea romped to a big win — though this one was expected.

Playing without Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez for disciplinary reasons, Chelsea still had more than enough to dispatch Port Vale at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals by Jorrel Hato, Joao Pedro, Tosin Adarabioyo, Andrey Santos, Estevao and Alejandro Garnacho. There was also an own-goal.

Chelsea has won the FA Cup eight times, most recently in 2018.

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

On the downside, their toilet was on the blink again.

The three Americans and one Canadian are set to reach their destination Monday, photographing the mysterious lunar far side as they zoom around. It's the first moon-bound crew in more than 53 years, picking up where NASA’s Apollo program left off.

“The Earth is quite small, and the moon is definitely getting bigger,” pilot Victor Glover reported.

Until the Orion capsule's bathroom is fixed, Mission Control has instructed the astronauts to break out more of the backup urine collection bags. The so-called lunar loo malfunctioned following Wednesday’s liftoff and has been hit-and-miss ever since.

Artemis II is poised to set a distance record for humans, traveling more than 252,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) from Earth before hanging a U-turn behind the moon and heading home without stopping or entering lunar orbit. The record is currently held by Apollo 13.

The Canadian Space Agency celebrated the country’s role in the mission, speaking from Quebec with astronaut Jeremy Hansen as he headed toward his lunar rendezvous. Hansen is the first non-U.S. citizen to fly to the moon.

“Today he is making history for Canada,” Canadian Space Agency President Lisa Campbell said. “As we watch him taking this bold step into the unknown, let his journey remind us that Canada’s future is written by those who dare to reach for more.”

In the live televised linkup, Hansen said he's already witnessed “extraordinary” views from NASA's Orion capsule.

Hansen, Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch are the world's first lunar astronauts since Apollo 17's crew of three in 1972. Koch and Glover are the first female and first Black astronauts to the moon, respectively.

Their nearly 10-day mission — ending with a Pacific splashdown on April 10 — is the first step in NASA's bold plans for a sustainable moon base. The space agency is aiming for a landing by two astronauts near the lunar south pole in 2028.

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

Authorities announced the arrest of Roberto Mazzarella, 48, following a raid Friday on a villa on the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy after allegedly using false documents to rent the luxury coastal property.

Meloni, who is on a tour of Gulf states, described Mazzarella’s arrest as an “an important blow against the Camorra,” referring to the notorious criminal organization that originated in Naples.

“This sends a clear message that the state will not back down” Meloni said in an online post.

Mazzarella is wanted in connection with a 2000 fatal shooting at a delicatessen in central Naples.

Patchy fog will develop overnight away from the coast, especially for those locations that see any shower or storm.

Sunday will feature a mix of sun and clouds with temperatures in the 80s. In fact, near-record highs are likely. The record high temperature on Sunday at Jacksonville International Airport is 91 degrees set in 2017.

If you have any outdoor plans for Easter, make sure to keep an eye to the sky. An isolated shower or storm is possible, but activity won’t be widespread.

A front will approach our area from the north on Monday. It will turn breezy and much cooler with a northeasterly wind. Highs will be in the 70s on Monday with a few showers and storms.

The front will be slow-moving, which will keep the clouds and rain in the forecast on Tuesday. It will be breezy as well with a strong northeasterly wind. The front should clear most of our area on Wednesday, but it will remain mostly cloudy, breezy and cool.

Highs on Tuesday and Wednesday will only be in the 60s to low 70s due to the clouds and a strong northeasterly wind.

This front will bring beneficial rainfall to our area, which is good news since we are in a drought. Several areas could potentially see over an inch or more of rain.

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. As mentioned above, slight improvement can be expected with the rain in the forecast early next week.

TONIGHT: Partly Cloudy. Patchy Fog Possible. Low 62.

SUNDAY: Partly Cloudy. Mainly Dry. High 88, Low 62.

MONDAY: Cloudy & Breezy. Scattered Rain. High 70, Low 61.

TUESDAY: Cloudy & Breezy. Scattered Rain. High 70, Low 62.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly Cloudy & Breezy. Isolated Rain. High 61, Low 61.

THURSDAY: Mostly Cloudy & Breezy. Isolated Rain. High 73, Low 62.

FRIDAY: Sun & Clouds. Mainly Dry. High 76, Low 62.

The bearded 41-year-old was recognized on the video board by the Stars early in the game, and plenty of Dallas fans joined a vocal Avs contingent in cheering for Burns.

The all-time ironman streak belongs to forward Phil Kessel, who played in 1,064 consecutive regular-season games from Nov. 3, 2009, to April 13, 2023. He appeared with Toronto, Pittsburgh, Arizona and Vegas.

Burns, who appeared in his 1,500th game in October against the Stars, has been in the lineup for every game since Nov. 21, 2013, with San Jose. He also has played for Minnesota and Carolina.

Burns is in his first season with the Avalanche and has 11 goals. He and Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom are the only defensemen in league history to score double-digit goals at 40 or older.

The meeting with the Stars is Burns' 1,572nd career regular-season game. He entered the game with 941 points (272 goals, 669 assists). Burns spent 11 of his 22 seasons with the Sharks.

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

Parker, Holdsclaw and members of the 1996 Olympic team were all in attendance Friday at halftime of the UConn-South Carolina game during the women's Final Four, where the selections were announced, as was Amar’e Stoudemire and Mike D’Antoni.

They will be joined by longtime NBA official Joey Crawford, NBA coach Doc Rivers and Gonzaga coach Mark Few in the Hall of Fame.

Parker won three titles in the WNBA with three different teams: Los Angeles, Chicago and Las Vegas. She is the only player in league history to win both the MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season.

She also won two titles while playing in college for Tennessee under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt, plus two Olympic gold medals and two WNBA MVP awards.

Delle Donne won two league MVP awards in 2015 and 2019, the second of which came when she led the Washington Mystics to their lone WNBA championship. Delle Donne became the first player in league history to shoot more than 50% from the field, 40% from behind the 3-point line and 90% from the free-throw line.

Holdsclaw won three straight titles at Tennessee from 1996-98, the first team to accomplish that. The 1998 championship was Tennessee’s first undefeated season at 39–0 and the Vols also set an NCAA record for the most wins in a season. Holdsclaw went on to have an 11-year WNBA career.

Stoudemire, who was the only NBA player in this year's class, was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003 and six-time All-Star. He spent the first eight years of his career with the Phoenix Suns, where he teamed with D'Antoni.

Rivers has 1,192 victories on his resume, which puts him sixth on the all-time wins list. He led the Boston Celtics to the NBA championship in 2008 and also was in charge of the Los Angeles Clippers during their Lob City era.

Few has won more than 770 games at Gonzaga in his career at the school. He set the NCAA Division I men's coaching record by winning 81 games in his first three years at the school.

Crawford officiated 2,561 regular-season NBA games and 50 Finals games over his 39-year career. He retired in 2016.

The enshrinement ceremony will take place in August at the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

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This version corrects Rivers’ placement on career wins list from eighth to sixth.

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

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said Saturday that he and his Artemis II crewmates got to watch the film with their families before launching on the lunar fly-around. He said it was “a real treat” to view the movie while getting ready for his own space adventure.

Gosling, a fellow Canadian, sent best wishes to the four astronauts ahead of Wednesday's liftoff.

“Art imitates science and vice versa,” Hansen said during a live televised event arranged by the Canadian Space Agency. “I thought it was just such an inspirational example — somebody who goes out there and just gets what was done to save humanity. It’s a pretty extraordinary example that we can all follow.”

Hansen is the first non-U.S. citizen to fly to the moon.

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

In a motion filed Friday, National Park Service lawyers say that the federal judge's order to suspend construction of the new facility is “threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the President and his family, and the President’s staff.”

“Time is of the essence!” the lawyers write, citing materials that will be installed to make a “heavily fortified” facility. The ballroom construction also includes bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility, according to the filing. The ballroom is part of President Donald Trump's plans to quickly remake Washington.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington on Tuesday ordered the temporary pause of the construction project that has included demolishing the East Wing of the White House. He concluded that unless Congress approves the project, the preservationist group suing to stop it is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims because “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.”

The judge suspended enforcement of his order for 14 days acknowledging that the administration would appeal his decision.

Leon's ruling and the appeal come the same week a key agency tasked with approving construction on federal property in the Washington region gave final approval to the project.

In his ruling Leon, who was nominated by Republican President George W. Bush, suspended enforcement of his order recognizing that "halting an ongoing construction project may raise logistical issues.”

Leon also addressed national security in his ruling, saying that he reviewed information that the government privately submitted to him and concluded that halting construction wouldn't jeopardize national security. He exempted any construction work that is necessary for the safety and security of the White House from the scope of the injunction.

Trump lashed out at the ruling, but also noted that it would allow work on underground bunkers and other security measures around the White House grounds to continue — even though those will be paid for by taxpayers. Trump has pledged that he, along with private donors, will cover the costs for the ballroom construction.

But the National Park Service argues in its motion that the president has “complete authority to renovate the White House” and the current state of the grounds, which is an open construction site, make it harder to protect the White House.

“Canvas tents, which are necessary without a ballroom, are significantly more vulnerable to missiles, drones, and other threats than a hardened national security facility,” the motion says.

The Trump administration is asking the appeals court to make a decision on its request by Friday. It also asked that the 14-day suspension of Leon's order be extended by another two weeks so that the case can be taken to the Supreme Court.

Encompassing roughly 6.3 square miles (about 16 square kilometers) in Riverside County, about 64 miles (103 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, the Springs Fire was at least 45% percent contained on Saturday, a fire department spokesperson said. It was 25% contained on Friday.

While gusts up to 45 mph (72 kph) were predicted Saturday, Terra Fernandez, public safety information specialist for the Riverside County Fire Department, said winds had “dissipated a bit” since Friday, helping the efforts of fire crews.

“We’re feeling confident. The winds have died down so it’s assisting us in making more progress," she said. Fernandez also credited efforts to build and strengthen containment lines around the fire perimeter.

“We have natural equestrian trails around where a lot of the structures are and so that helps our firefighters make access.” she said. “And the humidity increasing this evening will also help.”

So far, no structures have been damaged or destroyed, Fernandez said.

Crews began early Saturday dropping water and retardant all around the fire by air. About 260 personnel are battling the blaze, including crews from around the region who are building and strengthening the containment lines and laying hose, she said.

Less than a dozen zones in the county remained under mandatory evacuation orders, while evacuation warnings in other parts of the county were lifted. It was not immediately known how many households were affected by the orders.

The fire is located in a populated unincorporated part of Riverside County that's a recreational area near the city of Moreno Valley, which has a population of roughly 200,000.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Following an NHL-record 14 seasons of futility, during which the team finished no better than 19th in the league standings, the Sabres clinched a berth on Saturday when the New York Rangers defeated the Detroit Red Wings in regulation. Buffalo's playoff drought was among the four North American major sports’ longest active streaks, ranking second behind the NFL's New York Jets, who last qualified in 2010.

The Sabres clinched with six games left in their season, before playing at Washington on Saturday night, and are in contention to earn the Eastern Conference's top seed. At 46-22-8, Buffalo is riding a 35-8-4 surge that has vaulted the team after sitting last in the East in early December.

The turnaround has been remarkable for a franchise that through Saturday has gone 5,458 days since the Lindy Ruff-coached team lost Game 7 of a first-round series to Philadelphia on April 26, 2011.

In the ensuing years, the Sabres have finished last overall four times and are on their seventh coach, with Ruff back for a second stint, and their fourth general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen.

Buffalo’s run up the standings coincided with Kekalainen being promoted from his position as senior adviser on Dec. 15, replacing Kevyn Adams, who was fired after five-plus seasons.

The Sabres already had won three straight when the change occurred and proceeded to go on a franchise record-matching 10-0 run. They’ve not looked back since. Buffalo is 14-3-2 since returning from the Olympic break, and the team’s worst stretch since December has been a 0-1-2 skid.

Though Adams’ firing played a role in spurring the team, so did Buffalo getting healthier.

The Sabres’ top two lines were replenished with the return of Josh Norris and Jason Zucker, and their goaltending got a boost with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen shaking off an early season injury to resume sharing the starting duties with Alex Lyon. After opening the season 4-5-1, Luukkonen has gone 15-4-2 since Dec. 21.

Kekalainen also added depth at the trade deadline last month by acquiring center Sam Carrick, forward Tanner Pearson and defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn.

The team is led by two of its longest-tenured players: captain Rasmus Dahlin, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, and forward Tage Thompson, who was acquired in a trade that sent Ryan O’Reilly to St. Louis in the summer of 2018.

Dahlin entered Saturday ranking sixth among NHL defensemen with 67 points, while Thompson was tied for 11th among all skaters with 38 goals.

The next test for Buffalo is winning a playoff series, something the team hasn’t done since beating the Rangers in six games in the second round in 2007.

The turnaround has revived a fanbase that had grown weary with losing, various rebuilding plans that failed to generate a winner and a revolving door of talent being shuffled in and out of Buffalo — from O’Reilly’s departure to Jack Eichel being dealt to Vegas in November 2021 following a lengthy standoff over how to repair a neck injury. Each went on to win the Stanley Cup with his new team.

The Sabres have not hoisted the Cup through their first 54 seasons of existence.

Buffalo has had 21 home sellouts this season, including 15 in a row, a year after selling out just five games.

This season, the Sabres have shown resolve in rallying back from deficits. Buffalo entered Saturday with 19 come-from-behind wins, tied for seventh in the NHL. That included defeating Tampa Bay 8-7 last month after trailing 7-5 with nine minutes left in regulation.

The Lightning also clinched Saturday before playing.

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

A visibly upset Auriemma went over to Staley in the final seconds of South Carolina’s 62-48 victory on Friday night and appeared to chastise her. Coaches from both teams had to separate them. When the game finally ended, Auriemma walked off the court to the locker room without going back to shake hands with anyone from South Carolina.

“There’s no excuse for how I handled the end of the game vs. South Carolina. It’s unlike what I do and what our standard is here at Connecticut,” the Hall of Fame coach said in a statement on Saturday. “I want to apologize to the staff and the team at South Carolina. It was uncalled for in how I reacted. The story should be how well South Carolina played, and I don’t want my actions to detract from that. I’ve had a great relationship with their staff, and I sincerely want to apologize to them.”

Staley said Saturday morning she was focused on the title game against UCLA on Sunday and not what happened a night earlier.

“For me, no distractions at this time. I'm concentrating on winning a national championship, that’s it,” Staley said. “That’s a little disheartening. This is sports, sometimes things like this happen. Continue to focus on my team and ability to advance in this tournament and hopefully win another national championship.”

Staley later said that she would address it at a later point.

After the loss, Auriemma said the exchange was about the lack of a traditional pregame handshake between the coaches. Staley said she was confused Friday night.

“I have no idea,” the South Carolina coach said after the game. “But I’m going to let you know this: I’m of integrity. I’m of integrity. So if I did something wrong to Geno, I had no idea what I did. I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game. I didn’t know. I went down there pregame, shook everybody on his staff’s hand.

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

South Carolina advanced to play UCLA in the title game on Sunday. The Gamecocks are looking for their third championship in five seasons.

UConn and South Carolina are set to play each other the next two years with the first game in Connecticut.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Auriemma said the officiating didn't help.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UConn’s 54-game winning streak is over.

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

Auriemma said it started at the beginning of the game, but the ending is what everyone will talk about.

A visibly upset Auriemma went over to Staley in the waning seconds of South Carolina's 62-48 victory over his UConn team in the Final Four and appeared to chastise her before the two shook hands. Staley responded with “don't do that" while assistant coaches from both teams separated them.

Auriemma later said the exchange was about the lack of a traditional pregame handshake between the coaches. Staley said she was confused.

“I have no idea,” Staley said when asked what happened. “But I’m going to let you know this: I’m of integrity. I’m of integrity. So if I did something wrong to Geno, I had no idea what I did. I guess he thought I didn’t shake his hand at the beginning of the game. I didn’t know. I went down there pregame, shook everybody on his staff’s hand.

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

The Gamecocks will play UCLA in their third straight title game on Sunday, but not everyone was willing to move on from the exchange so quickly.

Auriemma immediately left the court without shaking hands when the game ended, and the moment quickly spread on social media.

Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie, a former Olympic teammate of Staley, posted on X: “It’s a real shame that #Geno took the low road! We have all had to lose with class! Geno of the @UConnWBB needs to start with an apology!!!”

There were no apologies Friday night, but Auriemma explained why he was frustrated before ultimately following up with an apology on Saturday.

“For 41 years I’ve been coaching and, I don’t know, 25 Final Fours,” Auriemma said. “The protocol is before the game you meet at halfcourt. Anybody see that before? Two coaches meet at halfcourt and they shake hands, correct? Ever see it? They announce it on the loudspeaker.

“I waited there for like three minutes. So it is what it is.”

Auriemma and Staley have been the gold standard in women's basketball for years, and their battle for supremacy has produced some of the most thrilling moments in women's college basketball over the last decade.

They've coached some of the greatest talent in the game. They have a combined 15 national championships and nearly 2,000 wins with their respective programs, and their teams have faced each other 15 times.

Despite the intensity on the court, Staley and Auriemma have typically exchanged public pleasantries, complimenting each others' successes and importance to the women's game. They sparked conversations in 2023 when Staley defended her team after Auriemma criticized the Gamecocks' physicality — but their rivalry had never boiled over in the way it did on Friday.

Auriemma ripped the officiating in the third after the Gamecocks were not whistled for a foul in the quarter. He continued to voice his displeasure with how Staley spoke to the refs in his postgame news conference.

“I’m of the opinion that if I ever talk to an official like that, I would get tossed,” he said. “So I just want to make sure there’s not a double standard, that some people are allowed to talk to officials like that and other people are not. That’s it.”

Staley did not want to talk about the exchange in her postgame news conference.

“You can ask Geno the question,” she said. “He’s the one that initiated the conversation. I don’t want what happened there to dampen what we were able to accomplish today.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ahem, tortoise.

This all probably needs an explanation.

During a game last August, Brewers manager Pat Murphy was caught taking a pancake from the pocket of his hoodie for a midgame bite, right in the middle of a dugout interview during a game against the Nationals. It wasn't necessarily new for Murphy, who's been known to have everything from waffles to eggs rolls close at hand should he get the munchies.

But given the game was nationally televised, the moment immediately went viral. And the Brewers even latched onto the momentum, introducing “Murph's Pocket Pancakes” as concession items for Sunday home games at American Family Field.

Back to the turtle — er, tortoise.

The Brewers were supposed to play the Royals on Friday night on Apple TV, though the game was called 90 minutes before first pitch because of the rain. During a pregame interview with Apple's reporter, Tricia Whitaker, Murphy said he was informed “under no uncertain circumstances, no pocket pancakes” during their talk, so he pulled out what was supposed to be a pocket turtle.

“This is Bobby Jr.,” Murphy said in presenting it to her, having named the creature after his longtime friend, Bobby Witt, and his son, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. “I didn't want to pull out pancakes so here we are.”

Whitaker posted the moment on social media, and fans immediately informed her that the reptile was not, in fact, a pocket turtle — or any turtle. It was a tortoise, or more specifically a Sulcata tortoise, which can live 70 years and grow to 100 pounds.

“How am I supposed to fly this home?” Whitaker asked.

Good question.

Turns out, as Whitaker later posted on social media, American Airlines has “a strict no reptiles policy,” so Bobby Jr. had to stay behind in Kansas City. The agreement, she wrote, is that the club would keep the tortoise for the time being.

Indeed, the reptile was happily living under a heat lamp in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday, though the plan is to find Bobby Jr. a good home soon. He won't be traveling with the club all season.

“It was suggested by one player,” Whitaker said, “that they get to keep the ‘rally turtle' if they win today. If they lose, I am hoping, consideration will be given to send me the tortoise.”

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

The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston on Friday granting the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed last month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general. It will only apply to public universities in plaintiffs.

The federal judge said the federal government likely has the authority to collect the data, but the demand was rolled out to universities in a “rushed and chaotic” manner.

“The 120-day deadline imposed by the President led directly to the failure of NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process to address the multitude of problems presented by the new requirements,” Saylor wrote.

President Donald Trump ordered the data collection in August after he raised concerns that colleges and universities were using personal statements and other proxies to consider race, which he views as illegal discrimination.

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of affirmative action in admissions but said colleges could still consider how race has shaped students’ lives if applicants share that information in their admissions essays.

The states argue the data collection risks invading student privacy and leading to baseless investigations of colleges and universities. They also argued that universities have not been given enough time to collect the data.

“The data has been sought in such a hasty and irresponsible way that it will create problems for universities,” a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Michelle Pascucci, told the court, adding that the effort seem was aimed at uncovering unlawful practices.

The Education Department has defended the effort, arguing taxpayers deserve transparency on how money is spent at institutions that receive federal funding.

The administration's policy echoes settlement agreements the government negotiated with Brown University and Columbia University, restoring their federal research money. The universities agreed to give the government data on the race, grade-point average and standardized test scores of applicants, admitted students and enrolled students. The schools also agreed to be audited by the government and to release admissions statistics to the public.

The National Center for Education Statistics is to collect the new data, including the race and sex of colleges’ applicants, admitted students and enrolled students. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said the data, which was originally due by March 18, must be disaggregated by race and sex and retroactively reported for the past seven years.

If colleges fail to submit timely, complete and accurate data, the administration has said McMahon can take action under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which outlines requirements for colleges receiving federal financial aid for students.

The Trump administration separately has sued Harvard University over similar data, saying it refused to provide admissions records the Justice Department demanded to ensure the school stopped using affirmative action. Harvard has said the university has been responding to the government’s requests and is in compliance with the high court ruling against affirmative action. On Monday, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights directed Harvard to comply with the data requests within 20 days for face referral to the U.S. Justice Department.

The blaze broke out in the Kadamtali area of Keraniganj near Dhaka, according to the fire service and civil defense.

Seven firefighting units were deployed to extinguish the blaze, which started in the afternoon, the fire department said. It took several hours to bring it under control.

Firefighters recovered five bodies by the evening and they couldn't immediately be identified.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Police said the shooting occurred around 2:15 a.m. on Golfair Boulevard when the man who was playing dice outside a nearby motel was approached by someone else, who then opened fire.

The man, believed to be in his 50s, had non-life-threatening injuries as a result of the incident, police said.

JSO said the suspect and all witnesses fled the scene following the shooting.

Police ask anyone with information about this incident to contact them at (904) 630-0500 or at jsocrimetimes@jaxsheriff.org

You can also stay anonymous by contacting CrimeStoppers at 1 866-845-TIPS.

The latest actions were taken just this week when Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined they were no longer eligible for either lawful permanent resident status, or to enter the United States. The steps follow a move late last year in which the visas of several diplomats and staffers at Iran’s mission to the United Nations were also revoked.

In a statement on Saturday, the State Department said the niece and grand-niece of former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike near the Baghdad airport in 2020, had been arrested late Friday by immigration agents after Rubio revoked their green cards.

“Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” the statement said, adding that Afshar’s husband has also been banned from entering the United States.

Afshar and her daughter had been living a “lavish lifestyle” in Los Angeles for many years while publicly supporting the Iranian government and anti-American attacks, according to the statement.

She is “an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the “Great Satan,” Rubio said in a post on X. “The Trump administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.”

The Iranian mission to the U.N. had no comment Saturday.

Afshar and her daughter are just the latest Iranians to have their legal status in the U.S. rescinded by Rubio, who recently revoked the visas of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, an academic and the daughter of Iran’s former national security adviser Ali Larijani who was killed in a U.S.-Israel airstrike last month. Her husband, Seyed Kalantar Motamedi, also had his visa revoked, the State Department said. Neither are still in the U.S.

In early December, well before the surge of anti-government protests in Iran and the start of the war, the State Department revoked or declined to renew visas of several Iranian diplomats, including the deputy ambassador, and staffers at Iran’s mission to the United Nations.

The department said Friday that action had been taken on Dec. 4 but declined to comment further “for privacy and security reasons” except to note that it was unrelated to either the protests or the war.

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AP reporter Farnoush Amiri contributed to this story.

More than 25,000 eggs were spread across the Riverfront Plaza ahead of Easter.

“Last year, we did Friendship Fountain. Admittedly, we had a huge turnout last year, we had too few mini eggs this year,” said Garrett Callis, Community Programs manager with Jax Parks. “We’ve greatly increased that, as you can see, we’re rocking and rolling.”

The egg hunt featured take-off time for five different age groups ranging from 0-12.

“I love the fact that Jacksonville’s utilizing the space with the Landing gone now,” said parent William Guzman. “Making things happen here is, I think, super important, especially for the kids and stuff like that.”

Families could enjoy face painting, live music and other games.

Eleven months after releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler” and just over two months after publishing an apology letter for his antisemitism, Ye let two decades of hits — and 70,000 screaming loyal fans — speak the loudest on Friday night at SoFi Stadium.

“I want to thank y’all for sticking by me all these years. Through the hard times, through the low times,” he told the crowd. “I love you for that.”

Hill joined Ye on a stage for the first time ever for an energetic rendition of his 2004 hit “All Falls Down,” which originally sampled her voice. Ye left the stage as she performed “Lost Ones” and “Doo Wop (That Thing)” before rejoining for his 2021 “Doo Wop”-sampling song “Believe What I Say.” They hugged as she exited.

Travis Scott, CeeLo Green and Ye’s tween daughter North West also strapped on safety harnesses to join Ye high above the stadium floor atop a striking half-orb stage, which alternately depicted a moon, a rotating Earth and a smoking sphere throughout the two hours-plus livestreamed performance.

A loud singalong of “Heartless” midway through the more than 40-song Good Friday show seemed to boost Ye’s spirits: “That’s what 80,000 people sound like, ladies and gentlemen. … They said I’d never be back in the States. Two sold-out concerts, baby!”

The first SoFi show Wednesday, his first major U.S. performance in nearly five years, turned out to be more of a warm-up as Ye was tentative in his rapping and drew attention to technical mishaps.

Fans at that show said they separated the 48-year-old performer’s personal beliefs and public statements from his music — and were ready to forgive after his January apology letter.

“You gotta back your family no matter what,” said Vince Da Prince, a rapper from Downey, Calif. “He’s a part of our fam since we were little kids.”

Added fan Yovani Contreras: “I don’t really bring into politics or the way someone’s personal opinion are. I’m into the music artistry … Like, I just, to me, Ye is always gonna be Ye. Kanye is always gonna be Kanye.”

Luis Velasquez said he’d been a longtime fan and had been put off by controversies in recent years, but felt the apology was sincere.

“Yeah he did apologize,” he said. “He’s taking the medication I think is what he mentioned. … For me as a fan that’s, like, respect, right? Like I think that’s cool enough to bridge that gap.”

Ye released his latest album, “Bully,” under both the names Ye and Kanye West, at the end of March. He dominated hip-hop and pop charts in the 2000s and early 2010s, winning 24 Grammy Awards despite public outbursts and a polarizing personality. He lost nearly all his major business partnerships and many fans after a string of controversies in the last several years including antisemitic remarks and social media posts.

He closed Friday night’s show with his “toast to the douchebags” hit “Runaway,” and walked out of the stadium behind his wife Bianca Censori and two of his children.

A breezy Atlantic sea breeze will push inland this afternoon, bringing gusts up to 20 mph. Rain chances stay low (under 15%), but we could see a few brief showers pop up late day along the sea breeze; thunderstorms look unlikely.

Tonight, an approaching cold front will start to change the pattern. Winds should stay light southerly, which limits widespread fog, but patchy, shallow fog is still possible where winds go calm.

Sunday stays warm and breezy ahead of that front, with highs in the mid to upper 80s and a few spots near 90 degrees (Jax record 91/2017). The Gulf sea breeze moves inland and could merge with the Atlantic sea breeze near I-95 late afternoon/evening—bringing the best chance for a few showers/storms near I-95 and inland SE Georgia.

Fire danger and drought conditions remain high

Firefighters continue to gain control over a brush fire in Baker, Columbia, Ware and Clinch counties. Read more here

From the National Weather Service in Jacksonville: High pressure moves farther into the Atlantic today, keeping a south-southeast breeze and bringing slightly drier air inland—afternoon humidity drops into the mid to upper 30s and rain chances stay low, with only a stray shower possible in far interior southeast Georgia late today. On Sunday, winds turn southwest and ramp up ahead of a cold front; sea breezes push inland and collide late afternoon, helping spark showers and storms. More widespread, beneficial rain arrives with the front Sunday night into Monday. With exceptional to extreme drought and breezy winds, fire danger is elevated and could lead to erratic fire behavior.

Much-needed rainfall on the way

Beginning Sunday afternoon, wet and windy weather returns with some much-needed rainfall in the forecast, taking us through mid-next week.

More rain has been forecast for the coming days throughout Afghanistan, and the authority warned the public to stay away from river banks and areas prone to flooding.

So far this year, dozens of people have died due to extreme weather in Afghanistan, an impoverished country that is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events. Earlier this year, heavy snowfall and flash floods left dozens of people dead across the country.

The recent toll includes 26 people killed over the past 48 hours, the disaster authority said. Overall, 793 homes have been completely destroyed and a further 2,673 have been damaged, while floods and landslides have destroyed 337 kilometers (about 210 miles) of roads, it said.

Businesses, agricultural land, water wells and irrigation canals have also been damaged, with more than 5,800 families affected overall, the authority said.

Several highways connecting the country’s capital to the provinces have also been damaged by floods and landslides, forcing travelers to take long, circuitous routes to reach Kabul, Public Works Ministry spokesman Ashraf Haqshinas said Saturday.

They include the Kabul to Jalalabad highway, which is the main route linking the capital to the Pakistani border and eastern Afghan provinces. A landslide and rockfalls, as well as flooding, shut the highway on Thursday morning, and Haqshinas said crews were working to re-open the road.

The Public Works Ministry warned travelers to be cautious when using roads in affected areas.

Flooding has also shut the Salang Pass, a high mountain pass in the Hindu Kush mountain range that connects Kabul to the country’s north, including the major cities of Kunduz and Mazar-e-Sharif.

Snow and heavy rain often trigger flash floods that kill scores, or even hundreds, of people at a time in Afghanistan. In 2024, more than 300 people died in springtime flash floods.

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Elena Becatoros contributed from Kabul, Afghanistan.

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

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

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

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

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

Shoulder-fired missile likely used, experts say

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Helicopters are more at risk than other aircraft

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

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

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

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

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

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Bedayn reported from Denver.

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This story has been clarified to show that a U.S. military jet has not been shot down in 20 years vs. general aircraft.

You can make a difference all while this specific donation event is paying tribute to one woman.

Lilly Kishore’s mother had no shortage of words to describe her daughter.

“She was really ambitious, but super sweet,” said Malia Kishore about Lilly. “I don’t know how she managed that. She was ambitious as a student. She knew exactly what she wanted to do. She went for it and got it.”

Lilly played lacrosse in at Skidmore College in New York. She had her sights on pursuing a career in psychology.

Lilly never made it to graduate school at Columbia University.

She died in May 2021 from sudden cardiac arrest. Lilly was just 21 years old.

“She was able to let life lead her to new decisions,” Malia said. “Just a really giving kid. We were lucky to have her for 21 years.”

Lilly was a consistent blood donor starting at 16 years old after losing a friend to leukemia.

The Kishores have cousins who own a Culver’s franchise in Florida.

Since Lilly died, they started having annual blood drives in her honor.

Those same blood drives have made their way up to northeast Florida.

OneBlood is hosting blood drives at 8 local Culver’s locations on Friday, April 10 and Saturday, April 11.

Times and Locations:

Culver’s Blood Drives April 10th

2PM-7PM

4768 Hodges Boulevard, Jacksonville

11AM-4PM

7923 Parramore Road, Jacksonville

2PM-7PM

2620 Stratton Boulevard, St. Augustine

Culver’s Blood Drives April 11th

11AM-4PM

7818 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville

11AM-4PM

1767 Blanding Boulevard, Middleburg

11AM-4PM

101 Monument Road, Jacksonville

11AM-4PM

3433 US Highway 1, St. Augustine

11AM-4PM

463731 State Road 200, Yulee

Pat Michaels, who is OneBlood’s director of media in public relations, says donations of any blood type are welcome.

“The need for blood donations never stops,” Michaels said. “We have people who go to trauma units, emergency rooms, routine surgeries, cancer treatment that have to happen every single day. That is why we operate seven days a week to make sure the hospital patients have the blood that they need. We never know when we may need it or a member of our own family [may] need a blood transfusion.”

This way of helping people is also helping this mother who is also navigating through her own grief.

“To lose someone so young and who had such great ambitions for the world, and not just herself, and to have people remember that and give of themselves [means a lot], Malia said. ”People who donate blood, that is a hard thing to do."

Those planning to donate blood at this drive will receive a Culver’s coupon, a $20 eGift card, a OneBlood umbrella and a wellness checkup including blood pressure, pulse, temperature, iron count and cholesterol screening.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here is the latest:

Oracle building in Dubai damaged by drone debris

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

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

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

365 service members have been wounded in action in Iran war

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

▶ Read more

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

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

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

Trump declines to speak about search for missing crew member

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—- Lisa Mascaro

Second US aircraft went down

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

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

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

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

—- Konstantin Toropin

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

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

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

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

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

Iranian official derides the US after downing US aircraft

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Israeli official says Israel providing intel for search effort

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

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

—- Josef Federman

Kuwait defends against air attacks

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

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

Israeli tank shelling kills one in southern Syria

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

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

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

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

Israel reports new missile launch from Iran

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

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

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

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

The Pentagon has not immediately responded to repeated requests for comment

Israel suspends airstrikes as search for downed US pilot proceeds

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

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

—- Josef Federman

Tehran resident describes projectile overhead and smoke near medical research center

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

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

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

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

—- Amir-Hussein Radjy

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

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

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

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

Aircraft was ‘shot down,’ US military says

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

Iran accuses the UN nuclear watchdog of siding with its enemies

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

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

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

Jordan and Israel warn of more air attacks

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

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

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

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

US officials are being informed about the rescue operation in Iran

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

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

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

Gas tanker affiliated with Japan makes it through the strait

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

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

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

Four US planes had already gone down during the Iranian war

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bahrain cracks down on dissent as Iran war reignites internal unrest

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

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

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

▶ Read more

Iranian motorcyclist describes a tale of two cities in wartime Tehran

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

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

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

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

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

— By Amir-Hussein Radjy

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

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

It's a question that can produce some, well, uncomfortable answers if you happen to be an earthling.

“If I were looking at Earth from a distance, I would be pretty disappointed,” theoretical physicist Avi Loeb says. “Most of our investing is dealing with conflicts to prevent other people from killing us or us killing others. Look at the Ukraine war over a little bit of territory. That is not a sign of intelligence."

The debate on whether little green men or UFOs are among us escalated in February when former President Barack Obama, responding to a podcaster's question, said aliens are “real,” but he ”hasn’t seen them” and “they’re not being kept at Area 51.” President Donald Trump later announced on social media that he was directing release of government files because of “tremendous interest.”

Stepped-up interest in UFOs also is swirling as the United States heads back toward the moon with Wednesday's launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission. The four astronauts aboard will do a fly-around of the moon before returning to Earth.

In a world riven by war, civil unrest, climate change and divisiveness, it's easy to wonder what newcomers to Planet Earth might make of us and our struggles. Whatever the case, well over a majority of Americans echo the sentiment of the slogan from “The X-Files”: “The truth is out there."

A 2021 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center showed about two-thirds of Americans said their best guess is that intelligent life exists on other planets. About half of U.S. adults said UFOs reported by people in the military are “definitely” or “probably” evidence of intelligent life outside Earth.

“We don’t want to think this is the only place in this extraordinarily and incomprehensibly large universe where life and intelligence and even technology have emerged,” says Bill Diamond, president and chief executive of the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.

“It sort of says about humans, ’We don’t want to be alone.'"

Something is up there. But what?

Americans have been fascinated by the thought of life outside this planet following the recovery of debris in 1947 near Roswell, New Mexico. The military initially said the material was from a flying disc, only to reverse course and tell the public it was from a weather balloon.

Hollywood ran with it. Flying saucers, little green men and eventually humanoid gray aliens became part of popular culture. April 5 even is celebrated annually throughout the iconic “Star Trek" franchise as “First Contact Day” to mark the date in 2063 when humankind, in “Trek” canon, first made contact with Vulcans.

Much in the popular culture suggests any aliens might be aggressive. Priscilla Wald, who teaches about science fiction at Duke University, has a theory as to why.

“It seems to me it’s a reflection on who we are, that we’re projecting onto aliens the way we treat each other," Wald says. "So the aliens are coming down, they want to conquer us, they’re violent. Who does that sound like? It sounds like us.”

In 2024, the Pentagon released hundreds of reports of unidentified and unexplained aerial phenomena. However, that review gave no indications that their origins were extraterrestrial.

On two separate occasions, Debbie Dmytro saw things in the sky over Michigan’s southern Oakland County. The greenish object Dmytro says she saw March 1 in the sky over Royal Oak, Michigan, looked like neither plane nor helicopter. Dmytro, a 56-year-old medical professional, acknowledges that it could have been some type of commercial or delivery drone.

What she saw in 2023 in the same general area north of Detroit is not so easily explained.

“Four yellow lights, yellowish golden lights and they were all flying very, very low,” Dmytro remembers. She says the lights were about 100 feet (30 meters) up at their nearest.

“I’ve never seen anything so low without any noise and flying in complete uniformity,” she says. “Is it something man-made? Is it something that’s not manmade? Who knows?”

Who knows indeed? UFOs, the term for unidentified flying objects, has in recent years given way to UAP — unidentified aerial phenomena or unidentified anomalous phenomena.

“Absolutely, there are such things” as UAPs and UFOs, says Diamond, whose SETI — Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence — seeks to explore, search and understand the nature of life and intelligence in the universe.

“People observe things in the sky that they can’t immediately identify or recognize as either human engineering such as planes or drones or helicopters, or animals, such as birds, and therefore they don’t know what they are," Diamond says.

Time for the truth

Like so many, Dmytro wants to know what the government knows. “I think there’s more information out there. I’m open to learning more,” she says. “I have an open mind. It’s always about scientific proof.”

Retired Rear Adm. Timothy Gallaudet says evidence clearly shows there are UAP zipping around the airspace and in the oceans.

“The nonhuman intelligence that operates them or controls them are absolutely real,” Gallaudet says. “We’ve recovered crashed craft. We don’t know if they’re extraterrestrial in origin."

Gallaudet worked as acting administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He participated in a 2024 congressional hearing on UAP disclosure and says the release of government files promised by Trump is something people find of interest. He just hopes the president follows through.

There are billions of galaxies in the universe and each has billions of stars, so the likelihood life developed elsewhere is fairly high, according to University of Michigan Astronomy Professor Edwin Bergin, who teaches about looking for life elsewhere. He believes that if intelligent beings navigated vast distances to reach Earth they would make themselves known — despite humanity’s penchant for creating chaos.

“I would think that they would look at us like we were crazy ... but they would come out," he says. "I mean, why come here otherwise unless you’re going to sit and observe.”

Loeb, director of the Institute for Theory & Computation at Harvard and head of the university's Galileo Project for the Systematic Scientific Search for Evidence of Extraterrestrial Technological Artifacts, believes in the likely existence of extraterrestrials.

“They might be laughing at us,” he says. "They might be watching us ... to make sure we will not become predators, that we will not become dangerous to them.”

In the interest of national security

Much of the government’s secrecy around UFOs and UAP is tied to national security concerns, according to Diamond.

“We have pretty advanced technologies, satellite, ground-based that are for various purposes mostly national security and defense that are pointing at the sky or things on board aircraft,” Diamond says. “Sometimes these pick up objects. The technology behind it is sensitive and protected.”

Government data, including a “trove ” of UAP video the Navy is sitting on, should be shared with scientists for research and a better understanding of the characteristics of the objects, says Gallaudet, who spent 32 years in the Navy and viewed classified UAP video.

“When you look at these things in our airspace having near collisions with our aircraft, that’s a real valid concern,” he says. “We are just not sure of what they are and what they intend to do with their interaction with humanity. That could be a national security threat, or not."

“When has ignorance ever been a good national strategy?" Gallaudet asks. "Whether it be scary, harmful or not, or a mix, I think seeking the truth is in our best interest.”

Meanwhile, Diamond doesn't think any “true alien encounter could be kept secret.”

“If any civilization has mastered interstellar travel, they have technology and capabilities beyond our wildest comprehension,” he says. “If they want to interact, they will; if they don’t, they won’t. If they want to be seen, they will be, and if not, they won’t be!”

The price had been $8,680 when FIFA sold tickets after the tournament draw in December.

FIFA’s category 2 tickets for the July 19 game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, were $7,380, up from $5,575, and category 3 cost $5,785, an increase from $4,185.

Tickets were listed for 17 of the 72 group-stage matches by Wednesday night and none of the knockout stage games.

Soccer's governing body is using dynamic pricing for the tournament, which will be played in 11 U.S. cities plus three in Mexico and two in Canada.

Only $2,735 tickets, the highest-priced seats, were available by evening for the U.S. opener on June 12 against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and the price was unchanged from December. No tickets were listed for the Americans' June 19 game against Australia at Seattle or their June 25 match against Turkey at Inglewood.

Only $2,985 seats were available by Wednesday evening for the tournament opener between Mexico and South Africa on June 11 in Mexico City, up from $2,355 in December. And only $2,240 tickets were available for Canada's first game on June 12 against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto, an increase from $2,170.

Soccer's governing body did not announce which games and price categories were available, leaving potential ticket buyers to search for themselves on a FIFA ticketing site that often took hours to enter.

Some people who clicked on what FIFA called its “last-minute sales phase” when sales opened at 11 a.m. EDT were directed into a queue for "PMA late qualifier supporters sales phase," aimed for a segment of fans for the six nations who earned berths on Tuesday.

FIFA did not have an explanation for why the link misdirection occurred but said around noon that the links were working properly.

FIFA also said that not all remaining tickets were being put on sale for the 104 games to be played in the U.S., Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19 and that additional tickets will be released on a rolling basis.

This was the fifth phase of ticket sales following a Visa presale draw from Sept. 10-19, an early ticket draw from Oct. 27-31, a random selection draw from Dec. 11 to Jan. 13 and an unscheduled 48-hour availability in late February.

FIFA said this phase, which will remain open through the tournament, marked the first time a specific seat location could be purchased rather than a request for a ticket in a category.

For the monthlong sales phase after the Dec. 5 draw, tickets were priced at $140 to $8,680. After complaints, FIFA said $60 tickets would be made available to each participating national federation for their most loyal supporters, an amount likely to be 400-700 per team for each match.

“The employment of dynamic ticket pricing for the 2026 FWC starkly contrasts with FIFA’s core mission to promote the accessible and inclusive promotion and development of soccer globally,” 69 Democratic members of Congress wrote in a March 10 letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “Despite host cities’ cooperation in bringing the vision of the largest, most global World Cup in history to fruition, the consequences of dynamic pricing will make the 2026 FWC the most financially exclusionary and inaccessible to date.”

FIFA also has its own resale market, collecting 15% from both the buyer and seller.

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Congo, the Czech Republic, Iraq, Sweden and Turkey completed the World Cup field. Fans of teams eliminated Tuesday could attempt to resell tickets they already had purchased, nations that include Italy, Poland, Denmark, Jamaica and Bolivia.

Infantino claimed in January that the amount of ticket requests FIFA had received was the equivalent of “the request for 1,000 years of World Cups at once.”

“This is unique,” he said at the time. “It’s incredible.”

It was unclear if many of those requests were for seats in the lowest-price categories.

Fan groups have voiced concern over the soaring costs for resold tickets and one filed a formal complaint to the European Commission last month.

Infantino defended FIFA's cut of resales, saying the governing body was engaged in a legal commercial activity under U.S. law. Some European countries have laws that can restrict resale by requiring tickets to be sold for face value or only by authorized partners of the event organizers.

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

Mohibullah Niazi, a neighbor who helped in the rescue efforts, said Saturday that the eight people killed on the outskirts of Kabul after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck northern Afghanistan the previous night were a refugee family recently returned from neighboring Iran.

There was only one survivor: a boy of around 3 years old, who was injured and has been hospitalized in Kabul.

Afghanistan's deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat on Saturday increased the overall death toll from the quake to 12, with another four people injured. Fitrat said five homes were destroyed and another 33 significantly damaged, affecting 40 families in the provinces of Kabul, Panjshir, Logar, Nangarhar, Laghman and Nuristan.

The Afghanistan Disaster Management Authority put the overall death toll at nine. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

The family near Kabul was among the millions of Afghan refugees who have recently returned from Iran and Pakistan, after both countries launched crackdowns in 2023 on foreigners — particularly Afghans — living in their countries.

They had arrived 15 days ago and were living in a tent on land next to Niazi’s home. The family head, Najibullah, who was about 50 years old, “had no other shelter," Niazi said. “He was a very poor person.”

‘We tried our best’

The family had set their tent up next to a wall separating the plot of land from Niazi’s home, which stood on higher ground, in the village of Ittefaq on the eastern outskirts of the Afghan capital.

Heavy rains over the past several days, which have led to deadly floods in many parts of Afghanistan, had left the ground sodden and soft. When the earthquake struck, the wall collapsed on the family.

“My daughter shouted to me that a wall had fallen on them. The whole family ran, but there were so many big rocks,” Niazi recounted Saturday as he stood at the scene. “We tried our best.”

On Saturday morning, piles of bricks and mud were all that were left, along with blankets, cooking utensils and other personal belongings salvaged from the rubble and set into a pile.

“For about three minutes, I could hear the voices of these people,” Niazi said. “But we couldn’t do anything. There were two or three of us, but this was not the work of three people.”

Neighbors soon rushed to help, digging through the mud and rubble with spades and their hands. They alerted the local Taliban police checkpoint, which sent rescuers and ambulances.

The young boy, Aarash, was pulled out alive but injured, and rushed to the hospital. Health Ministry spokesperson Sharafat Zaman, who visited the boy Saturday, said he was being treated for a severe head injury.

For the rest of the family — the father and mother, four daughters aged between 12 and 23, and two sons — it was too late. The rescuers could only recover their bodies.

Niazi said he had hosted the family in his own home one night. On Friday, just half an hour before the earthquake struck, he had renewed the offer, telling the family they could spend the night in his own guest room to shelter from the cold and rain. “But they did not come with me,” he said.

A string of deadly quakes

Friday night’s quake had an epicenter in the Hindu Kush mountain range, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) east of the northern city of Kunduz, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Center and the U.S. Geological Survey. The area is roughly 290 kilometers (180 miles) northeast of Kabul.

Afghanistan lies in a highly seismically active part of the world, and quakes have caused thousands of deaths in recent years.

Last August, a 6.0 earthquake that struck a remote, mountainous part of eastern Afghanistan killed more than 2,200 people. Most casualties were in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep valleys.

In November, a 6.3 earthquake struck Samangan province in northern Afghanistan, killing at last 27 people and injuring more than 950. It also damaged historical sites, including Afghanistan’s famed Blue Mosque in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, and the Bagh-e-Jahan Nama Palace in Khulm.

On Oct. 7, 2023, a 6.3 quake followed by strong aftershocks in western Afghanistan killed thousands of people.

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Associated Press writer Abdul Qahar Afghan in Ittefaq, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.

That's two days in 80 years.

And they were both this week.

Welcome to Blowout Season in the NBA, where evidently some teams have completely let go of the rope. There were nine games on Friday, with the average margin of victory being 24.4 points. That topped the record of sorts set this past Sunday, when nine games saw an average winning margin of 24.0 points.

Among Friday's highlights (or lowlights, depending on perspective): New York beat Chicago by 40, Houston beat Utah by 34, Atlanta beat Brooklyn by 34, Toronto beat Memphis by 32 and Boston beat Milwaukee by 32.

There have been roughly 2,600 days in NBA history that had at least nine games on the calendar. Only 10 of them ended with the average margin of victory that day topping 20 points — once in 1996 and the other nine all since 2021.

The five games decided by 30 or more points tied an NBA single-day record. But, weirdly, it could be argued that the blowouts were all expected — given that all those teams were favorites of 13.5 points or more at tipoff, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

There have been 89 games decided by 30 or more points this season, continuing to smash the previous record of 80 set last year.

For some perspective, the NBA saw 90 games decided by 30 or more points in its first 11 seasons combined.

Who's in and who's out?

Here's what we know so far regarding the NBA playoff field for this season.

— Eastern Conference playoff teams: Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland are in. At this point, Atlanta and Philadelphia would get the other two guaranteed spots, but those are not clinched.

— East play-in teams: Nobody is locked into the play-in yet, but entering Saturday, the four teams headed there are Toronto, Charlotte, Orlando and Miami.

— East eliminated teams: Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Brooklyn and Washington.

— Western Conference playoff teams: Oklahoma City, San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver and Houston are in. Minnesota is likely to grab the sixth and final guaranteed spot.

— West play-in teams: Phoenix is probably going to the play-in tournament. Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State definitely are.

— West eliminated teams: Memphis, New Orleans, Dallas, Utah and Sacramento.

Friday recap

— Hornets 129, Pacers 108: Charlotte made 24 3s, now 17-4 when making at least 19.

— 76ers 115, Timberwolves 103: Minnesota shot 38%, now 1-8 when shooting 41.5% or worse.

— Hawks 141, Nets 107: Atlanta now 18-2 in its last 20 games, Brooklyn now 3-22 in its last 25 games.

— Knicks 136, Bulls 96: Jordan Clarkson was +27 in nine minutes for New York.

— Rockets 140, Jazz 106: Utah has led for a total of 4:44 in its last four games combined.

— Celtics 133, Bucks 101: Jayson Tatum was one assist away from a second straight triple-double.

— Raptors 128, Grizzlies 96: A 61-24 lead in bench scoring was the story for Toronto.

— Magic 138, Mavericks 127: Dallas' Cooper Flagg became the first teenager with a 50-point game in NBA history.

— Pelicans-Kings: Maxime Raynaud scored 28 for Sacramento, which rallied from 17 down.

Saturday's schedule

— Washington at Miami: Bam Adebayo scored 83 against the Wizards last month. The rematch!

— San Antonio at Denver: Wembanyama vs. Nikola Jokic in potential West playoff pairing.

— Detroit at Philadelphia: Sorry, Detroit. Michigan-Arizona Final Four game tips off during this one.

Sunday's schedule

— Toronto at Boston: Celtics rolling toward No. 2 seed.

— Washington at Brooklyn: Someone will win, possibly to their chagrin.

— Phoenix at Chicago: Suns likely will be No. 7 in West play-in.

— Memphis at Milwaukee: Doc Rivers can be announced as a Hall of Famer for first time.

— Indiana at Cleveland: Cavaliers looking to tune up before playoffs.

— Charlotte at Minnesota: The Hornets are playing without fear right now.

— Orlando at New Orleans: Magic have to keep building some momentum.

— Utah at Oklahoma City: Thunder just won’t let the Spurs make up too much ground.

— LA Lakers at Dallas: Neither team will have Luka Doncic, who remains beloved by Mavs fans.

— LA Clippers at Sacramento: Clippers looking to get a home play-in game (or two, if needed).

— Houston at Golden State: Warriors have five games to prep for the play-in, and this could be Stephen Curry’s return.

National TV schedule

Saturday on Prime: San Antonio-Denver.

Saturday on NBA TV: Detroit-Philadelphia.

Sunday on NBA TV: Toronto-Boston.

Sunday on NBC and Peacock: LA Lakers-Dallas, Houston-Golden State.

Betting odds

Oklahoma City (+130) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by San Antonio (+550), Boston (+600), Denver (+1100), Cleveland (+1200) and New York (+1800). Detroit, on its way to the No. 1 seed in the East, is +2500. And Luka Doncic's injury sent the Los Angeles Lakers' odds soaring, from +2500 beforehand to +12500 now.

Key dates

— April 10: All 30 teams play their 81st games of the season.

— April 12: All 30 teams play their regular-season finales.

— April 14, 15 and 17: NBA play-in tournament dates.

— April 18 and 19: NBA playoff series openers.

— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

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

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

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

Numbers watch

Before Cooper Flagg (at 19 years, 103 days), the youngest player in NBA history with a 50-point game was Brandon Jennings, who scored 55 when he was 20 years, 52 days old. Flagg scored 51 in Dallas' loss to Orlando on Friday.

Stat of the day

Cooper Flagg now has three games of 40 or more points in his rookie season. Only 11 rookies have had more such games, and the only two in the last half-century were Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan.

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

Developers behind the multi-billion-dollar Pearl Square project have announced 655 Pearl, a six-story, 100,000-square-foot office building that will anchor the $750 million mixed-use neighborhood now under construction.

It’s the first new multi-tenant office tower planned for Jacksonville’s North Core in more than 20 years.

For longtime business owners working just feet from the cranes and construction fencing, the announcement marks another step toward a downtown that feels alive again.

‘Everything is growing’

Marvin Hearman has watched the area stall and start again for years. His family-run restaurant, Starving Like Marvin, sits in the center of the Pearl Square footprint.

He told News4JAX reporter Briana Brownlee and photojournalist Jesse Hanson that business is good, but the neighborhood needs more energy.

However, he said he noticed the momentum in the area shifting.

“Last four years, business has been pretty good, and it’s going to get even better,” Hearman said. “I heard previously that tenants didn’t do too well. So for us to come in and knock it out of the box, and it’s growing — everything is growing.”

Hearman added the construction surrounding his restaurant is already shaping the way he operates.

With more residents, office workers, and visitors expected to move through the area, he plans to extend his hours — possibly from closing at 6pm to as late as 1 or 2 a.m.

“We’re all excited. I wish they could open up tomorrow so I can put my chef hat on,” he said with a laugh.

What 655 Pearl will bring

The newly announced office building is designed by Morris Adjmi Architects and BDG Architects, with a ground-floor retail level spanning roughly 25,000 square feet.

According to JLL — the firm overseeing leasing for the project — 655 Pearl is meant to feel less like a traditional office building and more like part of an active urban neighborhood.

JLL’s Michael Loftin said companies today are looking for energized, amenity-rich environments that help attract talent.

“Workspace is no longer viewed as a static line item, but as a strategic tool to attract talent, support culture, and bring people together,” Loftin said in a statement. Employees will be at the center of a dynamic ecosystem of retail, dining, hospitality, and public spaces — all steps from their desks.”

Construction is anticipated to break ground in 2027, with completion expected in 2028.

Impact could be immediate

At E-Luxe Hair Studio, located next to the development, hairstylist Sabrina Sellers said increased foot traffic is exactly what the area has needed.

“I feel like this side of downtown has been dead for a little while,” she said. “It’s going to bring more business — and more food is great, especially for lunch breaks for us, because we like to eat.”

Larger push to remake downtown

The 655 Pearl addition is the newest to the sprawling Pearl Square plan — a nine-block district expected to bring:

• More than 1,200 new apartments and condos
• A full-service Publix grocery store
• Multiple restaurants, including upcoming Italian and Japanese concepts
• Renovated boutique hotel space
• Public plazas, parks, farmers markets, wellness events, and curbless pedestrian-friendly streets

RELATED: Pearl Square to bring apartments, restaurants, beer gardens & jobs to Downtown Jacksonville

Earlier phases of the project, including residential units and retail space, are slated to open this summer with the arrival of the Vandeveer apartments.

Business owners say the scope of the project is what stands out most — not just one building, but a full neighborhood taking shape around them.

‘About to get better’

For Hearman and Sellers, the hope is simple: more people walking by, more activity, and more reasons for customers to stay downtown.

“Downtown has been kind of shaky for a long time,” Hearman said. “With the new development and everything, it’s about to get better.”

Developers say that transformation is exactly the point — and that 655 Pearl is one of many pieces still to come.

The attacks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Istanbul for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He will also meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of Eastern Orthodox Christians.

“We are working to strengthen our partnership to ensure the real protection of lives, advance stability, and guarantee security in Europe and the Middle East. Joint efforts always yield the best results,” Zelenskyy said in a post on the messaging app Telegram after arriving in Istanbul.

Russia fired 286 drones at Ukraine overnight, 260 of which were downed, the Ukrainian Air Force said in an online statement.

Five people — three women and two men — were killed in the city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and 19 others were wounded, the head of the regional military administration Oleksandr Hanzha said. The attack damaged market stalls and a shop.

In the city of Sumy, not far from the border with Russia, a strike wounded 11 people, the National Police said. Residential areas were hit, and houses, cars and utility networks were damaged in the attack.

In the capital, Kyiv, a drone strike caused a fire on the first floor of a three-story office and warehouse building, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said. No casualties were reported.

In the partially occupied Donetsk region, a Russian drone strike hit a civilian car on the Kostyantynivka–Druzhkivka road on Saturday morning, killing one woman and wounding another, according to the head of the Kostyantynivka City Military Administration, Serhiy Horbunov.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Saturday that its forces fired “long-range air- and ground-based precision weapons, as well as strike drones” at unspecified “military-industrial and energy facilities used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

Meanwhile, the Russian-installed head of the occupied Luhansk region, Leonid Pasechnik, said Ukrainian forces hit railroad infrastructure in the region and private houses, killing a family of three — a couple and their 8-year-old child.

The Security Service of Ukraine, also known as the SBU, claimed it used drone strikes to halt production at a metallurgical plant in the Russian-occupied city of Alchevsk in the Luhansk region, most of which is controlled by the Russian forces.

The SBU said on its Facebook page that drone strikes damaged blast furnaces, key production workshops, distillation columns, gas pipelines and electrical substations that power the plant, which supplies Russia’s state tank and railroad car plant, Uralvagonzavod.

There was no immediate comment from Russian officials.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Russian military overnight shot down 85 Ukrainian drones over nine Russian regions, the annexed Crimea region and the Black Sea.

In Russia's Rostov region, on the border with Ukraine, one person was killed and four sustained injuries, according to the region's governor, Yuri Slyusar. The attack sparked a fire at a warehouse facility of an unspecified logistics company, and another fire on a dry-cargo vessel flying a foreign flag several kilometers from the shore, Slyusar said.

In the Samara region's city of Tolyatti, one person was wounded, Gov. Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said. The roof of a residential building was damaged and windows were shattered in several apartments, he said.

“We've beaten and completely decimated Iran,” he said in a prime-time speech from the White House on Wednesday. “They are decimated both militarily and economically and in every other way.”

He added: “Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force.”

His certitude is now colliding with the uncertainty of war.

The American fighter jet that was shot down in Iran on Friday was a searing reminder of the dangers associated with war, prompting a search operation that resulted in the rescue of one crew member. Another U.S. aircraft was hit by Iranian air defenses, Iranian state media reported, days after Trump said Iran had “no anti-aircraft equipment.”

For the Republican president, who did not appear in public Friday, the developments were the latest example of his triumphal characterization of the war appearing misplaced.

He has expressed surprise at Iran's moves to strike its Gulf neighbors. He has struggled to respond to Iran's move largely shuttering the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global oil supplies and sending pump prices soaring in the United States. His overtures to world leaders to help him reopen the vital waterway have been rebuffed, with some allies waiting for the fighting to end before addressing that situation and others openly critical of a war that Trump chose to initiate.

Trump has long relied on unyielding self-confidence to propel him through the worlds of business and politics, boasting during the 2016 campaign that “I alone can fix it.” That has often translated into a go-it-alone approach where only Trump has the answers in a chaotic world and dysfunctional Washington. This view of the presidency has justified his executive orders at home and tariffs that affect the global economy.

But the war with Iran, which he undertook alongside Israel and without consulting other allies or Congress, has provided a test like almost nothing before. For Trump, it is no longer “America First” but America alone, and he is the principal.

“You can be the most assertive, aggressive president in the world but you don’t control what happens overseas,” said Julian Zelizer, a history professor at Princeton University.

Some traditional allies speak out

As the war enters its sixth week, that reality is becoming more apparent. Trump spent most of the first year of his second term using trade penalties as a weapon that would force other countries to bend to his will. Today, in a time of war, some traditional American allies are becoming more outspoken.

French President Emmanuel Macron said this week that the United States “can hardly complain afterward that they are not being supported in an operation they chose to undertake alone.”

“This is not our operation,” he said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has not budged from his refusal to be drawn into the war despite fierce criticism by Trump. France and the United Kingdom are leading efforts to reopen the strait once the fighting ends.

At home, even some of Trump's fellow Republicans are reinforcing the need to maintain strong international relationships. After the president threatened to withdraw from NATO this week, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said there were not enough votes in the Senate to support that.

“We got an awful lot of people who think that NATO is a very critical, incredibly successful post-World War II alliance,” Thune said of past conversations among Republicans about the move. “I think in the world today, you need allies.”

Trump made no mention of leaving NATO during his White House address.

John Bolton, a first-term Trump national security adviser who has since become an adversary, said the current administration made a “serious mistake” by not consulting allies before going to war.

“If you don’t build your coalition before the war, it’s pretty tough to do it while you’re in it,” said Bolton, who pleaded not guilty last fall to federal charges accusing him of emailing classified information to family members and keeping top secret documents at his Maryland home.

But he also cautioned European leaders against reflexively opposing Trump out of frustration with his lack of consultation. That, Bolton said, would be “juvenile and petulant.”

Trump on his own terms

Trump's penchant to work on his own terms is not limited to the war.

Just this week, he said congressional approval of a ballroom he wants to build at the White House is “not necessary” despite a judge's ruling. He signed an executive order to create a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and to restrict mail-in voting.

In a first for a sitting president, he appeared in the courtroom of the Supreme Court as his administration tried to defend an executive order restricting birthright citizenship.

But as with the war, Trump's go-it-alone strategy at home is also confronting limits.

The Supreme Court struck down his far-reaching tariff program. Democrats quickly challenged his voting executive order in court and, despite his courtroom presence, the justices seemed skeptical of his bid to dismantle the Constitution’s provisions providing birthright citizenship.

Then there is the uncertainty about the ballroom.

During private comments at an Easter lunch at the White House this week, Trump — ever the builder — seemed to lament the constraints on his job.

“I’m such a king I can’t get a ballroom approved,” he said to laughter from an audience that included Cabinet members and religious leaders. "I’m doing a lot. But I could be doing a lot more if I was a king.”

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Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

Mortgage rates have been rising since the war began, as surging energy prices heighten worries about higher inflation, pushing up the yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.

As recently as the last week of February, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to just under 6%, its lowest level in more than three and a half years. It climbed this week to 6.46%, its highest level in nearly seven months.

The conflict is also injecting more uncertainty into the U.S. economic outlook at a time when the job market is sputtering.

While rates are still down from a year ago, their recent upward trend has already led to a slowdown in mortgage applications. Further increases threaten to put a damper on home sales during what’s traditionally the busiest time of the year for the housing market.

“The war in Iran has seriously complicated the spring buying season,” said Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com. “I expect that many buyers will be put off by rising rates and mounting economic uncertainty, choosing to bide their time rather than jumping on board for a purchase before rates go up.”

Home shoppers who can afford to buy at current mortgage rates this spring are likely to find a more buyer-friendly housing market than this time last year. That means they'll have more leverage when negotiating with sellers, who in many cases are watching their property go unsold for weeks, potentially making them more willing to lower their initial asking price or offer buyers money for closing costs, repairs or other concessions in order to get a deal done, real estate agents say.

In the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, lower listing prices and more homes on the market are forcing many sellers to price their home more competitively or consider offering some incentives to land a buyer, said Matthew Crites, an agent with Coldwell Banker Realty.

“It’s been a really good buyer’s market to kind of start the year off with,” he said.

The trends helped give home shopper Anne King a strong hand when she set her sights on a three-bedroom, two-bath ranch-style house in Fort Worth listed at $275,000.

The contract administrator offered $10,000 below the listing price. She also asked that the seller kick in $5,000 toward closing costs. The seller accepted, and later agreed to throw in another $12,000 for repairs after a home inspection revealed roof damage.

“Fortunately for me, the seller was in a position they needed to sell,” said King, 57. The purchase was finalized in late February, just before the start of the conflict in the Middle East.

King had hoped mortgage rates would ease further before she bought the home, but decided it made sense to buy sooner, rather than risk having to compete this spring against more homebuyers who could potentially trigger a bidding war -- something she experienced last May when she bought a two-bedroom, two-bath townhouse in Arlington, Texas.

She locked in a 6% rate on her mortgage and plans to refinance to a lower rate whenever rates drop.

“I feel like I got a good deal on this property, and that’s all that matters,” she said.

Home shoppers gain more leverage

While the inventory of homes for sale nationally is still low by historical standards, active listings — a tally that encompasses all homes on the market except those pending a finalized sale — jumped nearly 8% in February from a year earlier, according to data from Realtor.com.

The increase varies across the U.S., with the West, Midwest and South far outpacing the Northeast. Still, some 43 of the 50 largest metro areas had more homes for sale in February than a year earlier, with listings up between 10% and 38.5% in many markets, including Seattle, Indianapolis, Las Vegas and Houston and Denver.

As homes take longer to sell, prices have started falling. The median listing price was down in February from a year earlier in just over half of the nation’s biggest 50 metro areas, including a nearly 9% drop in Austin and Memphis, and declines of more than 5% in Washington D.C., San Diego and Los Angeles.

In another sign that buyers may have the edge negotiating with sellers this spring, an analysis by Redfin estimates that there were about 46% more sellers than prospective buyers in the market nationally in February. That’s up from about 30% a year earlier and represents the largest gap between buyers and sellers on records going back to 2013, according to Redfin.

Miami, Nashville and Austin are among the metro areas where sellers most outnumber buyers, Redfin found.

A buyer's market, if you can afford it

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

While the pace of home price growth has slowed or fallen in many metro areas, affordability hurdles remain daunting for many aspiring homebuyers because wage growth has not kept up with home prices.

Consider, the median price of an existing home sold in February was $398,000, according to the National Association of Realtors. That's nearly five times the median household income. A historic rule of thumb was that homes generally cost three times the household income.

The recent increase in mortgage rates adds slightly to the affordability challenge. On a $400,000 home near downtown Dallas, for example, factoring in a 20% down payment and a 30-year mortgage at 6%, the buyer’s monthly payment would be about $2,248. At a 6.4% rate, that payment would climb to $2,331.

And while mortgage rates are still lower than a year ago, making monthly payments more manageable, rates are still much higher than the sub-3% averages available to homebuyers during most of 2020 and 2021 as the weakened economy dealt with the coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath.

Sellers under pressure

The housing market has cooled considerably since earlier this decade, when rock-bottom mortgage rates set off a frenzy that sent home prices soaring. Back then, it wasn’t uncommon for a home to fetch well above the seller’s asking price after receiving offers from multiple buyers.

While some sellers are still receiving multiple offers now, it’s far from the norm.

Jo Chavez, a Redfin agent in Kansas City, tells clients looking to sell to expect that their home probably won’t sell right away. She also advises them to be “reasonable” with how they price their home.

“We have a lot of sellers who have that idea of like, ‘well, my neighbors sold for this much, and so I think I should price $10,000 above them,’” said Chavez. “And that’s obviously not a logical approach, because there were less sales last year.”

Kansas City is among the few metro areas where the median listing price isn’t falling. It rose 4.1% in February from a year earlier, according to Realtor.com. However, the number of homes on the market soared by nearly 20%.

Gail Sanders and her husband, David, put their four-bedroom, three-bath home in Olathe, Kansas, on the market in late February. But even after hosting a couple of open houses, and after lowering their asking price from $535,000 to $525,000, the couple had yet to receive any offers as March drew to a close.

The couple wants to sell the house and buy a home in another Kansas City suburb closer to their three adult children and grandchildren. But until they find a buyer, those plans are on hold.

“We just didn’t think it was fair to somebody else to put a contingent offer on (another house), but then also lock ourselves into something when we weren’t sure how fast ours was going to move,” said Gail Sanders, a senior claims director. “I don’t want to be stuck with two house mortgages on the off chance.”

He was already a social media star — in part through his relentless attacks on his cousin, Trump administration heath secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and had been bouncing around the national Democratic scene very much looking the part of a Kennedy heir.

Now, among a crowded field hoping to win a prized House seat in Manhattan, Schlossberg has another potential advantage no other candidate could dream of: a hit TV show about his family that's renewed Kennedy clan fervor.

But even with the familial connections and the excitement over the show, “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette,” the 33-year-old grandson of former President John F. Kennedy insists the buzz is all organic.

“They don’t just like me because I’m a Kennedy. Ask them how they feel about RFK Jr.,” he said. “They like me because of my experience, my ideas and they trust me because they see what’s going on with their very own eyes.”

So far, one of the big criticisms of Schlossberg is that he's never held public office, though he's tried to spin that in his favor, casting himself an energetic, outsider candidate whose big online following proves that he can excite young voters and bring fresh ideas to Washington.

Despite Schlossberg's thin political resume, his candidacy has received both attention and financial support, along with the endorsement of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, long a Kennedy backer.

No love for ‘Love Story’

Schlossberg, whose full name is John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg, is no fan of the “Love Story” series, previously criticizing it as a cash grab at the expense of his famous family.

“I don't watch much TV,” he said.

Nevertheless, lots of people did tune in and the series became a hit, stoking the enduring mystique of the Kennedy family, especially among a younger generation of new fans.

Spots where Schlossberg's aunt and uncle dined and hung out have attracted viewers of the TV show, with leather-jacket-wearing women and button-down-and-tie guys lining up to get in. Not too long ago a crowd gathered in Washington Square Park for a JFK Jr. look-alike contest where young men donned suits, backward hats or rollerblades, attempting to mimic his style.

Also recreating JFK Jr.’s style is Schlossberg himself, copying one of his uncle’s best known looks — riding a bike in suit and tie and a backward cap and a heavy chain bicycle lock around his waist — in a photo on his campaign website, which was posted before the show’s debut.

But does the Kennedy family still have the juice to sway an election? George Arzt, a longtime Democratic political consultant in the city, isn't too sure.

“I don’t think that gets you votes,” he said. “People will say ‘Who’s Schlossberg?’ And they’ll go ‘He’s the grandson of JFK.’ So? What’s that going to do for me?”

Schlossberg maintains people on the street are less interested in his family ties than his policies, including one that, if passed, would allow rent payments to be tax deductible.

He batted away criticism over his scant professional experience, noting a stint at the State Department's environmental bureau, his joint law and business degree from Harvard and a handful of political opinion pieces he wrote for Vogue. He also cited his social media presence, which has at times been zany. In August, for example, he posted a video of himself in a blonde wig reading a letter that first lady Melania Trump wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I’m the only one who has engaged millions of people on a progressive and aggressive political message,” he said. “I’m not just an influencer who’s hawking products. I make informative videos.”

A crowded field

Schlossberg faces solid opposition in the June primary, which is usually the deciding contest in the safely Democratic district.

The district's current representative, U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, who is retiring, endorsed his former aide Micah Lasher, a state Assemblymember who's spent his career working in New York politics and casts himself as a seasoned, serious candidate.

“The voters of this district are highly informed voters. They do their homework before they make their decisions,” he said.

State Assemblymember Alex Bores is also running and has racked up local endorsements, including support from former U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who represented parts of the district for decades before it was redrawn and she lost her seat to Nadler.

George Conway, who was once married to former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway before turning into a vocal antagonist of the president, hopped in the race earlier this year as a Democrat.

Conway, a lawyer who helped create the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, said he does think Schlossberg has a big advantage because of his family name and excitement around “Love Story.” But he believes voters will ultimately opt for someone who has more experience.

“There's something very appealing about a young, fresh face and I think he's very smart to play that up,” Conway said. “But I also think there's something to be said for an older, experienced fresh face and that's what I'm trying to be.”

Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said Saturday that his counterparts from Germany, Italy, Portugal and Austria had signed a letter to the European Commission citing “market distortions” caused by the price spike.

“The conflict in the Middle East has caused oil prices to rise, placing a significant burden on the European economy and on European citizens,” the letter, dated Friday and made public by Cuerpo in an online post, said.

“It is important to ensure that this burden is distributed fairly,” it added.

Europe is largely dependent on imported oil and gas, leaving it vulnerable to external shocks. In 2022, turmoil in energy markets following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine pushed inflation into double digits in many European countries.

At the time, the EU imposed a “solidarity contribution” that included caps on excess energy profits.

“Given the current market distortions and fiscal constraints, the European Commission should swiftly develop a similar EU-wide contribution instrument,” the letter said. “It would also send a clear message that those who profit from the consequences of the war must do their part to ease the burden on the general public.”

Driven largely by higher oil prices, the annual inflation rate in the 21 countries that use the euro rose to 2.5% in March, from 1.9% in February.

Iran has blocked most tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil and gas — in a move that threatens to stress fuel markets for months.

European Union Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen warned this week that disruption caused by the closure means fuel prices are unlikely to “go back to normal in a foreseeable future.”

That’s beginning to change with Pearl Square, a nine-block development designed to bring residents, businesses, and community life back to the city’s urban core.

Gateway Jax’s CEO, Bryan Moll, gave News4JAX reporter Briana Brownlee and photojournalist Jesse Hanson a look around the site, explaining how the first phase is designed to create a neighborhood that functions morning, noon and night.

“Build more residential downtown,” Moll said. “When you have people who live here, the things that sustain businesses, people, and shopping, those are now not just 9-to-5 when people are at work; now you are getting customers at night and in the mornings, and then you truly start to create an 18-hour environment.”

Phase 1: Foundations of a neighborhood

Phase 1 is designed as the core of the new downtown neighborhood, providing a mix of residential, retail, parks, and entertainment.

The first building to open is Vandeveer, expected as early as August, delivering 205 apartments above 22,000 square feet of retail, including a chef-driven Japanese restaurant, giving residents and visitors immediate access to dining, shops, and community space.

But Vandeveer is just the beginning. Phase 1 as a whole will include over 200,000 square feet of additional retail across multiple streets, offering everyday services and shops like:

• Publix grocery store
• Hair salons and barbershops
• Dry cleaners and boutique retailers

“This area was a food desert, food desert meaning there were no grocery stores over here,” Moll said. “Giving people access to food, you are also creating a thriving neighborhood.”

RELATED | ‘More life to this side of Downtown’: Local businesses excited as Downtown Jacksonville prepares for Pearl Square

Moll also said Phase 1 will create thousands of jobs, from retail and service positions to roles in restaurants, parks, and property management.

Parks, open spaces and community areas

Phase 1 emphasizes green space and public gathering areas, including:

• Lawns for yoga in the park and farmers’ markets
• A kiosk with wine and beer
• Planned beer gardens, pickleball courts, and a dog park

Moll says these spaces are designed to encourage residents and visitors to spend time outside, making downtown a vibrant hub morning, noon, and night.

He also hopes the area will host major events, including a potential Super Bowl fan experience, which would draw even more visitors to the neighborhood.

Hotel and dining destinations

Phase 1 will also feature a new hotel with a ground-floor Italian restaurant, adding another dining destination to complement Vandeveer’s Japanese restaurant.

Moll also hinted at more restaurants and retail to come, though specific names haven’t been announced yet.

“You have to have people living downtown, working downtown, and shopping downtown. Playing downtown, going to a Jags game, hanging out in the park. Those things are really critical,” Moll said. “We kind of forgot that about 20 to 30 years ago, or 40 years ago, when we demolished some of those really cool old residential buildings.”

RELATED | Residents say they ‘can’t wait’ until Publix downtown location at ‘Pearl Square’ opens

Phase 2: Entertainment and destination retail

While Phase 1 focuses on residential life, retail, and essential amenities, Phase 2 is planned as an entertainment-focused development.

Moll described it as destination retail with nightlife and lifestyle experiences, including a lifestyle hotel, with more announcements expected in the near future.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She needed to be.

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

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

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

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

Betts swatted the Texas run to halt.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Betts turned out to be a huge difference maker.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

Even as Hollywood still drives how Americans envision little green men with big eyes and bigger heads, fiction soon could be separated from — or revealed as — fact if government agencies release secret files related to extraterrestrials and UFOs as called for in February by President Donald Trump.

The science fiction genre has shaped how people think about intelligent life elsewhere in the universe — “whether it’s invasion narratives or aliens coming to warn us that we’re on the wrong track or aliens just trying to come and make contact and help us with things or just say ‘hi,’” says Duke University professor Priscilla Wald, who teaches a class on science fiction and film.

Trump's announcement on social media followed former President Barack Obama suggesting in a podcast interview that aliens were real. Obama later clarified that he had not seen evidence that aliens had made contact, but said since the universe is so vast odds are good that life exists elsewhere.

Movies say they are nearly everywhere, from a Pennsylvania cornfield in 2002's “Signs” to Wyoming's Devil's Tower in 1977's “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” to a Central American jungle where 1987's “Predator” was set.

“Hollywood has basically been preparing the public for this,” retired Navy Rear Adm. Timothy Gallaudet says of any revelation that intelligent life from outer space exists and has visited Earth. “I think people can handle it. It does, of course, depend on what information is released (by the government)."

Hollywood quickly latched on following the 1947 discovery of debris near Roswell, New Mexico. Authorities initially identified crash materials as a flying disc before quickly backtracking and saying they were from a high-altitude weather balloon.

About three years after Roswell, “The Flying Saucer” made it to theaters. That was followed by a some low-budget and mostly forgettable movies, while others continue to inspire sci-fi buffs like 1951’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

“If you think back to the flourishing of alien films, this starts really in the U.S. in the 1950s,” Wald says.

“The aliens are gentle souls who come down and try to warn us after nuclear war," she says of “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” “They’re trying to warn that we’re creating problems in the cosmos and that if we don’t stop, they are and have to do something about it."

Still others depict visitors arriving with more nefarious motives and intentions — to kill us, to take over the Earth, sometimes even to make us food.

“I think if we found out aliens were on the way, there would be a mix of responses,” Wald says. “I think there would be a lot of people out there welcoming them. A lot of people would be going down to the cellars and stocking them with canned food."

A plethora of documentaries also have been released, including 2025’s “The Age of Disclosure,” which details government knowledge of the existence of intelligent life outside of humans and attempts to reverse engineer alien technology.

Steven Spielberg has directed such box office hits as 1982's “E.T. The Extraterrestrial” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” His upcoming film “Disclosure Day” teases: “If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you?”

“My question is always, 'Well, what is that fear really about?'” Wald says. “It seems to me it’s a reflection on who we are, that we’re projecting onto aliens the way we treat each other. So, the aliens are coming down, they want to conquer us, they’re violent. Who does that sound like? It sounds like us.”

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AP national writer Allen G. Breed in Durham, North Carolina, contributed to this story.

Descovich was back at the White House a few months later, seated alongside CEOs of Google and IBM to weigh in on artificial intelligence and education policy.

Last month, when first lady Melania Trump hosted a global technology summit in Washington, Descovich was there, too.

Her presence at the White House underscores the meteoric rise of a group that made its name in local politics, fighting to win school board seats and end “wokeness” in U.S. schools. What started as a fringe of far-right mothers has seen its interests collide with a presidential administration that embraces and amplifies their message, launching the group into a new level of influence in public policy.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Descovich said she has a voice in discussions around transgender sports bans, AI in education, the dismantling of the Education Department and a campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion.

“We have a seat at the table in so many policy discussions throughout the administration,” Descovich, who lives in Florida, said during a recent visit to Washington. “We’re invited to participate in discussions and meetings where some of these things are hashed out.”

Supporters say the group's trajectory speaks to the power of its “parental rights” agenda, which has become a plank of conservative politics. Critics are alarmed by its presence at the White House, saying the group promotes extreme views and undermines public schools.

Alliance with Trump offers a new lifeline after ups and downs

Founded five years ago in Florida, the organization became known for challenging classroom instruction it deemed inappropriate for children, often involving sex, race or LGBTQ+ themes. It later turned to state capitols, securing legislation like Florida's “Don't Say Gay” law.

It claims more than 300 chapters, with sharply growing revenue flowing in from groups like the Heritage Foundation and conservative megadonors, including Richard Uihlein.

By some measures, however, its influence had appeared to be waning. School board candidates endorsed by the group struggled in elections, and rival liberal groups rose up to compete for power in America's suburbs.

A series of missteps fueled ridicule among opponents, including an incident in which an Indiana chapter quoted Adolf Hitler in a parent newsletter in 2023.

Yet when Trump returned to office, the group's political fortunes swung upward. His administration charges into the same cultural battles Moms for Liberty staked its name on, including a push to keep transgender athletes out of girls' sports.

By her count, Descovich has been to the White House about a dozen times this administration.

Descovich was in attendance when Trump signed an order to overhaul the foster care system. She brought more than a dozen members to an event honoring Women’s History Month in March. Co-founder Tiffany Justice was there when Trump signed an order to dismantle the Education Department.

For the Trump administration, Moms for Liberty appears to be playing a role that's often filled by groups like the National PTA, said Rick Hess, director of education policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank. As those establishment groups shy away from Trump, he said, Moms for Liberty has stepped up.

“Moms for Liberty speaks to a very active part of the MAGA community, and education has been a big part of what the administration has been focused on for the last 15 months,” he said.

Behind the scenes, Descovich has been a tipster for agencies that investigate schools over transgender sports and bathroom policies. After meeting with Justice Department officials, she delivered more than 250 complaints, she said.

“We really are this grassroots team that’s working hand-in-hand with helping move forward President Trump’s agenda,” she said.

The group is carrying the momentum to Capitol Hill

Asked about its relationship with Moms for Liberty, the White House declined to offer specifics but said Trump is “the most pro-family President in history,” citing his child tax credit among other initiatives.

The White House “is proud to tout these great accomplishments for American families alongside many leaders,” spokesperson Olivia Wales said in a statement.

Moms for Liberty hopes to carry its momentum to Congress, too.

On a recent March morning, more than 100 members fanned out across Capitol Hill, delivering homemade cookies to lawmakers and their offices. Some brought their children, including a boy sporting a suit and red tie like Trump's.

House Speaker Mike Johnson stopped for a photo with a few parents, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., posted a photo to social media of himself giving a thumbs-up alongside a Moms for Liberty member.

Members of the group call themselves “joyful warriors,” a moniker that critics say disguises their anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and aggressive tactics. The group has been accused of harassing teachers and school board leaders, calling its opponents “groomers” and “predators.”

Descovich dismisses the criticism. “Our motto has been, from Day One, we’re joyful warriors, because we knew we needed to advocate in a way that was OK for our children to watch,” she said.

Yet she doesn't shy away from a fight. The group has a deep feud with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which in 2023 labeled the parent group as “extremist.”

Late last year, Descovich led a letter urging the federal government to cut ties with the SPLC. The FBI agreed to do so soon after, echoing language from her letter.

Critics say an extreme voice is getting a platform

The presence of Moms for Liberty has gained at the White House is both unsettling and unsurprising, said Seth Levi, chief program strategy officer for the SPLC.

It's “further evidence that they are more interested in platforming extremist voices and policies rather than listening to the American people, who are demanding solutions to make their lives easier and more affordable,” Levi said.

The leap up to federal policy marks a new chapter in the group's evolution, said Maurice Cunningham, a former political science professor at the University of Massachusetts-Boston who tracks the organization and its relationships.

Yet he sees the group's influence as political advocacy rather than parental input. He identifies the group as a close cousin to groups like the Heritage Foundation, which has been influential in Trump's second term.

“They're in the White House, there's no question,” he said. “But they are there as a voice of the organized institutional right wing.”

Descovich said the relationship with Trump took root at a 2023 convention where Republican presidential candidates jostled for the group's endorsement. When Trump took the stage, he called Moms for Liberty “the best thing that’s ever happened to America.”

Moms for Liberty threw its weight behind Trump, and Descovich said she stayed close with his team.

The organization's latest concern is AI in the classroom, which Moms for Liberty sees as a threat to parental control over education. At a White House meeting, Descovich pushed for guardrails to ensure humans guide instruction, not algorithms.

It's also expanding its national presence with a new online training program called M4L Academy, featuring videos on “critical race theory” and other topics the group sees as taboo. And while its first trip to Congress was mostly seen as an introduction, it's gearing up for more.

“We’re not really doing any lobbying for any specific bills at the federal level yet,” Descovich said. “That will come next year.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

___

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

Desmond Bane had 27 points as the Magic remained a half-game behind eighth-place Charlotte in the Eastern Conference. Orlando is safely in the play-in tournament with an outside shot at the top six and automatic entry into the East playoffs.

Coach Jason Kidd and Maji Marshall were ejected seconds apart early in the fourth quarter for the lottery-bound Mavericks, who are on their longest home losing streak at 25-year-old American Airlines Center. Dallas lost the first 19 games of the 1993-94 season at since-demolished Reunion Arena.

Flagg was caught up in the disagreement that led to Kidd's ejection, drawing his own technical foul before Kidd went onto the court apparently to protest the same non-call that drew Flagg's ire.

The 19-year-old responded with 24 points in the fourth quarter to become the youngest in NBA history with a 50-point game.

Assistant coach Frank Vogel, who filled in for Kidd, briefly pulled Flagg late in the fourth quarter when he had 45 points. After returning, Flagg hit a corner 3-pointer, then clinched 50 points with a bucket and foul, making the free throw and coming out of the game to standing ovation.

Flagg went 19 of 30 from the field, including 6 of 9 from long range, and made all seven free throws.

Jalen Suggs and Tristan da Silva scored 19 points apiece for the Magic, and Franz Wagner added 18.

Brandon Williams scored 23 points for Dallas.

P.J. Washington Jr., Dallas' third-leading scorer, missed a third consecutive game with an illness.

Up next

Magic: At New Orleans on Sunday.

Mavericks: Host the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.

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

School Board Member Cindy Pearson raised the alarm in a Facebook post, highlighting the impact of the “Academic Acceleration Options Supplement,” a fund created last year after similar cuts threatened the same programs.

“We were told we weren’t gonna lose money. It was just gonna be a different system. And now we know the different system has created a loss in funds,” Pearson said.

Despite more students passing exams last year, that success has actually reduced Duval County’s payout from a fixed pot of state money. Because hundreds more students passed exams than expected, the district’s per-student share of the fixed fund shrank — costing Duval roughly $871 per student.

Wolfson High School senior Jarrett Kelley said he hopes the programs are protected.

“I certainly hope that this is not something that’s taken away from students because I know for me personally, it’s gonna save me $20,000 on college,” Kelley said.

Last year, school districts across Florida faced millions of dollars in funding cuts for programs like Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, AICE and Career and Technical Education. Students like Kelley were among those who fought those cuts — and now, the fight is back.

“Well, to be honest with you, I wasn’t entirely shocked. Last year, we felt as if we did enough to ensure this wouldn’t happen again and to ensure that we really spread the message about how important these programs are. And we thought that Tallahassee understood,” Kelley said.

Pearson said the budget loss puts principals in a difficult position — even when their students have exceeded performance expectations.

“The principals get their share based on student performance. And when you have a decrease in budget, you have to make budget decisions. And so that will be up to the principals to determine what they’re gonna do with less funds, even though their students exceeded performance estimates,” Pearson said.

There is still time to influence this year’s budget. Lawmakers are expected to return to Tallahassee later this month to finalize the budget.

Pearson is urging parents, students and community members to contact their elected representatives directly.

“I would highly recommend anybody who’s invested in the acceleration funds or in students or student achievement reach out to their elected representatives, also to the education committee and to the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. And ask them to put more money in the Academic Accelerated Options supplement and ask them to keep pace with student achievement,” Pearson said.

Below is a list of local lawmakers to contact. There’s further contact information also listed on the city website.

Senators

Clay Yarborough - Yarborough.Clay.web@flsenate.gov

Tracie Davis - Davis.Tracie.web@flsenate.gov

Representatives

Wyman Duggan District 12 - Wyman.Duggan@myfloridahouse.gov

Angie Nixon District 12 - Angie.Nixon@myfloridahouse.gov

Kimberley Daniels District 14 - Kimberly.Daniels@myfloridahouse.gov

Dean Black District 15 - Dean.Black@flhouse.gov

Kiyan Michael District 16 - Kiyan.Michael@flhouse.gov

Jessica Baker District 17 - Jessica.Baker@flhouse.gov

Pearson also shared a list of lawmakers to contact:

• President Ben Albritton, Senate President

albritton.ben.web@flsenate.gov

• Senator Jim Boyd, Majority Leader

boyd.jim.web@flsenate.gov

• Senator Lori Berman, Minority Leader

berman.lori.web@flsenate.gov

• Senator Corey Simon, Committee Chair, Education Prek-12

simon.corey.web@flsenate.gov

• Senator Alexis Calatyud, Committee Vice Chair, Education Prek-12

calatyud.alexis.web@flsenate.gov

• Speaker Daniel Perez, Speaker of the House

Daniel.Perez@flhouse.gov

• Rep Tyler Sirois, House Majority Leader

Tyler.Sirois@myfloridahouse.gov

• Rep Fentrice Driskell, House Minority Leader

Fentrice.Driskell@flhouse.gov

• Rep Jennifer Canady, Chair, Education and Employment Committee

Jennifer.Canady@flhouse.gov

• Rep Taylor Michael Yarkosky, Vice Chair, Education and Employment Committee

Taylor.Yarkosky@flhouse.gov

• Rep Jenna Persons-Mulicka, Chair, Pre-K Budget Subcommittee

Jenna.Persons@flhouse.gov

• Rep Dana Trabulsy, Vice Chair, Pre-K Budget Subcommittee

dana.trabulsy@flhouse.gov

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Uncertainty over released prisoners

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

US pressure on Cuba

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

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

Cuba periodically frees prisoners at key moments.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Two westbound lanes on 103rd are also shut down.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the crash is fatal.

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue remain on scene.

This is a developing story.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well, almost everything.

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

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

Certainly looks that way.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The next 24 hours were a blur.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The event at Jacksonville Beach drew heavy police presence and led to several arrests during the unofficial event, according to Jacksonville Beach Police.

But the couple at the center of the viral video said what they experienced during their ceremony was the opposite: loud support, followed by respectful silence as they exchanged vows.

@_.definitelynothim._ They got married on the beach during our senior skip day, I hope they have a happy life #wedding #beach #skipday #jaxbeach #fyp ♬ original sound - ⓘ Redacted ⓘ

Dawn Moore and Zack Stover planned a beach wedding behind their hotel on Jacksonville Beach. Moore said they knew the beach was a public space — but they weren’t expecting to share it with a massive crowd.

“Well then I’m upstairs getting ready and one of my sisters comes up and she’s like there is a whole bunch of people out on the beach,” Moore said.

Moore said their photographer soon told them it was Senior Skip Day — an unsanctioned gathering that had drawn large crowds of students to the area.

“One of the cops had told our photographer that we might want to go down a mile,” Moore said. “I was like there’s no way that we can do that… we’re all barefoot… and I have on a really tight wedding dress."

Instead, the couple decided to go ahead with the plan.

When Moore and Stover stepped onto the beach, “all the teenagers just started cheering and clapping,” Moore said.

The crowd reaction was captured on video and quickly spread across social media, racking up hundreds of thousands of views and turning the wedding into an unexpected feel-good moment tied to a day that had also generated serious concerns for law enforcement.

Moore said what surprised her most was what happened once the ceremony began.

“They got quiet and they were really respectful… it turned out to be really good,” she said.

The couple said they expected about 140 guests, but they estimate the beach crowd watching from behind was much larger. Stover told News4JAX it looked like about 800 to 900 people.

Moore said some of the teens later told them it was the first wedding they’d ever seen.

“I thought it was wonderful,” Moore said. “I went through a lot of weddings when I was younger and it made me want and know what I wanted when I got older and I’m happy to have given them that.”

News4JAX spoke with Moore and Stover over Zoom while they were on their honeymoon at Disney. Looking back, Moore said the unexpected cheering and support is what she’ll remember most.

“You never expect that at your wedding,” she said. “Thank you to all the seniors that were there on senior skip day. You all made it amazing. Very memorable.”

Geno Auriemma was only in his eighth season coaching the Huskies. UConn hadn't yet hoisted a national championship trophy. There wasn't nearly the same pressure to win that the Huskies face now. And women's basketball as a whole hadn't seen the unprecedented growth in sponsorships and popularity it is experiencing now.

By the 1994-95 season, Rizzotti and fellow UConn standout Rebecca Lobo helped the Huskies go undefeated en route to their first national title. Everything about the program changed, and even as women's basketball has evolved and skyrocketed in exposure, the Huskies have remained the gold standard.

“There was no thought that we were going to be undefeated,” Rizzotti said. “We didn't have that internal pressure. We didn't have external pressure. That's the last time a UConn team could play that way. Think about that: 1995 is the last time a UConn team could play without that kind of pressure.”

The Huskies have since won 12 national titles, reached the Final Four 25 times and won 30 conference titles. They've been ranked 653 weeks in The Associated Press women's basketball poll, and Auriemma is the winningest coach in women's college basketball history.

As conversations around the Final Four in Phoenix center around how the women's game has grown, the Huskies, who are competing for the second straight national title, have been at the forefront.

“You could tell that everything was aligned for this program to reach that pinnacle," said Rizzotti, who is currently the president of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun. “I don't think anything of us would have predicted that it would have gone on as it had.”

Rizzotti joined former UConn players Stefanie Dolson, currently with the WNBA's Washington Mystics, and Shea Ralph, now Vanderbilt's coach, on a panel Friday at “The AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience,” which is being held at Arizona State’s First Amendment Forum in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Earlier Friday, Big East commissioner Val Ackerman, former Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) commissioner Rich Ensor and AP women’s poll founder Mel Greenberg spoke on a panel moderated by college basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli on the growth of women's basketball at the college and pro levels.

“I think women's basketball has never been more popular,” said Ackerman, who was the first president of the WNBA from 1996-2005. “I think schools that are succeeding are really seeing, feeling and believing in the (return on investment). And UConn's a case in point.”

Ackerman sees the investment that the schools in this year's Final Four — UConn, Texas, South Carolina, and UCLA — have made in their programs to reach back-to-back national semifinals as a reflection of the growing importance of pouring resources into women's hoops.

“And that's done a world of good,” she added. “Programs like South Carolina, UCLA, you see what they're doing for their campuses. The investment is paying off in terms of the brand and engagement with the community and school reputation.”

Even as women's sports are drawing record crowds and WNBA players are set to make more money than ever, Ensor sees much more room to capitalize on this current growth.

“It has been about breaking down barriers, and they still exist,” Ensor said. “We marvel at what's happened, but we still recognize there's a lot more that's to come.”

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

Current Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo and Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic, an assistant in Memphis before taking over as head coach of Toronto, said their experiences did not match the comments by James in a "Bob Does Sports” YouTube video earlier this week.

James criticized Memphis and indicated the NBA would be better off if the Grizzlies moved 200 miles east to Nashville where Tennessee's capital city has Vanderbilt University, NASCAR and even the NHL's Predators. He even said he might have opted to say he wouldn't play in Memphis if the Grizzlies had the first pick in the 2003 draft.

“I can say from my own perspective that I have the complete opposite — 180-degree perspective on that,” Iisalo said. “The Memphis where we have arrived less than two years ago has been very warm. Very welcoming.”

Rajakovic added: “I don't care what the rest of the world thinks. I love the people of Memphis. I love the food. I love every single time I come over here.”

James' criticism included NBA players having nothing to do when teams arrive in Memphis for games.

“In Memphis on a (expletive) random (expletive) Thursday," James said. "I’m not even the first guy to talk about it in the NBA, like, ‘You guys have to move. Go over to Nashville.’”

The Raptors arrived in Memphis a day before Friday night's game and visited St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which treats childhood cancer patients at no charge to families. Rajakovic called the visit inspiring with his players thanking him for taking them to the hospital to meet patients.

The coaches of the Grizzlies and Raptors have short ties to Memphis with Iisalo in just his second season and first as head coach. Iisalo said Memphis features one of the NBA's most passionate fan bases with the city rallying behind its team.

"All I can say is Memphis is the right place for the Grizzlies,” Iisalo said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

How the US views China's diplomacy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

China has undertaken a flurry of diplomacy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Amiri reported from the United Nations.

Patchy fog will develop overnight away from the coast, especially for those locations that see any shower or storm.

This weekend will feature a mix of sun and clouds with temperatures in the 80s. In fact, near-record highs are likely on Sunday. The record high temperature on Sunday at Jacksonville International Airport is 91 degrees set in 2017.

An isolated shower or storm is possible each day, but activity won’t be widespread.

A front will approach our area from the north on Monday. It will turn breezy and much cooler with a northeasterly wind. Highs will be in the 70s on Monday with a few showers and storms.

The front will be slow-moving, which will keep the clouds and rain in the forecast on Tuesday. It will be breezy as well with a strong northeasterly wind. The front should clear most of our area on Wednesday, but it will remain mostly cloudy, breezy and cool.

Highs on Tuesday and Wednesday will only be in the 60s due to the clouds and a strong northeasterly wind.

This front will bring beneficial rainfall to our area, which is good news since we are in a drought. Several areas could potentially see over an inch or more of rain.

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.

As mentioned above, slight improvement can be expected with the rain in the forecast early next week.

TONIGHT: Partly Cloudy. Patchy Fog Possible. Low 63.

SATURDAY: Sun & Clouds. Isolated Rain & Storms. High 85, Low 62.

SUNDAY: Partly Cloudy. Mainly Dry. High 88, Low 61.

MONDAY: Mostly Cloudy & Breezy. Scattered Rain. High 72, Low 56.

TUESDAY: Cloudy & Breezy. Scattered Rain. High 69, Low 57.

WEDNESDAY: Cloudy & Breezy. Isolated Rain. High 69, Low 60.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Earlier estimates had the fire at 4,000 acres, but that number went down after more accurate mapping. As of 7 p.m., the fire was currently 50% contained.

Residents in Waycross reported seeing large plumes of smoke rising from the ‘Sergeant Fire’, which is burning just north of Columbia and Baker counties in Florida.

Road closures were effect due to heavy smoke. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, all lanes on State Road 2 in Sanderson were closed Friday. The Georgia Department of Transportation reported both lanes of State Road 94 Southbound at Main Pasture Road were also shut down.

As of Friday afternoon, the Florida Forestry Service said no homes were being threatened by the blaze. Several agencies are working together to contain and fight the fire.

This is a developing story.

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A semi-truck slammed into the back of the bus while it was carrying about 30 students across train tracks on Zoo Parkway, Duval County Public Schools said. Four children were injured and taken to the hospital, and one of those families has retained Sam Hartiens, an associate attorney at Campione Law, to investigate the crash and potential claims.

“This is something that you would never expect to happen here in Jacksonville,” Hartiens said. “Once we heard what was going on, this was something that we elected to pursue just because we do specialize in catastrophic cases.”

Hartiens posted a media release on his Facebook account announcing that a family has retained him.

Hartiens said the child he’s representing is out of the hospital.

“...we are monitoring them for the condition,” he said. “They’re likely needing follow-up care.”

Now, the investigation process begins in trying to gather evidence pertaining to the truck driver.

“The main investigation is trying to figure out what caused this truck to go into the back of the bus,” he said. “Were they distracted? Was there something that didn’t work that should have worked? There’s a lot of questions and more than answers right now.”

Hartiens also described extensive damage from the crash and said the physical evidence will be important to resolving the case.

“It’s really significant, with a lot of force going through it,” he said.

Florida law requires drivers of school buses and certain other passenger or cargo vehicles to stop no closer than 15 feet and no farther than 50 feet from the nearest rail and to look and listen for approaching trains before crossing. It was not immediately clear whether those rules were followed by the bus or the truck.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Duval County Public Schools did not immediately respond to requests for comment or the crash report. News4JAX knocked on nearby doors of neighbors who may know of the parents and students impacted by this.

The family’s attorney said he will review all available evidence as the investigation continues.

“It seems very intense, not a small little fender bender or a love tap on the back,” Hartiens said. “It’s really significant with a lot of force going through it.”

ISA Board-Certified Master Arborist Garner Cox, manager of Groundwork Jacksonville’s horticulture team, is leading the effort. The planted species include bald cypress, black gum, dahoon holly, wax myrtle, Little Gem magnolias, live oaks and other native trees aimed at adding shade and resiliency to downtown neighborhoods.

Over 60 volunteers from the Jacksonville Jaguars staff, Ally Bank and students from the Duval 4-H Home School Adventure Club planted the trees along the Emerald Trail S-Line near Emmitt Reed Community between Kings Street and Moncrief Road.

The S-Line, a 4.8-mile rails-to-trails multiuse path that runs through Durkeeville and Springfield, was Jacksonville’s first dedicated urban trail when the city converted an abandoned CSX right-of-way in 2008. It is part of the planned 30-mile Emerald Trail, which will link 14 historic urban neighborhoods to downtown, the St. Johns River and multiple schools, parks and other community destinations.

Groundwork Jacksonville is the nonprofit partner rebuilding portions of the Emerald Trail and restoring McCoys Creek and Hogans Creek. Groundwork was formed in 2014 as a partnership with the city, the National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency and Groundwork USA. Greenscape of Jacksonville, established in 1975, is a local tree advocacy nonprofit that has contributed more than 356,750 trees to the region’s canopy.

The report, titled “Top 25 High-Frequency Crash Locations — Citywide 2025,” lists intersections ranked by total crash count. The data was published Jan. 27, 2026.

Downtown

• Main Street N and State Street W topped the list by a wide margin, recording 483 crashes — nearly 150 more than the second-ranked location.
• State Street E and Liberty Street came in at fourth place with 208 crashes.
• Union Street W and N Davis Street took seventh place at 193 crashes.

Westside

• Blanding Boulevard and Argyle Forest Boulevard logged 337 crashes, making the busy westside corridor one of the most hazardous stretches in the city.
• 103rd Street and Firestone Road and Cassat Avenue and Lenox Avenue, both logged 185 crashes putting them at ninth place.

Southside

• University Boulevard W and Phillips Highway ranked third overall with 221 crashes.
• Baymeadows Road and Southside Boulevard recorded 196 crashes to claim the fifth spot.
• tied for eighth, recording 185 crashes each.

Northside

• Dunn Avenue and Regency Drive came in sixth with 194 crashes.
• 103rd Street and Blanding Boulevard tied for eighth with 185 crashes
• I-95 and Max Leggett Parkway tied for ninth place with 185 crashes.

The Sheriff’s Office data does not specify crash severity, meaning the totals include minor fender-benders alongside more serious collisions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

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

The league said in a statement that Rice “has not engaged in conduct that violates the personal conduct policy.”

The Chiefs did not have an immediate comment on the decision, but Rice's attorney, Sean Lindsey, said in a statement that "Mr. Rice wants to thank the NFL for their thorough investigation, and looks forward to the start of the 2026-27 NFL season.”

The 25-year-old Rice missed the first six games of last season after the NFL found that he had violated its personal conduct policy when he caused a multi-car crash on a Dallas highway while driving erratically in speeds nearing 120 mph. Rice left the scene of the accident before police arrived, then took responsibility for the wreck in a statement a couple of weeks later.

Rice turned himself in when an arrest warrant was issued and he subsequently pleaded guilty to two third-degree felony charges last July — collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury — and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years’ probation. He also was required to pay victims’ medical expenses.

The latest off-the-field issue involving Rice came after former girlfriend Dakoda Jones alleged in a lawsuit filed in February in Dallas County, Texas, that he had physically assaulted her multiple times, causing injuries that included bleeding and bruising.

The lawsuit said Rice “grabbed, choked, strangled, pushed, thrown, scratched, hit, and headbutted” Jones, in addition to hitting her with objects. The lawsuit also said Rice had thrown objects, punched walls and broken furniture, and many of these incidents occurred when Jones, who has two children with Rice, was pregnant.

Rice had 53 catches for 571 yards and five touchdowns last season as Kansas City went 6-11 and missed the playoffs.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“This is uncharted territory,” he said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Money for immigration enforcement, air traffic controllers and national parks

Among the priorities the White House called for:

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

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

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

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

Cuts to green energy, housing and health programs

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

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

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

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

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

Supporters and detractors

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

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

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

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

Debt, deficits and tough choices ahead

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

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

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

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

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

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

Congress still fighting over 2026 spending

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 32-year-old man in Maine in April 2025, accusing him of sending threats to a Palm Coast resident and the resident’s family through Xbox messages. Investigators said the messages included threats to kill the victim, make the victim’s parents “disappear,” and burn the family’s house down.

Alicia, the victim’s mother, said the threats escalated quickly.

“He would tell them that his friends were in the army and they would come after them in their home,” she said.

The Sheriff’s Office investigation lasted over two years, but court documents show the case was recently dismissed.

Because the case is no longer being prosecuted, News4JAX is not naming the man who was arrested.

Online case records from the Flagler County Clerk of Courts show a status hearing was held Jan. 28. However, pretrial and status hearings in February and March were canceled, according to the clerk’s website.

She did not learn the case was being dropped until the state attorney called her.

“I was not aware at all until the state attorney called me on February 3rd,” she said.

Alicia said she was told over the phone that the accused man was deemed incompetent. Court records show an order for a mental examination filed in August 2025, though the results were not immediately available in the documents.

According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office charging affidavit, the communications occurred on both Xbox and Snapchat, and the victim never met the accused man in person.

Dwann Holmes, a social media expert with Brand On-Demand Media, said threats on gaming platforms can be especially troubling.

“When you’re dealing with gaming platforms, they’re not just games. They really are social networks as well,” Holmes said.

Holmes said parents should watch for changes in their children’s behavior immediately after gaming.

She said her son wrote a letter to the judge intended for a March hearing, describing long-term effects from the threats. The letter ends: “I didn’t have a voice when I was younger and I do now. I hope justice one day will be served.”

“The reason why [my son] did this is so that he would not do this to any other boys,” she said.

News4JAX reached out to the State Attorney’s Office for comment and to find out exactly why the case was dismissed. A response had not been received as of publication.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So how can you avoid becoming part of the next crash story on News4JAX?

I rode along with a defensive driving instructor with the Northeast Florida Safety Council to find out.

Ben McCorkel, a former state trooper, demonstrated the basics drivers should follow every time they get behind the wheel.

And it starts even before that.

McCorkel said drivers should begin with a “360” walk-around before getting in the car. He said to look for children, animals, toys or anything near the vehicle, and to check for leaks or other issues with tire pressure.

We know, it takes extra time before you leave, but McCorkel’s lesson was clear: prevention comes first.

And that quick check could be life-saving!

Once inside the vehicle, McCorkel stressed control and keeping both hands engaged.

When I tried to adjust and reached back using one hand, McCorkel stopped me and pointed out that one-handed driving reduces control if something goes wrong.

He said that even taking a hand off the wheel while talking -- another common habit -- can cost a driver reaction time.

On the road, McCorkel told me to keep scanning for pedestrians and for vehicles that might enter the roadway unexpectedly. He said some drivers will pull out without waiting, acting as if they come first.

At a red light, I asked McCorkel how much space drivers should leave behind the car in front of them. He said drivers should stop far enough back to see the front vehicle’s tires touching the pavement.

And when it comes to turn signals, many drivers think that if they’re already in a turn lane, signaling isn’t necessary. But McCorkel said turn signals should be used every time.

So what causes most of the crashes we see in Jacksonville?

In McCorkel’s opinion, it’s speed.

But he noted that driving too fast isn’t the only issue. Drivers going too slowly can also be dangerous and contribute to crashes.

At another intersection, I stopped slightly over the line, while another driver was much farther past it. McCorkel said that technically equates to running the red light.

McCorkel also urges drivers not to text while driving, not to engage with aggressive drivers, and not to play music so loudly that they cannot hear emergency responders approaching.

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

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

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

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

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

What is the 65-game rule?

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

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

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

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

Who's out of the award races?

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

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

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

Will the rule be changed?

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

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

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

Scoring champion ... but not All-NBA?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The thresholds are different.

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

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

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

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

Watch the full press conference below.

Attorneys Benjamin Crump and Harry Daniels spoke at a news conference held at the Sanctuary of the Mount Calvary Church, where they highlighted several recent arrests involving Black men that they say demonstrate a troubling trend.

Dasaun Williams, 24, of Middleburg was arrested by JSO last November during an undercover drug and gang investigation, but body camera video of the takedown only recently came to light after the family obtained it and posted it to social media.

The video of his arrest, which was sent to News4JAX by Williams’ girlfriend, prompted dozens of requests for News4JAX to look into the takedown and whether officers used excessive force.

Williams, whose mugshot after the November arrest shows him with a swollen face, is facing 27 felony counts related to drug trafficking, selling fentanyl, selling meth and firearms offenses. His attorneys attempted a plea deal, but prosecutors rejected the terms that were offered.

According to the attorneys, the official police report does not mention any use of force. The sheriff’s office has said only that the case remains under administrative review.

The JSO said Williams is linked to the “Out East 1200″ gang.

The video of his arrest, posted on social media and viewed thousands of times, appears to show JSO officers striking Williams in the face, placing multiple knees to his head, and holding a stun gun against his back.

“We don’t need outlaws,” Crump said. “What we need is law enforcement who respect the Constitution.”

Williams’ mother, Deonca Gordon, said video of the arrest shows her son did not resist officers.

“To see the video of my son not saying not one word in resistance … to be met with that brutal force — where’s the justice for him?” Gordon said.

A separate clip shows what appears to be multiple slaps to his face while he is pinned down by officers. Williams also appears to vomit in the video.

Others at the news conference described similar experiences.

William McNeil, whose February 2024 traffic stop went viral, said he was punched and dragged from his car. Authorities have said McNeil repeatedly ignored commands to exit the vehicle, and the officers involved were cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

Another man, Travis Brinkley, alleged he was beaten by an officer who arrived after he was already on the ground during a 2024 drug arrest.

“I didn’t resist, I didn’t curse, I wasn’t combative,” Brinkley said.

The sheriff’s office told News4JAX that the force used in Brinkley’s arrest was reviewed and found to be within department policy.

Daniels criticized those policies, saying they allow “distractionary strikes” and do not always require officers to report use of force unless a suspect claims injury or is taken to a hospital.

The attorneys said the policies themselves are the issue and called on Sheriff T.K. Waters to take stronger action.

Waters has previously defended deputies in high-profile cases, including McNeil’s arrest. He has not publicly commented in detail on the Williams case.

The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment.

Erika McGriff also retained Crump and Daniels after videos surfaced alleging excessive force by JSO officers.

JSO announced the operation, called Operation Red Light, saying it led to the arrests of alleged gang members and seizures of drugs.

The agency has not released the full body-worn camera footage that has circulated online; News4JAX has asked JSO for the complete video, but has so far been able to review only what was posted publicly.

Williams’ arrest report describes a months-long undercover investigation and lists 27 charges, saying Williams sold meth and fentanyl to confidential informants on multiple occasions.

The report’s description of the arrest says, “The Gang Investigations Unit conducted a buy/bust on Dasaun Williams, taking him into custody,” but it does not mention the use of force seen in the video.

JSO said the video is under administrative review, and it can not comment at this time.

News4JAX reached out to JSO about Friday’s press conference and did not get a response.

Last year’s top priority, a 195-acre waterfront property along Shores Boulevard adjacent to the Moses Creek Conservation Area, slipped away according to Commissioner Ann Taylor and Jen Lombert, executive director and riverkeeper with Matanzas Riverkeeper.

“The number one from last year wasn’t on there, and they didn’t really discuss that the reason it wasn’t there wasn’t because it was purchased — it was because we lost it,” Lombert said. “And I think that that’s a really important cautionary tale.”

The LAMP account currently sits at $5,482,526. St. Johns County added $500,000 from the general fund and transferred $1.5 million from the Tree Bank Fund in January, bringing total fiscal year 2026 funding to $2 million.

Commissioner Ann Taylor, the county’s liaison to the LAMP Board, spoke at the March 3 commission meeting about the program and its future. She is hopeful to see it grow. Even with additional funding she says it makes it hard to pursue some of the properties.

“Five hundred thousand dollars, when we look at these amazing properties, doesn’t put a dent in it,” Taylor said. “I’ve had a number of meetings with the Florida Land Trust. It is clear we do not have enough funding for this.”

“These are amazing properties we want to protect and preserve,” she added. “Preservation and conservation is number one for so many of our residents. It is a priority and we need to likewise make it a priority.”

The LAMP Board, led by new chair Wayne Flowers, brought five properties before the commission for the 2025 priority list:

1. Bailey Family Property — Bishop Estates Road, northeast St. Johns County — 67 acres
2. Adams Family Property — County Road 13 South — 94.4 acres
3. Christina Drive Shores Parcels — St. Augustine Shores PUD — 2.8 acres (three lots)
4. Arnold House — 10690 County Road 13 North, Picolata
5. McCullough Creek Property — County Road 13 South — 25.45 acres (two phases)

Topping the list is the Bailey Family Property, a working ranch in northeast St. Johns County.

Commissioner Christian Whitehurst signaled where he believes the county can act now.

“I think we have a great chance to get items 2, 3, 4 and 5,” Whitehurst said. “We have spent years building this up. We have a chance to grab some conservation land and we can only do that if we have adequate funding.”

Lombert said the stakes go beyond any single property.

“Once land is developed, that’s it. You cannot turn back the clock,” she said. “One of the best ways to protect water is to protect the land.”

“There is definitely still a lot of opportunities,” Lombert added. “And one of the great things about the LAMP program is that it’s a willing seller program. These are all people who want their land to be conserved. It’s just a matter of whether St. Johns County has enough funding to buy it.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Second service member's status unknown

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Iran targets a desalination plant and a refinery

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Iran keeps a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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Detectives were notified at 12:20 p.m. that Francisco Juan Torres Torres had died. Torres Torres was taken to the hospital on March 30 after he appeared to suffer a medical issue and remained under care until his death.

He was arrested on Dec. 30, 2025, on charges that included operating while a driver’s license was revoked for a habitual traffic offense; resisting an officer without violence; improper display of tag; no motor vehicle registration; no proof of insurance; and operating a loud stereo.

Torres Torres was released from police custody on Thursday while still at the hospital, the sheriff’s office said.

The investigation into the circumstances of his death is ongoing. The medical examiner’s final determination on the cause of death is pending, and no foul play is suspected at this time, the agency said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman — the first four hitters in the Los Angeles lineup — all homered Friday in a 13-6 win over the Washington Nationals. It was Tucker's first home run since joining the Dodgers. It was Ohtani's first RBI of the season.

“Rome isn't burning,” manager Dave Roberts cracked.

There wasn't much panic from Roberts before the game, even with Ohtani (.167), Tucker (.174), Betts (.136) and Freeman (.208) all in a bit of a funk through the first six games of the season. Then the first six hitters went down in order before the Dodgers broke through in the third.

Ohtani's three-run shot to right tied the game at 3, and Betts connected for a two-run homer two batters later.

“It's a new day. That's really it,” Betts said. “Nobody in here is panicking or anything. One week, tough week. That probably is not going to be our last week that we don't hit well.”

Andy Pages hit a two-run homer in the fourth that made it 7-4, then Freeman added a two-run shot in the fifth. Tucker's solo homer in the seventh capped a three-hit day for the outfielder who signed a $240 million, four-year deal to go from the Chicago Cubs to the Dodgers.

“It was nice. First homer — first actual ball I've hit in the air well, out in front and everything,” Tucker said. “You can't complain when you hit a homer.”

The first four hitters for Los Angeles combined to go 8 for 21 with four homers, 10 RBIs and six runs. The Dodgers tagged Miles Mikolas for a career-high 11 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.

“I think a little bit of it is we've had a lot of history with Mikolas,” Roberts said “We've seen him, know some of his tendencies. Outside of that, they were just not missing today.”

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

“I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week outside of the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. “I carry all of this suffering in my prayer.”

Inside the Colosseum, Leo lifted the cross and began the rite flanked by two torchbearers, who accompanied him throughout the hour-long procession from inside the Colosseum, through the crowd outside and up steep stairs to the Palatine Hill where he gave the final blessing.

At the first station, marking the moment Jesus was condemned to death, the meditation prepared especially for Leo's first Good Friday underlined that those with authority will have to answer to God for how they exercise their power.

"The power to judge; the power to start or end a war; the power to instill violence or peace; the power to fuel the desire for revenge, or for reconciliation,'' read the meditation written by Rev. Francesco Patton, who was custodian of the Holy Land 2016-25, charged, among other things, with looking after sacred sites.

Some 30,000 faithful gathered outside the pagan monument, following the stations as they were recited over loud speakers.

They included Sister Pelenatita Kieoma Finau from Samoa and a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary.

"We have been part of our parish stations of the cross, but this is so exciting. It is very meaningful to have the experience of being with the people of Rome on this special occasion,'' she said.

Past processions

John Paul II carried the cross for the entire procession from his first Good Friday as pontiff in 1979 until his hip surgery in 1995, when he carried it just part of the way, according to AP reports at the time.

For the first two years of his papacy, Benedict XVI carried the cross for the first station inside the Colosseum, then followed other bearers in the procession that ends on a platform on the Palatine Hill.

Pope Francis never carried the cross, but participated in the procession until his health worsened. He died after a long illness last year on Easter Monday, which fell on April 21.

Pope John Paul II was just 58 when he became pope, and was known as a hiker and outdoorsman. His two successors were in their late 70s when they began their papacies, and Francis was missing part of a lung due to a pulmonary infection as a young man.

The Way of the Cross commemorates the final hours of Jesus’ life, from his death sentence to taking up the cross to his crucifixion, death and burial. The procession ends outside the Colosseum atop the Palatine Hill.

“The Way of the Cross is not intended for those who lead a pristinely pious or abstractly recollected life,” Patton wrote in his introduction. “Instead, it is the exercise of one who knows that faith, hope and charity must be incarnated in the real world.”

At 70, Leo is physically fit and an avid tennis player and swimmer. Before becoming pope, Leo would work out regularly at a gym near the Vatican, with a plan befitting a man in his early 50s, according to his former trainer.

The pope's Holy Week activities

On Holy Saturday, the pontiff will preside over a late night Easter vigil, during which he will baptize new Catholics, and lead Roman Catholics into Christianity’s most joyous celebration marking Christ’s resurrection.

On Easter Sunday, the pope will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square before delivering his Easter message and offer the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the city of Rome and the world.

——

Barry reported from Milan.

A spokesperson for the American Airlines Center told WFAA-TV in Dallas that the arena has “zero tolerance for any acts of hate and/or discrimination.”

“We strongly denounce the actions that appear to be depicted in the video footage and are conducting an internal investigation,” the spokesperson said. “All fans and attendees are expected to adhere to AAC and, as applicable, NBA or NHL Codes of Conduct when attending events.”

A Stars fan, Courtney Ripley, told the television station she took a 12-second video at a game against Toronto in late December. It shows four fans reacting to a goal by appearing to raise and extend their right arms with a straightened right hand facing downward. The video gained traction this week on several social media platforms.

A Stars spokesperson told ESPN on Thursday that the team is “fully aligned with the arena’s statement and working with them to find out exactly what happened.”

Fan codes of conduct are prominent throughout the NHL. Every team has a scripted segment that is shared on their video boards, through their public address system or both, telling fans about their respective codes of conduct.

The NHL also has a multipoint fan code of conduct that opens by stating, “The best hockey experiences happen in environments that are inclusive, safe and respectful.”

The NHL said possible punishments for violating the code of conduct include ejection, suspension or a lifetime ban from future events.

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

“Serving as the first Hispanic Outreach Coordinator for the City of Jacksonville has been more than a title — it has been a responsibility I carried with deep pride, purpose, and heart,” Cardona wrote on social media.

RELATED: How this Puerto Rican woman became the driving force behind events celebrating the Hispanic community in Jacksonville

In her resignation letter to Jacksonville Mayor Deegan, Cardona recalled helping organize town halls connecting Deegan with the city’s Hispanic community even before the role officially existed — back when Deegan was still on the campaign trail.

“I remember the promises you made about diversifying boards, creating new opportunities, and building a city that truly represents all of its people,” Cardona wrote in her resignation letter. “To not only witness but be part of that journey as Jacksonville elected its first female Mayor was an experience of a lifetime.”

The Hispanic Outreach Coordinator position was created under Mayor Deegan, who said it was designed to connect Jacksonville’s growing Hispanic population to city services and civic life.

“I am truly grateful for Yaya’s service to our community,” Deegan said following Cardona’s resignation. “Today, the community is more connected to the city than ever before because of Yaya’s dedication to the work of making every voice heard.”

During her two years of service, Cardona helped small businesses through the Jacksonville Small and Emerging Business program, known as JSEB, supported HealthLink Jax, organized town halls and helped build Unidos Jax, a space celebrating Hispanic culture.

Cardona’s tenure was not without controversy. In January 2026, she was briefly placed on administrative leave after posting a video from her office, addressing reports of increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, activity across Northeast Florida.

In the social media video, Cardona can be heard asking families to have a plan in case they get arrested and to “stay home” if there’s no need to go outside.

“If you get pulled over, as much as we want to huff and puff, please comply,” Cardona said in the video.

Deegan defended the content of the video while calling the situation an “unfortunate distraction.”

“There was nothing she said that was illegal,” Deegan said.

“The reason she was put on administrative leave because we have a policy in the city. We have a mayor who is the spokesperson for the city, and we have people who follow policy that if you are going to create any social media content. [...] that can be misconstrued as coming from the mayor, that has to come through me or our communications office,” Deegan said.

In February, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that he sent a “criminal subpoena” to Deegan’s administration, saying one of the city’s employees may have impeded immigration enforcement.

The request specifically sought work-related emails, texts, and documents from Cardona containing words such as “Nazi,” “Gestapo,” “stormtrooper,” or “terrorize.”

News4JAX reviewed the documents submitted by the city in response to the subpoena and found no mention of those words in the documents.

Cardona’s last day as Hispanic Outreach Coordinator is April 17.

Looking ahead, Cardona said she hopes to one day return to her hometown of Guánica, Puerto Rico, and run for mayor. For now, she’s focused on her new chapter — and leaving the community with this message:

“Get involved and don’t ever be afraid to speak up!”

The Jaguars are signing the edge rusher to a four-year, $110 million contract extension, according to his agency Elite Loyalty Sports. The deal includes $77 million in guarantees and $50 million fully guaranteed at signing.

The extension continues to show general manager James Gladstone and head coach Liam Coen prioritizing their homegrown talent. While Walker was selected under the previous regime, he’s shown enough to be considered a defensive cornerstone for the Jaguars. He’s been an excellent run defender while learning to be a more refined pass rusher, something Jacksonville is in dire need of.

Walker was set to begin this season playing on his fifth-year option, a precarious position for teams and players. Franchises who want to hold on to a player risk the possibility of alienating them without a new deal because the option only provides a final year of salary, and at a bargain rate for a rising star. Walker was set to earn $14.75 million on the option.

A new contract will allow the Jaguars to lower Walker’s salary cap hit this year and give the University of Georgia product a hefty pay raise and financial security going forward.

The first overall pick in 2022, Walker saw his production jump in both 2023 and ’24 before injuries derailed much of his 2025 year.

The Jaguars went 13-4 and won the AFC South despite a pass rush that lagged with a banged-up Walker. He was limited to 3.5 sacks in 15 games. Jacksonville is counting on Walker to be back at full strength this year. He racked up seasons of 10 and 10.5 sacks and was an ascending player before knee and wrist injuries dragged his performance down. Walker underwent wrist surgery during the season and played parts of the year with a cast on his left arm.

Trent Grisham reached leading off with the first of 11 walks by Marlins pitchers and Judge drove a slider into the left-field seats against Eury Pérez (0-1).

Judge, who had three RBIs, hit a record 20 first-inning home runs last year, when he finished with 53. Three of Judge's five hits this season have been home runs.

Ben Rice homered and hit a two-run double for the Yankees.

Will Warren (1-0) allowed four hits in 5 2/3 innings, including solo homers by Xavier Edwards in the first and Owen Caissie in the fifth.

Miami entered the game at 5-1, matching its franchise-best start, and had spent six days atop the NL East — double its total for 2021-25 combined. Miami pitchers had their most walks since April 2023; they had walked just nine in the team's first six games.

Pérez (0-1) allowed four runs, two hits and a career-high six walks in four innings. He forced in runs on consecutive pitches in the second when he walked Grisham and hit Judge. Tyler Phillips threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the sixth.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. and José Caballero each had two stolen bases and Judge one off catcher Liam Hicks, who has allowed 60 steals in 66 attempts since reaching the major leagues last year.

Up Next

Yankees LHP Ryan Weathers (0-0), acquired from the Marlins in January, starts Saturday night against Miami RHP Max Meyer (0-0).

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

The Labor Department reported Friday that hiring marked a turnaround from the loss of 133,000 jobs in February. The job gains were about three times what economists had forecast. But uncertainty surrounding the war with Iran — and its impact on energy prices — is clouding the outlook for the labor market.

The unemployment rate was down from 4.4% in February. That is partly because the labor force — those working and looking for work — dropped by 396,000 in March so fewer people were competing for jobs. In fact, the percentage of people in the labor force dropped to 61.9% last month, the lowest since November 2021.

Health care companies added 76,400 jobs last month, boosted by the return of 31,000 Kaiser Permanente employees to work after the end of a strike in February. Factories added 15,000 jobs last month but have still shed jobs for 14 of the last 16 months. Construction companies added 26,000 jobs, probably partly because of warmer weather last month.

Average hourly wages were up 0.2% from February. Compared to March 2025, they were up 3.5% — the smallest gain since May 2021 and one consistent with the Federal Reserve's 2% annual inflation target.

Labor Department revisions shaved 7,000 jobs off combined January and February payrolls.

The U.S. job market has been in a slump over the past year. Most economists say the impact of the war and higher energy prices was probably not fully reflected in the March jobs numbers.

“The data is mostly backward-looking, and likely does not incorporate any impact from the recent rise in energy prices, or other risks related to the war in Iran,’’ Thomas Simons, chief U.S. economist with the investment firm Jefferies, wrote in a commentary.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at the accounting firm KPMG, said that the economy is getting a lift from big tax refunds made possible by President Donald Trump’s 2025 tax cuts. “But those are now being eaten up by higher energy costs,’’ she said.

Last year, employers added an average of just 9,700 jobs a month, the weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. Businesses have been reluctant to bring on new workers partly because of uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports and crackdown on immigration. One measure released by the Labor Department on Monday showed the weakest hiring since April 2020 – in the middle of COVID-19 lockdowns.

But firms have also been reluctant to let go of their existing employees, creating what economists describe as a “no-hire, no-fire’’ scenario that locks young applicants out of the job market. At the same time, there are growing worries that artificial intelligence is taking entry-level jobs.

New jobs are heavily concentrated in health care and social assistance (which includes day care and vocational rehabilitation centers). That combined category accounted for more than half the jobs created last month. The trend reflects an aging U.S. population. A graying Japan saw the same thing in the early 2010s, Vanguard economist Adam Schickling wrote in a commentary ahead of Friday's jobs report.

“The larger-than-expected rebound in nonfarm payrolls in March mainly reflects a reversal of the strike and weather effects that weighed on hiring in February, rather than being a sign that the labor market is rapidly gaining momentum,” said Stephen Brown, chief North America economist at Capital Economics. Citing higher oil prices, he warned of the risk that "the hit to consumers’ purchasing power will weigh on demand and therefore hiring in the near term.''

March’s unexpectedly strong hiring is likely to ease pressure on the Fed policymakers to cut interest rates right away to help the job market, giving them time to assess what impact higher energy prices are having on overall inflation.

Worries about the fallout from the war are likely to limit job gains for awhile. “It’s the nature of uncertainties,’’ said Olu Sonola, U.S. head of research at Fitch Ratings. “Companies typically respond by holding back’’ on hiring decisions.

A lot will depend on how long the conflict lasts and what happens to oil prices. The price of benchmark American crude oil closed just below $112 a barrel Thursday. “If that’s $140 next month,″ Sonola said, “God knows what’s going to happen.’’

Mai Truong is the founder of Bo & Mei, which makes games and puzzles designed to celebrate Asian heritage. She’s currently preparing for this year’s holiday shopping season and assessing her hiring plans — but she’s facing lots of unknowns.

The Brooklyn, New York-based company, which had sales of under $500,000 last year, had to pay tens of thousands of dollars in tariffs last year. Truong is not sure what her tariff bill will be this year and whether she will be able to get a refund after the Supreme Court struck down some of Trump's tariffs. The Iran war is also creating unforeseen costs including higher shipping expenses.

Truong is her company's only full-time employee. But she typically hires a couple of contractors, who work in operations, marketing and other areas, to help in the months heading to Christmas.

“It makes everything feel very uncertain,” she said. “On the other hand, there’s so little you can do with the volatility. You just have to stay the course and kind of deal with the variables as they become more clear.”

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Anne D'Innocenzio reported from New York.

A year and a half after winning the White House by promising to lower costs and end wars, Donald Trump is a wartime president overseeing surging energy costs and an escalating overseas conflict.

The war in Iran was largely unpopular even before an American fighter jet was shot down in Iran, a development that dominated headlines on Friday and contradicted Trump’s claim that Tehran's military capabilities have been all but destroyed. One crew member has been rescued.

Earlier in the week, the Republican president offered little clarity to a nation eager for answers during a prime-time address from the White House, his first since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran more than a month ago, simultaneously suggesting that the war was ending and expanding.

“Thanks to the progress we’ve made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America’s military objectives shortly, very shortly,” Trump said. “We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.”

Trump's comments come roughly six months before voters across the nation begin to cast ballots in elections that will decide control of Congress and key governorships for Trump’s final two years in office. For now, Republicans, who control all branches of government in Washington, are bracing for a painful political backlash.

“You’re looking at an ugly November,” warned veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse. “At a point in time when we need every break possible to hold the House and Senate, our edge is being chipped away.”

Republicans confront evolving political landscape

It’s hard to overstate how dramatically the political landscape has shifted.

At this time last year, many Republican leaders believed there was a path to preserve their narrow House majority and easily hold the Senate. Now they privately concede that the House is all but lost and Democrats have a realistic shot at taking the Senate.

Republicans are also struggling to coalesce around a clear midterm message on Iran.

The Republican National Committee has largely avoided the war in talking points issued to surrogates over the last month. The leaders of the party's campaign committees responsible for the House and Senate declined interview requests. Many vulnerable Republican candidates sidestep the issue, unwilling to defend or challenge Trump publicly.

The president remains deeply popular with Republican voters, and he has vocal supporters like Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

“That was the best speech I could’ve hoped for,” he wrote on social media after Trump's address on Wednesday evening. Graham said Trump “gave the American people a clear and coherent pathway forward.”

Trump made little effort to sell the conflict to Americans before the initial attack. Five weeks later, at least 13 U.S. service members have been killed and hundreds more injured. Thousands more troops have converged on the region, and the Pentagon requested $200 billion in new funding.

The Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for a fifth of the world’s oil, remains closed. The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. was $4.08 on Thursday, according to AAA, almost a full dollar higher than on President Joe Biden's last day in office.

On Wednesday, Trump insisted that gas prices would fall quickly once the war concluded but offered no solution for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, he invited skeptical U.S. allies to do it themselves.

He insisted that the war would be worth it.

“This is a true investment in your grandchildren and your grandchildren’s future,” Trump said. “When it’s all over, the United States will be safer, stronger, more prosperous and greater than it has ever been before.”

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who was once among Trump's most vocal allies in Congress, lashed out against his Iran policy.

“I wanted so much for President Trump to put America First. That’s what I believed he would do. All I heard from his speech tonight was WAR WAR WAR,” she wrote on social media. “Nothing to lower the cost of living for Americans.”

Time is not on Trump's side

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say the U.S. military action in Iran has “gone too far,” according to AP-NORC polling from March. Roughly a third approve of how he’s handling Iran overall.

The possibility of sending U.S. forces into Iran also appears politically unpalatable.

About 6 in 10 adults are “strongly” or “somewhat” opposed to deploying U.S. troops on the ground to fight Iran. That includes about half of Republicans. Only about 1 in 10 favor deploying troops.

At the same time, Trump’s approval ratings have remained consistently weak. About 4 in 10 Americans approve of how he’s handling the presidency, roughly in line with how it’s been throughout his second term.

Republican strategist Ari Fleischer, a senior aide in former President George W. Bush’s administration, acknowledged that Trump has not received the polling bump in this war that Bush got after invading Iraq.

Bush, of course, worked to build public backing for the Iraq War before going in. Immediately after the 2003 invasion, Bush's popularity soared, as did the stock market.

Public sentiment and the economy soured only after the conflict stretched on. It ultimately spanned more than eight years, spawning a generation of anti-war Republicans — and sowing the seeds of Trump's “America First” foreign policy.

“My hope is that the Trump experience is the exact opposite of the Bush experience,” Fleischer said.

He said Trump must win the war decisively and quickly to avoid a further backlash, saying there could be a “very significant political upside if things end well, oil comes down and markets rally.”

Fleischer added that Trump's actions will matter much more than his words.

“Ultimately, he is not going to get judged on his persuasion or his explanations or his assertions, he’s going to get judged on results,” he said.

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Associated Press writer Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.

Redick said Doncic had an issue with the hamstring in the first half of the 139-96 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and was tended to at the break.

“We checked him out, he got work done, he was cleared," Redick said.

Doncic returned to action briefly. On his final play of the game, he spun before trying to go up for a shot against Oklahoma City's Jalen Williams. There was no contact before Doncic stopped, then lay down on the floor while wincing in pain. He left the game for good with 7:39 remaining in the third quarter.

“Those things happen,” Redick said.

Williams, an All-Star in 2025, has missed 27 games this season because of a right hamstring strain. He felt badly for Doncic.

“It’s very, like, spooky in a way to see it happen to him, and I’m the one guarding him," Williams said.

Williams could have stolen the ball after Doncic let it go, but he chose not to take advantage of the situation.

“I tried to let it go out of bounds and give them time to figure it out,” Williams said. “That injury sucks. So I wish him a speedy recovery. Hope it's not anything serious.”

Doncic had scored at least 40 points in five of his previous seven games. He was held to 12 on 3-for-10 shooting against Oklahoma City's relentless defense.

The Lakers trailed 90-58 when Doncic was hurt, so the injury made a bad night worse.

“I mean, it’s something you never want to see as a teammate,” Lakers forward Jake LaRavia said. “So especially in a game like this, it was tough to see him go down. All the prayers for him ... but yeah, you never want to see that.”

Lakers guard Austin Reaves hurt his back during the game, but continued to play. He sat out the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.

“He was in a weird position, stretching for a basketball, loose ball," Redick said. "And he just felt something intercostal, somewhere in his back, in between the ribs. He was able to play through it ... we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”

The Lakers will host a rematch with the Thunder on April 7.

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This story has been corrected to show that the final score of the game was 139-96, not 139-97.

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

“I'm happy to announce I'm staying at Arizona,” Lloyd said during his pre-practice news conference at the Final Four. “We've been able to get some things done the past couple days.”

The school also announced it had reached an extension with Lloyd through the 2030-31 season, though it didn't release financial terms. Lloyd had previously been under contract through the 2029-30 season worth an average of nearly $5.5 million in base and supplemental pay for the coming seasons, along with a buyout that dropped from $11 million to $9 million on Wednesday.

Lloyd, 51, had been considered a top potential target for the Tar Heels, who fired Hubert Davis on March 24 after five seasons. He had deflected questions about the UNC opening as the Wildcats (36-2) kept advancing in the NCAA Tournament to their first Final Four since 2001, including as recently as Thursday in Indianapolis.

Lloyd praised UNC as “a first-class organization” and said he appreciated “the way they've handled this.”

“Arizona basketball, you guys know what it means to me, and when I say it’s a special place, that always comes from the bottom of my heart,” Lloyd said.

“I didn’t want to make this entire Final Four about that because I’m just a small part of something much bigger. But on that same note, I’d also like to let you know that North Carolina is an amazing place. I mean, it’s a 1 of 1. It’s an honor to even be considered for that job.”

Lloyd's comments came a day before the Wildcats (36-2) were set to face Michigan in Saturday night's national semifinals in a matchup of the two 1-seeds in Indianapolis.

Wolverines coach Dusty May has also been mentioned as a possible UNC candidate, but said Friday he'll “never respond to any job speculation.”

“I think it’s well documented how happy I am at Michigan,” May said. “Obviously my private life, my personal life, my family, their happiness is very important. Yeah, I love it at Michigan, but you’ll never hear me comment on any other job unless Michigan lets me go and then I’ll comment on every job.”

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

Asked whether he’s thinking about reaching 50 goals and catching Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL lead, Caufield deadpanned, “No.” After a brief pause, he smiled and said, “Yeah,” and laughter ensued.

“We’re focused on our team game and winning games, and I think individual stuff comes with that,” Caufield said. “Doing the right things, you get more chances and opportunities. Obviously, it helps when you’re winning games and stuff.”

The Canadiens are winning enough to emerge as a contender to hoist the Stanley Cup and end Canada’s drought that dates to their championship in 1993. They’ve raised a Cup banner more recently than they’ve had a 50-goal scorer, and Caufield has a chance to be the first member of the storied franchise to get to that mark since Stephane Richer in 1990.

"I didn’t know it was (nearly) 40 years," teammate Alex Newhook said. “It’s been fun to watch. It seems like he keeps scoring every night. We’re happy for him. We’re pushing for him. Hopefully he keeps this thing rolling.”

Caufield rolled out of the Olympic break — after not making the U.S. roster — with 17 goals in 17 games, the most of any player in the league. His 83 points are already 13 clear of his previous career high.

“He’s on a tremendous heater right now,” Canadiens captain and leading scorer Nick Suzuki said. “He’s just playing the right way, doing the right things and he’s getting rewarded for it.”

Caufield wasn't always this complete of a player. Undersized at 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds and counted on to produce to offset some defensive inefficiencies, he got sent down to Laval of the American Hockey League in the fall of 2021 when he had no goals and just one assist in 10 games with the Canadiens.

"I think it was worth it," Caufield said, crediting coaches, linemates and others for helping him round out his play. “There’s still a lot more room to grow in my game. I think progressing every year with the team and the staff that we have, it’s pretty easy to kind of find yourself working every day. I think it’s just an addiction to kind of find ways to get better.”

Opponents have noticed the progress from Caufield, who turned 25 in January.

“He thinks the game at a real high level,” New York Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s the combination that gives him the competitive advantage that he has. He’s a really good player.”

Sullivan, a two-time Cup champion who also coached the U.S. to gold at the Olympics, called Montreal “one of the emerging teams in the league” because of the mix of high-end skill and speed all over the roster. The Canadiens move the puck around at a rapid pace — on the ice and into the net.

Caufield is a big part of that. Among players with 100 shots on net this season, only two are scoring at a higher rate than his 21.2%, tormenting goaltenders and delighting teammates happy to pick up another assist.

“I enjoy it,” linemate Juraj Slafkovsky said. "You have a goal-scorer like this, you can always pass to him and there is a big chance it’s going in." That’s what we’re trying to do. I hope he can get (to 50) as soon as possible and get a lot more."

The gravity of the situation isn't lost on Caufield, who would be just the seventh Canadiens player to score 50 goals in a season, joining Richer (twice), Guy Lafleur (six times), Steve Shutt, Bernie Geoffrion, Pierre Larouche and Maurice Richard. If he passes MacKinnon and finishes with the most in the NHL, he'd also win the Maurice “Rocket" Richard Trophy named after one of the most decorated players in franchise history.

Caufield insists he's “still hungry." This pursuit, followed by an even more important one in the playoffs, keeps him that way.

“Certainly it’s a good feeling to be producing, but at the end of the day I think I’ve grown a lot as a player and I’m just going to try and continue to do that,” Caufield said. “For me, right now, I still feel like there’s more out there.”

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

Eden and Rance dive deep into the Ecuadorian flavors created by Chefs Maria La Mota and Chason Spencer.

At the time of the recording, Chancho King was a semi-finalist for the prestigious James Beard Award for best Chef in the South region. Stay til the end...

The annual Marshmallow Drop, hosted by Wayne County Parks, took place two hours apart in Trenton, Michigan, and Westland, Michigan.

“It was great. The weather is beautiful, and I think this is a great thing to do with all the kids to start off Easter and the weekend, so yeah, I think it’s wonderful,” said Anna Grote (GROH’-tee), a Westland resident who attended with her boyfriend and his 10-year-old son.

Hundreds of children at each place cheered as the helicopter passed by on its way to the drop zone. Once there, a passenger unloaded the treats out of a sack and onto the grass below. The helicopter made three passes, dropping marshmallows for kids in different age groups.

David Alexander was in Westland with his two kids, 7 and 10. The Inkster resident encouraged them “to be the first ones at the line.”

“Ready, set, go. Be the first one, take off,” he said.

Officials stressed that, although tempting, the marshmallow must not be eaten, because they struck the ground. Instead, kids exchanged the fluffy treats for a prize.

Some kids snatched up way more than one, and their parents kindly dumped most back onto the turf, allowing other kids a shot at it.

“Everybody was nice. There wasn't any pushing, there wasn't any shoving, no fighting,” said Alexander, a first-time attendee.

Grote said her boyfriend's son “did not have any difficulty at all” in procuring a marshmallow.

“The thrill of the hunt, right,” she said, laughing.

Varsity 4 Super 6 baseball rankings

Rank, Previous, School, Record, Classification

1. (1) Trinity Christian (16-6, Class 2A)

Quality wins: Baylor (Tenn.), Beachside, Clay, Columbia, Edmond Memorial (Okla.), Lincoln, Lowndes (Ga.), Magnolia Heights (Miss.), North Marion, Richmond Hill (Ga.), St. Johns Country Day, Suwannee, Tocoi Creek, University Christian, West Broward.

Notable: The Conquerors went 2-1 since our last Super 6, including an 11-6 loss to powerhouse St. John Bosco in nine innings at the NHSI, and followed that up with a 9-7 win over nationally ranked Baylor in the finale there. They returned home with an 8-1 win over Clay. Only two Trinity losses have come to local teams (St. Johns Country Day, Creekside). Gage Petrutz (.463, 3 HR, 17 RBI) and Aiden Arnett (.359, 2 HR, 10 RBI) are having excellent seasons at the plate against wicked tough competition. Parker Loew is the only other Trinity batter hitting .300, and he’s right on the nose of that. Tyler Ellis (5-0, 0.70 ERA, 47 Ks, 30 IP) and Brennan Bachtell Jr. (4-0, 1.75 ERA, 28 IP, 39 Ks) are the starters who have multiple decisions who remain unbeaten.

2. (3) Creekside (19-4, Class 7A)

Quality wins: Bartram Trail, Beachside, Bolles, Clay, Hagerty, North Marion, St. Johns Country Day, St. Joseph, Tocoi Creek, Trinity Christian, West Orange, Windermere (twice).

Notable: Solid week for the Knights. They went 2-1, topping St. Johns Country Day (2-1) and Winter Park (5-1). They lost a 2-1 game to Georgia power Lowndes. Dominic Cantona (.350, 2 HR, 16 RBI) bumped his average up 5 points since our last Super 6 against big-time competition. Aramis Guanchez (.319) is right behind. I’m convinced that Creekside can beat any team in 7A with Gavin Duprey or Matt Bysheim throwing. Those guys are elite.

3. (2) Bishop Snyder (15-5, Class 2A)

Quality wins: Baldwin, Bolles, Central (Ala.), Farragut (Tennessee), Fernandina Beach, Hartselle (Ala.), Morgan County (Ga.), Newnan (Ga.), Providence, Sandalwood, South Walton, Suwannee.

Notable: The Cardinals went 1-2 since our last Super 6, with losses to Trinity Catholic (5-2) and Bartram Trail (5-4). They added a quality W over Ponte Vedra (7-1). Not any room for concern for the Cardinals. They’re playing very strong programs and faring very well. Ilias Mamea (.442, 3 HR, 14 RBI) and Tanner Upton (.377, 13 RBI) are leading the offense for Snyder. Cole Dennis (5-1, 1.12 ERA, 63 Ks) is leading the hurlers.

4. (4) St. Johns Country Day (16-6, Class 1A)

Quality wins: Baldwin, Beachside, Bishop Kenny, Clay (twice), Flagler Palm Coast, Providence, Sandalwood, Suwannee, Trinity Christian, University Christian, West Broward, Winter Park

Notable: The Spartans went 2-2 since our last Super 6, topping Clay (6-3) and Bishop Kenny (8-2) while losing to Bolles (3-2) and Creekside (2-1). I’ll say it again for folks who just record watch—you have to take quality of competition into account. The Spartans are a 1A school who have dropped all six games against much larger programs. They close out the regular season next week against Georgia teams North Gwinnett, Parkview and North Oconee. Madden Williams (.375, 3 HR, 17 RBI), Hunter Rodgers (.339, 2 HR, 13 RBI) and Jonas Wells (.333, 13 RBI) lead the bats. While he’s not racking up the monstrous perfect season on the mound like he did in 2025, Brayden Harris (5-2, 81 Ks, 44 IP, 1.75 ERA) remains one of the best arms around. His junior season was just unbelievable.

5. (5) Fernandina Beach (17-3, Class 3A)

Quality wins: Baker County, Baldwin (twice), Bishop Kenny, First Coast, Sandalwood, Tocoi Creek, Trinity Catholic, Union County, West Nassau.

Notable: A 2-0 week, with wins over Fletcher and a quality Tocoi Creek team. They’ve won three straight since a loss to St. Augustine. No reason that the Pirates shouldn’t wrap up the regular season with wins over Fleming Island, Ridgeview and Savannah Christian. Trace Farmer continues to lead the Pirates offensively (.489, 2 HR, 19 RBI).

6. (6) Bartram Trail (13-7, Class 6A)

Quality wins: Bishop Kenny, Bishop Snyder, Bolles, Clay, Columbia, Episcopal, First Coast, Ponte Vedra, Spruce Creek, St. Augustine.

Notable: Turns out that it was the right call to put the Bears in the rankings last week. They stretched their winning streak to six games, including a high quality 5-4 win over Bishop Snyder. Colby Dean (.355, 2 HR) is leading the Bartram offense. Something to be on the lookout for. Bears head coach Ryan Fitzpatrick will be out of action for a bit after the school had to self report a pitch count violation involving a player who threw a total of 103 pitches instead of the maximum of 95. Players between the ages of 13 and 16 years old are only permitted to throw 95 pitches in a game. Players 17 and older can throw a maximum of 105. The pitcher is permitted to finish facing the current batter even after that pitch count is reached, but must leave as soon as that batter is retired. A source said there was an oversight on the player’s age.

On the bubble

Atlantic Coast (11-9, Class 7A); Baldwin (13-10, Class 3A); Beachside (14-9, Class 5A); Bishop Kenny (12-11, Class 4A); Bolles (15-6, Class 2A); Columbia (12-9, Class 5A); Episcopal (14-8, Class 2A); Flagler Palm Coast (15-7, Class 7A); Fleming Island (14-8, Class 5A); Palatka (16-5, Class 3A); Paxon (11-3, Class 3A); Ponte Vedra (12-9, Class 5A); Providence (13-10, Class 2A); St. Augustine (12-10, Class 4A); St. Joseph (16-4, Class 1A); Sandalwood (15-7, Class 7A); Tocoi Creek (11-12, Class 6A); Union County (16-6, Rural).

The president is reportedly unhappy with the performance of Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the labor secretary, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. An unnamed administration official said, “He’s very angry and he’s going to be moving people.” The president also apparently polled advisers about replacing Tulsi Gabbard as intelligence chief.

News4JAX political analyst and head of the Jacksonville University Haskell Public Policy Institute Rick Mullaney joined us to discuss President Trump firing the attorney general, who was a Trump loyalist, and what the future may hold.

The movement disorder is the most common one there is.

It can be evident when someone is trying to do a task and a part of their body shakes involuntarily. It keeps getting worse as they try to complete that task.

There are several tests one doctor asks his patients to do throughout the treatment to make sure they get the best results.

Robert Schlag and Aubrey Smith had essential tremors.

For example, their arms would shake while trying to take a drink of water, only for it to get worse the closer the bottles got to their mouths.

Now, both of their tremors are gone after being treated at HCA Florida Orange Park through what’s called a “focused ultrasound.”

“I told everybody I know about this who has tremors, about this procedure,” said Schlag. “So I would definitely spread the word. I love it.”

“I can do more things with both hands, like working with small items,” Smith said. “I like working with wood.”

News4JAX first told you about this procedure more than two years ago.

You might be wondering what happens during that ultrasound?

Dr. Michael Horowitz, who is a neurosurgeon at the hospital, breaks it down.

What is involved is ultrasonic energy being used on the part of the brain called the thalamus.

“The way we do that is by putting someone in an MRI scanner, getting very detailed images of their brain,” Horowitz said. “While they are in the MRI scanner, there is also a device that couples with the MRI scanner that is attached to the patient’s head temporarily. It gives ultrasonic energy, just like an ultrasound, but from about 500 different points. All of those points come down, and all of those energy waves calm down to focus in the same place. We are focusing ultrasonic energy at the point in the brain that we want to damage and heat it up so that it does not work anymore.”

If successful, the tremors either get significantly reduced or go away completely.

Just for clarity, this kind of procedure, right now, can only be done for tremors where a person’s arm is the part of the body that is affected. It does not help with tremor of the mouth, head or legs.

During the entire procedure, a patient is awake.

Over the course of the 90 minutes, Horowitz has each person do simple tests with hopes their performance improves as the right part of the brain is targeted.

“I test people ahead of time with writing, but I also after the procedure when they are out of the room, I test their writing again,” he said. “But when they are in the room, I tested them by giving them a water bottle and asking them to slowly move the water to their mouth as if they are trying to drink. Usually, they will start and [aggressively shake the closer it gets to their mouths]. Then we are ready to treat them. Then they will be very steady or move just a little bit. I also will give them a spoon while they are lying on their back. I give them the spoon like they are eating soup. I will ask them to open their moth really wide and keep it open. Just slowly move the spoon into their mouth, but not let it touch their teeth of their lips.”

Horowitz says HCA Florida Orange Park has treated more than 100 patients with the focused ultrasound.

The FDA approved the procedure to be done on one arm at a time, with a 9-month window between. Horowitz says that specific time frame is to help ensure a patient recovers appropriately.

If someone has tremors in both arms, the nine months give them enough time to decide if they want the other arm treated. That is imperative, especially if they were uncomfortable during the first round of treatment since it is permanent.

On April 1, 2026, St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to South Woodlawn Street after receiving reports of a fight involving multiple people and a stabbing.

When deputies arrived, they located an adult male victim with a stab wound. He was transported to an area hospital for treatment. His condition has not been released.

Through their investigation, detectives with the SJSO Major Crimes Unit identified a 37-year-old man, as the suspect. Investigators say he pulled a knife during the altercation and stabbed the victim.

The suspect was arrested and charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, affray and violation of probation.