In what promises to be one of November’s most high-profile , former Sen. Sherrod Brown easily defeated a challenger in the Ohio Democratic primary and will now attempt to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted.

And in primary elections in Indiana one Republican state senator lost to a challenger backed by President Donald Trump, while another incumbent survived in two of seven races that are testing the president’s influence in a deep red state.

Here is the latest:

Indiana’s Holdman told AP he was ‘at peace’ ahead of poll close

Late Tuesday afternoon, before he’d lost the race to hold onto his state Senate seat, Indiana’s Travis Holdman said the last few months had been “a roller coaster.”

He was cold and wet from the 47-degree rain outside the polling place he had visited, though a voter had just thanked him for having “a spine.”

Holdman’s Trump-back challenger Blake Fiechter had entered the race, quit the race and reentered, all while super PACs backed by Gov. Mike Braun and Sen. Jim Banks unloaded more than $1.3 million in his Fort Wayne area district attacking Holdman after he voted against the White House redistricting plan.

“It’s the emotions of not knowing which way it’s going to go,” he explained, before finishing, “I’m at peace with however it goes.”

Ramaswamy to face Acton for Ohio governor

Billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has clinched the Republican nomination for Ohio governor and will face off this fall against the state’s COVID-era health director, Democrat Amy Acton.

A newcomer to state politics, Ramaswamy aggressively positioned himself for the job early with the help of endorsements from President Donald Trump and the state Republican Party.

Trump’s endorsement continues to carry weight in Ohio, which favored him three times for president, but Ramaswamy could face headwinds amid the president’s lagging popularity over the war in Iran and the rising cost of living.

Acton, a physician who was unopposed in her primary, has a well-known public profile and robust fundraising.

Husted secures GOP Senate nomination and Acton Democratic governor nomination

U.S. Sen. Jon Husted has secured the Republican Senate nomination in Ohio, as the incumbent braces for what is expected to be an expensive fight to hold his seat.

On the Democrats’ side, Dr. Amy Acton won the party’s nomination for governor. The state’s COVID-era state health director moves on to a likely matchup against Republican billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who was facing a challenger in the GOP primary.

Husted and Acton were both unopposed in their primaries.

Polls have closed in Ohio

Today’s vote will decide candidates for the marquee Senate and governor’s races this fall. Anyone in line at 7:30 p.m. has the right to vote.

Challengers in Indiana who haven’t kept up fundraising pace are getting help

Outside groups have spent more than $8 million targeting incumbents in Indiana, in some cases outspending the money those candidates raised on their own.

In state Senate District 23, Trump endorsed Paula Copenhaver against state Sen. Spencer Deery. Deery raised $500,000, according to the latest state filings, while Copenhaver raised about $15,000. However, outside groups spent more than $2 million in ad reservations boosting Copenhaver, according to AdImpact.

In state Senate District 1, Trevor de Vries -- a challenger endorsed by Trump -- raised just over $30,000 as of latest filings, while incumbent Dan Dernulc has raised over $200,000. But AdImpact shows outside groups spending more than $200,000 to help defeat Dernulc.

Polls are now closed in most of Indiana

Polls remain open in 12 counties in northwestern and southwestern Indiana that are in the central time zone.

Trump is watching outcome of state Senate race, Michigan voter says

“I think it might have some bearing on the country, because I know Trump is obviously looking to hold onto the House and Senate and maintain his advantage there, which is pretty razor-thin I think at this point,” said John Hall, a 69-year-old self-described independent who voted for Democrat Chedrick Greene. “So, I’m sure he’s going to be paying close attention to this particular race.”

Hall, a retiree who worked for years at an area radio station, said the economy is a key issue for him. He spent $58 at the gas station before driving to the public library in Bay City to vote.

“It’s taking a bite out of a lot of people’s budgets right now,” Hall said, adding it would have cost between $35 and $40 to fill up his car’s tank two months ago.

Trump goes after Indiana Republicans who voted against redistricting

In a social media post while voters were headed to the polls, Trump said Republican state senators who voted against redistricting “couldn’t care less about our Country, or about keeping the Majority in Congress.”

Trump described the senators who crossed him as RINOs, which means “Republican in name only.” And he hailed “Great Patriots” that he’s endorsed to oust them.

Big spending in Indiana state Senate primary

Groups allied to defeat Indiana state Sen. Spencer Deery will have spent $2 million in ads attacking him by the time polls close. That’s more than any other district where incumbents are trying to fend off Trump-backed challengers.

Deery is completing his first term and was the first Republican senator to publicly oppose redistricting.

Paula Copenhaver is challenging him. She’s a close ally of Republican Lieutenant Gov. Micah Beckwith and is Fountain County GOP chair in rural, western Indiana. Deery beat Copenhaver in a four-way Republican primary for the seat four years ago.

The super PAC run by Indiana U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, Hoosier Leadership PAC, will have spent more than $1.1 million on ads attacking Deery through Election Day, according to the ad-tracking service AdImpact. Gov. Mike Braun’s American Leadership PAC will have spent more than $900,000 doing the same, according to the group.

Deery is on track to have spent more than $745,000 on this year’s primary, far more than last time.

YouTube provocateur Casey Putsch hopes he’s a spoiler in Ohio governor contest

An engineer and vehicle designer who calls himself “The Car Guy,” Putsch is making a long-shot bid for Ohio governor against Republican Vivek Ramaswamy.

After the last-minute disqualification of another candidate’s ticket, the 44-year-old from northwest Ohio ended up as Ramaswamy’s only primary opponent.

Putsch has attracted fans and critics with his provocative YouTube videos, which often — subtly or overtly — take aim at Ramaswamy’s Indian heritage or Hindu faith.

On the campaign trail, he’s also been critical of President Donald Trump, energy guzzling data centers and national Republicans’ support for Israel and handling of the Epstein files.

How Indiana Gov. Mike Braun is helping Trump go after Republicans

Trump is throwing his name behind Republican challengers to GOP senators who opposed redistricting. But Braun is carrying out much of the work.

After Trump’s pledge last year to rally against GOP senators who blocked the effort and are seeking reelection, Braun picked the candidates.

Frustrated by Rodrick Bray, the Senate GOP leader who opposed redistricting, Braun recruited the seven Republicans challengers on the pledge that they oppose Bray for leader.

In his break with party orthodoxy, Braun has also committed $3 million to advertising from his American Leadership PAC attacking those incumbents on the wishes of the president, according statistics collected by the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

That includes almost $900,000 alone in ads attacking Republican state Sen. Spencer Deery of West Lafayette, the first Republican senator to oppose redistricting and a protege of former GOP Gov. Mitch Daniels, who is an opponent of the redistricting measure.

What happened after Indiana said no to redistricting

The Republican-controlled Indiana Senate in December rejected the measure that would have shaded all nine of the states congressional districts as favorable to the party, and halted progress on the party’s effort nationally.

The move defied months of urging by the White House led by Vice President JD Vance, who traveled twice to Indianapolis and hosted many in the caucus in Washington, where Trump phoned in to address the group.

While Indiana was considering the measure, voters in Democratic-leaning California approved Proposition 50, which allowed the state Legislature to bypass the independent commission to redraw districts for the next three biennial elections.

Republicans think they could win up to nine more seats under revised districts in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. But Democrats think they could win as many as 10 additional seats under new districts in California, Utah and Virginia, though legal challenges remain in both Missouri and Virginia.

Trump’s involvement turned off some voters in Indiana

Emily Bohall Board, 37, an occupational therapist in Columbus, Indiana, said she had never voted in a Republican primary before Tuesday. But the issue of redistricting compelled her to cast a ballot for Sen. Greg Walker.

“Greg Walker is the only option not supported by Donald Trump, and I have been very upset about everything Trump has done,” Board said.

Madison Long, 28, an attorney, who also voted for Walker, criticized Michelle Davis, Walker’s opponent, for her ties to Trump.

“She doesn’t have any promises of her own or any agenda of her own. Her goal is to just follow Trump,” Long said. “I find that extremely concerning given the nature of the nationwide politics.”

What's at stake in the Michigan special election

The race will determine whether Democrats maintain a majority in the state Senate for the final months of the year.

Democrats currently control the state Senate 19-18. If Democrat Chedrick Greene wins, Democrats keep their majority.

If Republican Jason Tunney wins, the Senate would be tied, making it tougher for Democrats to advance Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s agenda. While Democratic Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II would serve as the tie-breaking vote, Republicans could effectively block any measure from passing by not having all members vote.

There’s another reason people are watching the race: The swing district in a battleground state could give clues to what will happen in November’s midterms..

The Maple Leafs got some lottery luck Tuesday night, a little more than 48 hours after hiring John Chayka as general manager and bringing back franchise legend Mats Sundin to serve as a hockey operations adviser. Chayka and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president and CEO Keith Pelley got some harsh questions at the introductory news conference, but it was all smiles at Toronto's facility after getting the No. 1 pick.

“I’m extremely happy for the Toronto Maple Leafs fanbase, of course," Sundin said. "Certainly this is really going to help when you’re looking into the future and try to help this team and what we’re looking for the future for the Toronto Maple Leafs, so it’s great to get the first pick.”

Penn State’s Gavin McKenna and Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg are rated as the top North American and European prospects by NHL Central Scouting. McKenna has been considered the prospective top choice for quite some time.

“I’ve kept track of him for a number of years now, and the skill level, the creativity, obviously the puck ability and then his shot and release is all pretty special,” Chayka said. “A good package, and it’ll be good to get with the scouts and talk through it all, but I know there’s a lot of passion for a lot of players, including Gavin.”

The most immediate question for the Leafs under new management is the future of captain and best player Auston Matthews after they missed the playoffs for the first time in his career. It's the first time they've won the lottery since taking Matthews with the No. 1 pick in 2016, and the draft is back in Buffalo where they made that selection.

They had the fifth-highest odds of winning it at 8.5%. Vancouver had the highest at 18.5% and has never had the first pick in the draft. Toronto would have had to transfer its pick to Boston to complete a trade last year for Brandon Carlo had it not been in the top five.

The Bruins and Philadelphia as a result will get the Leafs' first-rounders in 2027 and '28. There is some uncertainty as to which order, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly called it a complicated situation that would need to be worked out.

The San Jose Sharks won the lottery for the second pick. With yet another top-five pick, GM Mike Grier and his staff can augment a young group already led by Macklin Celebrini and including Will Smith and Michael Misa.

“There’s lots of options there,” Grier said. “There’s centers, there’s ‘D,’ there’s wingers, so to have the opportunity to add another very talented player to our young core is very exciting.”

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

In what promises to be one of November’s marquee matchups, former Sen. Sherrod Brown easily defeated a challenger in the Democratic primary and will now attempt to unseat Republican Sen. Jon Husted.

Democrats are counting on Brown’s previous popularity with voters to flip the seat. The Senate Leadership Fund, a top GOP super PAC, has pledged $79 million to defend Husted, who was unopposed in his primary.

Ramaswamy clinched the Republican nomination for governor over a minor challenger and will face off this fall against the state’s COVID-era health director, Democrat Amy Acton.

“We’re going to revive that American Dream in Ohio once again, with lower costs, bigger paychecks and better schools for all Ohioans,” Ramaswamy said in a statement Tuesday evening.

A newcomer to state politics, Ramaswamy aggressively positioned himself for the job early with the help of endorsements from President Donald Trump and the state Republican Party.

Trump’s endorsement continues to carry weight in Ohio, which favored him three times for president, but Ramaswamy could face headwinds amid the president’s lagging popularity over the war in Iran and the rising cost of living.

Acton, a physician who was unopposed in her primary, has a well-known public profile and robust fundraising. That has Democrats hopeful she can get the party back in the governor’s office for the first time in 20 years.

Ramaswamy, a 2024 GOP primary presidential candidate, swept onto the state's political scene early last year as a mad shuffle was taking place. Then-Sen. JD Vance was ascending to the vice presidency and front-running gubernatorial candidate Jon Husted was being appointed to replace him in Washington.

That opened a window of opportunity at the top of Republicans' statewide ticket.

Every statewide executive office was open this year due to term limits, but the governor’s race captured the bulk of the attention.

Primary sets up marquee fall matchups for governor, Senate

Though he is a newcomer in state politics, Ramaswamy's national profile, tech industry connections and proximity to Trump landed him the Ohio Republican Party's endorsement. With it, he cleared a prospective field that included the sitting state attorney general, state treasurer and lieutenant governor.

But Democrats also see opportunity with the open governors seat, even as the state, a former bellwether, has tipped convincingly toward Republicans during the Trump era. The president’s lagging approval ratings on the economy and dissatisfaction over the war in Iran are contributing to a competitive contest.

Acton, a physician and public health expert, emerged as their choice. She became a household name across Ohio in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as she stood alongside Republican Gov. Mike DeWine during daily coronavirus broadcasts. Her comforting presence during the crisis made her a beloved figure with many Ohioans.

“I just think she’s real,” said Aaron Weiner, a Cincinnati real estate agent who voted for Acton. “She has had struggles, so I think she can empathize with people who are struggling to get ahead.”

But the administration's aggressive actions — including shuttering businesses, closing schools and canceling an election — also earned Acton plenty of enemies and made her the occasional target of people upset about pandemic policies, with some armed protesters showing up outside her home.

Ramaswamy's campaign sought to capitalize on the lingering anger over pandemic restrictions with attacks on Acton's role early in the crisis. Ramaswamy was advising the lieutenant governor at the time — Husted — on virus-related economic issues and he founded a company that profited off its role developing vaccines.

Acton was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Ramaswamy faced a long-shot challenge from Casey Putsch. The engineer and car designer is a YouTube provocateur who trolled Ramaswamy incessantly over his Indian heritage and Hindu faith and painted him as an out-of-touch billionaire “tech bro.”

Cincinnati voter Paul Mussman, who cast his ballot for Ramaswamy, said he considers it an asset that he is a relative newcomer to politics.

Ramaswamy would look at issues “in a fresh way and not based on what their party affiliation is,” Mussman said.

Husted was unopposed in the GOP primary for Senate, a special election to fill the remainder of the six-year Senate term Vance won in 2022. Husted's opponent will be Democrat Sherrod Brown, a former three-term senator who lost a reelection bid against Republican Bernie Moreno in 2024, a contest where spending hit $500 million. Brown faced a minor primary challenge from first-time candidate Ron Kincaid.

Early voting began April 7 under some new election laws, including citizenship checks and elimination of the four-day grace period for receiving mailed ballots. There have been no reports so far of any widespread problems for voters related to the changes.

Republicans see some Democratic-held House seats as vulnerable

In the wake of a new round of redistricting that slightly favored Republicans, the state also had numerous partisan congressional primaries.

The most heated GOP primary was in the Toledo area’s 9th District for the chance to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving woman in Congress.

The five-way contest included former state Rep. Derek Merrin, whom Kaptur defeated by less than a percentage point in 2024, as well as an Air National Guard veteran, a healthcare industry worker, a sitting state representative and the former deputy director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Madison Sheahan.

In Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman's Cincinnati-area district, which his party considers a “must-hold,” the three-way Republican primary included Eric Conroy, a CIA and Air Force veteran who was endorsed by Trump, Vance and Moreno.

Landsman also faced a primary challenge from Damon Lynch IV, the grandson of a prominent civil rights leader. Lynch criticized Landsman for his initial vote against a war powers resolution on the war in Iran, which Landsman later followed up with a favorable vote.

In the Akron area's 13th District, five Republicans including business owner Neil Patel, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate, were vying for the opportunity to face Democratic U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes.

Democrats think new House maps give them a shot to regain seats

As a Trump-backed national effort to remake congressional maps in Republicans' favor was underway, Ohio Democrats took a could-have-been-worse approach and passed the map they were given unanimously.

Now party candidates are crowding congressional primaries across the state for the chance to take on sitting Republican representatives, who hold 10 of Ohio's 15 seats.

The newly redrawn 7th District in the Cleveland area attracted eight Democrats hoping to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Max Miller, a former senior Trump adviser, in November. Among them was former Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014.

In northeast Ohio's 14th District, former state Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill was among three Democrats seeking to take on Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce. Joyce also has two primary challengers.

Meanwhile six Democrats were on the ballot in the Dayton-area 10th District of Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Turner. There were seven in GOP U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli's 6th District along the Ohio River and five in the 5th District of Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Latta.

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Associated Press writer Dylan Lovan in Cincinnati contributed.

Blake Fletcher, who had Trump's backing, defeated state Sen. Travis Holdman, while Sen. Greg Goode held off a challenge from Trump-backed Brenda Wilson.

Trump targeted seven Indiana state senators who defied months of White House pressure by voting against mid-decade redistricting, which the president wanted to boost Republicans' chances in the midterm elections.

It has been a costly and unprecedented intraparty battle that has exacerbated tensions among Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. Trump's allies have spent at least $8.3 million on races that rarely get much attention from Washington.

Holdman, a lawyer from the Fort Wayne area, was elected to the Indiana Senate in 2008. He was chairman of the Senate Republican caucus and was considered by his colleagues to be even-tempered.

Before the polls closed on Tuesday, Holdman said, “I’m at peace with however it goes.”

Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith said the primary is about how far the party will go to get an edge over Democrats — a contest between “the Republicans who tend to want to avoid the fight and the Republicans who feel like we need to fight."

“So the only question is, ‘Will you fight or will you get trampled by the other side?’” said Beckwith, who is supporting the Trump-backed challengers.

Indiana rejected Trump on redistricting

Trump began leaning on Republican-led states last year to redraw their congressional maps to make it easier for his party to hold its thin majority in the U.S. House. Although redistricting is normally done once a decade, after a new census, Trump wanted to abandon tradition to gain a political edge.

Texas was the first to follow through, and the White House pressured Indiana to go along too. Vice President JD Vance met with state politicians in Washington and Indianapolis, and Trump weighed in by conference call.

However, Indiana senators rebuffed the effort, one of the president's first significant political defeats of his second term.

The redistricting fight divided Republicans in Indiana, a state Trump won three times by no less than 16 points. Republican Gov. Mike Braun, U.S. Sen. Jim Banks and organizations such as Turning Point Action have worked alongside Trump to unseat the incumbents.

Jim Bopp, a prominent Indiana attorney who leads a political action committee aligned with Braun, predicted that Trump’s support will carry the day for the challengers.

“Republican voters overwhelmingly support Trump, and when they find out Trump has endorsed a particular Senate candidate, they swing their support behind them,” he said.

Voters had mixed views on Trump's involvement

In Columbus, Ronda Millig voted for Trump-backed challenger Michelle Davis over redistricting opponent state Sen. Greg Walker.

“I really believed some of the things I had heard about him,” said Millig, a retiree. “It didn’t seem like he was someone I wanted in office.”

But Milling did not say that Trump’s endorsement was the deciding factor.

“That doesn’t always mean anything,” she said.

Emily Bohall Board, also voting in Columbus, said she had never voted in a Republican primary before Tuesday. But the redistricting influenced her to vote for Walker.

“Greg Walker is the only option not supported by Donald Trump, and I have been very upset about everything Trump has done,” said Board, who is 37 and an occupational therapist.

Madison Long, who is 28 and a lawyer, who also voted for Walker, criticizing Davis for her ties to Trump.

“She doesn’t have any promises of her own or any agenda of her own. Her goal is to just follow Trump,” Long said. “I find that extremely concerning given the nature of the nationwide politics.”

Indiana opposition came from constituents, former governor

Former Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who had stepped away from politics after leaving the governorship in 2015, reemerged to help raise money for targeted incumbents.

The senators who broke with Trump said they were listening to constituents who were overwhelmingly against his redistricting plan. Some said they didn’t like Trump's aggressive tone in pushing the plan.

“We hate to be told what to do,” said Mike Murphy, a former Republican state representative. “We’re very independent-thinking people. So when Donald Trump and his goons come in and try to tell us that we need to redistrict to help his political future, that’s the worst thing you can do.”

He said Trump and those spending big money to take out the incumbents don’t understand Indiana politics.

“There’s just so many misjudgments on people’s part because they tend to fly at the 50,000-foot level, and they don’t go to the barbecues and the church fish fries and the things that make Indiana politics,” Murphy said.

Bopp, who supports the Trump-backed challengers, said the primary is a chance for Indiana Republicans to express how important it is to redraw the congressional lines there.

“It’s not a matter of Trump’s power,” Bopp said. “It’s about Republican primary voters who support his agenda and don’t want a Democratic House that will be hugely destructive to the Trump presidency and the country.”

The scene is located on Palmetto Road and A1A South.

The Sheriff’s Office says there are no outstanding suspects. One person has been detained.

The victim was airlifted to a local trauma center with serious injuries.

Deputies have blocked Palmetto Road just off A1A South and are asking people to avoid the area at this time.

News4JAX has a crew headed to the scene.

The polls have closed in the 35th state Senate district race as Democrat Chedrick Greene and Republican Jason Tunney vie for the seat left vacant in January 2025. Libertarian candidate Ali Sledz was also running. The district is located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Detroit and includes Saginaw, Bay City and Midland.

Whitmer, a Democrat, is term-limited, setting up a competitive race in November to succeed her. With Democrats currently controlling the state Senate 19-18, Tuesday's outcome will be key for the state's legislative agenda in the months before she leaves office in January.

Beyond the immediate stakes, political insiders said the race would give clues about November’s midterms in this battleground state. The district includes part of Saginaw County, the only Michigan county to back the winning presidential candidate in each of the past five national elections.

“It’s really this microcosm of the Midwest, frankly,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet of the seat she left upon entering Congress. “Given how much it resembles so many other places across the country, we have to look at it and say, this is an indicator of how things are going to go in November.”

A Marine veteran and a former prosecutor

Greene is a fire captain and Marine veteran who campaigned on lowering costs while emphasizing his union backing. Tunney, a former prosecutor, has run as a conservative Republican, highlighting his local roots in Saginaw.

Republicans also have made the timing of the special election a central issue, arguing Whitmer, a Democrat, waited too long to call it — leaving the district without representation in the state Senate for nearly 500 days.

A victory by Greene would keep Democrats in the majority. If Tunney wins, the Senate would be tied, making it tougher for Democrats to advance their agenda. While Democratic Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II would serve as the tiebreaking vote, Republicans could effectively block any measure from passing by not having all members vote. The Michigan House is controlled by Republicans.

The term at play in Tuesday’s special election is only through the end of the year, meaning the seat will again be up for reelection in November. Nonetheless, the race is being watched as a test of voter sentiment ahead of the midterm elections, when Democrats are looking to regain power in Congress.

John Hall, a 69-year-old self-described independent, said Tuesday that he had voted for Greene in the race and that the economy is a key issue for him. He said he spent $58 at the gas station before driving to the public library in Bay City to vote.

“It’s taking a bite out of a lot of people’s budgets right now,” Hall said, adding it would have cost between $35 and $40 to fill up his car’s tank two months ago.

Some strategists caution against overinterpreting the results, noting heavy Democratic spending and high-profile visits by such figures as former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee said in February that the special election would “set the tone for midterms" while announcing a $250,000 investment to help Michigan Democrats retain their Senate majority in May and November.

“This is a tough race to win in any environment, but they’ve stacked the deck with the spending. And you layer the overall political environment on top of it, it’s going to be tough,” said Jason Roe, a Republican strategist in the state.

Harris won the district by under a percentage point in 2024

Although Republican Donald Trump carried all three counties in the 2024 presidential race, the portions of the counties that fall within District 35 are more competitive. McDonald Rivet won the seat in 2022 with 53% of the vote. Democrat Kamala Harris barely edged Trump in the district in 2024, 49.7% to 48.9%, on the strength of her 17-percentage-point lead in the Saginaw portion of the district.

Once a hub of the auto industry, the region includes a large share of union-affiliated voters and a sizable Black population, surrounded by more conservative rural areas.

Cory Smidt, interim director at Michigan State University’s Institute of Public Policy and Social Research, said the district “looks like the state as a whole.” Though he cautioned against viewing the outcome as a clear signal for the midterms, he said turnout and voting patterns among different groups could offer valuable insights.

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Associated Press reporter Robert Yoon contributed from Washington.

He still could face discipline from the NFL.

“We have been monitoring all developments in the matter which remains under review of the personal conduct policy,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Tuesday.

Diggs was found not guilty Tuesday of assaulting his personal chef. The charges stemmed from a Dec. 2 incident at his house in Massachusetts where Jamila Adams, a former live-in personal chef, testified that Diggs slapped and choked her during an argument. He had pleaded not guilty to a felony strangulation charge and a misdemeanor assault and battery charge. The jury deliberated for less than two hours before clearing Diggs of all charges.

"The evidence has shown what we’ve maintained from day one: Mr. Diggs was wrongly accused, and this case represents exactly the kind of opportunistic targeting that players can face the moment they step off the field,” Diggs’ attorney, Mitch Schuster, said in a statement.

Diggs spent last season with the New England Patriots, helping them reach the Super Bowl, where they lost to Seattle. He was released in March and remains a unsigned.

That could change in the coming weeks, though league discipline is still a possibility.

Several NFL players, including Ben Roethlisberger, Jameis Winston and Ezekiel Elliott, have been suspended for violating the personal-conduct policy despite not being arrested or charged with a crime.

Roethlisberger, the former Steelers quarterback was suspended six games — it was later reduced to four after an appeal — in 2010 following sexual assault accusations.

Winston was in his fourth season with the Buccaneers when he was suspended three games in 2018 following a sexual assault allegation.

Elliott, a three-time Pro Bowl running back, was in his second season with the Cowboys when he was suspended six games in 2017 following a league investigation into domestic violence allegations. An arbitrator upheld the six games following an appeal.

Diggs led New England with 85 receptions and 1,013 yards receiving with four touchdowns in his only season with the team. He was the go-to option for Drake Maye, who finished runner-up to Matthew Stafford for the AP NFL MVP award.

Diggs, who turns 33 on Nov. 29, has played for three teams in the last three seasons. He began his career in Minnesota in 2015 and went from fifth-round pick to No. 1 receiver in five seasons with the Vikings.

He was traded to Buffalo for a first-round pick in 2020 and had an All-Pro season that year. Diggs spent four seasons with the Bills before he wore out his welcome. He played for the Texans in 2024.

Here are five potential landing spots for Diggs going forward:

Baltimore Ravens

Despite drafting Ja’Kobi Lane in the third round and Elijah Sarratt in the fourth, Baltimore could use another veteran receiver to pair with Zay Flowers and give Lamar Jackson more options.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers acquired Michael Pittman Jr. in a trade to join DK Metcalf and tried to select Makai Lemon in the first round before the Eagles swooped in and took him instead. The Steelers ended up taking wideout Germie Bernard in the second round but Aaron Rodgers, if he returns, prefers veterans and Diggs would be a fit.

Los Angeles Chargers

Fourth-round pick Brenen Thompson joins a group that’s led by Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston and includes Tre’ Harris. Diggs would give Justin Herbert a dependable target.

Los Angeles Rams

After exploring the possibility of a trade for A.J. Brown earlier in the offseason, the Rams could still be in the market for another veteran to add to a formidable unit led by All-Pro Puka Nacua and six-time Pro Bowl pick Davante Adams.

New England Patriots

They’re likely going to acquire Brown from the Eagles after June 1. However, bringing Diggs back if the price is right could be an option. He knows the offense and didn’t hold any grudges after being informed he was going to be released. Diggs posted his appreciation for the organization, saying: “We family forever.”

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

His trial lasted two days and the jury deliberated for less than two hours.

The charges stemmed from a Dec. 2 incident at his house in Dedham, where Jamila Adams, a former live-in personal chef known as Mila, testified that Diggs slapped and choked her during an argument. He had pleaded not guilty to a felony strangulation charge and a misdemeanor assault and battery charge.

Diggs’ attorneys said the alleged assault never happened and challenged Adams’ credibility, arguing the dispute was about money or relationship tensions — including a disagreement over a planned trip to Miami — rather than a violent attack.

They pointed to financial demands she made and testimony from friends and employees who said she did not appear injured in the days after the encounter, while prosecutors argued the case rests on her account of what happened inside the home.

Defense attorney Andrew Kettlewell told jurors during closing arguments that prosecutors had not presented “a single shred of credible evidence” that an assault occurred. He said Adams made the accusation to “leverage and humiliate and to punish” Diggs.

“There was no assault, no strangulation, no incident at all on that day or any other day,” he said.

Assistant District Attorney Drew Virtue said Adams’ behavior should be viewed in the context of her relationship with Diggs, whom he described as “a sometimes lover, a boss, landlord,” pointing to the imbalance in that relationship as a factor in how she responded afterward.

“He was an athlete, a celebrity, financially powerful, surrounded by people that were all on his payroll that liked him,” Virtue said. “And when you put that all in consideration, her behavior does make sense.”

He urged jurors not to dismiss Adams’ testimony because she was not “a perfect witness.”

“She was argumentative, avoidant, difficult. But does that mean you should throw away everything she said? No,” he said, adding that jurors should give her testimony “the attention, the scrutiny, the weight it deserves.”

Money vs. motive

Earlier in the trial, Adams became emotional on the stand while describing an alleged encounter with Diggs on in which she said he entered her room following an argument over text.

Adams, who said she lived in the NFL star’s home and prepared all of his meals, testified that Diggs “smacked me with an open hand” before wrapping his arm around her neck and choking her, leaving her struggling to breathe. She described what she called a “complicated” relationship, saying it had previously been sexual but was not at the time of the alleged assault.

Adams said she met Diggs in 2022 on Instagram and that the two became friends — at times “friends with benefits,” as one of his attorneys described it — before she was later hired to live in his home and prepare his meals during the football season.

Defense attorneys pressed Adams about money she said she was owed after working as a live-in chef. She testified she was paid about $2,000 a week and believed she had not been fully compensated after being sent home. They pointed to a $19,000 demand and said the amount increased over time, with her attorney later seeking $5.5 million.

When asked about the $5.5 million claim, Adams said, “I can’t speak on that,” and at other points told jurors, “I don’t understand the question” and “I don’t know how to answer the question.”

At one point, Adams said Diggs had offered her $100,000 to recant her statement to the police, but that remark was struck from the record after the judge called the attorneys to a sidebar.

At times during her second day on the stand, Adams was instructed by the judge to answer questions directly and not include additional details beyond what was asked. Portions of her responses were struck from the record as nonresponsive, with jurors told to disregard them.

“This is not an opportunity for you to interject your own narrative and evade answering questions,” Judge Jeanmarie Carroll told her at one point, warning that continued nonresponsive answers could result in her testimony being stricken.

Witnesses describe accuser’s appearance after alleged attack

Kenneth Ellis, the Dedham police officer who took Adams’ initial report, testified that she arrived at the station visibly upset, telling jurors she “sat down on the bench and she was crying.” He said Adams initially asked to speak with a female officer before later agreeing to give a statement and identifying Diggs as the person involved.

Under cross-examination, Ellis said he did not observe visible injuries, collect photographs or speak with other witnesses, and that his investigation relied largely on Adams’ account and text messages she provided.

Defense attorneys also sought to challenge Adams’ account through testimony from people in Diggs’ orbit and evidence they said reflected her demeanor in the days after the alleged incident.

His chief of staff, massage therapist, a nurse who provided IV treatments and his hairstylist all testified that they saw her around the time of the attack and that she said nothing about being assaulted.

His hairstylist, Xia Charles, testified that she spent time with Adams in New York in the days after the alleged incident and did not notice any injuries. She said Adams appeared normal and that she did not see marks on her neck or elsewhere.

Defense attorneys also showed jurors cellphone videos of Adams socializing, including clips of her in a car listening to music and dancing, which they suggested showed her demeanor in the days following the incident.

Jeanelle Sales, Diggs’ chief of staff, who also goes by “Sunni,” testified she saw Adams at the home on the day she alleged she was assaulted and did not see visible marks, redness or swelling on her neck or face. She said Adams appeared to be in normal spirits.

“She was walking around looking for a piece of paper and a pen to write a card — I guess, write a note to him for his birthday gift,” Sales said.

Prosecutors pushed back on that testimony, suggesting the witnesses’ livelihoods were tied to Diggs and that they had a financial interest in the outcome of the case.

Protesters marched up to Tennessee's Capitol on Tuesday as a special legislative session began that could carve up a majority-Black district in Memphis. In Alabama, meanwhile, Republican lawmakers pressed ahead with a plan that could upend the state's congressional primaries. And Republican leaders in South Carolina announced Tuesday that would try to eliminate a House district held by a longtime Black Democratic lawmaker.

Louisiana lawmakers also are making plans for new U.S. House districts after the Supreme Court last week struck down the state's current map. The high court’s ruling said Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority House district as it attempted to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The ruling significantly altered a decades-old understanding of the law, giving Republicans in various states grounds to try to eliminate majority-Black districts that have elected Democrats.

It could lessen congressional representation for Black Americans and other minorities, reversing decades of gains in minority voting rights.

President Donald Trump has been encouraging more states to join in redistricting as Republicans seek to hold on to their narrow House majority in this year’s elections.

Eight states already have adopted new U.S. districts ahead of the midterms. From that, Republicans think they could gain as many as 13 seats in five states, while Democrats think they could gain up to 10 seats from new districts in three other states. But some of the new districts could be competitive in November, meaning the parties may not get all they sought.

The newly proposed redistricting in Southern states could add to the Republicans’ tally.

South Carolina to test its will for redistricting

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn has represented South Carolina's 6th Congressional District since it was redrawn to favor minority voters in 1992. He's running for an 18th term. But that could get harder if Republicans redraw his district.

Leaders in the state House and Senate said a redistricting effort needs to start with a two-thirds vote in each chamber. The issue could come up as soon as Wednesday. But if only a few Republicans aren’t on board, it can’t succeed.

“We don’t know if we have the votes in the House,” Republican Speaker Murrell Smith said.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has warned that redistricting could backfire because of thin political margins, resulting in a second Democrat in the U.S. House. Massey told reporters Tuesday that he had a cordial conversation with Trump about redistricting, each laying out their concerns.

The state’s primaries are June 9 and early voting starts in three weeks.

Tennessee plan targets Memphis district

Republican Gov. Bill Lee called Tennessee lawmakers into a special session to consider a plan urged by Trump that could break up the state’s lone Democratic-held U.S. House district, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis. Republican lawmakers said little about the plan Tuesday.

As the Senate began work, shouts of “shame, shame, shame” could be heard inside the chamber from protesters gathered in the hallways. On the chamber floor, Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Black Democrat from Memphis, called the redistricting “an act of hate.”

At a rally earlier Tuesday, state Rep. Justin Pearson of Memphis, who is running for Congress, denounced the Republican plan as a “racist redistricting.”

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, who is white, said the Memphis-based district he represents predates the Voting Rights Act.

“Memphis has been a majority black district historically, because that is where the population is,” he said. “It’s a district that is compact, and it has community purpose.”

Martin Luther King III sent a letter to Tennessee legislative leaders expressing “grave concern” about the plan to divide Memphis’ congressional representation.

“This decision undermines the work that my father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., carried out to help secure passage of the Voting Rights Act,” he wrote, noting that his father was assassinated in Memphis.

The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6.

Alabama looks at setting a new primary

Alabama legislative committees swiftly advanced legislation Tuesday that would allow a special congressional primary, if the Supreme Court clears the way for the state to change its U.S. House districts.

In light of the court's ruling on Louisiana's districts, Alabama officials have asked the high court to set aside a judicial order to use a U.S. House map that includes two districts with a substantial number of Black voters and instead let the state revert to a map passed in 2023 by Republican lawmakers. That map could help the GOP win at least one of those two seats currently held by Democrats.

Alabama's primaries are scheduled for May 19. If the Supreme Court grants the state's request after or too close to the primary, the legislation under consideration would ignore the results of that primary and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under the revised districts.

“This is an opportunity for the voters to vote in the districts drawn by legislators in 2023,” said Republican state Rep. Chris Pringle, the bill's sponsor.

During a House committee hearing, several Black residents urged lawmakers not to change the current congressional districts.

“Representation matters — not just politically but in access, in power and in who gets to be heard,” said Eliza Jane Franklin, of rural Barbour County.

Democrats denounced legislation as a Republican power grab that harkens back to the state’s shameful history of denying Black residents equal rights and representation.

Republicans are “working to secure an electoral victory by taking Alabama back to the Jim Crow era, and we won’t go back,” Democratic U.S. Rep Terri Sewell told a crowd gathered outside the Alabama Statehouse.

Thousands had already voted in Louisiana

After last week’s Supreme Court decision, Republican Gov. Mike Landry postponed the state's May 16 congressional primary to allow time for lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts. State Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, a Republican, said a redistricting committee he leads plans to hold a public hearing Friday.

Louisiana voters had already sent in more than 41,000 completed absentee ballots by last Thursday, when Landry suspended the House primaries, according to the Secretary of State's Office. That’s about one third of all the absentee ballots sent out to voters. Around 19,000 were from registered Democrats, 17,000 from registered Republicans and the remainder belonged to neither party.

Democrats and civil rights groups have filed several lawsuits challenging the suspension of Louisiana’s congressional primary.

___

Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama, Lieb from Jefferson City, Missouri, and Collins from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writers Jack Brook in New Orleans, and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.

The leftist Lula and Trump have had an up-and-down relationship since the U.S. leader’s return to the White House last year.

Trump hit Brazil with steep tariffs and has pressed Brazilian authorities over their prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro for his involvement in a coup plot.

The Trump administration imposed a 40% tariff on Brazilian products in July on top of a 10% tariff hike earlier. The U.S. president justified the tariffs by saying that Brazil’s policies and criminal prosecution of Bolsonaro constituted an economic emergency.

But Trump later loosened tariffs on Brazil as part of his effort to lower consumer costs for Americans.

Trump and Lula started mending fences at the United Nations’ General Assembly in September, which was followed by their first private meeting in Malaysia in October and subsequent phone conversations.

Bolsonaro was accused of masterminding a plot to stay in power despite his 2022 election loss to Lula — similar charges to what Trump faced after a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in 2021 to stop Democrat Joe Biden from taking the White House.

Last month, Lula came to the defense of Pope Leo XIV during a tense exchange of attacks between the pontiff and Trump over the war in Iran.

The 80-year-old Lula is running for reelection in October.

The Brazilian paper O Globo first reported the planned trip by the Brazilian leader.

The main reason drivers are paying more at the pump is because of the global energy crisis caused by the Iran war. The price of crude oil, which is the main ingredient in gasoline, has been climbing for most of the past two months because the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow passage of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil normally passes, has effectively been shut, and oil tankers have been stranded there unable to deliver crude.

Many drivers were hopeful in mid-April, amid signs that the conflict could be winding down, and gasoline prices fell daily for almost two weeks.

“After the announcement of the initial ceasefire, there was kind of optimism that this really could be the beginning of the end of the conflict,” said Rob Smith, director of global fuel retail at S&P Global Energy. “And so crude prices came down correspondingly, gasoline spot prices followed, and so on and ... the retailers lowered prices as well.”

But as the war continued, gasoline prices reversed course and began increasing again.

“There’s a fundamental shortfall that will exist globally or fundamental struggle to meet that demand that will drive up price,” Smith said. “No matter what a government says or what any market person thinks, there is a true kind of upward pressure that’s being exerted on prices every day the Strait of Hormuz is constrained. And it is still severely constrained.”

Who sets gasoline prices

Gas station owners set prices at the pump, but a lot of factors go into what they decide to charge.

The main ingredient in gasoline cost is the price of a barrel of crude oil. In the U.S., oil prices represented about 51% of the price of a gallon of gasoline in 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration.

That means when crude oil prices rise, gasoline prices generally follow. Less oil on the market means higher prices for oil and gasoline. And the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz triggered the largest supply disruption in the history of oil markets, according to the The International Energy Agency, pushing oil prices as high as $112 a barrel in early April.

Bob Kleinberg, adjunct senior research scholar at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy, compared the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. with the price for a barrel of WTI, the U.S. benchmark oil, over the past few weeks, and said their price changes generally matched up.

“Not much of a mystery here,” Kleinberg said. “It's not exactly proportional but the shape of the curves follows the same pattern, and really with very little delay.”

Federal and state taxes contributed about 17% of the oil price, refining costs and profits contributed 14% and distribution and marketing contributed 17%, the EIA said. In some states, such as California, higher taxes and refining costs push the price of gasoline well above the national average.

What caused renewed march in gasoline prices

One event that could have changed the trajectory of gasoline prices occurred in April, when the U.S. blocked Iranian ports to stop the country from exporting oil.

“Iran had been moving an unusually high amount of oil to global markets, so that was helping moderate prices," said Jim Krane, energy research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute. "The Trump administration decides they’re going to punish Iran, and try to put more pressure on Iran by blocking their exports, so of course that does put pressure on Iran, but also puts pressure on global oil prices and forces them up. That was probably a big factor.”

What refineries and traders are willing to pay for oil swings wildly after news breaks about attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf or diplomacy talks stalling. “The oil market is exquisitely sensitive to what’s coming out of the White House,” Kleinberg said.

Back in early March, at the beginning of the Iran war, the price of gasoline jumped 48 cents in a week. The highest weekly jump was in March 2022, when the price jumped 60 cents in a week after Russia invaded Ukraine, AAA said.

No quick fix

No one can predict how high gasoline prices will climb. A gallon of regular in the U.S. costs more now than it did in early May of 2022, and back then, the price kept climbing through Memorial Day, AAA said.

The longer the flow of oil is constrained through the Strait of Hormuz, the higher prices will go, and the longer it will take to get back to normal, Smith said.

“Even if there was a true and lasting resolution of the conflict, both sides agree to play nice and truly do commit to keeping Hormuz open, it will still take months to get back to what it was pre-war, if not even longer,” Smith said. “There will still be within the industry a risk premium associated with going through that region. Not that it was ever a perfectly safe journey, but the past few months have shown that it’ll be hard to convince shippers and insurance companies that the risk level will be similar to what it was in February. It’ll be a long time before anyone can be convinced of that.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier that major U.S. military operations against Iran are over. He said Iran must agree to U.S. demands on its nuclear program and reopen the strait, a waterway vital to global oil and gas supplies.

Rubio said recent clashes with Iran related to U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz were “defensive in nature.” U.S. forces had launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the strait, but so far only two vessels are known to have passed through.

Here is the latest:

Trump says effort to guide vessels out of Strait of Hormuz is paused while US aims to finalize Iran deal

Trump announced the decision in a social media post on Tuesday evening, saying he was pausing the effort for a short period to give space for U.S. efforts to final a settlement with Iran to end the war.

Trump said he was making the move based “on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran.”

He added that the U.S. blockade of vessels leaving Iranian ports would remain in place.

Clashes continue between Hezbollah and Israel

Israel’s military said late Tuesday that Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon had launched “several rockets” toward Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

No injuries were reported.

Israel’s military also says it intercepted drones and what it calls “aerial targets” launched by Hezbollah before they crossed into Israeli territory.

Hezbollah started firing at Israel shortly after the beginning of the Iran war, and Israel responded with airstrikes and launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced along the border.

The attacks have continued despite a ceasefire in place since April 17.

Rubio says war with Iran is over, peace is still elusive

Rubio says the major U.S. military operation against Iran is over but is stopping short of saying the conflict is over or cannot be restarted.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Rubio said that “Operation Epic Fury” — the attack the U.S. and Israel mounted on Iran on Feb. 28 — “is concluded” because the objectives of the mission were all successfully concluded.

“We’re not cheering for an additional situation to occur,” he said. “We would prefer the path of peace.”

In order for that to happen, Iran must agree to Trump’s demands on its nuclear program and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, he said.

Rubio says he hopes Chinese officials talk to Iran about the strait

As Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi prepares to visit China on Wednesday, Rubio says that he hopes Tehran’s allies in Beijing reiterate the need for Iran to release its chokehold on the critical waterway as the fragile ceasefire continues.

“I hope the Chinese tell him what he needs to be told,” Rubio said. “And that is that what you are doing in the strait is causing you to be globally isolated. You’re the bad guy in this.”

The secretary went on to argue that China, more than the U.S., is suffering from Iran’s actions in the strait, saying that China's export-driven economy depends on shipments going through Hormuz.

“It is in China’s interest that Iran stop closing the strait,” he added.

Rubio says many countries want to help open Hormuz but some lack the ability to do so

Asked what the global appetite is for the U.S. effort to reopen the strait, Rubio says the issue has not been a lack of interest but that not many are able to provide the assets and resources needed.

“The capabilities is the issue. A lot of countries would love to do something about it. But they don’t have a navy, right? Or they can’t get there in time. ...” he said.

He said the onus is on the U.S.

“The primary responsibility for this Project Freedom is on the United States, because we’re the only country that can project power in that part of the world,” he said. “This is a favor to the world because it’s their ships that are stranded.”

Rubio downplays rift between Trump and Pope Leo ahead of visit to Vatican

Rubio is downplaying the rift between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV over Iran ahead of a key visit the top U.S. diplomat will make to Vatican City this week.

Rubio told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that Trump’s recent criticism of the first American pontiff was rooted in his opposition to Iran potentially obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could be used against millions of Catholics and other Christians around the world.

Trump “doesn’t understand why anybody — leave aside the pope — the president and I, for that matter, I think most people, I cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.

Rubio says Iran claims of not wanting a nuke are not backed up by actions

Rubio says Iranian claims of not wanting to develop nuclear weapons are belied by its actions.

Rubio said Tuesday that Iran must make a choice between war and peace but that peace will require a convincing demonstration that the Iranian government won’t attempt to pursue nuclear arms.

Rubio told reporters at the White House that Iran’s development of advanced centrifuge technology, its enrichment of uranium and construction of underground bunkers made clear the government was not serious about its no-nukes pledge.

‘We’re not attacking them’: Rubio echoes message that Strait of Hormuz operation is defensive only

Rubio on Tuesday reiterated that U.S. efforts to reopen the strait is not an offensive operation despite clashes with Iran in the last several days.

“There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first, OK? We’re not attacking them. We’re not,” Rubio told reporters. “If they pose a threat to our forces, we’ll shoot down drones, we’ll shoot down missiles. But it’s defensive in nature.”

So far, only two merchant ships are known to have passed through the new U.S.-guarded route, with hundreds more bottled up in the Persian Gulf. Shippers are still wary, and it’s unclear whether U.S. military action can reassure them without reigniting the conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.

US coming to aid of civilian sailors ‘left for dead,’ Rubio says

Rubio said about 23,000 civilian sailors are stranded in the Persian Gulf and “left for dead” as Iran chokes the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking at a White House press briefing on Tuesday, he said the U.S. military effort to guide ships through the strait aims to help those sailors.

“They’re sitting ducks, they’re isolated, they’re starving, they’re vulnerable,” Rubio said. “At least 10 sailors have already died as a result.”

He the sailors come from 87 countries and are innocent bystanders.

“It’s criminal for sure, but it’s desperate and destructive to block the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

Pope Leo calls out Trump’s misrepresentation of his views on Iran and nuclear weapons

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Leo said the Catholic Church “for years has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt there.”

Trump again accused Leo in an interview Tuesday of being “OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” Leo has said no such thing and Catholic Church teaching says the mere possession of nuclear weapons is “immoral.”

Leo doubled down on his insistence that his call for peace and dialogue in the U.S-Israeli war in Iran is Biblically inspired.

“I’ve spoken from the first moment of being elected, and we’re near the anniversary: I said ‘Peace be with you,’” Leo said as he left his country house in Castel Gandolfo.

“The mission of the church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace. If someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth,” Leo said. “And so I hope simply to be listened to about the value of the Word of God.”

Italy defends Pope Leo XIV against Trump criticism

Italy is again defending Pope Leo XIV and his call for peace and dialogue in the Iran war against President Donald Trump’s latest criticism.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a social media post Thursday that

President Donald Trump’s attacks “are neither acceptable nor helpful to the cause of peace.”

“I reaffirm my support for every action and word of Pope Leo; his words are a testament to dialogue, the value of human life, and freedom. This is a vision shared by our government, which is committed through diplomacy to ensuring stability and peace in all areas where conflicts exist,” Tajani wrote.

Trump on Tuesday renewed his criticism of Leo’s peace message over the Iran war and warned Leo was “endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.”

Trump’s criticism, in an interview with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, came even as his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, prepares to visit Italy and the Vatican ostensibly to ease tensions with Washington.

Rubio is due to meet with Leo on Thursday and is due to see Tajani and Premier Giorgia Meloni on Friday.

Trump offers an optimistic take on China’s position on Iran

The president in an exchange with reporters said that China hasn’t “challenged” him as he continues to press Iran even as Beijing has repeatedly criticized the U.S. and Israel military action against Iran.

“You know, in all fairness, he gets, like, 60% of his oil from (the Strait of) Hormuz,” Trump said of President Xi Jinping.

China, in fact, imported about half its crude oil and almost one-third of its liquefied natural gas from the Middle East, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.

Trump offered a more measured take than Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who a day earlier said the administration wants to see Beijing “step up” and pressure Iran to open the strait. Bessent in an interview with Fox News said Iran would be high on Trump’s agenda when he travels to Beijing next week for a summit with Xi.

Pakistan military urges restraint as US-Iran tensions rise

Pakistan’s top military leadership on Tuesday urged restraint to help ease rising tensions between the United States and Iran.

The call came during a Corps Commanders Conference chaired by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.

Munir since last month has been in contact between the U.S. and Iranian officials as part of Pakistan’s efforts to end the conflict.

In a statement, the military said participants reviewed the evolving security environment amid Pakistan’s outreach to Washington and Tehran, adding that lasting peace depends on collective restraint, responsibility and respect for sovereignty.

JD Vance woos Republican voters, including farmers who want the war to end

Vice President JD Vance heads to Iowa on Tuesday, his first visit since taking office to the state where Republicans in less than two years will cast the initial votes to pick their party’s next presidential nominee.

Seen as one of the GOP’s strongest potential candidates for president in 2028, Vance stopped first in Cincinnati to vote in the primary, saying he picked Vivek Ramaswamy for governor. He’s also holding a fundraiser in Oklahoma City as finance chair of the Republican National Committee.

Higher prices for gas and fertilizer and Trump’s tariffs have been hitting voters hard, and Vance’s political prospects are complicated by the war in Iran. Vance has seemed a reluctant defender of the 9-week-old war, for which Trump has struggled to find an off-ramp.

Iowa’s farmers have steadfastly supported the president, but they’ve been looking for assurances that the troubles won’t last.

Rubio to brief at White House with press secretary on maternity leave

The secretary of state is putting on yet another Trump administration hat — White House spokesperson.

Rubio is scheduled to fill in Tuesday for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is on leave awaiting the birth of her second child. His briefing is scheduled for 3 p.m. EDT.

The nation’s top diplomat already doubles as Trump’s national security adviser and for a while was the acting archivist of the United States and the acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

His last formal briefing for reporters was at the State Department briefing room in December.

Scuttlebutt around the White House has been that Rubio will be among a handful of high-level administration officials leading the press briefings while Leavitt is away.

Proposed UN resolution demands Iran halt attacks on ships in Strait of Hormuz and stop `illegal tolls’

The proposed Security Council resolution, co-sponsored by the United States and Gulf nations, threatens Iran with sanctions or other measures if it doesn’t restore freedom of navigation and immediately disclose where sea mines have been placed in and around the vital waterway.

The draft, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, also demands that Iran “immediately participate in and enable the United Nations efforts to establish a humanitarian corridor in the strait” to enable vital aid, fertilizer and other goods to transit.

The proposed resolution was drafted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which can be enforced militarily. It threatens “effective measures that are commensurate with the gravity of the situation, including sanctions” if Iran doesn’t comply.

A previous resolution aimed at opening the Strait of Hormuz, where about 20% of the world’s crude oil had transited, was vetoed by Russia and China.

Former military officers say reopening the strait remains a daunting task

Former military officers who have served on the Strait of Hormuz have said opening it would be dangerous and highly challenging, even with military escorts, which the U.S. isn’t providing now.

There’s little room to maneuver in the narrow waterway, and Iran can reach all of the strait and its approaches with anti-ship cruise missiles. It also can target vessels with longer-range missiles, drones, fast attack craft and naval mines.

Experts say reducing the threat would involve targeting offensive installations on the ground inside Iran and having constant surveillance and patrols.

▶ Read more

Insurance broker says it’s too early to know how US military effort will affect shipping through the strait

Marcus Baker, global head of marine, cargo and logistics for insurance broker and risk adviser Marsh Risk, said it would take a few days to see how the insurance market reacts.

“We just have to see what happens, whether the Iranians keep the peace, whether the Americans keep the peace, and exactly what that’s going mean for shipping,” he said.

“There’s rhetoric from both sides on this, and we’ve just got to be mindful of that,” he added. But he said “anything that starts to increase certainty around safety has got to be a good thing.”

One of the world’s largest container shipping companies says Hormuz transits not yet possible

“At this point in time our risk assessment remains unchanged,” the Hamburg, Germany-based shipping company Hapag-Lloyd AG said in a statement. “Transits through the Strait of Hormuz are for the moment not possible for our ships.”

UAE is under Iranian attack again, defense ministry says

The United Arab Emirates is “actively engaging” with missile and drone attack from Iran, the country’s defense ministry said on X Tuesday evening.

It said sounds heard in parts of the Gulf federation are related to the interception of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.

Death toll in Lebanon reaches 2,702 since Israel-Hezbollah war began

The Health Ministry in Beirut said Tuesday that 8,311 people were wounded during the same period.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war started on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel following the U.S. and Israel’s attacks on Iran.

A ceasefire has been in place since April 17 but both Israel and Hezbollah have been carrying out daily attacks since then.

Trump announced the decision in a social media post, saying he was pausing the effort for a short period to give space for U.S. efforts to finalize a settlement with Iran to end the war.

Trump said in the post he was making the move based “on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment offering further detail about the progress in negotiations that Trump alluded to in his posting.

The announcement came after military leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted a ceasefire in the Middle East was still holding and that — while the conflict is not resolved — the initial major U.S. military operation against Iran has concluded.

Rubio told a White House press briefing Tuesday that for peace to be achieved, Iran must agree to U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands on its nuclear program and also agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy.

He spoke as the United Arab Emirates said it came under attack from Iranian drones and missiles for a second day.

“We would prefer the path of peace,” Rubio said. He also expressed hope that during the expected visit to China by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday, Beijing would reiterate to Tehran the need to release its chokehold on the strait.

“It is in China’s interest that Iran stop closing the strait,” Rubio said.

US pushed efforts to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz

Earlier in the day, the United States pressed on for a second with its effort to reopen the strait to maritime traffic — an operation Rubio described as defensive and aimed at helping thousands of civilian sailors stranded there by the war.

“They’re sitting ducks, they’re isolated, they’re starving, they’re vulnerable,” Rubio said. “At least 10 sailors have already died as a result.”

On Monday, the U.S. said it had opened a lane and sunk six small Iranian boats that had threatened commercial ships. So far, only two merchant ships are known to have passed through the new U.S.-guarded route, with hundreds more bottled up in the Persian Gulf.

Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which major oil and gas supplies passed before the war, along with fertilizer and other petroleum products, has sent fuel prices skyrocketing and rattled the global economy. Breaking Iran's grip would deny its main source of leverage as U.S. President Donald Trump demands a major rollback of its disputed nuclear program.

Iran says the new US effort violates ceasefire

Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the U.S. military’s top officer, told a news conference that Iran’s renewed attacks had not reached the threshold of what Caine called “major combat operations.” He said Tuesday marked a “quieter” day in the strait.

“The ceasefire is not over,” Hegseth said.

At the White House, Rubio said clashes with Iran related to American efforts to reopen the straight were “defensive in nature.”

“There’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first, OK?" Rubio said. “We’re not attacking them.”

Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, signaled that Iran has yet to fully respond to the U.S. attempt to reopen the waterway.

“We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet,” he said in a post on X. His statement did not mention negotiations with the U.S. that are now in the form of passing messages via Pakistan.

Disputing Washington’s claim of sinking six Iranian boats, an Iranian military commander said two small civilian cargo boats were hit Monday, killing five civilians, Iran’s state TV reported.

Caine, the top U.S. general who serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more than 100 U.S. military aircraft are patrolling the skies over the strait. The U.S. has imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, depriving Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.

The Trump administration has cited the April 8 ceasefire in asserting that the president does not have to give a formal update to Congress on the war under the War Powers Resolution. That law typically requires presidents to seek formal approval from Congress for war activities 60 days after beginning military action.

Shippers remain wary

So far, just two civilian vessels, both U.S.-flagged merchant ships, are known to have passed through the strait as part of the lane the U.S. says it has created. Shipping company Maersk said one of them, a vehicle carrier that it operates, exited the strait safely Monday with U.S. military assistance.

Former military officers who have served on the strait have said opening it would be dangerous and highly challenging, even with military escorts, which the U.S. is not providing now.

There’s little room to maneuver in the waterway that is just 21 miles (34 kilometers) wide, and Iran can reach all of the strait and its approaches with cruise missiles. It also can target vessels with longer-range missiles, drones, fast attack craft and mines.

Hapag-Lloyd AG, one of the world’s largest container shipping companies, said in a statement that its risk assessment “remains unchanged” and that transits through the strait "are for the moment not possible for our ships.”

Iran has attacked ships that try to transit without going through its own route in the northern part of the strait along the Iranian coastline. That involves being vetted by Iran's Revolutionary Guard and in some cases making a payment.

The U.S.-approved route goes through territorial waters of Oman to the south.

“For shipping companies and for insurance companies, they still have to wait and see how this plays out,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

“This initiative alone isn’t something that looks like it’s going to open the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

The UAE bore the brunt of Iran’s retaliation

The United Arab Emirates said Monday its air defenses had engaged 15 missiles and four drones fired by Iran. Authorities in the eastern emirate of Fujairah said one drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility, wounding three Indian nationals. The British military reported two cargo vessels ablaze off the UAE, also on Monday.

On Tuesday, the UAE's Defense Ministry said it was responding to another Iranian drone and missile attack, though there were no reports of damage or casualties.

Iran denied striking the UAE “in recent days,” according to a statement by Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for Iran’s joint military command, that was read Tuesday on state TV.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the targeting of UAE civilians and infrastructure “unacceptable.” Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also condemned the strikes.

Tehran did not confirm or deny the attacks. But Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X that the U.S. and the UAE “should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire.”

___

Madhani and Finley reported from Washington, and Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations; Collin Binkley and Matthew Lee in Washington; Giovanna Dell'Orto in Minneapolis; Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut; Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi; Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

Jurors in a Fort Worth courtroom decided on Tanner Horner's punishment after hearing about a month of testimony and evidence that included audio of Athena Strand's last moments from inside his delivery van. Horner, 34, pleaded guilty to capital murder last month in the 2022 killing just as his trial began. Athena's body was found two days after she was reported missing from her home in the rural town of Paradise, near Fort Worth.

Horner didn't visibly react when the judge read the sentence, according to a livestream of the court proceedings.

Jurors found there was a probability Horner would commit criminal violence and be a continuing threat to society. They said there was nothing in the commission of the crime or in Horner's background to warrant life without parole instead of death.

Prosecutor James Stainton told jurors in opening statements that Horner had told, “lie upon lie upon lie upon lie” in the case, including telling authorities that he accidentally struck Athena with his van while making the delivery and then killed her in a fit of panic.

Several jurors cried as they were shown video and heard audio from inside the van after Athena was taken. He could be seen lifting her into the van, and then driving away, telling her not to scream or he’d hurt her.

Horner then covered the camera, but the audio continued recording. Horner asks Athena questions, including how old she is and where she goes to school, before stopping the van and telling her they are going to “hang out.” Horner tells her to take off her shirt and she begins crying, asking what he’s doing and whether he’s a kidnapper. She cries no and asks for her mother and to go home.

She asks him: “Why are you doing this?” He replies, “Because you are pretty.”

“My mom says I can’t do that to somebody,” she tells him. “And you can’t do that to me either.”

As the recording, which lasts over an hour, continues, Athena’s screams can be heard as well as choking and slamming noises.

At one point he tells her: “If you don’t shut up, I will hurt you worse.”

A medical examiner testified that Athena died of blunt force injuries with smothering and strangulation.

While acknowledging during opening statements that the evidence against Horner was “overwhelming” and “terrible,” Horner’s attorney, Steven Goble, told jurors that Horner’s mother drank while she was pregnant, that he has autism and suffered from “various mental illnesses throughout his life” in addition to being exposed to a “massive amount of lead.”

Goble had asked jurors to sentence Horner to life in prison.

Athena’s family has said that the package Horner had dropped off was a Christmas present for her — a box of “You Can Be Anything” Barbies.

The trial was moved from rural Wise County to Fort Worth after Horner’s attorneys argued that he would not have received a fair trial. ____

Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report from Honolulu.

Standing before hundreds of supporters at a steel manufacturing facility, Vance repeatedly drew a contrast between Iowa Republican Rep. Zach Nunn and his Democratic challenger, telling the crowd that Nunn and the Trump administration were “fighting for you instead of fighting against you” as he attacked Democrats on issues of immigration and fraud.

“This is not a normal election. This is not a normal political environment,” said Vance, who is seen as one of the GOP’s strongest potential candidates for president in 2028. “This is a contest between a party that wants to take all of your money and give it to illegal aliens and a contest between gentlemen like Zach Nunn who fight every single day for you.”

Nunn faces a competitive race to keep his Des Moines-area seat in the November midterms. Vance frequently heaped praise on Nunn, calling him “one of those guys who does the right thing, not just when the cameras are on, but when the cameras are off, too.”

The visit to Iowa offered Vance an opportunity to test his reception before Iowa’s voters, whose leadoff caucuses give them an outsize role in determining the next presidential nominee. Campaigning for a local congressman in his role as vice president provided him with a chance to make an impression on Iowa Republicans, seasoned evaluators of those who seek the nation’s highest office, before the campaign begins in earnest.

Vance’s appearance comes days after Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is also considered a possible 2028 candidate, spoke to a group of evangelical Christians who are influential in Iowa’s GOP contest.

Jimmy Centers, a Des Moines-based Republican political consultant, said that the 2028 contest is “light-years away” but that the Republicans who hear Vance speak on Tuesday will be evaluating how he might measure up in an election for the White House.

“I certainly think, as of right now, Vice President Vance would probably be a straw-poll winner of Iowa Republicans for 2028. But I don’t think anyone is saying, ‘We won’t consider anybody else,’” Centers said.

Vance's visit comes as higher prices for gas and fertilizer hit Iowans

Vance, who has not said whether he will run for president in 2028, appeared with Nunn at Ex-Guard Industries in Des Moines.

The vice president’s visit follows a trip Trump made in January to tout the administration’s tax cuts, part of a string of stops they’re making this year on economic issues before midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

But Vance’s visit comes when his own political prospects — and the message he delivered on the economy — have been complicated by the war in Iran.

The vice president, who has long been skeptical of foreign military interventions, has seemed a reluctant defender of the 9-week-old war, for which Trump has struggled to find an off-ramp. Iowans, like much of the rest of the country, are grappling with higher gas prices because of the conflict. But the state’s farmers are also feeling the pinch of high fertilizer costs from the war and have been hurt by tariffs Trump has imposed.

Vance made a nod to those cost struggles in his remarks, saying that he's aware of the rising price of fertilizer and noted: “We got a little blip.” Nonetheless, he said the administration is “working on it.”

While Iowa’s farmers have steadfastly supported the president, they have been looking to the White House for assurances that the current troubles won’t last.

Vance, who met with Iowa Gold Star families just before his public remarks, also became emotional as he discussed the sacrifices made by fallen U.S. soldiers and their families. He talked about wondering how he would react if his 6-year-old son, Vivek, who accompanied him Tuesday, told him later in life that he wanted to enlist, saying he would be “so proud of him” but also “so terrified.”

“Every time that a person gives the ultimate sacrifice to the United States of America ... there’s a whole crew of people who love them the same way that we all love every single member of our family,” he said, adding that “part of how we earn that incredible sacrifice” is “by making this country’s politics and government worthy of the people who put on the uniform and will never see their loved ones again.”

Earlier Tuesday, Vance, who represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate before becoming vice president, stopped first in Cincinnati to vote in Ohio’s primary elections and told reporters he was voting for Vivek Ramaswamy in the governor’s race. Asked about U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, who’s running in a special election to serve out the remainder of Vance’s term, Vance said he thinks Husted’s “going to do a great job” and has been “good for Ohio.”

His 6-year-old son, meanwhile, filled out a ballot for children, which the vice president showed to the poll workers when he cast his own ballot. “He voted for the Easter bunny over the tooth fairy,” he said of his son.

Before arriving in Iowa, Vance also appeared in Oklahoma City to hold a fundraiser in his role as finance chair of the Republican National Committee.

It's ‘awfully, awfully early’ in the road to 2028

Kim Schmett, a longtime Iowa GOP activist, said the presidential cycle starts “deceptively slow.”

He said Trump’s Make America Great Again political movement “is very alive and going here” in Iowa, which would benefit Vance — as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also thought to be a potential candidate.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of MAGA support,” he said. “And Vice President Vance and Marco Rubio seem to be the recipients of where that is going at the moment.”

But Schmett cautioned, “It’s awfully, awfully early in the process.”

On the Democratic side, at least half a dozen presidential prospects have been making visits to the states with the earliest presidential primary contests, including recent visits to Iowa by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin.

Meanwhile, potential Republican presidential candidates “are treading very lightly,” said GOP strategist Alex Conant, who worked on Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign.

“I think Republicans are going to be very reluctant to get in Trump’s way until Trump gives the green light for the campaign to start,” Conant said.

That means much of the groundwork to meet with donors or activists or recruit political staffers might happen slowly and subtly – for now.

After the midterms? Conant said: “It’ll be irresistible.”

___

Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report from Washington.

Tensions were evident as Ukrainian artists stood by a truck that had brought a statue of an origami deer from the war-ravaged eastern front to the Biennale's storied Giardini. Just meters (yards) away, a handful of participants in the Russian Pavilion danced to house music played by an Argentine DJ.

At the same time, a group of Palestinians marched through the Giardini wearing the names of artists who have been killed in Gaza. More protests were expected as the preview week continued.

Chaos puts national pavilions in the spotlight

Few inside the Biennale were surprised that global politics were spilling over into the international art exhibition, putting new pressure on its structure of national pavilions alongside a curated exhibition and raising old questions: Is the representation of nations outmoded in a globalized system where artists often operate internationally, and does it give states an undue platform for propaganda?

“I think what has been contested very much is the existence of the nation state within the space of the exhibition,” said Marie Helene Pereira, one of the five curators of the main exhibition “In Minor Keys,” who have taken up the mantle of the late curator Koyo Kouoh.

“We can see how much that can bring tension, especially in the midst of the political chaos (in which) we find ourselves,” Pereira said.

“It's important to be able to rethink structure, rethink institutions, in a way that allows for them to cater more to artists and artmaking," Pereira said, adding that didn’t mean that art should be devoid of politics.

Ahead of its resignation, the jury had said it would not award prizes to countries whose leaders were under investigation by the International Court of Justice. The move isolated Russia and Israel.

Israeli artist Belu-Simion Fainaru said he thought the jury's decision was “a fair one.”

“I should be treated as an equal artist, and I should not be discriminated because of my race, that I am a Jew, and not because of my nationality or passport. I have to be seen as I am. I am an artist that wants to show my art, and I have the right to be evaluated,” he said standing in front of his installation rooted in the Kabbalah.

The Biennale, he said, should be “a place where you can feel safe to create and do whatever you believe in.”

Giardini on the front lines

Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadryova created “The Origami Deer” to take the place of a nuclear-capable Soviet fighter jet that had long stood in a park in Pokrovsk, in the Donbas region of Ukraine.

Curators of the Ukrainian Pavilion — its third since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion — evacuated the statue from the park in 2024, with the front line just 5 kilometers (3 miles) away.

Co-curator Ksenia Malykh fiercely opposed the Biennale’s decision to allow Russia to open its pavilion, calling it “a false attempt to stay neutral.”

“You can’t stay neutral in these times. You can’t be neutral when people are dying every day because of Russians,’’ Malykh said. “They say that art is beyond politics, but they are using art as a weapon in a hybrid war in Europe.''

Instead of talking about Russian art, Malykh said, the focus is on the statement of their participation. "I am absolutely sure this was their goal,'' she said.

The Russian Pavilion will only be open to visitors during previews that run through Friday and will not be open to the public after the Biennale opens for its 6 ½-month run on Saturday. The pavilion has organized a series of performers for this week, and had an open bar upstairs near a flowering tree. Curators were not available for interviews.

Russia’s opening cost the Venice Biennale 2 million euros ($2.3 million) in EU funding over three years. The Biennale has defended the decision, saying that any country with relations with Italy was free to open a pavilion, a position that has put it at odds with the government in Rome.

Still, the official catalog had a place-saving entry where the Russian text should have been, noting that Russia’s participation was “under review” at the time of publication.

No jury, no Golden Lions

Without a jury of peers, there will be no Golden Lion for best national pavilion or best participant in the main curated exhibition — a highly prestigious prize has led some to liken the Biennale to the Olympics of art.

Instead, visitors to both the Giardini and Arsenale sites will choose two winners, for best national participant and best main show participant, to be awarded Nov. 22, the closing day of the Biennale.

The Ukrainian artist Malykh said that lack of professionally awarded prizes damaged the Biennale.

“It’s an important moment. If the prize is given by the public, it’s as if the Biennale came to Eurovision. It’s not a professional institution after that,” Malykh said.

They pond is located at the Parkway Shops across the street from River City Marketplace.

According to JSO, officers were responding to a vehicle in the water but found no one inside.

A tow truck arrived to pull the vehicle out.

This is a developing story.

Spirit Airlines, which abruptly canceled all its future flights over the weekend, secured court approval Tuesday to begin dismantling the once-busy budget carrier and to convert its parts into cash for creditors.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane authorized the airline's plan for a rapid wind down of its remaining business activities, clearing the way for Spirit to move forward with liquidation.

“Today is a very challenging day. It’s not a day that anybody hoped would ever come,” Lane said as he ruled from the bench following an hourslong hearing in New York. The judge extended his “sympathy to the Spirit employees and their families.”

The company needed the judge’s green light to proceed because shutting down an airline is far from straightforward, with creditors, regulators, airport authorities and employees all tied into a process that has to be carefully unwound. More than 100 people tuned in to Tuesday’s hearing virtually, reflecting the broad interest in the case.

Spirit's plan centers on selling off every possible asset — from its airplanes, engines and spare parts to gates and landing slots at airports — while also limiting additional payroll, leasing and other costs.

The liquidation marks a dramatic turn for Spirit, which filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2025 hoping to escape financial ruin. The airline's parent company was attempting to restructure the business for the second time since November 2024 when it abruptly stopped operating flights early Saturday.

The shutdown itself was tightly choreographed. The company, Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc., said it made its going-out-of-business announcement in the middle of the night to ensure the jetliners making their final runs for the airline were safely on the ground and their crews accounted for.

Three days later, that sense of urgency carried into the courtroom, where the company's lawyers asked the judge for expedited approval of their wind-down plan, arguing that speed would benefit Spirit's creditors and customers.

“Any delay will cause chaos, confusion and cost the estate significant time and money,” the company said in a motion filed with the court, noting the airline was “not generating any revenue.”

Spirit attorney Marshall Huebner said Tuesday in court that rising jet fuel costs since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran “engulfed Spirit entirely.” The airline's fuel expenses grew by roughly $100 million “in March and April alone,” he said, and rapidly drained Spirit’s liquidity and derailed its restructuring efforts.

He also apologized directly to Spirit’s employees and customers, especially passengers who he said may now be completely “priced out” of certain routes without the ultra low-cost carrier known for its unbundled “no frills” service.

Huebner described a swift effort by other airlines and other segments of the aviation industry to assist Spirit's employees and customers once the airline's end looked inevitable.

“The entire industry sprang into action to get our people home,” Huebner said. Spirit employed about 17,000 people and carried about 50,000 passengers on its final day of operations. The final flight, which traveled from Detroit to Dallas, landed after midnight Saturday.

According to court filings, Spirit’s assets include its fleet of 114 Airbus A320-family planes. Most of them — 66 aircraft — were leased, but the company owns 28 that will be part of the liquidation process. Another 20 of the planes it owns outright were already set to be sold under a separate, previously approved court deal. Spirit also owns 18 spare engines.

Spirit says it plans to initially keep a skeleton crew of 130 to 150 employees who will help oversee the liquidation process, including securing aircraft and coordinating logistics. The team, expected to include some corporate officers, will eventually shrink to roughly 40.

In the last two weeks, Spirit was in discussions with the Trump administration about a hoped-for rescue deal that fell through, eliminating what the company described as its last viable path forward. Of the potential bailout, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday, “We oftentimes don’t have half a billion dollars laying around.”

Duffy said other U.S. airlines, including United, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest, were offering $200 one-way fares for a limited time to travelers holding Spirit confirmation numbers and proof of purchase.

Airlines also stepped in to assist stranded Spirit crew members, he said, with some offering a preferential hiring process for former Spirit employees looking for work.

In an interview with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, Trump said the first American-born pontiff is helping Iran and also making the world less safe with his comments about the importance of not treating immigrants with disrespect.

“The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in the interview on Monday. “And I don’t think that’s very good. I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people.”

The pope, however, has not said Iran should obtain nuclear weapons. He’s called for more peace talks, and criticized war with Iran generally and Trump’s specific threats of mass civilian strikes. The pope also has emphasized that he’s reflecting biblical and church teachings, not speaking as a political rival to Trump.

Leo responded to Trump's latest criticism by calling out the U.S. president's misrepresentation of his views. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, the pope said the Catholic Church “for years has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt there.”

He also doubled down on his insistence that his call for peace and dialogue in the U.S-Israeli war in Iran is biblically inspired.

“The mission of the church is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace. If someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth,” Leo said.

Rubio downplays the rift over Iran

For his part, Rubio, a practicing Catholic, said Trump's recent criticisms were rooted in his opposition to Iran potentially obtaining a nuclear weapon, which he said could be used against millions of Catholics and other Christians. Rubio said the whole world should be opposed to that.

Trump “doesn’t understand why anybody — leave aside the pope — the president and I, for that matter, I think most people, I cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio told reporters at the White House.

Still, Trump’s latest comments may make Rubio’s task more difficult when he sees the pontiff on Thursday. Rubio has often been called on to tone down or explain Trump’s harsh rhetoric as it relates to Europe, NATO and the Middle East, but the president’s dispute with the pope has domestic political implications in the U.S. with midterm congressional elections approaching.

Trump lashed out at Leo on social media last month, saying the pope was soft on crime and terrorism for comments about the administration’s immigration policies and deportations as well as the Iran war. Leo then said God doesn’t listen to the prayers of those who wage war.

Later, Trump posted a social media image likening himself to Jesus Christ, which he then deleted after backlash. He has refused to apologize to Leo and has sought to explain away the social media post by saying he thought the image was of him as a doctor.

The tension spills over into Italian politics

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a long-time Trump ally, has taken exception to Trump’s comments about the pope.

Trump in return criticized her as his ire against NATO allies expands over what he sees as a lack of support for the Iran war — most recently with the Pentagon planning to pull thousands of troops out of Germany in the coming months.

In response to Trump's latest comments criticizing the pope, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a social media post that they were “neither acceptable nor helpful to the cause of peace.”

“I reaffirm my support for every action and word of Pope Leo; his words are a testament to dialogue, the value of human life, and freedom. This is a vision shared by our government, which is committed through diplomacy to ensuring stability and peace in all areas where conflicts exist,” Tajani wrote.

Rubio, who after this trip will have visited Italy or the Vatican at least three times in the past year, is expected to meet with Meloni and Tajani on Friday.

___ Winfield reported from Rome. Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Chinese officials to use Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's scheduled visit to China on Wednesday to urge Tehran to release its chokehold on the critical waterway.

“I hope the Chinese tell him what he needs to be told,” Rubio said during a White House briefing Tuesday. “And that is that what you are doing in the strait is causing you to be globally isolated. You’re the bad guy in this.”

The secretary went on to argue that China has been hit harder than the U.S. by Iran’s effective shuttering of the strait during the two-month old war. Beijing's export-driven economy depends on shipments going through the strait. China also imports about half of its crude oil and almost one-third of its liquefied natural gas from the Middle East, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.

“It is in China’s interest that Iran stop closing the strait,” Rubio said.

A diplomat familiar with the matter also told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the U.S. has been engaging in serious efforts to persuade China to abstain from vetoing the most recent U.S.-backed resolution at the U.N. Security Council aimed at opening up the strait and condemning Iran’s actions. The diplomat spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the deliberations.

China and Russia — Tehran’s two allies on the council — last month vetoed an earlier Hormuz resolution, saying it went too far and did not condemn the U.S. and Israel for strikes that started the war.

Trump's Treasury secretary has also urged China to do more

Rubio's push on China to get more involved came after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that Iran would be high on the agenda when Trump meets with Xi for the first visit by a U.S. president to China since Trump visited in 2017.

The effective shuttering of the strait is having an enormous impact on Asia broadly, a factor that seems to have informed the Chinese government’s efforts to consult with Pakistan to help mediate a two-week ceasefire.

To be certain, Trump has said he believes China played a part in encouraging Iran to agree to a fragile ceasefire that was forged last month. Three diplomats who were familiar with China’s behind-the-scenes efforts also confirmed that Beijing, the biggest purchaser of Iranian oil, used its leverage to get the Iranians back to the negotiating table as talks wobbled.

But the Republican administration believes China can still do more to get involved in reopening the critical waterway.

“The threat of attacks from Iran has closed the strait — we are reopening it,” Bessent said in a Fox News interview. “So I would urge the Chinese to join us in supporting this international operation.”

Trump himself spoke in more measured tones about China’s involvement with Iran, telling reporters in the Oval Office earlier Tuesday that China hasn’t “challenged” him even as he continues to press Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program and open the strait. China, however, has been critical of the U.S. military action against its long-isolated economic partner in the Middle East.

“You know, in all fairness, he gets, like, 60% of his oil from Hormuz,” said Trump, slightly exaggerating Xi and China's dependence on Middle East oil.

China has faced suspicions of assisting Tehran

China has long supported Iran’s ballistic missile program and backed it with dual-use industrial components that can be used for missile production, according to the U.S. government.

But Trump said last month that Xi had agreed to not provide weapons to Iran as reports circulated that Beijing had considered transferring arms.

Days after Trump said he received a letter of assurance from Xi, he claimed in an interview with CNBC that the U.S. forces had intercepted a boat containing a “gift” from China bound for Iran. Trump did not offer further details.

The administration has also sought to step up economic pressure on China, Tehran's biggest trade partner, for its ties to the Islamic Republic.

The Treasury Department announced on April 24 it was levying sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil. The sanctions cut off the companies from the U.S. financial system and penalize anyone who does business with them.

Rubio says Taiwan will be on Trump-Xi agenda

Meanwhile, the Chinese have signaled they will look to press the U.S. to dial back weapons sales to the self-ruled island of Taiwan that China views as its own breakaway province.

Rubio confirmed Taiwan would likely be part of the conversation between the leaders. “I think both countries understand that it is neither one of our interests to see anything destabilizing happen in that part of the world,” Rubio said. “We don’t need any destabilizing events to occur with regards to Taiwan or anywhere in the Indo-Pacific. And I think that’s to the mutual benefit of both the United States and the Chinese.”

Trump in December announced a record-setting $11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan. Trump later suggested he would discuss the arms sales with Xi — a move that has alarmed officials in Taipei.

Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a call with Rubio urged the United States to “make the right choices” on Taiwan in order to safeguard “stability” between the two nations, according to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

___

Amiri reported from New York.

Three passengers have died and at least four people have been sick in what health officials say is an outbreak of hantavirus, which usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings. The World Health Organization said passengers are isolating in their cabins.

The company that operates the vessel — currently anchored in the Atlantic off Cape Verde — said it plans to move to Spain’s Canary Islands once three people have been medically evacuated and put on specially equipped planes to the Netherlands. Earlier Tuesday, Spanish officials said that they were monitoring the situation and hadn't made a decision.

The MV Hondius, a Dutch ship on a weekslong polar cruise, departed April 1 from Argentina for Antarctica and several isolated islands in the South Atlantic.

“Our days have been close to normal, just waiting for authorities to find a solution,” passenger Qasem Elhato, 31 — who sent AP the video footage — said via WhatsApp. “But morale on the ship is high and we’re keeping ourselves busy with reading, watching movies, having hot drinks and that kind of things.”

Helene Goessaert, another passenger, told Belgian broadcaster VRT that everyone on board is “in the same boat, literally.”

“You don’t embark on a trip with the idea that one of your fellow passengers won’t make it,” she said.

“We receive information at regular intervals. It is accurate. For the rest, it is a waiting game,” she added. “Today we received fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. That was very important to us.”

Evacuation plans are still unclear

Authorities in Cape Verde have said they sent teams of doctors, surgeons, nurses and laboratory specialists to the Hondius. They were seen in Elhato's video footage — wearing white overalls, boots and face masks as they disembarked to a smaller vessel.

Officials in Cape Verde’s capital of Praia, a city of less than 200,000 people, said they have stepped up safety protocols, particularly near the port, as a precautionary measure against the rodent-borne illness — which doesn't usually spread person to person, though health authorities say it might be possible.

Elhato said passengers were wearing masks and social distancing — practices that became hallmarks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions said it had implemented its highest level of response, with isolation measures, hygiene protocols and medical monitoring.

Oceanwide Expeditions said Tuesday evening that two specialized aircraft were flying to Cape Verde to evacuate two people who need urgent medical care and one person who was traveling with a German woman who died on board Saturday. They were to be taken to the Netherlands, though exactly when that would happen was not immediately clear.

Once the medical evacuation happens, the ship plans to sail to the Canary Islands, either Gran Canaria or Tenerife, a voyage of some three days, the company said in its statement, adding that “discussions are ongoing with relevant authorities.”

Spanish health officials had said in an earlier statement that they were monitoring and that "the most appropriate port of call will be decided. Until then, the Ministry of Health will not adopt any decision, as we have informed the World Health Organization.”

WHO notes 7 cases in all in its latest update

WHO said Tuesday that it's looking at seven cases in all — three people who have died, one critically ill passenger who was previously taken off the ship, and three on board reporting mild symptoms.

Two of the cases — a woman who died and the evacuated man — tested positive for hantavirus.

A Dutch man was the first death, on April 11. His body was taken off the vessel nearly two weeks later, on the British territory of St. Helena, some 1,200 miles (1,900 kilometers) off the African coast, according to South Africa’s Department of Health.

His wife traveled by plane from St. Helena to South Africa; she collapsed at a Johannesburg airport and died at a hospital on April 26, according to WHO and the South African Department of Health.

The ship sailed on to Ascension Island, an isolated Atlantic outpost about 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the north, where a sick British man was taken off the ship and evacuated first to Ascension Island and then to South Africa by plane. He is in intensive care in a South African hospital, according to WHO.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness, said the organization is investigating possible human-to-human transmission on the ship, and that officials suspect the first infected person likely contracted the virus before boarding. She said officials have been told there are no rats on board.

Officials in Argentina — where hantavirus led to 28 deaths nationwide last year, according to the health ministry — said they confirmed no passengers had symptoms when the Hondius departed. Symptoms can appear up to eight weeks after exposure, officials have said.

In South Africa, authorities said they have started contact tracing — another practice used extensively in the coronavirus pandemic. But officials have emphasized that the chance of a major public health threat is low.

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An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the passenger who died on board Saturday as a German man; it has been corrected to reflect that a German woman died.

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Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria. AP journalists Suman Naishadham in Madrid; Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg, South Africa; Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.

Those results for 2025 were released Tuesday by Lifeway Research, the denomination's research affiliate.

Membership fell by 3% to 12.3 million, continuing a nearly two-decade decline. At the same time, weekly worship attendance was up by nearly 4% to 4.5 million.

The number of baptisms increased 5% to 263,075. It was the second consecutive year in which the number of baptisms exceeded those before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The denomination often uses baptism as a key spiritual vital sign, a measure of how many people are being brought into the faith.

“We are grateful Southern Baptists continue to show growth in key metrics like baptisms, worship attendance and Bible study participation,” Jeff Iorg, president of the SBC Executive Committee, said in a statement.

Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, attributed the membership dip in part to church closures and to congregations cleaning up their membership rolls.

The SBC numbers are based on self-reporting by congregations. Most members are in the denomination's traditional base of the South, where it was founded by a pro-slavery faction before the Civil War, though it has since developed a presence throughout North America.

The numbers are closely watched by scholars because the SBC has long represented the single-largest body of evangelical Christians and keeps meticulous records.

The SBC remains by far the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. in part because many other large denominations have been declining even more. The ranks of nondenominational churches — many of them with evangelical beliefs and independent governance similar to Baptists — have been growing. So have the ranks of the “ nones,” people with no religious affiliation, although that decades-long growth has stalled in recent years, according to a survey released last year by the Pew Research Center.

Political scientist Ryan Burge, who studies religious demographics, said that despite the baptism and attendance statistics, the SBC faces a likely future of continued declines The 3% membership decline amounts to nearly 400,000 people — the size of some small denominations.

"We’ve got to put that in perspective. Losing that many people is still losing a lot of people," said Burge, a professor at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis.

He said the SBC is probably losing members to a combination of factors, including people joining nondenominational churches or leaving the faith. And it’s losing members to deaths, something that will accelerate in a church with many older members.

“The SBC has a baby boomer problem,” he said. “Structurally speaking, it’s hard to outrun that demographic cliff. I just don’t think there's anything structurally in the data that says the SBC is going to go back to where it was 20 years ago.”

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

Legislative voting districts typically are redrawn based on census data after the start of each decade. But an unusual spate of mid-decade redistricting broke out after President Donald Trump urged Texas Republicans last year to reshape U.S. House districts to give the party an edge in the midterm elections. Democrats in California countered with their own political gerrymandering. More states followed.

Eight states have already adopted new House maps, and several more are considering it. So far, Republicans believe they could win up to 13 additional seats from new districts in Texas, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain up to 10 seats from new districts in California, Utah and Virginia.

But those tallies presume past voting patterns hold in November. Historically, the president's party tends to lose seats in the midterms. Democrats need to gain just a few seats in November to wrest control of the House from Republicans, which would give them greater power to oppose Trump.

Where new House districts are proposed

Lawmakers in at least four states are meeting to consider plans for new U.S. House maps.

Louisiana

Current map: two Democrats, four Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has postponed the May 16 congressional primary to allow lawmakers to revise U.S. House districts in response to an April 29 Supreme Court ruling striking down a majority Black congressional district.

Challenges: Several lawsuits have been filed in federal and state court asserting that Landry lacked authority to suspend the primary elections.

Alabama

Current map: two Democrats, five Republicans

New map: Republican state officials hope to revert to a U.S. House map passed in 2023 — but not previously used — that could help Republicans win an additional seat.

Challenges: The current map was imposed under a court order and is supposed to be used until after the 2030 census. State officials have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to set aside that order in light of its ruling in the Louisiana redistricting case.

Tennessee

Current map: one Democrat, eight Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Bill Lee has called lawmakers into special session to consider a new U.S. House map that could carve up a Black-majority district in Memphis and improve Republican chances of winning an additional seat.

Challenges: The candidate qualifying period already has ended for the primaries, which are scheduled for Aug. 6.

South Carolina

Current map: one Democrat, six Republicans

New map: Republican legislative leaders said they will pursue a congressional redistricting effort that could improve Republican chances of winning an additional seat.

Challenges: The redistricting effort first needs a two-thirds vote in both the state House and Senate, which leaves little room for Republican dissenters.

Where new House districts were approved

New U.S. House districts have passed in eight states since last summer. Six took up redistricting voluntarily, one was required to by its state constitution and another did so under court order.

Texas

Current map: 13 Democrats, 25 Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a revised House map into law last August that could help Republicans win five additional seats.

Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in December cleared the way for the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It has since overturned a lower-court ruling that blocked the new map because it was “racially gerrymandered.”

California

Current map: 43 Democrats, nine Republicans

New map: Voters in November approved revised House districts drawn by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats win five additional seats.

Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in February allowed the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It denied an appeal from Republicans and the Department of Justice, which claimed the districts impermissibly favor Hispanic voters.

Missouri

Current map: two Democrats, six Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a revised House map into law last September that could help Republicans win an additional seat.

Challenges: A Cole County judge ruled the new map is in effect as election officials work to determine whether a referendum petition seeking a statewide vote complies with constitutional criteria and contains enough valid petition signatures. The Missouri Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit claiming mid-decade redistricting is illegal. It’s scheduled to hear arguments in May on claims the new districts violate compactness requirements and should be placed on hold pending the potential referendum.

North Carolina

Current map: four Democrats, 10 Republicans

New map: The Republican-led General Assembly gave final approval in October to revised districts that could help Republicans win an additional seat.

Challenges: A federal court panel in November denied a request to block the revised districts from being used in the midterm elections.

Ohio

Current map: five Democrats, 10 Republicans

New map: A bipartisan panel composed primarily of Republicans voted in October to approve revised House districts that improve Republicans’ chances of winning two additional seats.

Challenges: None. The state constitution required new districts before the 2026 election, because Republicans had approved the prior map without sufficient Democratic support after the last census.

Utah

Current map: no Democrats, four Republicans

New map: A judge in November imposed revised House districts that could help Democrats win a seat. The court ruled that lawmakers had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters when adopting the prior map.

Challenges: A federal court panel and the state Supreme Court, in February, each rejected Republican challenges to the judicial map selection.

Virginia

Current map: six Democrats, five Republicans

New map: Voters approved a constitutional amendment on April 21 authorizing new U.S. House districts backed by Democrats that could help the party win up to four additional seats.

Challenges: The state Supreme Court allowed the referendum to proceed, but it has yet to rule whether the effort is legal. The court is considering an appeal of a Tazewell County judge’s ruling that the amendment is invalid because lawmakers violated procedural requirements.

Florida

Current map: eight Democrats, 20 Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on May 4 that he had signed revised U.S. House districts that improve the GOP’s chances of winning four additional seats.

Challenges: A court challenge contends the new map violates a state constitution provision prohibiting districts from being drawn with intent to favor or disfavor a political party.

From U.S. state capitols and tribal community spaces to the streets of major cities, hundreds of marches, rallies, talking circles, self-defense classes and candlelight vigils are planned for the week of May 5, which is observed as a national day of awareness for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples movement.

The day reflects both the collective grief and the resilience of Indigenous communities, where the federal government has a legal responsibility to ensure public safety. All too often, resources to prevent and respond to violence are in short supply.

Many events call for participants to wear red, a color that has become synonymous with honoring Indigenous victims of violence in the U.S. and Canada.

A hidden crisis

Native Americans face disproportionate rates of violence in the U.S., a crisis that advocates say is rooted in the systematic removal of Native people from their land and the federal government's efforts to rid them of their cultures.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Native Americans and Alaska Natives are more than twice as likely than the general population to be victims of a violent crime, and Native women are twice as likely to be victims of homicide. At the end of 2025, the FBI’s National Crime Information Center recorded just under 1,500 active federal cases involving missing Native Americans.

Experts say that's likely an undercount because of jurisdictional confusion, racial misclassification and inconsistent data collection.

Abigail Echo-Hawk, director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, said that there's been progress in accounting for the true scope of the crisis but that law enforcement resources have been slow to follow.

“Don’t look at the numbers and feel sorry for us,” Echo-Hawk said, a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. “Look at the numbers and say, ‘How do we ensure that this doesn’t continue?’”

Federal action

In 2020, President Donald Trump signed Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act into law, both aimed at solving and preventing cases of violent crime in Indian Country with improved data collection and law enforcement reforms.

But implementation of those laws has been slow and erratic. Under the Biden administration in 2022, a federal commission to study the crisis convened two years behind schedule. Its extensive recommendations — ranging from expanding authority for tribal law enforcement to improving communication with the victims’ families — were made public in 2023.

The recommendations were removed from government websites last year amid the Trump administration's purge of initiatives it associates with diversity, equity and inclusion.

Federally recognized tribes are sovereign nations within the U.S.

Meanwhile, Trump’s Department of Justice has continued its Operation Not Forgotten initiative, surging dozens of FBI agents, analysts and other personnel to field offices near tribal lands on a rotating, temporary basis. The FBI says those assignments have yielded more than 200 arrests and convictions in homicide, domestic abuse and sexual assault cases since 2023.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Interior Department announced the creation of a task force to prevent violent crime in Indian Country. Among other things, officials say the effort aligns investigative resources to improve case management and prosecution outcomes, while refocusing efforts on solving missing persons and homicide cases.

Michael Henderson, director of public safety for the Navajo Nation, said there are “pros and cons” to a bigger FBI footprint in Indian Country. Federal officers can bring fresh eyes and high-tech forensic tools to cold cases. But Henderson said many of these agents arrive with little experience working in tribal communities or investigating violent crime.

“More manpower from the FBI on reservations, that’s not a good solution in my mind,” Henderson said, adding that federal funds could be better spent staffing and funding tribal police departments.

Families advocate for their relatives

At a Saturday prayer walk in Colorado Springs, Colorado, marchers chanted, “No more stolen lives on stolen land" and carried signs with the photos and stories of dozens of Indigenous people who have been killed or have disappeared.

Among the marchers was Denise Porambo. Her daughter, Destiny Jeriann Whiteman, was killed last August where she lived on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation in southwest Colorado. She was 24 and had an infant son.

“It hurts every day,” Porambo said, her voice breaking.

Crowds gathered in Madison, Wisconsin, and in Duluth, Minnesota, to raise awareness. Outside City Hall in Duluth, trees were decorated with red dresses.

In Oklahoma, family members and supporters donned red shirts and ribbon skirts to mark the day, and carried photographs of their loved ones. Some painted red hands over their mouths — a symbol of solidarity.

At a prayer walk in Albuquerque, marchers shouted the names of Emily Pike, Ella Mae Begay, Zachariah Shorty and others who have gone missing or been killed.

Jessica Montoya drove three hours from the Jicarilla Apache Nation to highlight her son Jamian Reval’s 2023 killing. He was 16 when family members say he was robbed and shot by a classmate on the first day of his junior year of high school.

“He had a lot of goals. He had a lot to look forward to,” Montoya said, carrying a sign calling for an end to gun violence.

Navigating a maze of tribal and federal law enforcement agencies has left Montoya and her family feeling ignored and left out, compounding their grief.

In the absence of a nationwide strategy for handling these cases, advocates in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples movement say the burden of searching for loved ones and investigating their disappearances often falls to family members.

Grace Bulltail's 18-year-old niece, Kaysera Stops Pretty Places, was found dead several days after she disappeared from her home on the Crow Reservation in Montana in August 2019. Her family organizes marches, vigils and courthouse demonstrations and tirelessly pesters law enforcement for action and answers.

No arrests have been made, and the cause of death was ruled inconclusive.

“We have had to advocate for ourselves and for Kaysera every step of the way,” Bulltail said.

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This story has been updated to correct the day of the event in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Saturday.

___ Spears reported from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Leah Lemm with MPR News in Duluth, Minnesota; Sarah Liese with KOSU in Oklahoma City; Erica Ayisi with ICT in Madison, Wisconsin; and AP writer Susan Montoya Byran contributed to this report.

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This story is published through the Global Indigenous Reporting Network at The Associated Press.

Earlier Tuesday, the band confirmed that they will release a new record, titled “Foreign Tongues,” this summer, and dropped a new single called “In The Stars.”

Journalists, VIPs and celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Odessa A’zion and Lindsey Vonn waited in the echoing hall to witness Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood's first conversation about the new album.

To celebrate, they invited comedian Conan O’Brien to host the exclusive announcement event. It was a hilarious choice. “I think this is the one, after years of toiling in obscurity,” he joked about “Foreign Tongues,” minutes before the band joined him on stage. “This is their time.”

What we know about ‘Foreign Tongues’ so far

“Foreign Tongues,” recorded over the course of a month in London, will be released July 10.

The Stones' last album was 2023's “Hackney Diamonds.” It was their first album of original material in 18 years — since 2005’s “A Bigger Bang.” It was also their first full-length release since the death of drummer Charlie Watts in 2021. He appeared posthumously on two of that album's 12 tracks.

“Foreign Tongues” will also include a special appearance from Watts, lifted from one of his final recording sessions before his death. “We did that in L.A. with Charlie,” said Jagger of the song. “It's real fast, a punk-rocker.”

The album will also feature contributions from Steve Winwood, Paul McCartney, the Cure’s Robert Smith and the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith.

“I think Paul (McCartney) really wanted to jump in there,” Jagger said at the event. “There was no intimidation. He wanted to play with the band.”

The Stones also worked with their close collaborators Matt Clifford, drummer Steve Jordan and bassist Darryl Jones as well as Oscar-winning pop producer Andrew Watt (known for his work with Post Malone and Justin Bieber, and the Stones' “Hackney Diamonds,” to name a few).

When something isn’t working in studio, the band said Watt is the one who kicks them in to gear. The room erupted into cheers for him — including his parents, who were seated directly behind him — and O’Brien compared the “immediacy” of the new album to “Exile on Main Street.”

The band also spent time detailing the record’s artwork. “Let’s reveal the album cover, I call him Mr. Ugly,” said Jagger, before the cover appeared on the screen above their heads. “He’s pained by a famous new artist called Nathaniel Quinn.”

Quinn, who was seated in the front row, said it was an amalgamation of the band members’ faces and a depiction of their journey.

A taste of 'Foreign Tongues'

Speculation surrounding a new Stones album has been going around for weeks. First, posters appeared around London with the band name “The Cockroaches,” a pseudonym the Stones' have used in the past, along with a QR code. The code led to ‘thecockroaches.com’ and a sign-up page. Once a user had signed up, they received a confirmation message from Universal Music — the Stones' label. Representatives did not provide The Associated Press with comment or confirmation at the time.

Eventually it led to a white label, vinyl-only release of the track “Rough and Twisted” using The Cockroaches name — the first true tease of “Foreign Tongues,” decipherable only by their most dedicated fans.

Then, in the week leading up to their announcement, billboards with the band’s iconic mouth and tongue logo began appearing in major cities around the world with the words “Foreign Tongues” in various languages: “Fremmede Sprog,” “Vreemde Tongen,” “Dayuhang Dila,” “외국어,” and “Langues Étrangères” among them. Around the same time, the Rolling Stones’ official website was updated to feature video clips stylized to look like surveillance footage of them in the studio.

On Sunday, the band shared a slide puzzle graphic fans believed to be the album artwork, depicting a cartoonish collage of the members’ faces. (They were correct; it was the official album cover.) There was also a short video clip, just 10-seconds long, that appeared to tease a new song.

The story behind ‘Rough and Twisted’

“It's a fantasy about a woman that promises a lot of things and then what happens to you in life, you get involved in these terrible places that she takes you to,” Jagger told The Associated Press. “It's a Blues fantasy, really... it's fairly amorphous. It's very much just my unconscious ramblings."

Wood jumped in and said he used the same guitar he used on Faces' 1971 track “Stay With Me” — his project with Rod Stewart — on “Rough and Twisted.” “It was so spontaneous,” he said. “We even surprised ourselves with it.”

“When you get in the studio, and the guys get together, and you lay out a track, an idea, and you let it take off from there — you can't plan all of this stuff,” Richards said of their new material. “You kind of just have to follow it and hope you come out the other end.”

The Stones' ‘Tonight Show’ takeover and what comes next

“The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” will host the surviving members of the Stones across three nights this month, NBC announced Tuesday.

Jagger will appear on Wednesday's show and Fallon will host Richards on Thursday. Wood will appear on May 13.

No additional details on whether the band will perform together on the show were immediately released.

But will fans get to see them perform “Foreign Tongues” on a new tour? Maybe. “I would love to tour the album,” Jagger told AP. “I absolutely would love to. I hope to do it as soon as that's possible.”

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Associated Press Writer John Carucci contributed to this report.

It was not a random act of violence and the attacker knew both of the people who were fatally shot, Carrollton Police Chief Roberto Arredondo said.

“It was a known business relationship. We’re still trying to work to identify what caused his actions,” Arredondo said.

After a short chase on foot, the 69-year-old suspect, Seung Han Ho, was arrested about 4 miles (6 kilometers) away at a grocery store, police said. It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.

Police were at a nearby apartment complex where Ho was listed as having recently lived. Neighbors said they didn’t recognize the name.

Three people were injured in the shooting but are in stable condition, Arredondo said. Shortly after the shooting, officers with their guns drawn walked past doors at K Towne Plaza in an area of Carrollton known as Koreatown. Agents from the FBI were among law enforcement collecting evidence in the parking lot.

Carrollton — population 130,000 — is 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Dallas. More than 4,000 residents are of Korean descent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“We’re shocked,” said John Jun, who’s active in the Korean American community. “We’re not immune to something like this happening, but we are very generally a peaceful community that works hard.”

In the last 20 years, it has grown into a thriving Koreatown for the metro Dallas area, thanks to Korean investors. It’s anchored by big-box businesses like H Mart as well as dozens of restaurants serving everything from Korean fried chicken to shaved ice desserts.

The city is also home to multiple Korean churches from Baptist to Presbyterian.

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AP reporters Terry Tang in Phoenix, Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this story.

Attendees will have the opportunity to interview on-site with school principals and department leadership for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year.

Whether someone is exploring career options or ready to apply and get hired, the district says the event offers a direct path into education. Prospective employees can visit the district’s website to view all available opportunities before attending.

Now Saka, the winger who first signed for Arsenal at age 8, has put his club back onto the biggest stage.

Saka scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday to put Arsenal into its first Champions League final since 2006 — and only its second ever.

No wonder he was reluctant to stop celebrating with the crowd and his teammates after the final whistle and do a TV interview on the field instead.

“You’re taking me away from the celebrations, man," Saka told Amazon Prime with a laugh. “It is so beautiful. You see what it means to us and what it means to the fans. We're so happy.”

The 24-year-old Saka was on hand to slot in the rebound after Leandro Trossard’s shot was saved by Jan Oblak in the 45th minute to put Arsenal up 2-1 on aggregate in the second leg of their semifinal.

The Gunners’ stingy defense did the rest.

Arsenal has now kept a clean sheet at home in all three knockout rounds after conceding a competition-low four goals in winning all eight of its matches in the league phase.

It will be Arsenal's second final in Europe’s premier competition, having lost the 2006 title match to Barcelona. This time it will face either defending champion Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in Budapest, Hungary, on May 30. PSG won the pulsating first leg of their semifinal 5-4, and the second leg is in Munich on Wednesday.

It could prove a special season for the London cub, which is now one game away from its first European Cup title and three games away from a first Premier League crown in 22 years.

The Gunners are guaranteed the domestic league title if they win their remaining three matches, after closest rival Manchester City was held to a 3-3 draw at Everton on Monday.

“Now we are in the final of the Champions League and we’re fighting for the Premier League,” Saka said. “It’s a beautiful a story and I hope it ends well in Budapest.”

Fellow academy product Myles Lewis-Skelly hadn't been born yet when Arsenal was last in the final, but the 19-year-old again looked assured in midfield after being handed a surprise start by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

Atletico had a chance to equalize in the 51st when Giuliano Simeone chased down a poor backward header from William Saliba to round goalkeeper David Raya, but center back Gabriel did just enough to make him put his effort wide.

“Unbelievable,” Arteta said about Gabriel's challenge. “That's probably the only action that (Atletico) had. But in the Champions League there are moments, and in those moments someone has to deliver a magic moment. And Gabriel again, he delivered that.”

Atletico was then denied a possible penalty when Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori stepped on the foot of Antoine Griezmann in the area, as referee Daniel Siebert awarded a free kick to the hosts for an earlier incident instead.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone, clad in his customary all-black attire, grew increasingly agitated on the sidelines as the decisions went against his club and the search for an equalizer proved fruitless. He was eventually booked in injury time after pushing Andrea Berta — his former sporting director at Atletico who is now in the same role at Arsenal.

Afterward, though, Simeone refused to blame the referee and said Arsenal deserved to advance.

“I’m not going to get into something as simple as the action involving Griezmann," Simeone said through a translator — although perhaps with a hint of sarcasm. "Of course we all know that it was a foul by (Atletico defender) Marc Pubill on one of their players beforehand. We all thought the referee had got it right. I don’t want to get involved in that because I don’t want to make excuses.”

Simeone led his team to the Champions League final in 2014 and 2016, losing both times to Real Madrid, but will have to wait for a third chance to deliver the club’s first European Cup.

Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres had a great chance to double the lead on a counterattack in the 66th when Piero Hincapie picked him out with a cross but he side footed his effort over the bar.

As expected, though, this matchup never looked likely to descend into the kind of free-flowing back-and-forth attacking play of the PSG-Bayern game, as Arsenal's defense held firm.

Whichever team wins that second semifinal, the final in Budapest promises to be a contrast in styles.

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

RELATED: Families bid farewell as USS Mason heads out for deployment from Naval Station Mayport

The USS Truxtun and USS Mason faced threats from Iranian small boats, missiles and drones in a coordinated attack, causing concern for Northeast Florida families with loved ones aboard the ship.

U.S. Central Command said Monday morning that neither vessel was struck after Iranian state media claimed that the vessels were hit.

🚫 CLAIM: Iranian state media claims that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hit a U.S. warship with two missiles.

✅ TRUTH: No U.S. Navy ships have been struck. U.S. forces are supporting Project Freedom and enforcing the naval blockade on Iranian ports. pic.twitter.com/VFxovxLU6G

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 4, 2026

CENTCOM said the vessels are part of an initiative called Project Freedom.

Iran’s powerful parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, accused the U.S. of undermining regional security with the effort to end Iran’s stranglehold on the strait and warned that Tehran will respond.

RELATED: US attempt to open the Strait of Hormuz tests Iran war’s fragile ceasefire

Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which about a fifth of the world’s trade in oil and natural gas typically passes, along with fertilizer and other petroleum-derived products, has sent fuel prices skyrocketing, rattled the global economy and proved a major strategic advantage in negotiations to end the war. Breaking that grip would deny Tehran a major source of leverage.

But such efforts risk reigniting the full-scale fighting that erupted when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, prompting it to close the strait.

“To Iran, let innocent ships pass freely,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in remarks shared by the Department of Defense. “These international waters belong to all nations, not to Iran to tax, toll, or control.”

A sailor’s wife posted on social media, “God bless our troops, we just want them home safely,” echoing concerns shared by multiple military families who said they learned about the incident late Sunday night.

Retired Navy Cmdr. Richard Kolko said crews in contested waters focus on threat distances, defensive capabilities and rapid planning once ordered into areas where an attack is possible.

“The skipper, the commanding officer, wants to know what the standoff is,” Kolko said, describing the need to understand how close a ship can safely operate to known weapons. He said defensive support can include multiple assets, such as helicopters and drones.

Kolko said that when ships go to general quarters, sailors must be prepared for threats from the air and sea, and that the strain can build quickly.

“It is stressful. It is tiring,” he said.

News4JAX was at Naval Station Mayport in March when the Mason deployed, as families said goodbye amid escalating tensions in the region.

Kolko said communications from families are typically limited or shut down during combat operations to protect sensitive information and reduce confusion. He urged families to be cautious about unverified posts online and to wait for official word.

“Take it with a grain of salt until you get the official notification from the U.S. about what’s actually happening,” Kolko said.

The USS Mason deployed from Naval Station Mayport on March 24. Capt. Kevin Hoffman, the commanding officer of the USS Mason, said it’s a routine deployment that has been planned months and years in advance.

An interim report by a Virginia engineering firm says the toxic metals, along with PCBs, pesticides, petroleum byproducts and other chemicals were detected at levels above laboratory reporting limits in soil at the East Potomac Golf Links, a historic golf course that President Donald Trump plans to renovate.

The park service began dumping debris from the East Wing onto the golf course in October, and more than 30,000 cubic yards (810,000 cubic feet) of excavated soil had been transported to the site as of last month, the report by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. said. The report was requested by the park service.

The nonprofit DC Preservation League has sued the Trump administration, arguing that the dumping was unlawful and possibly hazardous. The group also is challenging the Republican administration’s takeover of the golf course, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) southeast of the White House, and others in the city.

The suit is one of several legal battles challenging Trump’s extraordinary efforts to put his mark on public spaces in the nation’s capital, including renaming and shuttering the Kennedy Center and building a 250-foot-tall (76-meter-tall) triumphal arch near the Lincoln Memorial.

At the end of last year, a separate group of preservationists filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the administration from demolishing the East Wing so it could build a ballroom, a project slated to cost $400 million.

A spokesperson for the Interior Department, which oversees the park service, said in an email Tuesday that the soil removed from the White House “was tested multiple times, by multiple parties, and this project passed all standards set by law.”

While the agency does not comment on litigation, "this thorough process was followed to ensure the transfer was safe for the public,'' spokeswoman Katie Martin said.

The Preservation League's executive director, Rebecca Miller, said Tuesday that experts were still analyzing the engineering report. The group also is concerned about whether the Trump administration is complying with federal laws, including the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, she said.

Debris from the East Wing demolition is so prevalent that it causes golfers to detour around piles of it, Miller said. “If you Google you’ll see lots of photos of golfers walking past it,” she said in an interview.

The Trump administration's plans to renovate the 105-year-old course to make it a professional-level course would permanently alter its historic character and layout, Miller said.

A federal judge told the government on Monday not to cut down more than 10 trees without first providing notice amid the legal dispute.

U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes said during a remote hearing that she wasn’t going to issue a temporary restraining order just yet, but she indicated she would take a harsh view of any major alterations made without prior notice.

Democracy Forward, a national legal organization that is co-representing the Preservation League, said in a press release that "further scrutiny will be required related to potential toxins that were dumped at East Potomac Park by the administration as part of the destruction of the East Wing of the White House.”

Test results released by the government “suggest the Defendants dumped a cocktail of contaminants — and despite indications of the refuse’s contents, they continued dumping it,” the group said.

Kevin Griess, the superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks for the park service, said during Monday’s court hearing that there was no immediate plan to begin tree removal, but added that a safety assessment was underway.

Trump, an avid golfer, also plans to renovate a military golf course just outside Washington that has been used by past presidents for decades.

In her statement, Martin said the Interior Department is “committed to continuing the relationships we have built with the local golf communities to ensure these courses are safe, beautiful, open, affordable, enjoyable, accessible, and world-class for people living in and visiting the greatest capital city in the world.”

The decision is certain to be opposed by health groups and parent organizations that have long pointed to flavors as the driver behind underage vaping in the U.S. But the federal action comes as teen vaping rates have dropped to a 10-year low and manufacturers have pushed the Republican administration to loosen restrictions on their products.

Vaping companies have long made the case that their products can help blunt the toll of smoking among adults, which is blamed for 480,000 U.S. deaths annually due to cancer, lung disease and heart disease. The battery-powered devices have been sold in the U.S. since 2007, but their potential benefits have been overshadowed for years by uptake among middle and high school students.

The newly authorized e-cigarettes come in mango, blueberry and two varieties of menthol. Los Angeles-based vaping company Glas Inc. plans to market the flavors under the names Gold, Sapphire, Classic Menthol and Fresh Menthol, according to the FDA release.

Previously the FDA had only granted permission to tobacco or menthol-flavored vaping products. Most e-cigarettes OK'd by regulators come from large manufacturers, including Juul and Altria.

Tuesday's announcement is not an approval or endorsement, and the FDA reiterated that the Glas vapes are only intended for adults interested in quitting or cutting back on cigarettes.

The FDA suggested the company's digital age-verification system makes it unlikely the products will be picked up by underage users. Users must first verify their age with a government ID on their cellphone. The e-cigarettes can then only be used when connected via Bluetooth to the phone of the verified user.

The FDA’s OK of the new fruity products will be “a key test case,” said Kathy Crosby of the Truth Initiative, an anti-tobacco nonprofit.

“Ultimately, it’s critical that we remain vigilant in protecting young people, including closely monitoring the use of authorized products,” Crosby said in an emailed statement.

As a presidential candidate, Trump vowed to “save” vaping and won backing from e-cigarette companies, shop owners and vaping enthusiasts.

Under President Joe Biden, the FDA denied more than a million marketing applications for candy- or fruit-flavored products, part of a wider crackdown that is credited with helping drive down teen vaping after a surge in 2019. During his first administration, Trump put in place the first flavor restrictions on e-cigarettes and raised the age for purchasing all tobacco products from 18 to 21.

But action on vaping and other tobacco policies has largely taken a backseat under FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who has focused on a slate of other priorities, including restricting COVID-19 vaccines, phasing out artificial food dyes and speeding up approval of some innovative drugs.

Groups such as the Vapor Technology Association have met with administration officials in recent weeks calling for more action on flavors.

In March, the FDA released its first-ever guidance to industry on flavors, stating that menthol, coffee, mint and spice flavors could have a role in appealing to adult smokers. The same document also reiterated the risks of sweeter flavors that tend to appeal to teens, such as fruit, candy and dessert flavors.

The vast majority of U.S. teens who vape continue to use unauthorized fruit- and candy-flavored products, according to the latest government data. Those products are technically illegal but remain widely available in cheap, disposable brands typically imported from China.

___

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

Adore Me Nanny, a nonprofit focused on postpartum support, partnered with JWB Rental Homes to host the event Sunday at The Jessie in Jacksonville. The shower ran from noon to 3 p.m.

The event was designed to offer expectant parents free giveaways — including diapers, wipes, bibs and clothing — along with information and resources from local community partners.

“We found that many of our residents need a little extra help when they are expecting,” said Shaylin Williams, JWB resident relations specialist. “This event is part of our commitment to our community to help them feel supported during life’s biggest moments.”

Families had the opportunity to ask questions, meet other parents and celebrate their growing families in a welcoming environment. Several local organizations were on hand to share information about postpartum care, therapies, childcare and women’s healthcare.

A late snowstorm swept over the Rocky Mountains and into the High Plains on Tuesday, bringing heavy, wet accumulation north of Denver into southeastern Wyoming.

In Fort Collins, Colorado, heavy snow fell throughout the day on ground that was still too warm for significant accumulation. Slushy snow clung to leaves, grass and flowers, and homeowners shut off yard sprinklers lest sub-freezing temperatures damage their plumbing.

More accumulation was on the way with temperatures expected to keep dropping overnight.

Boulder, nestled against the mountains, could get upward of a foot (30 centimeters) of snow. Up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) was possible in the Denver area into Wednesday.

Even as Denver imposed lawn-watering restrictions to address what have been low mountain snows, the city was facing what may be its biggest snowfall of the season.

“We just had our driest winter on record,” Kenley Bonner, a meteorologist in the weather service’s Denver office, said. “We were kind of joking earlier in the season that winter’s not going to come until spring, and it did exactly that.”

Big snow and a fast drop in temperature

The snow was expected to continue into Wednesday, followed by more plunging temperatures before warmer temperatures return Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

Accumulated snow could snap tree branches and knock out power, Bonner said. Utilities were preparing, with Xcel Energy putting 165 employees on standby across the state.

Highways remained open Tuesday for the time being. Interstate 80 across southern Wyoming, including a high-elevation stretch between Cheyenne and Laramie that closes often, was open but webcams showed heavy snowfall.

Others along northern Colorado mountain highways also showed deteriorating conditions.

Wait, snow in May?

The forecast is somewhat unusual but not unheard of.

Denver typically sees its last snowfall around April 28, although May storms do happen. The “Mile High City” recorded half an inch of snow (1.2 centimeters) on May 21, 2022, while nearby Boulder got 4.5 inches (11.4 centimeters).

Historically, Denver has seen at least five May storms with snowfall over 10 inches (25 centimeters). The biggest, in 1893, dropped 15.5 inches (39.3 centimeters). The city's most recent double-digit snow was May 25-26, 1950, with 10.7 inches (27 centimeters).

A light dusting on June 2, 1951, was the latest time in the year it snowed.

The worsening storm caused the Colorado Rockies to reschedule two games against the New York Mets. But that happens more often than not during Denver's spring baseball season, including four times in 2015, according to MLB.

May snows are even more common in the Wyoming capital of Cheyenne, which is almost 1,000 feet (300 meters) higher than Denver and cooler year-round. Wyoming is also windier than Colorado, pushing snow into drifts that must be re-plowed if gusts persist.

The storm is welcome during a drought, but not a fix

April was warmer than usual and short on precipitation, with Denver missing an inch of rain (2.5 centimeters) and 2.8 inches of snow (7 centimeters) last month compared to normal.

But one storm won't solve the West's water problems.

A report from the National Drought Mitigation Center said recent precipitation helped boost topsoil moisture and reduced irrigation demands, but hasn't changed a “mostly bleak” water outlook heading into the summer.

Wildfires also thrive in the dry conditions. Firefighters across the West have been turning to artificial intelligence and other technology to catch small fires before they expand.

Storms elsewhere, too

The unsettled weather isn’t limited to the Rockies.

Thunderstorms are expected from northeast Texas into western Tennessee, with Arkansas facing the greatest risk of large hail, damaging winds and possible tornadoes, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Isolated strong storms could also reach parts of the Northeast.

____

McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire.

Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian humanitarian nonprofit, has responded by putting boots on the ground and heavy equipment in the yards of burned-down properties to help families sift through the charred remains.

At a property off Gatewood Drive in Hortense, volunteer crews suit up in Tyvek suits, masks and double gloves before heading into the debris, rotating in and out every 15 minutes due to the heat.

GIVING BACK | News4JAX to host donation drive at Channel 4 to support Brantley County wildfire victims

Using screens, volunteers carefully sift through ash and wreckage in search of items that may have survived like wedding rings, jewelry and family heirlooms.

Aaron Richards, program manager with Samaritan’s Purse, says work like this helps families find even the smallest amount of hope in rubble.

“Next thing you know, we’ve got grandma and grandpa’s rings or whatever it might be. That’s the starting of hope, the starting of a rebuild,” Richards said.

But for Richards and his team, the work goes beyond the physical.

“Core mission is the gospel, right? And so this gives us the opportunity to not only provide hope, but also start telling people about Jesus,” Richards said. “Our main goal is to let people know that God loves them and that he’s provided a group of people that want to love them like he would have — they come out here and help them, and so they don’t have to do it alone.”

The crews working Brantley County properties include national volunteers who travel with Samaritan’s Purse, as well as local volunteers from nearby churches and towns. The organization is operating out of Hickox Baptist Church and is booked out through the coming week. The Billy Graham Rapid Response Team chaplains also provide support for families.

The homeowner, who declined to speak on camera but allowed our crews to be there, confirmed his family has owned the property for decades and plans to rebuild on the same land.

If you would like to help Samaritan’s Purse, you can sign up to volunteer at spvolunteer.org.

Homeowners in need of assistance can call (833) 747-1234.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to top its prior all-time high set at the end of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 356 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite set its own record after rallying 1%.

Stocks got a boost after oil prices gave back much of their big jumps from Monday. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 4% to $109.87 after briefly cresting $115 on Monday, though it’s still well above its roughly $70 price from before the war with Iran.

U.S. military leaders said Tuesday that a ceasefire with Iran remains in effect, even though Iran was blamed for attacks against the United Arab Emirates, a U.S. ally, the day before. The U.S. military is meanwhile trying to force open a path in the Strait of Hormuz, which would allow oil tankers to resume shipments from the Persian Gulf and hopefully bring down the price of crude.

Even with the war ongoing, the U.S. stock market has remained remarkably resilient on its record-setting run. That’s in large part due to the strong profits that U.S. companies have reported for the first three months of 2026 despite the rise in oil prices since the end of February.

“This has been a ‘why ask why’ market,’” according to Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “You just have to go with it.”

Even though many risks are still weighing on the market, “investors are looking at earnings” and how much companies are spending on AI data centers and other investments, he said.

DuPont’s stock rallied 8.4% after the chemical giant led another cavalcade of companies reporting better-than-expected profits for the latest quarter.

DuPont said its water technologies business felt some impact from the war due to logistics disruptions in the Middle East. But it nevertheless raised its forecasts for financial results over the full year.

Other winners included American Electric Power Co., which rose 1.8%, and Cummins, which added 2.8%, after they likewise made more money during the first three months of the year than analysts expected.

Pinterest jumped 6.9% after the online bulletin board topped Wall Street’s first-quarter sales and profit targets as its number of active monthly users jumped 11% to 631 million.

AB InBev likewise topped analysts’ profit forecasts, and it credited growth for its Corona, Stella Artois and Michelob Ultra brands outside of their home markets, among other factors. “Cheers to beer,” CEO Michel Doukeris said, as the company’s stock that trades in the United States climbed 8.7%.

They helped offset a drop for Palantir Technologies, which fell 6.9% even though it reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock has struggled this year on worries about increased competition, like many software companies have. Its stock is also coming off a huge run where it more than doubled in each of the last three years.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 58.47 points to 7,259.22. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 356.35 to 49,298.25, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 238.32 to 25,326.13.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe. The CAC 40 rose 1.1% in Paris, but the FTSE 100 fell 1.4% in London. Many Asian markets were closed for holidays, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% after the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 4.35%, saying conflict in the Middle East had sharply increased fuel and commodity prices that were already adding to inflation.

In the U.S. bond market, Treasury yields eased following oil’s drop in price and reports on the U.S. economy that came in mixed.

One report said growth for U.S. services businesses unexpectedly decelerated last month, with some companies saying the war is slowing spending. A separate report said U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of March than economists expected, an encouraging signal for the job market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.42% from 4.45% late Monday.

That’s still well above its 3.97% level from just before the war began. The rise has made mortgages and other kinds of loans for U.S. households and businesses more expensive.

___

AP Writers Chan Ho-him, Matt Ott and Rod McGuirk contributed.

Jessica Sauls, who was home with her adult son and teenage daughter, said she saw officers doing CPR on the man in the yard. She said he had been shot by police practically on her doorstep, leaving her shaken.

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the man shot by officers started kicking in the doors of several homes on Rigel Road around 11:15 p.m. Monday while carrying a handgun.

The people inside all called 911, bringing police to the scene, and when the man approached the officers while still holding the gun, four of them fired at him.

According to a JSO incident report, two of the homes, which are off Century 21 Drive in the Holiday Hill neighborhood, had children inside when the man busted in. One had a 1-year-old and two teenagers, along with two adults, and another had a 12-year-old, three teenagers and two adults.

It appears the man did not try to take anything.

“The danger was there. I know it caused a lot of fear for residents in those places,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said. “It’s a pretty dangerous and scary situation for those people who live in those residences.”

Sauls said her neighbor’s home was one of the four the man broke into.

“This is the sweetest family that lives here,” she said. “It was just really shocking to see.”

Sauls said the gunfire, which left her neighbor’s home riddled with bullets, sounded like “the grand finale” of a fireworks show.

She said her adult son, who has autism, saw the man outside on the ground before she realized he was looking and was left shaken by the sight.

RELATED: ‘Don’t pull guns on police’: Sheriff Waters gives stern warning after multiple recent officer-involved shootings

“It’s very nerve-wracking to A) see a police-involved shooting. You see it on the news. You see it in movie scenes, but to have it happen in your front yard, and to have children at home is just... I’m still shaking to my core,” Sauls said. “And to watch a man’s life being taken away right in front of me is just, it’s heartbreaking. I know that he committed a crime, but it is heartbreaking to see somebody’s life just end that quickly.”

Sauls said that although the sight was disturbing, she is thankful that police protected her neighbors and that none of the officers were injured.

‘This is it’

Several of the residents who called 911 told police that the man had made concerning statements before leaving.

JSO Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey said the man told officers, “This is it… this is my last day,” when he approached them as they were speaking with residents in a driveway.

Coarsey said the incident was captured on both surveillance video and body-worn cameras, which show the man walking up to the officers and pointing a gun at them.

The officers ordered him to drop the weapon. He did not, and that is when four officers fired their weapons, fatally wounding him, Coarsey said.

“He walked between two vehicles. It’s hard to tell where he came from. It was dark where he came from,” JSO Undersheriff Shawn Coarsey said. “As he approached those officers, he picked his hand up, pointed the gun at them. They ordered him to drop the gun, and the shots were fired.”

JSO said the man has been identified, but they need to notify his family before releasing his name to the public. They did note that he has convictions in both Texas and Florida, and therefore could not legally carry a firearm.

The State Attorney’s Office is investigating the case, and the officers who fired their weapons will be placed on administrative leave, per agency protocol. They are Officer R. Vazquez, Officer G. Comayagua, Officer J. Pallint, and Officer A. Schmidt.

Sauls said teens recently stole her wallet and handgun out of her unlocked vehicle in the neighborhood. Between that and the officer-involved shooting, Sauls said she will definitely be adding extra security at her home.

The closure has impacted school bus routes, trash pickups, deliveries and some residents’ daily routines — so they reached out to News4JAX for answers.

Scott Dubois, who lives near the bridge, told News4JAX the city said it was a Georgia Department of Transportation project, so News4JAX called GDOT — and was initially told it wasn’t their project.

News4JAX then called St. Marys Assistant City Manager Charlie Williams, who sent a detailed email explaining the bridge project details and agreed to meet with residents at the bridge.

At the bridge, Dubois asked Williams questions about the bridge.

“I feel like the residents of St. Marys have been more than patient,” Dubois said. “I was using this bridge on a daily basis.”

Another resident called it “a big inconvenience” to have the bridge closed.

Dubois questioned whether it had been inspected and who was responsible.

“The bridge is inspected almost yearly,” Williams said, adding that GDOT also inspects it after storms or when water reaches the bottom of the bridge.

Williams said inspectors later found “the deterioration of the pillars.”

Williams said the city put “$100,000 toward the project,” but the rest of the funding is state and federal, and “St. Marys has zero control on the timeline because it is a GDOT project.”

News4JAX later got back in touch with GDOT, which confirmed it is, in fact, a GDOT project. The GDOT representative told News4JAX they don’t anticipate construction will begin until 2029, and residents said that timeline is disappointing.

The draft Security Council resolution, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, also demands that Iran “immediately participate in and enable” United Nations efforts to establish a humanitarian corridor in the strait for the delivery of vital aid, fertilizer and other goods.

It is the latest diplomatic effort by the U.S. and its Gulf allies after a watered-down resolution aimed at opening the strait was vetoed by China and Russia hours before Washington and Tehran announced a temporary ceasefire in early April.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement on Tuesday accused Iran of continuing “to hold the world’s economy hostage” by trying to close the strait, threatening to attack ships, laying sea mines, and attempting to charge tolls “for the world’s most important waterway.”

While Rubio said he looks forward to the resolution being voted on in the coming days, he told journalists later in the day that he remained uncertain if “slight adjustments” the U.S. made to the text would be enough to avoid a veto from Tehran's allies on the council. These adjustments included removing language authorizing the use of force and focusing instead on the threat of sanctions.

Whether the resolution succeeds will be “a real test" for the U.N. “as something that functions, that can solve global problems," Rubio added at the White House briefing.

U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz told reporters Monday he believes the new, narrow proposal will gain the necessary support it needs to pass the 15-member council, without triggering opposition or a veto from Iran’s allies.

The U.S. and Gulf nations proposed the new draft as the Trump administration tries to restore freedom of navigation in the strait, which carried about 20% of the world’s crude oil before the U.S. and Israel began the war on Feb. 28. A shaky ceasefire remains in effect.

The proposed resolution, which was drafted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter and thus could be enforced militarily, threatens “effective measures that are commensurate with the gravity of the situation, including sanctions” if Iran doesn’t comply. The earlier resolution removed a Chapter 7 reference but was still vetoed.

One Security Council diplomat told AP that as in previous negotiations on Hormuz resolutions, specific language directly condemning Iran, without also reflecting U.S. and Israeli strikes, has been an issue with some members. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations.

The new draft resolution reaffirms the right of all countries to defend their vessels from attacks and provocations, and orders all other countries not to assist Iran in closing the strait or levying tolls.

The draft also “welcomes ongoing efforts to deconflict and coordinate safe and secure transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz, expresses support for ongoing efforts to seek a durable peace in the region, and encourages member states in the region to strengthen dialogue and consultations in this regard.”

The diplomat also said that the U.S. has been engaging in serious efforts to convince China to abstain from vetoing the resolution, including at the highest diplomatic levels as both countries prepare for President Donald Trump's visit next week to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The lawsuit came a day after city officials publicly rejected calls by the Department of Justice to repeal the longstanding local ordinance that makes it a crime to possess assault weapons.

Trump's Republican administration alleges the ban violates the Constitution's Second Amendment right to bear arms. The administration also is threatening to sue Colorado over a statewide ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines adopted following a 2012 mass shooting at a movie theater.

“The Constitution is not a suggestion and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement on Tuesday. “Denver’s ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles directly violates the right to bear arms.”

Department of Justice attorneys had asked the city last week to stop enforcing the ban and enter negotiations with federal officials to resolve the matter. But Denver’s mayor and police chief during a Monday news conference forcefully rejected the Trump administration’s request.

“Our answer is hell no,” Mayor Mike Johnston said. “No, we will not roll back a common sense policy that has kept weapons of war off of these city streets for 37 years. No, we will not put first responders at greater risk every time they respond to a dangerous incident No, we will not go back to a time when folks are worried about walking into movie theaters or grocery stores or public elementary schools.”

The assault weapons ban was enacted during a period of heightened concern over gun violence in the city.

There have been numerous mass shootings elsewhere in the state in the years since — the 1999 Columbine High School massacre that killed 14 people, the Aurora movie theater attack that killed 12 people and injured 70, a 2021 shooting at a supermarket in Boulder that killed 10 people and a 2022 attack at an LQBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs that killed five people.

Denver police Chief Ron Thomas said he joined the department the year the city's assault weapons ban was adopted and having it in place has helped address gun violence. Of 2,100 guns recovered in the city last year, fewer than 2% were assault-style weapons, Thomas said.

Federal officials said in their lawsuit that Denver's ban includes AR-15-style rifles owned by at least 16 million people in the country. Government attorneys described them as “ordinary semiautomatic rifles" used for lawful purposes, "including but not limited to self-defense.”

Justice Department attorneys have made similar claims about the Colorado law banning large-capacity magazines, which the state's Supreme court upheld in 2020. In an April 28 letter to state officials, the administration threatened to file a lawsuit unless the state stops enforcing the law and agrees it's unconstitutional.

“Law-abiding Americans own literally hundreds of millions of magazines identical to those banned in Colorado,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon wrote.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in response that firearms with large-capacity magazines are a major threat to public safety. Weiser said in a statement that the ban was reasonable.

“Large-capacity magazine laws are responsible policies that decrease the deadly impacts of mass shootings and save lives,” he said.

Bradford County Fire Rescue was sent to the fire at the 12000 block of SW 84th Avenue and found a trailer home fully engulfed in fire.

Officials said once the flames were extinguished, they found the remains of what appeared to be a juvenile lying prone in a bed.

The sheriff’s office said a 13-year-old who is known to live at the residence is unaccounted for and the child stayed home from school due to illness while his mother was at work in Gainesville at the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.

Brad Smith, the chief deputy of the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office, said they are working with the Medical Examiner’s Office to confirm that is the child.

She has been notified and is staying with relatives while the sheriff’s office, the state fire marshal’s office and the Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating.

“We really want to stress that we don’t want people on social media trying to point fingers and lay blame, just try and be negative,” Smith said. “This family is dealing with just a horrific tragedy right now and we want to uplift them as much as we can to try and support them in this difficult time.”

The first team to win three straight postseason games by at least 25 points is looking more and more like the one that could make New York’s first NBA Finals appearance in the 2000s.

With laughably lopsided scoring margins that resemble UConn women’s basketball more than the NBA, the Knicks have gone from trailing in the first round to a quick lead over the Philadelphia 76ers in the East semifinals, with Game 2 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

“We're playing well at the right time, but I think we have room to grow,” coach Mike Brown said.

Hard to imagine, because his team is at a level never seen before in the postseason.

A 126-97 victory over Atlanta in Game 5, when the Knicks led by 32, was followed by a 140-89 romp in the clincher, when New York built a 61-point bulge. Pouncing on a Philadelphia team that barely had time to catch its breath after needing seven games in the first round, the Knicks went up by 40 on Monday in a 138-97 victory.

Counting their victory in Game 4 against the Hawks to even that series, the Knicks have won four in a row by 135 points.

Jalen Brunson is averaging 27.6 points, third among all players in the postseason. Karl-Anthony Towns is playing perhaps the best all-around basketball of his career, with his first two playoff triple-doubles as the Knicks rely on their All-Star center to initiate some of their offense with his passing. He's providing 6.0 assists per game along with his 10.6 rebounds.

Forward OG Anunoby, always known as a defender first, is shooting beyond Stephen Curry levels from the outside, making 59% of his 3-pointers and 63.8% of his shots overall. The bench is playing so well that Josh Hart, who last season was second in the NBA in minutes per game and always wants to be on the floor, said he's fine now raising his hand for a break if he's tired.

Defensively, their physicality so rattled the 76ers that Brown said of the 16 50-50 balls in the game, the Knicks came up with 14 of them.

“We were sitting here watching it like man, we can’t believe what we’re actually watching here,” former Knicks star Carmelo Anthony said of the defense during NBC's studio coverage of the game.

The Detroit Pistons had the East's best record in the regular season. The Cleveland Cavaliers had become the betting favorites after acquiring James Harden, then the odds shifted to the Celtics after Jayson Tatum's strong return helped them earn the No. 2 seed.

But the Celtics are gone, and the Pistons and Cavaliers had to slog through seven-game struggles to reach their second-round matchup. Now it's the Knicks who are listed as solid favorites to emerge from the East and behind only defending champion Oklahoma City and San Antonio to win the title.

The Knicks haven't reached the NBA Finals since 1999 and haven't won the championship since 1973. They didn't care what outsiders thought of their chances before the season and that hasn't changed now.

“Boston was the favorite last series, and they came back 3-1,” Hart said, referring to the 76ers' comeback. “So being the favorite means literally nothing. Every game you have to come in with a focus and attention to detail. And if you don’t do that, you can lose to anybody in this league. If you do that, you know, we feel like we can beat anybody.”

The Knicks have been building toward this, reaching the East semifinals for four straight years and advancing to the conference finals last year for the first time since 2000. They surprisingly fired Tom Thibodeau after that and hired Brown, who downplayed the idea of a mandate to go further but is certainly aware that was the expectation.

New York went 53-29 but had puzzling patterns of lackluster play, such as a 2-9 stretch not long after winning the NBA Cup in December, and the back-to-back losses to the Hawks.

“That’s why you play a season. That’s why you go through the ups and downs of the season. That’s why you go through adversity,” Brunson said. “You find things to make you the best team as possible by the end of the year, and you continue to work. And even when you’re at this point, you continue to find ways to get better and improve.”

It appears in the last week the Knicks have done that.

“You hope that at this time we’re the best version of ourselves,” Towns said.

Maybe even the best in the East.

___

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

Alyssa Thompson, 30, of Lake City, was arrested Monday, and charged with aggravated child abuse.

(Content warning - The report contains graphic details about alleged child abuse.)

Investigators say the abuse occurred at Wee Care Too, a daycare on NW Gwen Lake Ave in Lake City. According to the arrest report, the incidents came to light on April 20, after an infant in the facility’s care suffered a medical episode involving seizures, lethargy and fever.

Police say the infant was transported to HCA Florida Lake City Hospital, where she began having seizures, and was then transferred to a pediatrics hospital in Gainesville. The daycare’s director reviewed security surveillance footage after the incident and alerted patrol officers to what she observed.

What police say the surveillance footage showed

After obtaining footage from the week prior to the incident, a detective reviewed recordings from April 20 and April 13.

On April 20, the detectives said he observed Thompson forcefully toss the infant into a bouncy chair, causing the baby’s head to strike a metal bar. About 20 minutes later, the detective wrote, Thompson “snatched” the infant from a crib and dropped her onto a changing table from a significant height, causing the baby’s head to bounce off the table multiple times.

“After Alyssa finishes changing [the infant] and when she picks her up off of the table [she] appears to be limp and not moving,” the arrest report states. “She seems to notice something is wrong and runs out of the room seeking help.”

Footage from April 13 showed additional incidents, according to the report.

The report further states that Thompson was observed hitting the back of a seat the baby was placed in, shaking the infant’s arm “very hard,” smacking and hitting the baby’s legs, and kicking the seat with the bottom of her foot in apparent attempts to get the infant’s attention or a response.

Severe injuries, possible lifelong impact, according to report

A doctor identified in the report as Medical Director of the Child Protective Team and the emergency room doctor at the Gainesville pediatrics hospital, told investigators the infant sustained a skull fracture, detached retinas, bleeding behind the eyes and significant bleeding on the brain.

The doctor reviewed the surveillance footage provided by investigators and determined the physical abuse over the period of time documented was the cause of the infant’s injuries, according to the report.

“It is a very strong possibility that [the infant] will have lifelong medical issues stemming from these instances,” the arrest report notes, citing the doctor.

As of May 4, 2026 — the date of Thompson’s arrest — the infant remained in the pediatric intensive care unit receiving medical care.

Thompson is being held without bond.

Daycare issues statement

Wee Care Too issued a statement on Facebook following Thompson’s arrest, saying that she is no longer employed.

The daycare said she had been with the daycare for three months and added that part of the hiring process included a background check. Wee Care, Too, said it contacted Thompson’s previous employer, which gave a “very strong recommendation” and confirmed seven years of experience at the daycare.

“Out of respect for the ongoing investigation, we are limited in what we can share publicly, but please know this: we are here, we are listening, and we are committed to doing what is right--for your children and for our community,” the daycare wrote.

The Florida Education Association (FEA) and individual parents filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Florida Department of Education, arguing the state has turned its back on its own constitutional promise to provide every child with a quality public education.

The Florida Constitution calls for a “uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high-quality system of free public schools.” But according to the plaintiffs, that’s simply not what Florida students are getting.

The suit names Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas, the State Board of Education and its individual members as defendants. At its core, the lawsuit argues that schools receiving taxpayer dollars aren’t being held to the same standards, oversight or accountability as traditional public schools — and Florida’s kids are paying the price.

According to the FEA, the impact of the “non-uniform system cannot be ignored”:

• Approximately $5 billion a year in public tax dollars are being redirected from traditional public schools to charter and voucher systems — many of which are run by out-of-state, for-profit management companies.
• Nearly a quarter of the state’s education budget flows to voucher programs that, most of the time, serve students who were already enrolled in private school.
• Florida ranks dead last — 50th in the nation — in average teacher salary, with more than 60% of education staff professionals earning less than $35,000 a year.
• Florida ranks 41st in the nation in per-student funding, a number that hasn’t kept pace with inflation.

FEA President Andrew Spar made clear the organization didn’t arrive at this decision lightly. For years, the FEA said it has worked alongside lawmakers to address growing concerns from parents, educators and even the state auditor general. But after repeated setbacks, Spar said the courts are the only path left.

“Parents want the best education for their children. The overwhelming majority of parents see public schools as the best place to get that education and for good reason — they are the places where qualified educators help inspire students to be their best selves each and every day, and they are doing a fantastic job of welcoming every child in the state regardless of need,” said Andrew Spar, President of the Florida Education Association. “We have spent years working with lawmakers to address the concerns of parents, educators and now, even the state auditor general regarding the inconsistencies in Florida’s non-uniform education system. But once again, lawmakers have let down Florida’s students and families, and we are left with no choice but to turn to the courts. With this lawsuit we are simply asking for accountability, transparency and a basic set of educational standards, which is what every parent wants – regardless of where they choose to send their children. Floridians have made it clear we should be strengthening not abandoning our public schools.”

Not everyone sees it that way. Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas wasted no time defending Florida’s school choice program, taking to social media shortly after the lawsuit was announced.

“Thanks to @GovRonDeSantis, every Florida family has access to universal school choice, empowering them to select the learning environment that best fits their child’s individual needs,” Kamoutsas wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“We stand unapologetically convicted on the principle of always putting students first!” he added.

Thanks to @GovRonDeSantis, every Florida family has access to universal school choice, empowering them to select the learning environment that best fits their child’s individual needs.

We stand unapologetically convicted on the principle of always putting students first! https://t.co/aLJ1iPaoGy pic.twitter.com/ik3v5gvB9X

— Anastasios Kamoutsas (@StasiKamoutsas) May 5, 2026

Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, wearing an orange jail uniform, did not speak as his attorney entered the pleas during his arraignment in state court. The 20-year-old also faces federal charges.

Moreno-Gama, of Spring, Texas, hurled the flammable bomb at Altman’s home last month, setting an exterior gate alight before fleeing on foot, authorities allege. Less than an hour later, he went to OpenAI’s headquarters about 3 miles (5 kilometers) away and threatened to burn down the building, they say.

Diamond Ward, the public defender representing Moreno-Gama, said after the hearing that her client was experiencing a mental health crisis and had been excessively charged.

“Daniel is a kind, hard-working person who has been publicly advocating for peaceful measures to address the danger of AI on humanity,” she said.

She attributed Moreno-Gama's actions to “a mental health crisis and not any desire to harm" and suggested prosecutors were trying to curry favor with Altman and were ignoring evidence of her client's mental health issues.

During the hearing, Ward requested a mental health evaluation for Moreno-Gama. The judge granted the request and scheduled another hearing for later this month to discuss the results.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said last month that Moreno-Gama carried out a “targeted attack on Mr. Altman” and that prosecutors had evidence to substantiate the charges.

Moreno-Gama’s parents said in a statement shortly after the attack that he has never harmed anyone and recently began having mental health issues.

Authorities said Moreno-Gama, who works part-time at a pizzeria and is attending community college, expressed hatred of artificial intelligence in his writings, describing it as a danger to humanity and warning of “impending extinction,” according to court filings.

Officials haven't said whether Altman was home at the time of the attack.

The state charges, which also include attempted arson and attempted criminal threats, carry penalties ranging from 19 years to life in prison.

Federal prosecutors charged Moreno-Gama with possession of an unregistered firearm, and damage and destruction of property by means of explosives. Those charges carry respective maximum prison sentences of 10 years and 20 years.

Moreno-Gama made an initial appearance in federal court on Friday.

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This story was updated to correct the spelling of Moreno-Gama’s last name.

Kimes, whose hiring was announced Tuesday, becomes the first celebrity host for the bee since LeVar Burton in 2022. That was the year Scripps took over the broadcast from ESPN, its longtime TV home, and began airing it on ION and Bounce, both of which are owned by the Cincinnati-based media company.

Scripps has also brought in a new production team for the broadcast, led by Michael Davies — currently the executive producer of “Jeopardy!” — as it seeks to reverse a decline in ratings.

This year's bee runs from May 26 to 28 at a new venue, Constitution Hall in downtown Washington, with 247 spellers competing for a trophy and more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.

“My goal in this is to give it the big-game feel,” Kimes told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of the announcement. “Any event that requires skill and knowledge and preparation can have that feel if it's presented with enough care and pride on television.”

Davies, whose credits also include “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” “Reading Rainbow” and “Good Morning Football,” shares Kimes' appreciation for the bee, and he told AP his goal is to “make it bigger and make it more famous.”

“We really need to focus the entire broadcast and everything we're doing around the stakes of the competition and the incredible winning moment, the winning word that happens at the end of the final,” he said.

A Yale-educated journalist, the 40-year-old Kimes is known for using extensive research and study of game video to explain the strengths and weaknesses of NFL players and coaches. She said her preparation for the bee has been similar.

“It honestly does feel a little bit like watching game tape because I really think these kids are elite competitors, not just in terms of being the best of the best, but you can see all of the work that they so clearly put in,” Kimes said. “The way they get to the right answer is fascinating to me and the more you watch, the more you see the way their brains work. I see a lot of similarities to what I do with football, and I'm so pumped to be a part of this.”

Although she never competed on the national stage, Kimes has a history in spelling, winning bees at the school level in the second, third and fifth grades.

Spellers qualify for the National Spelling Bee by winning regional bees around the country and are eligible to compete through the eighth grade. Even the most gifted kids, many of whom study and train year-round under the tutelage of paid coaches, often get only one or two chances to win the most prestigious spelling competition in the English language before they age out.

Over the last few years, Scripps has relied mostly on former spellers as on-air hosts and commentators. Longtime analyst Paul Loeffler, a sports broadcaster, former speller and the brother of bee executive director Corrie Loeffler, will return in that role.

While Scripps touted bigger potential audiences from its move to ION, which is available in more households than ESPN, ratings have been stagnant and dipped slightly over the past two years, according to Nielsen data. The combined audience for the primetime finals on ION and Bounce was 609,000 in 2022, 641,000 in 2023, 461,000 in 2024 and 488,000 last year.

The bee drew over 1 million viewers on ESPN in 2012. The finals of the last three pre-pandemic bees on ESPN had viewership of 606,000 (2017), 550,000 (2018) and 559,000 (2019).

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Ben Nuckols has covered the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 2012. Follow him at https://x.com/APBenNuckols

So far, no one has been arrested in Sunday night's shooting, but investigators have information that leads them to believe there's no ongoing danger to the public, said Sgt. James Hamm, a spokesperson for the police in Edmond.

The shooting broke out at a picnic pavilion alongside Arcadia Lake, a popular boating, fishing and swimming spot just north of Oklahoma City.

The party had been promoted across social media, drawing a large crowd of mostly young adults, police said.

The shooting began just as officers were responding to a noise complaint about the party, Hamm said.

Multiple groups were at the party, and the shooting happened after a fight broke out, he said. One person who was shot remained in critical condition Tuesday, Hamm said.

Three hospitals in the Oklahoma City area said Monday that they had treated 18 people from the party. One healthcare system said the victims ranged in age from 16 to 30.

Some of the victims suffered graze wounds and many were treated and released, he said. It's possible that more people were hit but didn't seek treatment, Hamm said.

Many of those shot were not involved in the fight and were “simply attending the party,” he said.

Police would not release any information about potential suspects, how many people may have fired shots or what types of weapons were used. Hamm said the department wanted to maintain the integrity of the investigation.

Edmond Mayor Mark Nash said Monday that the shooting took place at a public park where spaces can be reserved for large gatherings, but no reservation had been made.

Jeremiah Braxton, who was at the party, said two of his friends were among those shot. He said everyone was eating, dancing and having a good time until a group of girls started arguing over boyfriends.

“It just started a whole bunch of chaos,” he said Monday.

___

Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press reporter Rebecca Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho.

On Tuesday afternoon, powerful Russian glide bombs smashed into the eastern city of Kramatorsk, the southern city of Zaporizhzhia and the northern city of Chernihiv, killing at least 17 civilians and wounding 45 others, officials said.

Attacks the previous night killed five people and wounded 39, according to authorities.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rebuked Moscow for what he said was its “utter cynicism” in launching the attacks after Russia announced a unilateral ceasefire over two days later this week while it marks the 81st anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

“Russia could cease fire at any moment, and this would stop the war and our responses,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X. “Peace is needed, and real steps are needed to achieve it. Ukraine will act in kind.”

The Russian Defense Ministry declared a unilateral ceasefire in Ukraine for Friday and Saturday, but said that it would strike back at the country, if it tries to disrupt the festivities on Victory Day, which Russia marks annually on May 9.

Zelenskyy replied that Ukraine would observe a ceasefire beginning at the end of Tuesday and would respond in kind to Russia’s actions from that moment on. He didn’t put an end date on the move.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the unilateral ceasefires and “looks forward to their successful implementation,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The U.N. chief reiterated his call for "a full, immediate, unconditional and lasting ceasefire, leading to a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace, in line with the U.N. Charter, international law and relevant U.N. resolutions.”

Moscow's proposal to stop fighting follows a familiar pattern of Russia declaring short unilateral ceasefires during the war timed to various holidays, most recently Orthodox Easter. Those suspensions of combat don't produce any tangible results amid deep mistrust between Moscow and Kyiv more than four years after Russia launched an all-out invasion of its neighbor. U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to stop the war have come to nothing.

Ukrainian leader expands Gulf cooperation

Zelenskyy was in Bahrain on Tuesday where he met with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, proposing a bilateral drone defense partnership amid the Iran war.

The Ukrainian leader said that he offered to share Ukraine’s air defense expertise with Bahrain, drawing a parallel between Iranian attacks on Gulf states and Russia’s daily aerial strikes on Ukrainian territory, which often use Shahed drones initially developed by Iran.

Zelenskyy said last month that Ukrainian officials are helping Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan with drone expertise and air defense.

Ukraine's power grid targeted again

Russian forces fired 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 164 strike drones at Ukraine overnight from Monday to Tuesday, including a jet-powered Shahed drone variant, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

Air defense units stopped 149 drones and one missile, but others got through, it said. Two ballistic missiles failed to reach their targets, the air force said without elaborating.

Russia has repeatedly hammered Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. It hit natural gas production facilities in Ukraine’s central Poltava and northeastern Kharkiv regions, state energy company Naftogaz Group said.

Since the start of the year, Naftogaz facilities have come under attack 107 times, the company said.

Zelenskyy said that the Poltava attack was “especially vile,” because Russia launched a second missile at the same target when emergency rescuers were working at the scene.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said that Russia’s main targets were energy facilities, oil and gas infrastructure, railways and industrial sites, although the attacks also damaged homes, businesses and the transportation network.

Russia’s ceasefire proposals “remain only statements,” Svyrydenko said.

Russian territory hit by Ukrainian cruise missiles

Ukraine also kept up the pace of its long-range attacks on Russian rear areas, apparently aiming at more oil facilities in an effort to further disrupt Moscow's war economy.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its forces destroyed 289 Ukrainian drones overnight in 18 Russian regions. Drones were also intercepted over the occupied Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and over the Azov Sea, it said.

During the night, Ukraine launched its F-5 Flamingo cruise missiles at targets, including military-industrial complex facilities in Cheboksary, located more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) away, Zelenskyy said.

The plant supplied navigation components for the Russian navy, the missile industry, aviation and armored vehicles, he said.

The regional health ministry said that a Ukrainian drone attack wounded three people in the city of Cheboksary.

Ukrainian drones also attacked the Kirishi oil refinery in the Leningrad region close to St. Petersburg, sparking a blaze in the town’s industrial zone, regional Gov. Alexander Drozdenko said.

Drozdenko said on social media that 29 Ukrainian drones had been shot down during the attack. No casualties were reported.

Ground robot operations

Ukraine doubled its midrange strikes on Russia in April compared with March and quadrupled them compared with February, according to a monthly battlefield report from Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov published Tuesday.

The midrange attacks were focused on enemy warehouses, command posts, air defense systems and supply lines up to about 100 miles (160 kilometers) behind the front line.

Also, Ukrainian ground robots completed 10,281 resupply and evacuation missions in April, an average of almost 343 per day, according to Fedorov.

It wasn't possible to independently confirm the claims.

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

The community collection effort will take place on Friday, May 8, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Channel 4, located at 4 Broadcast Pl, Jacksonville, FL 32207, with donations benefiting Brantley County Family Connection. Organizers are asking for a wide range of essential items, including non-perishable food items, hygiene products, household supplies, and pet necessities.

Items needed

Organizers say some of the donation items being requested include:

• Non-perishables: ready-to-eat meals, canned goods, pasta sauces, oatmeal, cereal, snacks, drinks, baby formula and baby food
• Hygiene products: diapers, wipes, deodorant, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, feminine products, sunscreen, bug spray and basic medical supplies
• Household items: paper goods, trash bags, blankets, towels, batteries, flashlights, cleaning supplies and storage items
• Pet needs: dog and cat food, litter and support for local veterinary care

A burn ban remains in effect across South Georgia as drought conditions continue, and officials are urging residents to follow safety guidelines while recovery efforts continue.

How to help

Donations can be dropped off in person at Channel 4 on Friday or mailed to:

Brantley County Family Connection

10305 Main Street, Nahunta, GA 31553

P.O. Box 1011, Nahunta, GA 31553

Monetary donations can also be made online via PayPal.

Large trailer and pallet donations, excluding water, should be delivered to the Brunswick Exchange Club Fairgrounds at 101 Emory Dawson Road in Brunswick between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Wildfire impact still being felt

The Highway 82 Fire, which began on April 20, scorched more than 22,000 acres and is now about 85% contained, according to an update made by the Brantley County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday. The fire forced evacuations in the communities of Atkinson and Waynesville, destroying homes and displacing families.

While evacuation orders have been lifted and schools are reopening, many families are still recovering from significant loss. Officials say counselors will be available for students returning to class, and families are encouraged to take the time they need to heal.

For updates on the donation drive and ongoing wildfire recovery efforts, stay with News4JAX on air and online.

The bus crash left multiple students injured; four children required medical transport to local hospitals, school officials said. The incident prompted the original outing to be called off.

Before the zoo visit, the students toured the fire station and spent time with the firefighters and paramedics who responded to the crash. For the children, it was a chance to reconnect with the people who helped them. For the crew, it offered the rare reward of seeing those they aided healthy and smiling.

“We’re used to showing up on the hard days,” Fire Chief Percy Golden II said. “Being invited back for the happy one is a gift for our crews.”

“This was such a dream come true for our little kindergarteners,” San Pablo Elementary Principal Jennifer Brown said. “Not only did they finally get to experience the joy and wonder of the zoo, but they got to reconnect with the same heroes who supported them through such a challenging day. We really appreciate JFRD for helping make today so special for our students.”

Since the incident, Councilman Mike Gay said he was working with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to address some of the concerns and improve road conditions.

“Our immediate response is to check and make sure everybody’s okay and that everybody’s safe, and then waiting on the information to come into us on exactly what happened,” he said. “Then we go back to our DOT contacts to start pressing them for. What can we do? How can we put some signs up warning drivers more of railroad crossing ahead, buses, or vehicles that will be stopping. It’s not just school buses, you got your JTA, any kind of passenger vehicle is gonna stop right there.”

In neighboring Ohio, primaries for U.S. Senate and governor will lock in the candidates for two major races with national implications.

And in Michigan, voters in a bellwether district will fill a vacancy in the state Senate, a race with implications for the balance of power in a battleground state.

Here's what to watch for.

How strong is Trump's grip on the Republican Party?

Trump is taking aim at seven Republican state senators in Indiana who opposed his plan to redraw congressional district boundaries to help the party gain seats in the U.S. House.

Groups allied with the president have spent more than $8.3 million on advertising, an extraordinary flood of cash and attention into races that are typically low profile.

The races are a test of Trump's enduring grip over his party as Republicans grow increasingly anxious about the midterm elections in November.

The results will signal to Republicans everywhere about how high a price they'll pay with their voters if they distance themselves from Trump even as his popularity fades. And it will show the president whether he can still credibly threaten consequences for Republicans who cross him.

The Trump-targeted state senators all represent districts he carried in 2024, mostly by 20 percentage points or more.

The key races to watch are in the 1st, 11th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 38th and 41st districts, respectively.

Ohio races get started in earnest

The state's primary is the wind-up to the big show. Although Ohio has become increasingly conservative, Democrats believe their path back to a U.S. Senate majority runs through the state.

They're putting their hopes behind former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost Ohio's other Senate seat to Bernie Moreno in 2024.

He's expected to face off with Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed last year to fill the vacancy created when JD Vance became vice president.

The race is a special election to fill the last two years of Vance's term.

In the campaign for governor, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has parlayed his national name recognition, tech industry connections and alliance with Trump into a record fundraising haul. He's largely ignoring Republican rival Casey Putsch, focusing his rallies and television ads on the general election.

An engineer and vehicle designer who calls himself “The Car Guy,” Putsch has attracted fans with provocative YouTube videos that troll Ramaswamy and criticize national Republicans over their handling of the Epstein files, positions on energy-guzzling data centers and support for Israel.

Amy Acton, Ohio's former public health director, is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination. She played a key role in the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Will Democrats sweep another special election?

The special election for a state Senate seat in central Michigan carries outsized importance.

It's another test of enthusiasm in a series of special elections that have swung almost universally toward Democrats since Trump returned to the White House. It also could affect the balance of power in the Michigan State Capitol. A Democratic victory would give the party a firm majority in the state Senate, while a Republican win would deadlock the chamber in a 19-19 tie.

The district is closely matched. Democrat Kamala Harris beat Trump there by less than 1 point in the 2024 presidential election.

The seat has been vacant for more than a year, since Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet resigned to take a seat in Congress.

Democrats are showing surprising strength in special elections and off-year contests across the country, winning races in unexpected places and significantly narrowing the gap, even when they fall short.

There's no guarantee the trend will continue through the midterms, when turnout will be much higher, but it has nonetheless energized Democrats and spooked Republicans worried about keeping their congressional majorities.

Cole Tomas Allen initially was charged in a complaint with attempting to assassinate the president and two additional firearms counts. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of the attempted assassination charge alone.

Allen's indictment by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., includes the same three counts but also adds a charge of assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon.

A Secret Service officer was shot once in a bullet-resistant vest during the April 25 attack at at the Washington Hilton, which disrupted and ultimately prompted an early end to one of the highest-profile annual events in the nation’s capital. Allen was armed with guns and knives when he ran through a security checkpoint and pointed his weapon at the officer, who fired five times without hitting anybody, authorities said.

The addition of the assault charge confirms that authorities believe Allen fired the shot that struck the officer. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche indicated last week that investigators wanted to review more ballistics evidence before making that determination.

Allen's attorneys have questioned the strength of the government's theory that their client intended to kill the president or fired a shot that struck the officer.

“In sum,” they wrote, “the government’s entire argument about the nature and circumstances of the offense is based upon inferences drawn about Mr. Allen’s intent that raise more questions than answers.”

Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was injured but was not shot. He was placed on suicide watch after his arrest, but jail officials removed him from that status over the weekend. Allen's attorneys complained that he had been unnecessarily confined in a padded room with constant lighting, repeatedly strip searched and placed in restraints outside his cell.

The Duval DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) committee released its final report Tuesday after a months-long investigation into the city’s agreement with Telescope Health, a Jacksonville-based telehealth provider.

The committee determined that while earlier allegations raised concerns about potential Medicare or Medicaid fraud and improper steering of patients to certain hospitals, investigators found no proof to support those claims.

However, the report concluded the city’s roughly $2.1 million annual investment in Telescope Health yielded “no tangible financial benefit to taxpayers,” and questioned whether the program’s cost was justified.

Read the full report below.

Jacksonville contracts with two telehealth providers, Telescope Health and RightSite Health, to help divert non-emergency cases away from hospital emergency rooms. Telescope’s services are funded by the city serving uninsured patients, while RightSite’s services are provided at no direct cost to taxpayers, serving insured patients and billing insurance.

According to the report, both platforms aim to reduce unnecessary ER visits but differ in how patients access care and how services are delivered. Telescope allows patients to initiate contact directly through a hotline and focuses on uninsured residents through the Healthlink Jax program, while RightSite relies on paramedics to initiate telehealth consultations during 911 calls.

The committee found Telescope offers broader access, including 24/7 availability and integration with local services such as 988 and JaxCare Connect, but said those advantages did not clearly translate into cost savings for the city.

The report also raised questions about the methodology used to estimate savings tied to reduced emergency room visits, stating those projections are subject to “reasonable disagreement.”

As part of its recommendations, the committee urged the city to conduct a formal cost-benefit analysis before continuing the Telescope contract, explore expanding RightSite’s use, and improve oversight and training to ensure patients eligible for alternative care are consistently directed away from emergency rooms.

The committee also called for a review of potential ethics concerns involving individuals connected to the program and recommended increased public education about telehealth options.

Mayor Donna Deegan sharply criticized the report ahead of its presentation, calling the investigation politically motivated and wasteful.

“Jacksonville’s consolidated government has four, non-political professional entities with the responsibility of oversight of city financial operations. Yet several council members continue to disguise partisan gamesmanship as legitimate oversight,” Deegan said in a statement.

She added the committee “is costing [money] instead,” citing tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars and hundreds of staff hours spent on the review.

Deegan also pointed to what she described as conflicts of interest tied to the committee’s leadership and report authors, saying those issues give residents “good reason to question the report’s findings.”

The mayor defended the telehealth program, saying it was awarded through a competitive and transparent process and approved twice by the City Council.

“And it has saved millions on emergency room costs. This program is saving lives. The political attacks on it need to stop,” she said.

City data cited by the mayor’s office shows the Healthlink Jax program has handled thousands of calls and diverted nearly 2,000 patients from emergency rooms since launching in October 2024, with estimates of up to $10 million in avoided ER costs.

Despite those claims, the DOGE committee maintained that the financial benefits remain unproven and said further analysis is needed before continuing the current level of spending.

The committee is expected to present its findings to city leaders, with a follow-up report on utilization and costs recommended within six months.

“Everyone who attended the Met Gala this year really leaned into fashion is art, using your body as a canvas, and that really came across in some of the best-dressed looks of the night,” said Kevin Huynh, fashion director of InStyle.

Fashionable A-listers gave into the theme and had fun with it. First-time Met Gala attendees included actors Chase Infiniti and Hudson Williams, as well as Olympian Alysa Liu, all of whom commanded the carpet in dramatic ensembles. Infiniti, for example, donned an enchanting Thom Browne sequined gown using trompe l’oeil to depict the female form.

Meanwhile, Met Gala mega stars and repeat attendees rose to the occasion: Vogue red-carpet correspondent Emma Chamberlain playfully dressed in a dramatic long-sleeved gown that appeared dipped in a rainbow of color from indigo to the brightest yellow-gold. And after 10 years of skipping the Gala, Beyoncé arrived to reclaim her throne, wearing a glittering crown and radiant Olivier Rousteing silver gown designed in the shape of a skeleton.

Artistic masters or novices

Maybe it was the theme or something in the air, but Met Gala guests ran with the dress code, embracing color, sculpture and a plethora of artistic references from Gustav Klimt and John Singer Sargent to the Winged Goddess of Samothrace.

Madonna even delivered performance art on the carpet, arriving with seven women carrying her cape, which was attached to her pirate-ship headpiece in reference to a painting by Leonora Carrington.

“The Met Gala has finally settled the question of ‘Is fashion art?’” said Nancy Hall-Duncan, an art historian and author of “Art X Fashion: Fashion Inspired by Art. “It is, according to the Met Gala, Anna Wintour and Andrew Bolton.”

For Lynette Nylander, executive digital director of Harper’s Bazaar, there were wins from Infiniti to Cardi B, though some guests steered more toward costume than couture. Heidi Klum, for example, arrived in full costume as a statue.

“It was the kind of loudest Met Gala that we’ve seen in a while, probably since the ‘Camp’ theme,” Nylander said. “It felt very ostentatious."

Pops of color in a sea of black

Despite all the artistic opportunities to draw from, some celebrities chose sophisticated all-black looks instead of color. Zoë Kravitz and Connor Storrie both wore black custom Yves Saint Laurent.

Yet the examples in solid black only amplified the more colorful ensembles, like Chamberlain's hand-painted Mugler dress with cascading fringe sleeves and a spiral deep rainbow train.

“It looked like an artist’s palette and it’s just stunning, colorful and interesting,” Hall-Duncan said. “This isn’t addressing a specific painting. It’s addressing the whole concept of color in artistic work.”

Trompe l’oeil

Artistic illusions of the body stood out throughout the night, with celebrities playing with the dress code and the “Costume Art” exhibit inside the Metropolitan Museum, which examines the dressed body and thematic body types.

Naomi Osaka wowed in a white Robert Wun overcoat featuring tiny slits that allowed a glimpse of her sparkling red dress underneath. In a dazzling red carpet moment, Osaka removed the overcoat to reveal a two-toned red gown with the human anatomy beaded into the dress. Nylander said designer Wun was one of several independent designers who dominated the carpet, dressing stars including the tennis pro and singer Lisa.

Actor Jeremy Pope was on theme for the menswear look of the night. Pope sported a Vivienne Westwood corseted jacket filled in with pearls in the shape of a chest.

And fashion darling Colman Domingo is never one to disappoint with his menswear attire.

“He was wearing a Valentino look that was color blocked in these beautiful tulle squares that were really reminiscent of Pablo Picasso’s harlequin paintings,” Huynh said. "I thought that was such a clever way to tap into the artistic side of things, whereas Hudson Williams, hot off all the ‘Heated Rivalry’ madness, wore a matador-inspired look that really harkened back to Cristóbal Balenciaga's Spanish roots.”

Athleticism on display

Several Olympians hit gold twice for taking risks with their looks. Bubbles filled the carpet as Olympian free style skier Eileen Gu walked up the steps in her mini Iris van Herpen dress covered with bubbles. Lindsey Vonn made a surprise appearance following multiple surgeries after a fracture took her out of the Winter Olympics.

Other athletes on the carpet included NFL players Joe Burrow and Justin Jefferson.

NFL Fashion Editor Kyle Smith, who dressed Burrow in a custom navy Bode look, said the Met Gala allows athletes to shine off the field.

“It’s this opportunity to express yourself and when you put on your uniform and your helmet, you’re part of a team and you’re working toward this really big shared goal,” he said. “But when you’re dressing for the tunnel or any red carpet event, it’s an opportunity to express themselves and show their identity.”

Fashion as protest?

The night's fashion put a spotlight on some underlying politics: Billionaire Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos sponsored the gala and exhibit and served as honorary chairs, prompting some protests and a few absences.

Their involvement added another layer of interest in some of the fashion choices of the night. Actor Sarah Paulson arrived in a Matières Fécales gray tulle gown from their collection titled “The One Percent," which she accessorized with a $1 bill mask covering her eyes.

Around 3 p.m., the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office responded to the store on First Coast Highway to assist with a hazardous material investigation, prompting the evacuations.

Just an hour later, all evacuations were lifted, and shoppers could return to the store and other businesses.

Deputies cleared the area and used drones to assist with the search.

There was no threat to the public, but the source of the gas-related issues remains unknown at this time.

She is among a number of Mexican American business owners who've become more vocal about also honoring Mexican history and the significance of the holiday, as a way to combat anti-immigrant sentiments amid heightened immigration enforcement efforts that have targeted Latino communities.

Mendoza, owner of Cuernavaca’s Grill in Los Angeles, said she prefers a celebration that reflects “everything that as a community we’re enduring today.” So, Mendoza will host Cinco de Mayo festivities at her restaurant that, along with traditional mariachi and Mexican cuisine, will include a nod to Mexican perseverance over the French in the Battle of Puebla over 160 years ago.

“Just looking at how much they did with very little resources,” she said. “It just showed resilience. So, on Cinco de Mayo we always make it a testament of our resilience.”

Restaurants owners aren't the first Latino community leaders to reclaim Cinco de Mayo in the U.S. — moving away from a flattening of Mexican culture toward highlighting history and community. This year, the celebrations are noticeably embracing traditional Mexican culture and focused on preservation, said Sehila Mota Casper, director of Latinos in Heritage Conservation.

“These are just incredible moments of educating and knowledge sharing,” Mota Casper said. “The more we educate, the more knowledge we share, the better a community and people we become.”

Restaurants emphasize authenticity over tequila shots

Hispanic-owned firms accounted for 8.4% of 5.9 million U.S. employers in 2024, according to the Census Bureau's annual survey of businesses. They also were approximately 18% of all restaurant businesses in the United States last month, according to the National Restaurant Association, which uses census data.

U.S. revelers hoping to crowd restaurants and toss back shots of tequila may find more wholesome and intentionally planned offerings, said Raul Luis, who owns the Birrieria Chalio Mexican Restaurant, with locations in Los Angeles and Fort Worth, Texas. On Cinco de Mayo, he wants his customers to eat and drink the types of “guisados” — traditional Mexican braises or stews served as taco filling — that one would eat when invited into a Mexican family's home.

Well-made, traditional cooking will keep customers coming back, even if they aren’t Hispanic, Luis said.

“It’s the ultimate opportunity for restaurants to take advantage of that moment and bring them in and entice them to authentic Mexican food,” Luis said.

What Cinco de Mayo celebrates

Cinco de Mayo marks the anniversary of the 1862 victory by Mexican troops over invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla. The triumph over much larger French troops who were better-equipped was an enormous emotional boost for Mexican soldiers led by Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza.

In Mexico, historical reenactments are held annually in the central city of Puebla to commemorate the victory. Participants dress as Mexican and French troops and as Zacapoaxtlas — the Indigenous and farmer contingent that helped Mexican troops win.

In the U.S., May 5 is seen as a day to celebrate Mexican American culture, stretching back to the 1800s in California. Festivities typically include parades, street food, block parties, mariachi competitions and baile.

Folklórico, or folkloric ballet, features whirling dancers in bright, ruffled dresses and their hair tied with shiny ribbons.

The day often is mistaken for Mexican Independence Day, which is on Sept. 16.

Latino activists and scholars say that disconnect in the U.S. is bolstered by the hazy history of Cinco de Mayo and marketing that plays on stereotypes that include fake, droopy mustaches and gigantic, colorful sombreros.

On Tuesday the White House official Instagram page shared an AI-generated image portraying Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing sombreros while drinking margaritas in front of the U.S. Border with a sign that reads, “I love illegal immigrants.”

A testament to Mexican resilience

Since returning to the White House in 2025, President Donald Trump has continued to label Mexican immigrants as criminals and gang members, and Latino communities have been a target of his hard-line immigration tactics. Memes shared from official White House social media accounts perpetuate negative stereotypes about Latinos, while a federally led English-only initiative and ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs all seem to target communities of color.

All together, it's generated a great deal of fear in Latino communities.

Mendoza, the Los Angeles restaurant owner, said it’s also been a hard time for the restaurant industry because of rising costs. But in spite of it all, Cuernavaca’s Grill will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

As part of the restaurant's Cinco de Mayo festivities, she'll invite customers to contribute to a food and toy drive meant to support those who are struggling in the current climate.

“This is a testament of our resilience,” Mendoza said. “It’s a testament of our hard work. It is pride to our community and everything that we’ve accomplished.”

Nurse's brother Steve Nurse, 62, died unexpectedly last Wednesday. Nick Nurse left the team following Philadelphia's 137-98 loss to open the second round against the Knicks on Monday for the service on Tuesday in Ankeny, Iowa.

Nurse is expected to rejoin the Sixers for Game 2 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

“I'd like to pass my condolences along to Nick Nurse and his family, his brother's family and all their friends," Knicks coach Mike Brown said at the team's training center in suburban Greenburgh. “Life is precious and you don't wish that upon anybody, so I'd like to pass along my condolences to him and his family while they're going through these times.”

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

The award is tied to the Presidential Fitness Test, which was a public-school fixture for decades but was phased out under President Barack Obama in favor of a program that minimized competition and focused on long-term health. Trump signed an order last summer to reestablish the fitness test, which was created in the 1950s.

“We’re bringing it back,” Trump said at an Oval Office ceremony alongside children and professional athletes. “My administration is working very hard to defend America’s cherished athletic traditions and pass our values of excellence and competitiveness to the next generation.”

The earlier exam tested students on a battery of exercises, including a 1-mile run and sit-ups. Those scoring above the 85th percentile for their gender in each component of the test received the Presidential Physical Fitness Award, though details of the revived test have yet to be released.

Trump unveiled the award at his desk while flanked by Cabinet members including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Housing Secretary Scott Turner. They were joined by children who said they played sports including football, volleyball, hockey and golf.

The test is being made mandatory for students at 161 schools located on U.S. military installations, Hegseth said in the Oval Office. He encouraged other schools across the country to follow.

“We need young, strong, healthy Americans, whether you serve in the military or any other aspect of your life,” Hegseth said. “The idea that competition is bad is the beginning of decline of a nation.”

Trump, an avid golfer and sports enthusiast, emphasized the importance of balancing both physical and mental fitness, saying that it's “all about the mind” at top levels of competition. He praised the athletes at the White House event while joking about his own fitness regimen.

“I work out so much, like about one minute a day, max — if I’m lucky,” Trump said.

Trump said he would be signing the first copy of the new award on Tuesday. After the Oval Office event, the kids were invited to the South Lawn to play sports to a soundtrack of songs like “YMCA” and “Eye of the Tiger." Trump joined outside as the kids putted at a green, kicked soccer balls and threw a baseball with pitcher Noah Syndergaard.

The president connected the initiative to Kennedy's “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. Speaking alongside Trump, Kennedy said it was “very unfortunate” that Obama discontinued the test and cited increased obesity among American children.

“We need to teach people how to win and how to lose and how to process victory and defeat,” Kennedy said.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, where Skinner began his career and helped the franchise stun the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series, said Tuesday they were informed of Skinner's death from his wife, Joan. He died in San Diego. A cause was not provided.

“Bob was an important part of one of the most beloved teams in our storied history and helped deliver a moment that will forever be woven into the fabric of our city,” Pirates chairman Bob Nutting said in a statement. “Bob was a talented player, a proud Pirate and a respected member of the baseball community.”

Skinner, a 6-foot-4 left-handed-hitting outfielder who threw right-handed and was known as “Sleepy” for his laid-back demeanor, spent 12 seasons in the majors with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis.

A career .277 hitter, Skinner was named to the National League All-Star team in 1958 and twice in 1960, during the brief period when Major League Baseball held two All-Star games a season. Skinner spent eight-plus seasons with Pittsburgh from 1954-63 before being traded to Cincinnati and then the Cardinals, where he was part of the 1964 team that won the World Series.

Skinner retired at the end of the 1966 season before going into coaching and managing. He went 93–123 during a short managerial run with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1968-69 and a one-game interim stint with his hometown San Diego Padres in 1977.

A respected coach who worked with six different organizations in various capacities, Skinner returned to Pittsburgh in 1979 as the club's hitting coach, winning a third ring as part of the “We Are Family" Pirates that beat Baltimore in the 1979 World Series.

Skinner's best season may have been 1960, when he drove in a career-high 86 runs while hitting in the middle of a Pirates lineup that reached the World Series. He started in Game 1 against the New York Yankees but injured his thumb while sliding into a base, forcing him to sit out until Game 7. He went 0 for 2 with a walk in Game 7, scoring on Rocky Nelson's second-inning homer and later laying down a sacrifice bunt that advanced two runners during an eighth-inning rally that put Pittsburgh in front.

Skinner was born on Oct. 3, 1931, in La Jolla, California. A standout at San Diego Junior College, he signed a contract with Pittsburgh in the early 1950s and eventually made his debut in 1954 after spending two years in the military during the Korean War.

Skinner is survived by Joan, sons Mark, Craig, Drew and Joel, along with eight grandchildren.

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

High pressure will move offshore on Wednesday, which will bring a southerly wind to our area. This will bring more heat to our area. In fact, near-record high temperatures are likely on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of an approaching front. Highs will be in the low 90s on Wednesday, mid 90s on Thursday. The record high temperatures are below.

Wednesday: 96 degrees set in 2012.

Thursday: 95 degrees set in 1952.

A front will cross our area on Friday, bringing with it the potential for showers and storms reach day. While rainfall won’t be widespread, we will certainly take anything we can get as our area is in a drought.

Highs on Friday will be lower behind the front, in the low 80s.

Scattered storms will remain possible as we head into the weekend as another front approaches our area.

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 also includes our western zones.

Our area is highlighted in seeing a higher probability of above normal rainfall over the next few weeks. We will certainly take any rain that we can get.

TONIGHT: Partly Cloudy. Low 66.

WEDNESDAY: Partly Cloudy. High 93, Low 69.

THURSDAY: Partly to Mostly Cloudy & Breezy. Isolated Rain & Storms. High 95, Low 70.

FRIDAY: Partly to Mostly Cloudy & Breezy. Scattered Rain & Storms. High 84, Low 697.

SATURDAY: Partly to Mostly Cloudy. Scattered Rain & Storms. High 85, Low 68.

SUNDAY: Partly to Mostly Cloudy. Scattered Rain & Storms. High 86, Low 69.

The artwork itself faced an unknown future in 1942, when it was acquired in Paris for Adolf Hitler, one of countless works swept up in the Nazi plunder of European Jews.

On Tuesday, it went on permanent display in a new room at the city's Musée d’Orsay as part of France’s long-delayed reckoning with Nazi-era looting. The gallery is the first in the museum's history given over to the orphaned masterpieces of the Nazi era.

It is also the first such display in France where the paintings are hung so visitors can read the backs. The stamps, labels and inventory marks map how each piece of art moved from private homes into Nazi hands.

The painting by Belgian artist Alfred Stevens was originally earmarked for the Führer’s planned museum in Linz, Austria. But by 1943, it was reassigned to Hitler’s mountain home in the Bavaria region of Germany. The museum was never built following Germany's defeat.

Allied recovery teams — the Monuments Men made famous by the 2014 George Clooney film — finally found the painting after the war.

No heir came forward, and no one knows who owned it before 1942.

A collection of unclaimed art

The 1891 Stevens painting is not unique. It is one of 2,200 such artistic orphans in France — known as MNR, short for Musées Nationaux Récupération, or National Museums Recovery. These artworks were retrieved from Germany and Austria after 1945 and entrusted to French national museums in the early 1950s.

They were never claimed. The state does not own them but holds them in trust for heirs who may yet appear. The Musée d’Orsay holds 225 such pieces.

Marie Duboisse, a retired schoolteacher from Lyon, paused Tuesday in front of the Stevens painting.

“I have seen those three letters — M, N, R — at the Louvre. I never knew what they meant. I thought it was a donor,” she said.

Last month, the museum launched its first research unit dedicated to tracing the orphans’ rightful heirs, file by file. The effort involves six Franco-German researchers led by Ines Rotermund-Reynard, the Orsay’s head of provenance research.

The new gallery displays 13 such works.

France’s long-delayed reckoning

France is reckoning, in plain sight, with one of the longest silences in its postwar memory: the looted, sold and lost art of the Nazi era — and the French hands that helped move it.

Starting in the late 1960s, documentaries and historians began naming what France had done under the Vichy government that cooperated with the Nazis, including helping to send 80,000 Jews from France to their deaths and presiding over a Paris art market that grew rich on the property of the dead.

In July 1995, President Jacques Chirac stood at the site of the Vél d’Hiv roundup — the 1942 mass arrest in Paris of Jews who were then deported to Nazi camps — and said, for the first time, that the French state itself bore responsibility. In 1997, France launched a national inquiry into the plundering of artwork from Jews.

About 100,000 cultural objects were declared looted from France during the war. Some 60,000 were recovered. About 45,000 went home.

Roughly 15,000 had no identified owner. The 2,200 MNR artworks were chosen from that remainder.

For four decades, they were largely a dormant file. Between 1954 and 1993, France returned only four.

Chirac’s mea culpa, and the country’s slow reckoning with its own role, changed that.

The Orsay has returned 15 since 1994.

The market that fed the plunder

The most recent pieces of art to be returned — by Alfred Sisley and Auguste Renoir, given to the heirs of Grégoire Schusterman — went home in 2024.

Inside the new gallery, the histories hang on the wall.

There is a piece by Edgar Degas, a copy he made of a Berlin ballroom scene around 1879. The Jewish collector Fernand Ochsé bought it in 1919. Ochsé was deported to Auschwitz and killed.

There is another Renoir, a portrait of the writer Alphonse Daudet’s wife, sold to a Cologne museum in November 1941. No record names the seller.

There is also a painting by Paul Cézanne that was dismissed as a fake by a Louvre curator in the 1950s. Recent study suggests it may be real.

Daniel Lévy, a software engineer visiting from Strasbourg, stood at the Cézanne, looking at its back.

“You walk past these labels your whole life and you do not read them. Now I will read them," he said. "My grandmother lost some of her family in the camps. Some of these paintings were probably hanging in homes like hers.”

Paris was Western Europe's richest art hub in the early 20th century.

The Hôtel Drouot, the city’s main auction house, reopened in autumn 1940 and ran briskly through the Nazi occupation.

French dealers were among the conduits. German museums sent buyers, and Hitler’s agents took the best.

“The most important art market in Europe was concentrated in Paris,” Rotermund-Reynard said. “The moment the Nazis arrived in occupied territory, they had enormous buying power. They threw themselves at the market.”

Germans were eager buyers

Almost every museum in Nazi Germany, Rotermund-Reynard said, sent buyers to Paris to expand its collections. Those buyers drew on a market thick with looted and forced-sale property.

“Hitler himself wanted to build the world’s largest museum, in Linz, the city in Austria where he grew up,” she said.

Hermann Göring, Hitler’s deputy, traveled 21 times to Paris during the occupation to help himself to works taken from Jewish collectors.

“There was an enormous thirst,” Rotermund-Reynard said, “both for the possessions of Jewish collectors, and for acquisitions to expand the German museums.”

For Rotermund-Reynard, the works cannot be separated from the genocide.

“All of this is part of the history of the Shoah,” she said, using the Hebrew word for the Holocaust. “When you try to understand this drive to take from Jewish families, it is part of the terrifying Nazi ideology to erase Jewish life.”

Antisemitic acts in France — home to Europe’s largest Jewish community — hit 1,320 in 2025, according to the French Interior Ministry. Those near-record levels followed a sharp surge after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

The gallery was not built to fight antisemitism, said François Blanchetière, the Orsay’s chief sculpture curator and co-curator of the gallery. But the consequences of the Holocaust must be repaired, he said.

“There is no statute of limitations on these crimes," he said.

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A previous version of this story had the wrong first name for Degas.

“The Lost Boys,” an adaptation of a 1987 teen movie vampire thriller, and “Schmigadoon!,” an adaptation of an Apple TV series that gently mocks Broadway musicals, were followed by a revival of “Ragtime,” a big, soaring musical celebrating early 20th-century America, with 11 nominations, and “Death of a Salesman,” Arthur Miller’s masterpiece that looks at the unraveling of the American Dream, starring Nathan Lane, which nabbed nine nods.

Twenty-four shows got at least one nomination across the 26 Tony categories, a revival of “Chess,” the Cold War-set love triangle between two chess grand masters and the woman who loved both, and “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” which reimagines Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic feline musical into a celebration of queer ballroom culture.

“I'm over the Jellicle moon about this!” said Bill Rauch, who secured his first Tony nomination for co-directing the reimagined “Cats.” “I’ve spent my whole career trying to connect the dots between classics and the place and time we’re living in, and so to have ‘Cats’ have this life on Broadway right now just really feels like an affirmation of everything I’ve been trying to do for decades.”

Best new musical and play nominees

The best new musical crown will be between “The Lost Boys,” “Schmigadoon!,” “Titanique,” a camp musical comedy that reimagines the 1997 megahit movie “Titanic,” and “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York),” an opposites-attract rom-com set during a New York City weekend.

Ali Louis Bourzgui, nominated for best featured role in a musical playing a seductive vampire in “The Lost Boys,” took a bite on why his show was so well received: “I think that people, including myself, love a villain that they can care for,” he said. “Some of my favorite performances are technically villains on paper, but the person who’s playing them actively makes them a full 3D person that you can root for. I think that’s the most interesting kind of character.”

The best new play nominees are the John Lithgow-led “Giant,” which explores accusations of antisemitism against children’s author Roald Dahl; “Liberation,” about a consciousness-raising women’s group in 1970s Ohio that won the Pulitzer Prize for drama on Monday; “The Balusters,” a wry comedy about a small-town neighborhood association that descends into chaos over whether to install a stop sign; and “Little Bear Ridge Road,” about a struggling writer who returns to his rural hometown to settle his dead father’s estate.

Playwright Mark Rosenblatt conceived of “Giant” in 2018 and started writing it in 2020, and it seems remarkably relevant in 2026, following the fallout from the war in Gaza and the spotlight on antisemitism in America.

“The ideas in the play, the concerns in the plays, the pain in the play, is perennial,” he said. “But I could never have imagined that it would, when it finally was produced, would be playing against the backdrop of what’s happening now.”

“The Fear of 13,” the true story of a man who spent more than two decades on death row, didn't get any acting nods, despite starring Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson in their Broadway debuts. Former “Glee” star Lea Michele will still be seeking her first Tony nomination after having missed out for her work on “Chess.”

Squibb is now the oldest Tony-nominated actor in history, besting the record set by Lois Smith, who was 89 when she was nominated in 2020 for “The Inheritance.” Squibb's Broadway resume reaches back to a stint in the original production of “Gypsy” in 1960 with Ethel Merman, and she recalls rehearsing a musical by dancing on a concrete floor. It is her first Tony nomination.

In Jordan Harrison’s play “Marjorie Prime,” a widow played by Squibb is brought an artificial companion who looks precisely like her dead husband. Premiering in 2014, the work in 2026 capitalizes on the recent frenzy over technological advancements like ChatGPT. Squibb said she saw the original, but only now fully comprehends the implications of things like AI.

As for her age, she said she doesn't really think about it: “I can’t ignore my body is different than it was when I was young. And when I read a script now, I have to think can I physically do what they’re asking me to do. And that’s about it,” she said. “As long as it’s not dancing on concrete floors.”

Burstein becomes the most-nominated male actor in Tony history with nine nods after his work in “Marjorie Prime,” beating the record set by Jason Robards. Kelli O’Hara got her ninth career nomination for a revival of the comedy “Fallen Angels,” tying her with Rosemary Harris for third on the all-time acting nominations list.

Who lost out?

A trio of actors from the hit TV series “The Bear” struck out in their Broadway debuts this season — Ayo Edebiri in a revival of “Proof” and Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach who both appeared in “Dog Day Afternoon,” an adaptation of Sidney Lumet’s 1975 bank robbing drama.

Others who missed out this year include Bobby Cannavale, who starred in a revival of “Art” with Neil Patrick Harris and James Corden that was snubbed by the nominators. “Bill & Ted” stars Keanu Reeves and Alex Winters reuniting for a revival of “Waiting for Godot,” were also left off, although Brandon J. Dirden was nominated for a featured role. Laurie Metcalf was in a position to earn two but will have to settle with a featured role nod for “Death of a Salesman.”

Nominations include a return

The best play revival category is stacked with well-received work: “Every Brilliant Thing”; “Death of a Salesman”; “Oedipus,” a modern retelling of Sophocles’ classic tragedy set on election night in a modern campaign office; “Becky Shaw,” Gina Gionfriddo’s dark comedy about a newlywed couple who decide to play matchmaker; and “Fallen Angels,” Noël Coward’s alcohol-fueled competition between two upper-crust ladies over the attention of a former lover.

Daniel Radcliffe secured a nomination for “Every Brilliant Thing,” a one-person show that explores the antidotes to depression.

Rose Byrne, the “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” star who plays one of those upper-crust ladies in “Fallen Angels,” secured a nomination for best actress in a play, becoming the 22nd actor in history to be Oscar- and Tony-nominated in the same year. In addition to Byrne and O’Hara, Lesley Manville secured a nod for “Oedipus,” Susannah Flood for “Liberation” and Carrie Coon for her work in her husband Tracy Letts' play “Bug.”

O’Hara — winner for the 2015 “The King and I” revival — said there will be no chill descending between her and her co-star: “I’m moving with great bravery because of someone who’s brave right next to me. And if she takes home that prize, it would mean we both win.”

Lithgow, who has two Tonys already, will get his third if he beats leading actor in a play nominees Lane, Radcliffe, Mark Strong in “Oedipus” and Will Harrison from “Punch,” which looks at restorative justice following the death of a man from a physical punch.

Best actor in a musical nominees include Joshua Henry and Brandon Uranowitz, both from “Ragtime,” Sam Tutty in “Two Strangers,” Nicholas Christopher in “Chess” and Luke Evans from “The Rocky Horror Show.”

On the women’s side, the nominees are: Caissie Levy from “Ragtime,” Marla Mindelle for “Titanique,” Christiani Pitts from “Two Strangers,” Sara Chase from “Schmigadoon!” and Stephanie Hsu in “The Rocky Horror Show.”

The nominations also seemed to be an official welcome back to producer Scott Rudin, who scored nods for “Death of a Salesman” and “Little Bear Ridge Road.” In 2021, Rudin said he was stepping back after allegations of bullying.

The Tony Awards will be handed out June 7 at Radio City Music Hall during a telecast hosted by Pink. The awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+.

Last year’s show — hosted by “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo — drew 4.85 million viewers to CBS, its largest broadcast audience in six years, according to Nielsen.

MLB announced a three-game ban for Devenski early Tuesday, then said the suspension was reduced to two games later in the day after negotiations with the players' association. Devenski will begin serving the suspension Tuesday night when the Pirates open a road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Devenski’s fine was not disclosed.

Devenski intentionally threw at Stewart in the top of the seventh inning of Pittsburgh’s 17-7 win at PNC Park on Saturday. He was ejected following the incident.

Pirates manager Don Kelly was also suspended for one game and received an undisclosed fine, MLB senior vice president for on-field operations Michael Hill announced. Kelly was also set to serve his suspension on Tuesday night.

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

And the big surprise was Dustin Johnson, who was extended one of the special invitations to the PGA Championship next week despite his eligibility running out last year.

“Very excited,” Johnson said from LIV Golf Virginia, “I want to play in all the majors. I feel like my game is still good enough to compete with everyone and still can win. The PGA was nice enough to give me an invitation. So yeah, I'm very, very happy and thankful for that.”

The PGA of America held back two spots in case the winners of two PGA Tour events, the Truist Championship and the Myrtle Beach Classic, are not already eligible.

Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion at the second major of the year, which returns to Aronimink for the first time since Gary Player won in 1972.

Johnson is among 30 players who competed at Aronimink when it hosted the BMW Championship in 2018, when Keegan Bradley defeated Justin Rose in a playoff that didn't finish until Monday because of so much rain.

The PGA Championship committee is the least transparent in filling the field for its major, with 33 players receiving special invitations.

Most of them came from the top 100 in the world ranking. The PGA Championship strives to have the top 100 and often will go a few places outside the top 100 to make sure no one sneaks in in the final week before the major.

It gave invitations to Andy Sullivan of England (102), Angel Ayora of Spain (103), Keith Mitchell (104), Chandler Blanchet (106) and Billy Horschel (107).

It also has a category of its PGA points list — based on official PGA Tour money earned in the last 12 months — to fill the field beyond the top 70.

Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Canada is the leading player not eligible at No. 80. He becomes the first alternate, with a reasonable chance of getting in because only four players at the Truist Championship — Yellamaraju is one of them — are not yet in the PGA.

The alternates all came from the PGA points list.

Woods not playing was expected. He was arrested Feb. 27 on suspicion of DUI and received permission from a Florida judge to seek treatment outside the country. Woods has not played in a major since the 2024 British Open.

Mickelson has not said publicly what he's dealing with at home. His only LIV Golf event was in South Africa in March. He did not play in the Masters.

The PGA of America also awarded a spot to Ian Holt, a two-time winner this year on the Korn Ferry Tour who leads the points list, and Kota Kaneko of Japan from the Federation Ranking of tours around the world. The PGA Championship takes players from the leading three tours. Kaneko on the Japan Golf Tour was fourth.

Johnson, a former No. 1 player in the world with two majors, has been eligible for every major since the 2009 Masters. He did not play in three of them because of injury or because of taking time away from the game (2014 PGA Championship).

His 10-year exemption from winning the U.S. Open expires after this year. He is not eligible for the British Open, which historically does not offer special exemptions.

Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald of Team Europe received an invitation, which has become a PGA Championship tradition. U.S. captain Jim Furyk is not playing. Vijay Singh, a two-time PGA champion, and 2025 Senior PGA champion Angel Cabrera chose not to play.

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

Meloni shared the photo in question on Facebook. She included with it an apparent post from someone named Roberto who apparently had himself shared it on social media with the commentary that Meloni should be “ashamed” of herself.

Meloni warned against sharing such images on social media without verifying them.

“Deepfakes are a dangerous tool because they can deceive, manipulate and target anyone. I can defend myself. Many others cannot,” she warned in her Facebook post.

It wasn't immediately clear if Meloni would report the incident to law enforcement, as she was urged to do by people commenting on her post. She acknowledged though that the photo manipulation “actually made me look a lot better.”

“But the fact remains that, in order to attack and fabricate lies, people will now use absolutely anything,” she wrote.

It’s not the first time that the likeness of Meloni, Italy’s first female premier, has made waves. In February, a minor church-state scandal erupted after a cherub bearing a striking appearance to Meloni appeared in a Roman church.

Then, Meloni made light of the manipulation.

“No, I definitely don’t look like an angel,” Meloni wrote on social media with a laughing/crying emoji alongside a photo of the work.

Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton took questions Tuesday at LIV Golf Virginia after LIV CEO Scott O'Neil spoke to reporters about his efforts to court investors for a league that is losing its chief financial backer, Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, at the end of the season.

Both players declined to speculate on their future and noted that they remain under contract with LIV for years to come.

“As of right now I have several years on my contract left, and I’m pretty sure they did a pretty good job when they drafted that, so I don’t see many ways out,” Rahm said.

Asked whether Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund had committed to honoring contracts beyond 2026, O'Neil said, “I don’t even know how to think about answering.”

The Saudis have spent $5 billion on LIV Golf over five years without achieving profitability, including $1 billion on player contracts. Players compete for $30 million purses at each event on the LIV schedule, an amount that could be reduced next year without Saudi funding.

The PGA Tour does not allow players to compete on both circuits. However, LIV players have been welcomed back to the European tour after paying fines for playing in conflicting events.

Rahm refused to pay the fines and the resulting standoff put at risk his participation in next year's Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland.

“There is no longer a standoff. We were able to reach an agreement. There were some concessions on both sides, and I offered some, they extended an olive branch,” Rahm said. “So that will not be a stress anymore.”

Rahm said he plans to play European tour events this fall, including the Spanish Open, unless family considerations get in the way. He and wife Kelley are expecting their fourth child.

The two-time major champion has played only six European tour events since joining LIV in late 2023. LIV has no events on its schedule between the U.S. Open and the British Open, and Rahm's settlement would allow him to play the Scottish Open, which is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour, the week before the year's final major.

Speaking in Spanish at the end of his availability, Rahm said he knew there was risk in coming to LIV and compared his situation to a soccer team knowing its coach was leaving at the end of the season.

“You know you have to play, but there is ambiguity because maybe you are not going to follow the same system,” Rahm said before making a reference to PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, known as “His Excellency,” who has stepped down as LIV's chairman.

“It was a surprise for everyone. We didn't expect it, after the support that His Excellency has given us.”

O'Neil makes a pitch for LIV's value

O'Neil took questions from a LIV media official for 28 minutes inside the tennis building at Trump National Golf Club outside Washington before answering reporters' questions for 17 minutes.

Behind him was a screen with the names of six sponsors, four of which are owned or backed by the PIF: Maaden, Riyadh Air, Roshn Group and Aramco.

O'Neil mentioned sponsorships, ticket sales, television contracts and the league's global footprint as reasons for optimism that it could secure funding. The league plans to take its 13 franchises to market, and O'Neil said those teams would be offered to potential buyers with players in place.

“The way the process will typically work — I may be getting ahead of myself — is that we're going to create a business plan, we're going to lock arms with the players, we will go to market and raise money on a top level, and then we will get investors in teams in that order,” O'Neil said. “The players on the team should be locked in.”

Rahm acknowledged that players might have to accept less money to keep the league going.

“I do believe that for the business plan to change, whatever they're coming up with, there will need to be some concessions on (players') part, yeah,” he said.

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This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Tyrrell Hatton's first name.

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

Dean DelleChiaie, 35, of Nashua, was expected to make an initial court appearance Tuesday on a charge of interstate communication of a threat against the president. According to federal prosecutors, he sent a message April 21 using his personal email account in which he identified himself and said he was going to “neutralize/kill” the president.

That came nearly three months after police and U.S. Secret Service officers questioned DelleChiaie about searches made on his computer at the FAA, where he was employed as a contractor involved in mechanical engineering.

According to court documents, DelleChiaie used his work computer in January to search for information about how to get a gun into a federal facility, the percentage of the population that wants the president dead, the location of the vice president’s home and the names of his children. He later asked the FAA’s information technology department to delete his search history, but the department instead reported the request to authorities, and DelleChiaie was suspended.

When interviewed at his home Feb. 3, DelleChiaie admitted to making the searches and was remorseful, Secret Service Special Agent Nathaneal Gamble wrote. He also told investigators he owned three guns, was depressed and that while he was upset with the Trump administration, he had no interest in assassinations.

DelleChiaie, whose attorney did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment, was arrested Monday, just over a week after a gunman tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner with guns and knives. Cole Tomas Allen has been charged in that incident, in which a Secret Service officer who was wearing body armor was shot but not seriously injured.

The class action lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, accuses the tech giant of copyright infringement and opens up a new front in the ongoing battle between the book community and developers of AI.

The plaintiffs allege that Zuckerberg and Meta “followed their well-known motto ‘move fast and break things’" by illegally drawing upon a massive trove of books and journal articles for Llama.

“Defendants reproduced and distributed millions of copyrighted works without permission, without providing any compensation to authors or publishers, and with full knowledge that their conduct violated copyright law,” the complaint reads in part. “Zuckerberg himself personally authorized and actively encouraged the infringement."

Authors published by the five companies suing — Elsevier, Cengage, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan and McGraw Hill — include Turow, James Patterson, Donna Tartt, former President Joe Biden and at least two of the Pulitzer Prize winners announced Monday, Yiyun Li and Amanda Vaill.

In a statement Monday, Meta vowed to “fight this lawsuit aggressively.”

“AI is powering transformative innovations, productivity and creativity for individuals and companies, and courts have rightly found that training AI on copyrighted material can qualify as fair use," the statement reads in part.

Over the past few years, numerous authors have pursued legal action involving AI. In 2025, Anthropic agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class action suit initiated by thriller novelist Andrea Bartz and nonfiction writers Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson. A final approval hearing is scheduled for next week.

Wild coach John Hynes announced the goaltender swap several hours before puck drop. Gustavsson hasn't played since allowing five goals at St. Louis on April 13. He went 28-15-6 with a 2.69 goals-against average during the regular season.

Wallstedt surrendered 14 goals in six games during a first-round series win over Dallas. He struggled in Game 1 against the high-scoring Avalanche in allowing eight goals on 42 shots. Wallstedt and Gustavsson split time throughout the season.

“We have confidence in both of our goalies. They’re both excellent,” Hynes said. “They both played really good hockey. We believe either one of them can win us a game. It’s a good opportunity to get Gus in the net. He’s hungry to get in.”

Gustavsson has played in 11 postseason games for the Wild, posting a 4-6 mark with a 2.54 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. The 27-year-old Gustavsson stayed sharp waiting for his turn, Hynes said, and has been "very supportive" of the decision to go with Wallstedt.

“But the thing I liked about it, too, was that he didn’t just concede it, either,” Hynes said. "He wants to play. He wants to get in the net. He was working for it. He’s making sure that he was prepared to do it.

"It could be a little bit of a negative response, but his was, ‘I understand the decision.’ As it went on, he wanted to get into the net. But his attitude toward the team and toward Wally was top shelf.”

The Wild remain without forward Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin because of lower-body injuries. Hynes said there could be more tweaks to the lineup, but those will be game-time decisions based on health.

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

International Youth Service, the agency that matched us up 40 years ago, has long since folded, but other pen pal programs have survived — or even began during — the internet age. And even though New Zealand's postal system has reduced home delivery days, Denmark has stopped delivering letters altogether and Canada is moving in that direction, some see signs of a letter-writing resurgence.

“The hunger is there,” said Rachel Syme, a writer for The New Yorker magazine who created a pen pal program during the COVID-19 pandemic and later published a book encouraging others to take up handwritten correspondence.

More than 15,000 people signed up for Syme’s Penpalooza project in 2020, and she still gets hundreds of takers when she coordinates a new round of matchmaking every few months. She also gets requests for pen pals at book signings for “Syme’s Letter Writer – A Guide to Modern Correspondence,” and the stationery stores she frequents in New York City are always crowded with customers.

“People are very interested in physical, analog things right now,” she said. “I think it really has an appeal especially to a younger generation who grew up with a phone glued to their hand, to do something that’s more tactile, slower, more intentional, more mindful, but also just disconnected from the internet in every way.”

“Yours (hopefully)”

I was still 10 years away from connecting to the internet when I opened my first aerogramme from New Zealand, a sheet of pale blue paper that served as both writing surface and envelope adorned with a 45-cent stamp. That missive ended with a formal “Yours (hopefully) Molly Nunns,” but within a year, she was signing off with “Lots and lots of love” or “Your friend forever.”

In letter after letter, Molly drew little hearts on the tails of y’s in both of our first names, asked for updates on my middle school crushes and shared stories about her classmates and family. I could clearly picture her life, though it was hard in snowy New Hampshire to imagine celebrating Christmas during the summer.

“I am thinking of you heaps and I wonder what you are doing because you’re a SUPER pen friend and I hope that we never stop writing to each other and that one day we will get to meet each other,” she wrote in early 1986.

Julie Delbridge, 65, fostered similar friendships after joining International Pen Friends as a teenager in 1979. Writing to pen pals in more than a dozen countries from her home in Australia was such a positive experience that she began working for the organization as an adult and took over as its president in 2001. While she loved sharing photos, postcards and treats with her pen friends, it also was a therapeutic experience at a time when her parents were going through a bitter divorce.

“It was a pastime that I totally immersed myself into in a positive way and gained a lot of enjoyment from,” she said. “There was an abundance of non-judgmental friendship, fun and different perspectives.”

Over its 59-year history, IPF has provided pen pals to more than 2 million people ages 8 to 80+, she said. Membership peaked in the late 1990s but surged again during the pandemic, and this year, there’s been an increase in people ages 21-26 joining.

Pen pals in the classroom

In 2021, the U.S. Postal Service sent cards and envelopes to 25,000 elementary school classrooms for a pen pal project, but older students also are putting pen to paper.

In Texas, a group of medical students created an anonymous pen pal program to promote peer support and personal reflection. At Villanova University, professor Kamran Javadizadeh requires students to send letters to each other as part of a literature class called “Letters, Texts, Twitter” that examines different forms of epistolary communication in literature.

“I make them put pieces of paper in envelopes and take them to the post office and send them to each other even though they could just as easily hand it to the person in class,” he said. “Something is lost when you have instantaneous communication. So I’m interested in the relationship between synchronous kinds of intimacy and asynchronous forms of intimacy.”

Gordon Alley-Young, dean of communications at New York’s Kingsborough Community College, believes letters are like vinyl records — they’re coming back into fashion as young people explore a tangible medium from the past. He has both studied the history of letter writing and used it to teach students empathy.

In an interpersonal communication class, he noticed that students analyzing case studies about relationship problems offered matter-of-fact, almost insensitive diagnoses. But when he re-wrote the case studies in the form of letters from friends and had students respond in kind, they began sharing their own feelings and offering more open-ended advice.

“We really want students to connect to what they’re looking at,” he said. “And letter writing encourages that.”

Pen pals in the digital age

An app called Slowly seeks to combine modern technology with the old-fashioned anticipation inherent to the pen pal relationship. Users send messages digitally, but delivery is delayed from an hour to several days to mimic snail mail.

“This delay naturally encourages longer, more thoughtful messages because you wouldn’t just say ‘hi’ if you know you have to wait days for a reply,” said cofounder JoJo Chan.

Since 2017, the app has gained 10 million users in more than 160 countries, most in their 20s and 30s. One user said he was curious about pen pals after hearing about them from his grandparents, Chan said.

“Slowly offers a convenient way and a modern way for them to try that experience,” she said.

Syme, however, is all about the tangible aspects of letter writing. Her book includes advice on paper and pens plus all kinds of goodies that can be tucked into envelopes.

“There is joy to be had once you fully embrace the medium’s outdated extravagance,” she writes.

But letter writing, she said in an interview, is like a swimming pool, both shiny and deep. The frippery and embellishments don’t matter in comparison to what you actually put on the page.

“That’s where I think it can get very real, very quickly,” she said.

A special connection

Molly and I had been writing for 15 years by the time we met in person, spending a day together in New York when she toured the U.S. in May 2000. We crossed paths in London a few years later, and in 2018, she and her family visited New Hampshire.

“Who would have thought when we started writing in 1985 that one day you’d be sitting here? It’s quite amazing,” she said during my recent visit. “We’ll always have a special connection, I’m sure.”

In addition to the sunglasses, I also gave Molly a bound book of 200 pages of her letters that I scanned and printed. At age 13, I never could have imagined that someday I’d have searchable PDFs of our teenage scribblings that could be summarized in 10 seconds by artificial intelligence. But what amazes me more is the depth of the connection I felt during our tearful airport goodbye.

We will for sure meet again. Until then, lots and lots of love, Holly.

“In a very classist country, Oprah's club was one of the very first things that said books are for everyone. It was a powerful thing,” the 49-year-old author told The Associated Press during a recent interview at a hotel lounge in downtown Manhattan.

Stuart has since ascended high into a culture he once thought wanted no part of him. Best known for “Shuggie Bain,” he's a bestseller, winner of the Booker Prize and Dayton Literary Peace Prize and he has seen his novels translated into dozens of languages. A few months ago, he found himself in unexpected conversation with the celebrity who had helped inspire him to read: Stuart was the recipient of what people refer to as “the call,” when Winfrey notifies an author that she has chosen their work for her club.

On Tuesday, Winfrey announced the selection of Stuart's “John of John.” Published this week, it's his third novel, and returns to the country and themes of “Shuggie Bain” and its successor, “Young Mungo.” The setting is an isolated community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, where art school student John-Calum “Cal” MacLeod returns from Edinburgh to live with his troubled father and beloved, but ailing grandmother. He re-encounters the conflicts that helped convince him he needed to leave: Catholics vs. Protestants, parents vs. children, traditional gender roles vs. the forbidden and sometimes dangerous love between men.

“I felt transported,” Winfrey said in a statement Tuesday. “I could feel every aspect of this remote community where tradition and judgment quietly shaped everyone’s life. Douglas Stuart brilliantly weaved a layered, compelling and yet so intimate a story of identity, what it means to belong, and the courage to claim your own truth.”

Stuart's book club interview can be seen on The Oprah Podcast and other podcast outlets.

A sense of perspective

A longtime New Yorker, Stuart knows he's upholding a tradition of artists who leave their place of birth, but revisit it in their minds long after. Like Cal, he is an art school graduate who needed more space than his hometown could offer. But Stuart has otherwise proved more fortunate. While Cal struggles to support himself, Stuart had a long and successful career in design before finding even greater success as a novelist. He draws upon firsthand memories in “John of John” but also upon the perspective gained from setting abroad.

“I love the Salman Rushdie quote that you cannot see a painting until you’re outside the frame,” he said. “Leaving filled me with a huge homesickness, but it also gave me the ability to see things from a distance. I was able to understand that I wasn't the only person with pain in my life. All the people around me were also carrying pain.

Stuart, born in 1976, was raised by a single mother who died from alcoholism and poverty when he was 16, a tragedy revisited in “Shuggie Bain.” Discouraged by teachers to pursue a literary career, he attended the Scottish College of Textiles (now Heriot-Watt University) and received a master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in London. He moved to New York in his mid-20s and within a few years had risen to senior director of design at Banana Republic. He was a great success to those who knew him, but not to himself. By age 30, he was quietly carving out a new path.

A fateful party

Like so many of his peers, he became a writer because he had to. His week was mostly filled by his job at Banana Republic, but the story which became “Shuggie Bain” so compelled him that for a decade, he devoted much of his free time to it, recalling the “joy” of having even moments to think and reflect. He had no real publishing connections, but he did have the luck of a well-placed neighbor — Tina Pohlman, an industry veteran who has worked as an editor, agent and consultant. She and Stuart lived in the same building in Greenwich Village and met during a holiday party. Both remember Stuart telling her that he had written a book and was hoping she would look at it, the kind of request Pohlman rarely wanted to hear.

“I was immediately filled with dread,” Pohlman says. “Anytime that anyone at a party tells you they have a novel, it's tricky. You have to be polite. I told him I would look at it, but that it will take a long time. I guess I was trying to make it as difficult for him as possible.”

But Pohlman decided to give the manuscript a quick look, loved it from the opening page and helped Stuart find an agent. After dozens of publishers turned him down, some, apparently believing that the public wasn't ready for the occasional passage of local dialect, Grove Atlantic vice president-deputy publisher Peter Blackstock signed it up. “Maybe because I’m from England, or maybe it’s also because I'm gay, it resonated with me,” Blackstock told the AP.

“Shuggie Bain” was released on the eve of the pandemic in 2020 and steadily gained attention even as bookstores worldwide were shut down. By the fall, his novel was a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Booker, an unusual achievement for a debut novel. It has since sold more than a million copies worldwide and helped convince Stuart that he could no longer regard himself as an outsider,

Stuart's imagination often resides in Scotland, but he calls himself an American and feels very much a part of his adopted country, living in the Greenwich Village with his husband, Michael Cary. While long past the illusion that the U.S. has been spared the class system of the United Kingdom, he still finds a spirit of optimism and possibility.

“I love the feeling that success is not being something to be ashamed of,” he says. “I love that I got to start over here. Nobody knew who I was. Nobody knew where I came from. I got to completely reinvent myself.”

A study released Tuesday by the nongovernmental organization Amazon Conservation, in partnership with Brazilian nonprofit Instituto Socioambiental, found illegal mining sites drove clear-cutting inside three conservation areas in the Xingu region, one of the world’s largest expanses of protected forest, spanning the states of Para and Mato Grosso. The analysis combined satellite imagery with ground research.

The Terra do Meio Ecological Station recorded its first cases of illegal mining in September 2024. By the end of 2025, mining-related deforestation there had spread to 30 hectares (74 acres). At the Altamira National Forest, illegal mining accumulated 832 hectares (2,056 acres) of deforestation between 2016 and September 2025. A new mining front that opened in 2024 expanded to 36 hectares (89 acres) by October 2025, accounting for nearly half the mining-related deforestation recorded in the unit during that year.

Satellite monitoring also detected a clandestine airstrip used by illegal miners at the Nascentes da Serra do Cachimbo Biological Reserve last year. Illegal mining in the reserve grew from 2 hectares (5 acres) to at least 26.8 hectares (66 acres) in 2025.

Most deforestation from mining is illegal, group says

In 2023, Amazon Conservation teamed up with Earth Genome and the Pulitzer Center to develop the Amazon Mining Watch, a platform that uses satellite imagery to track mining across the Amazon since 2018. About 496,000 hectares (1,225,640 acres) of rainforest have been cleared for mining since then, including approximately 223,000 hectares (551,045 acres) in the Brazilian Amazon. Amazon Conservation estimates that 80% of mining-related deforestation in Brazil carries a high risk of taking place illegally.

Mining remains a relatively small driver of deforestation in Brazil, where forest loss is largely linked to agribusiness expansion. In 2025, for example, some 579,600 hectares (1,432 acres) of the Brazilian Amazon were cleared, according to official data. About 17,000 hectares (42,000 acres) were related to mining, according to the Mining Watch.

“What makes mining particularly problematic is that it targets protected areas and Indigenous territories,” said Matt Finer, director of Amazon Conservation’s Monitoring of the Andes Amazon program.

Protecting Indigenous territories is widely seen as an effective way to curb deforestation in the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest and a key regulator of global climate. Researchers warn that continued forest loss could accelerate global warming.

Enforcement is often a ‘cat-and-mouse’ game

In 2023, Brazilian authorities launched a major crackdown on illegal gold mining in the Yanomami Indigenous territory in Roraima state, along the border with Venezuela, after a surge led to a humanitarian and health crisis. Annual growth in newly mined areas there fell sharply after that year, according to Amazon Conservation data. Although mining has not been fully eliminated, nearly all deforestation inside the Yanomami territory — about 5,500 hectares (13,590 acres) — had taken place by 2023.

Still, localized enforcement has not curbed illegal mining across the Amazon. When authorities destroy dredges and equipment in one region, miners often relocate or resume operations once officials leave. Federal prosecutor André Luiz Porreca, who investigates illegal mining in the western Brazilian Amazon, described enforcement as a “cat-and-mouse game.”

“Last year, I took part in an operation that destroyed more than 500 dredges on an Indigenous land,” Porreca said. “The following week, Indigenous people showed me photos proving the miners had already returned.”

Porreca said illegal gold mining is financed by Brazil’s largest criminal organizations, including the Red Command and the First Capital Command, or PCC, which operate in about a third of the cities in the Brazilian Amazon. “They have the money to bankroll these operations. Some dredges cost as much as 15 million reais."

While enforcement eased pressure in Yanomami territory, illegal mining has intensified elsewhere, particularly across Indigenous lands in the Xingu River basin. The most critical situation is on the Kayapo Indigenous land, where roughly 7,940 hectares (19,620 acres) of rainforest have been cleared by illegal mining, the largest such area in the Brazilian Amazon.

Gold has driven mercury contamination

Record-breaking gold prices, driven largely by investor demand for safe assets amid rising global risks, have provided a strong incentive for illegal mining.

“It’s basic market logic. With more buyers, there are more people exploiting gold,” Porreca said. He said Brazil’s mineral export control system remains weak, allowing laundering schemes that give illicit gold the appearance of legality.

Environmental damage extends beyond deforestation. Illegal mining operations dump mercury into rivers, contaminating waterways and accumulating in fish consumed by riverine and Indigenous communities.

In April, Porreca submitted a report to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights describing widespread mercury contamination in the Amazon. The report cited a study by Fiocruz, a state-run research institution, which found that 21.3% of fish sold in public markets across the Amazon exceeded mercury limits set by the World Health Organization. Children ages 2 to 4 were consuming mercury at levels up to 31 times higher than the recommended maximum.

Mining an increasing concern among environmentalists and Indigenous

Under Brazilian law, mining is prohibited on Indigenous lands. The Ministry of Indigenous peoples said in a statement that combating illegal mining on Indigenous lands is a priority of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration. The ministry said mining invasions are sustained by criminal networks and confronting them requires dismantling those economic and logistics chains.

The Ministry of Environment said mercury contamination from illegal gold mining remains a persistent problem in the Amazon, adding that it is expanding scientific monitoring while supporting enforcement efforts.

Brazil’s Federal Police did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

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

Charles, who had 4,262 rebounds in her career, also finished as the league's No. 2 all-time scorer behind Diana Taurasi. The 15-year veteran scored 8,396 points in the regular season.

“Today, I officially announce my retirement from basketball. Fifteen years at the professional level and a lifetime of love for this game," Charles wrote in her post. "I’ve experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows, and I’m thankful for all of it. Through it all, I learned how to show up. When doubt got loud and narratives were written about me, I kept showing up. That’s the New Yorker in me, where resilience is built, not talked about.”

Charles was the No. 1 pick by the Connecticut Sun in 2010 after helping the UConn Huskies win consecutive NCAA championships in 2009 and 2010. She was the AP Player of the Year in 2010.

She played with the Sun until 2013 before a blockbuster trade sent her home to New York.

“She is undeniably one of the most impactful players to ever wear a Liberty uniform and one of the most accomplished athletes our league has ever seen,” Liberty CEO Keia Clarke said. “Her excellence on the court, her leadership in the locker room and her unwavering commitment to pouring so much into the New York community, the city that raised her will endure for generations.”

Charles starred in her hometown through the 2019 season. She sat out the WNBA bubble season the next year before playing in Washington, Phoenix, Seattle and Atlanta. Charles came back to Connecticut last season and started 42 games while averaging 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds.

“Tina Charles has been one of the most prolific scorers and rebounder our league has ever seen and her impact in the community has been just as powerful as her impact on the floor,” Atlanta Dream GM Dan Padover said. “Tina had a historic career and was a cornerstone player during an important time of our league's growth.”

The 37-year-old center helped the U.S. win three Olympic gold medals as well as three World Cup championships. She earned WNBA MVP honors in 2012 and was the league's top scorer in two seasons. The one thing Charles never had a chance to do was play in a WNBA Finals.

“This game gave me everything, and I’ll miss it deeply,” Charles said. “But my mom always taught me, don’t stop at what you’ve done, keep going toward what you still see. And I still see so much. There are still dreams in my heart waiting to be lived, and I can’t wait to share that journey with you all.”

Besides her impact on the court, Charles has left a lasting one off of it, helping to save countless lives for more than a decade with her charity — Hopey's Heart Foundation. She's donated 500 AEDs (automated external defibrillators) through the organization that started in 2013 and is named in honor of her aunt.

It's dedicated to curbing deaths in the United States from sudden cardiac arrest. The organization works to ensure schools and public places have lifesaving equipment such as defibrillators on hand.

Charles said that before she started the foundation she didn’t realize how common and deadly sudden cardiac arrest could be until she read about Wes Leonard, a high school basketball player who suffered a heart attack and died after basketball practice in 2011.

And when her aunt died a few years later from organ failure, Charles committed herself to helping to solve the problem.

In 2017, when Charles was playing for the New York Liberty, she was surprised by the team by a man who was saved by one of the AEDs that the star had donated.

“Beyond her extraordinary accomplishments, Tina has represented the very best of the WNBA throughout her career," WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. "Through her leadership and dedication to giving back — including her work with her Hopey’s Heart Foundation — she has made a meaningful impact far beyond the game, earning the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award twice.

"Her legacy will be defined not only by her excellence on the court, but by the standard she set as a leader, a teammate, and a champion for the communities she touched.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

The no-confidence vote was a blow to Bolojan, who came to power with the aim of ending one of Romania’s worst political crises in its post-communist history.

The Social Democratic Party, or PSD, and the nationalist opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party, or AUR, jointly submitted the motion to Parliament on April 28. PSD withdrew from the coalition last month. On Tuesday, 281 lawmakers voted in favor and four voted against.

Lawmakers from Bolojan’s National Liberal Party, or PNL, and coalition partners, Save Romania Union party and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party, abstained.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan called for calm on Tuesday, saying that while it is “not a happy moment … it is a democratic decision by Parliament,” and that negotiations and informal consultations to form a new government are underway.

“We will have a new government within a reasonable time,” Dan said. “I exclude the scenario of early elections. And I emphasize: at the end of these procedures, we will have a pro-Western government — we will calmly get through this.”

Unrest grips the EU member country

Romania has faced a long period of instability after the annulment of a presidential election in December 2024. The country has also grappled with one of the highest budget deficits in the European Union, rampant inflation, and a technical recession. In June, when the coalition was voted in, it pledged to reduce the budget deficit, marking it a top priority.

The PSD had often found itself at loggerheads with Bolojan over austerity measures, including tax hikes, public-sector wage and pension freezes, and cuts to state spending and public administration jobs.

Last week, the party accused Bolojan of “failing to implement any genuine reform” in his 10 months leading the government, and said Romania needs a leader who is “capable of collaboration.” Bolojan said that he took tough but necessary fiscal measures that effectively “regained the trust of the markets in the Romanian government.”

Bolojan also called the no-confidence motion “cynical and artificial” and said before the vote that it “seems to be written by people who were not in government every day and did not participate in all the decisions.”

“It is cynical, because it does not take into account the context in which we find ourselves,” he said. “I assumed the position of prime minister, being aware that it comes with enormous pressure and that I would not receive applause from the citizens. But I chose to do what was urgent and necessary for our country.”

PSD calls for an interim president

The PSD party's president, Sorin Grindeanu, said Bolojan should appoint an interim prime minister until one is voted into office by lawmakers. He also said he expected Romanian President Nicusor Dan to consult PSD.

“I would like us to quickly find a solution … together with the other parties and move forward,” Grindeanu said. “All options are open.”

The secretary-general of Bolojan's party, Dan Motreanu, posted on social media, saying PSD and AUR “have a duty to take over the government, to come up with a prime minister candidate and a clear program,” accusing the two parties of “playing political theater.”

“You cannot overthrow a government and then run away from accountability,” Motreanu wrote, adding that “any signal of political chaos” negatively affects the country's economy and people.

The PSD would be needed to form a pro-European parliamentary majority. The party has previously ruled out forming a government with AUR, whose leader, George Simion, said Tuesday that voters had “supported and wanted water, food, energy,” but had “received taxes, war and poverty.”

Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, said the crisis will likely lead to a stalemate, since “no one has a majority, or a coalition, and it will take the president ... weeks to find such a majority and name a new prime minister, prolonging the indecision.”

“At this moment, there are two tentative options for a new Cabinet, both difficult to achieve; either a reshuffled coalition, without Bolojan, in the same formation ... or a minority Cabinet, rather led by PSD and satellites from populist parties, like AUR, or other small groups,” he said. “A PSD-AUR official Cabinet is not a possibility today because the president will not endorse it.”

The prime ministerial position was set to be rotated in 2027 from Bolojan to a PSD premier as part of a power-sharing agreement. A general election is scheduled for 2028.

___

McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.

Late Sunday evening, a deputy responding to another call saw a car parked in front of Midway Baptist Church on Bardin Road and when she returned to the area, she still saw the car parked there and found Amanda Burkes, 33, and three small kids sleeping, ranging from infant to 4 years old.

More deputies arrived, and they woke Burkes up. She told deputies that there were no drugs in the car, but they found marijuana, drug paraphernalia and trafficking amounts of methamphetamine, the sheriff’s office said.

Burkes was charged with three counts of child neglect, trafficking amounts of amphetamine, possession of a vehicle for drug activity, possession of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a place of worship, marijuana possession and drug equipment possession, officials said. She was taken to the Putnam County Jail and held without bond.

A family member was contacted and took custody of the children.

Everton said Merseyside Police arrested a 71-year-old man on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offense after supporters and Hill Dickinson Stadium staff reported the incident at the game Monday.

“Racism and discrimination in all forms are completely unacceptable,” Everton said in a statement.

Man City said it welcomed “the swift action taken by Everton and the police to identify the individual responsible.”

Semenyo was targeted in a similar incident at a previous Premier League game in the city of Liverpool, while playing for Bournemouth in the season opener.

The Ghana international, who is Black, alleged he was racially abused by a Liverpool fan while preparing to take a throw-in during Bournemouth’s 4-2 loss at Anfield in August.

That game was paused for the man to be ejected from the stadium. He is due in court later this year.

Man City also condemned online racist abuse targeted at its defender Marc Guéhi after the 3-3 draw Monday evening.

“We will continue to offer our full support to both Antoine and Marc and never accept discrimination of any kind in our game,” the club said.

___

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

Macron was joined by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on drums and celebrated jazz musician Vahagn Hayrapetyan on piano on Monday night in Yerevan. In addition to “La Bohème,” which was recorded by Armenian-French musician Charles Aznavour in 1965, Macron also sang “Les Feuilles Mortes" by Yves Montand.

The event at Armenia’s presidential residence on Monday night was held in Macron's honor. The French leader was in town for a state visit that coincided with a gathering of the European Political Community and a historic European Union summit.

Pashinyan, who took office in 2018, more regularly flexes his musical prowess as part of his musical group Varchaband. It held its debut concert in Yerevan at the end of January.

The Armenian leader is also well known for posting videos of himself listening to music on Instagram, with his musical taste seemingly spanning from Taylor Swift to Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky.

Bolles, Paxon, Ponte Vedra and Tocoi Creek all won second-round playoff games on Monday night and will play for berths in the state semifinals on Thursday.

Ponte Vedra’s unbeaten season continued with a 26-7 win over Bartram Trail. Paxon crushed Yulee 34-0 and Tocoi Creek went on the road and upset second-seeded Seminole 12-7. First-year program Bolles topped University Christian 20-6.

Flag football regional finals

Thursday, May 7

Region 1-4A

(6) Tocoi Creek (11-7) at (5) Ocala Forest (16-3)

Region 1-3A

(2) Chiles (16-2) at (1) Ponte Vedra (19-0)

Region 1-2A

(2) Paxon (16-2) at (1) Fort Walton Beach Choctawhatchee (16-3)

Region 1-1A

(4) Destin (12-5) at (2) Bolles (16-2)

Flag football regional semifinals

Region 1-4A

(6) Tocoi Creek 12, (2) Seminole 7

Region 1-3A

(1) Ponte Vedra 26, (5) Bartram Trail 7

Region 1-2A

(2) Paxon 34, (6) Yulee 0

Region 2-2A

(2) Hernando 32, (3) Clay 6

Region 1-1A

(2) Bolles 20, (6) University Christian 6

Flag football regional quarterfinals

Region 1-4A

Wednesday, April 29

(8) Ocoee 21, (1) Mandarin 13

(5) Ocala Forest 12, (4) Flagler Palm Coast 6

(6) Tocoi Creek 19, (3) Timber Creek 0

Region 1-3A

(1) Ponte Vedra 26, (8) Nease 0

(5) Bartram Trail 19, (4) Oviedo 0

Region 1-2A

Tuesday, April 28

(1) Choctawhatchee 39, (8) Menendez 0

(5) Booker T. Washington 7, (4) St. Augustine 0

(6) Yulee 26, (3) Arnold 6

(2) Paxon 20, (7) Godby 0

Region 2-2A

(3) Clay 27, (6) Citrus 21

Region 1-1A

(1) Florida High 30, (8) West Nassau 6

(4) Destin 25, (5) Bradford 0

(6) University Christian 13, (3) Eagle’s View 0

(2) Bolles 39, (7) FAMU 6

The GOP bill released late Monday would designate the money for the U.S. Secret Service for “security adjustments and upgrades” related to the ballroom project, which Trump and Republicans have been pushing since Cole Tomas Allen allegedly stormed the April 25 media dinner at the Washington Hilton with guns and knives. The legislation says the money would support enhancements to the ballroom project, “including above-ground and below-ground security features,” but also specifies that the money may not be used for non-security elements.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle praised Republicans for including the money for the “long overdue” project, saying it would “provide the United States Secret Service with the resources they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex, in addition to the many other critical missions for the USSS.”

The money is part of a larger bill to pay for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, as Democrats have been blocking funds for both agencies since mid-February. Congress passed bipartisan legislation to fund the rest of the Homeland Security Department on April 30 after a record-long shutdown, but Republicans are using a partisan budget maneuver to push through the ICE and Border Patrol dollars on their own. The House has not released its bill yet, but the Senate is expected to start voting on its version of the legislation next week.

It is unclear exactly how the $1 billion would be used, and the amount far exceeds the proposed $400 million for construction of the ballroom. The White House has said in court documents that the East Wing project would be “heavily fortified,” including bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility underneath the ballroom. Trump has said it should include bulletproof glass and be able to repel drone attacks.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued to block construction of the project, but a federal appeals court said last month that it can continue in the meantime.

The White House has said that private money would pay for the construction but public money would be used for security measures. Some Republicans have suggested that public money pay for all of it, arguing the security breach at the dinner shows the president needs a secure place to host events.

“It would be insane” to hold the dinner at a hotel again, said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who introduced a bill to pay for the ballroom’s construction with Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.

Democrats have said they will oppose any efforts to pay for the ballroom.

“While Americans are struggling to make ends meet as a result of President Trump’s failed policies, Republicans are focused on providing tens of billions of dollars for the President’s vanity ballroom project and cruel mass deportation campaign,” said Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the U.S. Secret Service.

___

Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report.

Looking for athletes who signed in the early period last November? You can find those athletes here. Check out the football athletes who signed in the December early period here. You can find football stars who signed in February’s national signing day and also in the April spring period here. Looking for athletes who signed in February’s national signing day? Find those athletes here.

Bolles

Elliott Angkriwan, men’s swimming, University of Toronto; Sean Doyle, men’s lacrosse, McGill University; James McCranie, baseball, Washington and Lee UniversityWilliam Barakat, men’s lacrosse, Sewanee: The University of the South; Camilla Clarke, women’s track and field, Howard University; Denzel Del Valle Delgado, baseball, Alabama State University; Spencer Kinsey, men’s swimming, Southern Methodist University; Luis Lebrons Montesinos, men’s swimming, Gannon University; Cooper Matson, men’s lacrosse, Sewanee: The University of the South; Ford McCarthy, baseball, Boston College; Sienna Starks, women’s track and field, Kennesaw State University; Ari Walker, women’s basketball, Flagler College; Adam Wang, men’s swimming, McGill University.

Jackson

Javion Davis, men’s basketball, Florida State College at Jacksonville; Corenzes Dennard, men’s basketball, Florida Gateway College; Terrell Mosely II, men’s basketball, University of Fort Lauderdale; King Sanders, Florida State College at Jacksonville.

Middleburg

Zoe Grace Denton, girls swimming, Millsaps College; Ally Lowery, volleyball, Florida State College at Jacksonville; Chloe McWatters, volleyball, Florida State College at Jacksonville; Ruby Owen, girls soccer, Southeastern University; Camden Rahn, volleyball, University of Tampa; Daniel Raines, wrestling, Southeastern University; Micah Thomas, wrestling, Benedictine College

Beyoncé left the cowboy hat at home and dazzled in a custom Olivier Rousteing sculptural skeleton dress with a cream and dust blue feathered train fitted with a diamond crown for “Queen Bey.” The Grammy winner and her husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy stopped to pose together on the Metropolitan Museum of Art steps.

Osaka stunned in a edgy Robert Wun white sculptural fitted dress featuring exaggerated shoulders and adorned with red feathers and a matching headpiece. To complete her show-stopping look, Osaka wore two-toned red gloves. A similar look by Wun sits inside the Met's Costume Institute exhibit, “Costume Art.”

On the carpet, Osaka opened her dress and removed her headpiece for a grand reveal underneath. She wowed in a sleek red beaded gown embellished with the human anatomy.

Chamberlain arrived in a breathtaking Mugler by Miguel Castro Freitas hand-painted dress. The star was dipped in a rainbow of colors from her décolletage down to the spiral train of her body-hugging dress with fringe falling down the cuffs of the long-sleeve gown.

With all the fanfare around “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” Met Gala co-Chair Anna Wintour opted for a cool mint ensemble — not the trendy cerulean blue from the first film. Wintour’s look featured a feathered cape and a beaded dress by Matthieu Blazy for Chanel that she classically paired with her signature bob and oversized sunglasses.

Other co-Chairs of the evening Nicole Kidman and Venus Williams chose more subdued glamorous looks. Williams wore a sparkling black off-the-shoulder gown with a dazzling Swarovski neckpiece in homage to a painting of herself done by Robert Pruitt for the National Portrait Gallery. Event sponsor Lauren Sánchez Bezos arrived in a form-fitting Schiaparelli gown, which she told Vogue was influenced by John Singer Sargent’s 1884 painting “Madame X.”

Artistic references

When guests were not wearing art, they were making references to it. Head of Editorial Content for US Vogue Chloe Malle wore an apricot orange Colleen Allen dress inspired by Sir Frederic Leighton’s “Flaming June” painting. Actor and author Lena Dunham collaborated with Valentino designer Alessandro Michele for her red feathered dress to depict his interpretation of “Judith Slaying Holofernes.” As a child, Dunham told Vogue, she would visit the Met museum on Sundays and admire the paintings in the Renaissance section.

“One of my favorite painters from that era is Artemisia Gentileschi, who was one of the only women painting professionally in that moment,” she told Vogue. “So I sent some of the images to Alessandro, and because he’s a genius, instead of dressing me like her, he said, ‘You are actually the blood spatter as … Judith cuts the neck off a man.’”

Stars also celebrated the dress code with their accessories. Actor and fashion muse Gwendoline Christie playfully covered her face on the carpet with a mask of her own face while pop star Katy Perry opened and closed her fencing-like mask on the carpet to smile at the cameras.

Venus Williams was not the only guest to break the fourth wall with an artistic reference to herself. It was a trend of the night, with gala host committee members Amy Sherald in a Thom Browne look inspired by her own work of art and singer Sabrina Carpenter wearing a Dior dress designed with film strips from the 1954 movie “Sabrina.”

Fashion as canvas

Some guests brought out their artistic side as they transformed their dresses into works of art. TikTok followers watched along as Jessica Kayll, who designs colorful silk robes, finished painting her dress in the days leading up to the gala. Kayll painted her own take on the famous Monet water lily scene right on top of her dress for the gala.

While her “The Devil Wears Prada 2” castmates kept it classic in black, Anne Hathaway made a statement in her custom Michael Kors Grecian-inspired strapless dress, which was hand-painted with a dove of peace.

“She is the goddess of peace,” Kors told Vogue.

Performance art

Madonna makes any carpet her stage. A group of women circled around her in colorful dresses as they held onto sheer fabric wrapped around her pirate ship headpiece on the carpet.

Janelle Monáe also knows how to stand out. The performer delivered a message with her sculptural art piece that featured cords overtaken by moss wrapped around her form with moving animatronic butterflies.

“Remember what made you human,” Monáe told The Associated Press. “Nature is talking to us.”

Dressed body

Rather than wear art, models showed off their toned bodies as part of the “Costume Art” exhibit's theme celebrating artistic representations of the body. Supermodels Gigi Hadid and Irina Shayk both wore revealing looks on the carpet.

Bad Bunny went full costume, carrying a cane and dressing up as an older version of himself with gray hair and special effects makeup to add years to his face. The artist joked with Vogue that it took 53 years to finish the look. Supermodel Heidi Klum, known for taking her Halloween costume to new heights, brought that same dedication to the Met Gala as she arrived as a draped statue.

Instead of opting for a body-hugging gown, Kim Kardashian wore a bright orange metallic body plate from the '60s designed by Allen Jones.

The physical form was modeled throughout the night with body parts draped over gowns or overlaid on garments in printed form in a trompe l’oeil. Theater producer and performer Jordan Roth had a 3D figure looming behind him as part of his velvet Wun getup while other celebrities had carefully placed sculpted hands attached to their gowns.

For her first Met Gala, Chase Infiniti donned a colorful sequined Thom Browne gown with the female form embellished with sequins on the front and back of her dress.

In typical fashion, singer and fashion powerhouse Rihanna shut down the carpet as the final guest to arrive, much earlier than in years past. Dressed in a metallic jewel-encrusted cocoonlike dress, Rihanna emerged onto the carpet with her partner A$AP Rocky.

“I feel like a pearl out of an oyster,” Rihanna said to reporters on the carpet.

___

AP reporter John Carucci contributed to this report live from the carpet.

___

This story has been updated to correct that Infiniti wore Thom Browne, not Alexander McQueen.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract hasn’t been finalized.

Fowler, 31, played for the Dallas Cowboys last year and had three sacks in 17 games, starting in 11 of those.

Fowler should help Seattle replace edge rusher Boye Mafe, who signed a three-year, $60 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency. Mafe had 20 sacks in four seasons for Seattle.

Fowler was the No. 3 pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2015 NFL draft. He has racked up 58.5 sacks across 10 seasons. In addition to the Jaguars and two stints with the Cowboys, Fowler has played for the Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons and Washington Commanders.

In 2024 with Washington, Fowler recorded 10.5 sacks, his second-most in a single season. He had 11.5 with the Rams in 2019.

Seahawks president of football operations John Schneider said shortly after the team decided not to select an edge rusher in this year’s draft that they would consider adding a player in free agency. Fowler fits the bill of what Seattle was looking for at edge rusher, and joins an inexperienced group that includes linebackers Jared Ivey, Jamie Sheriff, Connor O’Toole and Jalan Gaines.

___

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

Gates and a lock on the front of the former temple in the Whitechapel area of east London had minor damage, but no one was injured, Metropolitan Police said.

The incident is the latest since four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity were torched in March. Since then, a synagogue was firebombed and other Jewish sites have been targeted in attempted arson. Last week, two Jewish men were stabbed in what police have called an act of terror.

“It is part of a pattern of rising antisemitism that has left our Jewish communities feeling frightened, angry and asking whether this country, their home, is safe for them,” Starmer told community leaders. “These disgusting attacks are being made against British Jews. But, make no mistake, this crisis — it is a crisis for all of us.”

The number of antisemitic incidents reported across the U.K. has soared since the attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza, according to the Community Security Trust charity. The group recorded 3,700 incidents in 2025, up from 1,662 in 2022.

Hate-crime prosecutions will be fast-tracked to deal with the spike in antisemitic incidents, Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said.

The attacks have occurred since the Feb. 28 start of the Iran war and police are looking into whether they are the work of Iranian proxies.

A pro-Iran group calling itself Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia — or Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right — has claimed responsibility for several of the attacks. It has also acknowledged being behind incidents in recent months at places of worship, business and financial institutions across Europe, all of which appear to be linked to Jewish or Israeli interests.

“One of the lines of inquiry is whether a foreign state has been behind some of these incidents,” Starmer said. “Our message to Iran, or to any other country that might seek to foment violence, hatred or division in society, is that it will not be tolerated.”

Starmer promised to take action to tackle antisemitism, including requiring universities to publish the scale of the problem and take steps to stop it. Arts funding will be withdrawn from anyone promoting antisemitism.

Britain raised its terror threat level from substantial to severe — the second-highest on a five-point scale — after the stabbings. The rating means intelligence agencies consider an attack highly likely in the next six months.

The change was not solely due to the knife attacks but also “from Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the U.K,” the government said.

From Cinco de Mayo deals and speed dating to giveaways and Mother’s Day celebrations, fans will find something new each night of the homestand.

🌮 Tuesday: Cinco de Mayo celebration and ticket deals

May 5 at 7:05 p.m.

The week kicks off with a festive Cinco de Mayo celebration featuring multiple fan-friendly deals.

Highlights include:

• $5 Ticket Special for most seating bowl sections
• Stahl Meyer Two for Tuesday, offering two hot dogs for $2
• Tacos and Ticket Special, pairing reserved seating with tacos from Oasis
• Tacos & Tequila Picnic, featuring a pregame taco bar and tequila tasting

Fans can also explore local organizations during Get to Know Your Neighbor Night, showcasing nonprofits from across Jacksonville.

💼 Wednesday: Midweek deals for working fans

May 6 at 12:05 p.m.

Wednesday’s matinee features the Yuengling Business Person Special, giving fans bundled food-and-drink options with select ticket purchases — ideal for a lunch break at the ballpark.

💘 Thursday: Love at First Pitch returns

May 7 at 7:05 p.m.

Looking for love? The Jumbo Shrimp bring back Love at First Pitch, a speed dating-style event at the ballpark with themed activities, food specials and entertainment.

Fans can also enjoy Coors Light Thirsty Thursday, with discounted draft beers available throughout the stadium.

🎶 Friday: Jacksonville music and fan favorites

May 8 at 7:05 p.m.

Friday night celebrates the city’s music scene with Jacksonville Music Night, featuring songs from bands with local ties.

Additional highlights include:

• Friday Night Lites Happy Hour with drink specials until 7:30 p.m.
• Red Shirt Friday, where fans wearing red receive a discount at the box office while supporting the military

🧦 Saturday: Giveaway night and mental health awareness

May 9 at 6:35 p.m.

Saturday features one of the week’s biggest promotions — a Championship Socks Giveaway for the first 2,000 fans entering through the Main Gate.

The game also recognizes Mental Health Awareness Night, partnering with Riverpoint Behavioral Health to promote awareness and reduce stigma.

💐 Sunday: Mother’s Day at the ballpark

May 10 at 2:05 p.m.

The homestand wraps up with a full Mother’s Day celebration, offering multiple ways to treat mom to a day at the ballpark.

Fans can enjoy:

• A Mother’s Day Picnic with brunch-style food and mimosas
• A Mother’s Day Ticket Package, including a stemless Jumbo Shrimp wine glass and drink
• A festive, family-friendly game atmosphere

Sunday also includes Baptist Health Sunday Family FUNday, featuring pregame catch on the field, face painting and balloon animals.

After the game, kids can take part in Kids Run the Bases, a weekly favorite presented by Goodwill Industries of North Florida.

🎟️ Plan your visit

With six straight days of promotions — from tacos and tequila to giveaways and holiday celebrations — the Jumbo Shrimp continue to deliver affordable entertainment and unique experiences for fans across Northeast Florida.

Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets early for specialty events and arrive ahead of time for limited giveaways.

The June 5 event put on by Heritage Auctions will benefit the Matthew Perry Foundation, which works to destigmatize addiction and aid in recovery from substance abuse.

“Matthew believed addiction should be met with compassion and science, not stigma and silence,” the foundation’s CEO Lisa Kasteler Calio said in a statement. “This auction fuels the Foundation’s work to expand access to evidence-based care and confront stigma. It is one more way we ensure that no one has to fight this disease alone.”

Items from Matthew Perry's collection that will be sold

— A collection of 26 of Perry’s “Friends” scripts from key episodes, including “The One With Ross’s Tan,” “The One Where Joey Speaks French” and the two-part series finale.

— Scripts from the pilot and part one of the series finale signed by Perry and co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, donated by Warner Bros., which produced the series.

— A 1995 Screen Actors Guild Award, which Perry won for best performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.

— Perry's personal replica of the yellow peephole frame from Monica and Rachel's apartment on “Friends.”

— Perry's “Friends” photo album, titled “The One With the Last Supper.”

— Works of art by Banksy and Mel Bochner that Perry owned.

About the Matthew Perry charity auction

The auction site opened Tuesday. Items will be on display from May 18 to May 29 in Beverly Hills before the June 5 auction that will be held at Heritage Auctions’ Dallas showroom and online.

Net proceeds will go to initiatives supported by the foundation. They include the Matthew Perry Fellowship in Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, grants to organizations that work directly with recovering addicts, and Healing Appalachia, a recovery-focused sober music festival.

Perry played Chandler Bing for a decade from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s culture-changing sitcom “Friends.” It made him one of the biggest television stars of his generation.

Perry was found dead in the hot tub of his Hollywood home at age 54 on Oct. 28, 2023. The medical examiner determined that the acute effects of the anesthetic ketamine were the primary cause.

Five people have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the investigation of his death, including two doctors and an admitted drug dealer. His personal assistant and a friend who acted as a middleman are still to be sentenced later this month.

Those additional contributions can add up to a tidy sum in retirement, but after age 60, they have fewer years to compound, and the tax deferral isn’t as valuable. If your retirement numbers are in relatively good shape, however, consider these four spending strategies with a positive psychological payoff.

Strategy 1: Get ahead of big-ticket transactions

As retirement approaches, it’s helpful to forecast big-ticket outlays over the next two to five years, like home repairs or improvements or cars you’ll need to replace. If you’re still working, you can fund them out of cash flows rather than putting additional funds into your retirement accounts.

Pushing those big-ticket outlays into your working years has a psychological benefit. That’s because pulling money from your investment accounts can be fraught, especially in the early years of retirement, when you’re still getting your sea legs. That challenge can be especially acute for people who plan to delay Social Security; they’ll be drawing all of their cash flow needs from their portfolios in those years. Spending from working income is apt to be psychologically more palatable.

As you think through what you might want to spend on, lean into your vision of retirement. Will you pursue your passion for cooking? If so, splurging on new counters might be money well spent. If more road trips are in your future, lining up a safe, reliable set of wheels should be a priority.

Strategy 2: Pay down debt

The calculus on prepaying a mortgage usually boils down to which decision provides the better “return”: debt paydown (and the relief from the interest service that accompanies the debt) or investing in something that offers a similarly safe return.

It often depends on the prevailing interest rate environment. Today, many mortgage holders could reasonably earn more on their safe investments than they’re paying to service their debt. Consider liquidity and spending needs too. If  paying off your mortgage  would require you to crack into your retirement account and trigger a big tax bill, or leave you cash-strapped and less flexible in retirement, you’d want to think twice.

However, mortgage paydown is the ultimate “sleep at night” allocation, especially as retirement approaches, because it helps you skinny down your fixed expenses and adopt a flexible approach to your discretionary spending, which in turn can  boost your lifetime retirement spending. I’ve yet to meet a single person who paid off a mortgage and regretted it.

Strategy 3: Build up liquid reserves in a taxable account

You can put as much into your taxable account as you wish, and you can also pull as much out, without strictures. Being able to spend from taxable accounts with minimal tax implications provides the leeway to pursue other worthwhile strategies in the early years of retirement, such as converting traditional IRA assets to Roth, for example.

But don’t overdo your allocations to safer assets in your taxable account. Cash has a low return relative to other assets regardless of where you hold it. You might not even outearn the inflation rate! I like the idea of retirees holding no more than two years’ worth of liquid reserves—CDs, money market mutual funds, and so on—across both taxable and tax-sheltered accounts.

Strategy 4: Splurge

If you’re in your 60s, it’s a good bet you know loved ones who were struck down in the prime of their lives, before they really had a chance to enjoy their retirements to the fullest. So why not lean into the big, fun experiences that you’ve been “saving” for retirement while you’re still working and healthy?

As Jamie Hopkins notes in my book  How to Retire, the greater good in this case is that you’re continuing to work and earn an income, thereby forestalling portfolio withdrawals. If taking a few amazing trips a year or buying a vacation home now makes continuing to work more palatable and also helps you feel more comfortable with the splurges, then those allocations are well worth considering, even if they mean you have to pull back on your savings.

_______

This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more retirement content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/retirement.

Christine Benz is director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar and co-host of The Long View podcast.

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The report examines 700 companies across over 20 industries.

And among the different grocery stores included on the list, Publix came in at No. 4.

This was a notable drop from 2024, when the Florida-native chain managed to top the chart. Last year, it fell down to second place after losing the No. 1 spot to WinCo Foods — an Idaho-based grocer.

But in 2026, Publix fell even further, though it did overtake WinCo Foods yet again.

Instead, Publix was beaten out by Whole Foods Market (No. 1), Kroger (No. 2), and QuikTrip (No. 3).

“In an era defined by profound crisis of grievance, a corporation’s integrity is no longer a marketing luxury - it is its most volatile and valuable currency,” Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Cunningham said. “True leadership requires more than just high-level strategies; it demands a radical, lived transparency that bridges the chasm between executive perception and the lived reality of the consumer.”

Meanwhile, the full ranking of most-trusted grocers and convenience stores is as follows:

Sabalenka and fellow No. 1 Jannik Sinner were among leading players — most of them ranked in the top 10 — who issued a statement on Monday expressing “deep disappointment” over the French Open prize money.

“Without us there wouldn’t be a tournament and there wouldn’t be that entertainment. I feel like definitely we deserve to be paid more percentage,” Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, said on Tuesday at the Italian Open.

“I think at some point we will boycott it. I feel like that’s going to be the only way to fight for our rights,” Sabalenka added on her 28th birthday.

The players are also seeking better representation, health options and pensions from the four Grand Slam tournaments: Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open.

French Open organizers announced last month they were increasing overall prize money by about 10% for an overall pot of 61.7 million euros ($72.1 million), with the total amount up 5.3 million euros from last year. But the players’ statement said “the underlying figures tell a very different story,” claiming they will receive a smaller share of tournament revenues.

The players claim their share of Roland Garros revenue has declined from 15.5% in 2024 to 14.9% projected in 2026.

Gauff, the defending French Open champion, cited a landmark new WNBA collective bargaining agreement reached in March as an example of the benefit of working together.

“From the things I’ve seen with other sports, usually to make massive progress and things like this, it takes a union,” Gauff said. “We have to become unionized in some way. ... We definitely can move more as a collective."

Regarding a boycott, Gauff said, “If everyone were to move as one and collaborate, yeah, I can 100% see that.” But she added she hasn't heard of any discussions about a walkout.

“I definitely think there’s a consensus around that this needs to be addressed for all players of all levels, especially the lower-ranked players, too,” Gauff added. "I want to leave the sport better than I found it. If I can say I played my part when I retire, that’s something I can be proud of.”

Rybakina, a two-time Grand Slam champion who won the Australian Open this year, would follow the other players.

“If the majority say we are boycotting, we are not playing, then of course I’m up for it,” Rybakina said. “It’s not only on the Grand Slams and it’s not only about raising the prize money. A lot of people are not aware that there is taxes which are big. You even make more prize money, but you giving it all to the taxes.”

Paolini, the Italian who reached the final of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2024, also believed in a boycott option.

“If we’re all in agreement and I think we are — the men and the women are united right now — it’s something we could do,” Paolini said.

Paolini added that the WTA and ATP Tours — which organize all of the other tournaments — have done more than the Grand Slams to provide players with benefits, such as maternity leave, and retirement plans.

“There’s a lot of things that the Slams are not doing,” Paolini said, “that the WTA and I think the ATP are doing.”

Iga Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion, said “the most important thing is to have proper communication and discussions with the governing bodies so we have some space to talk and maybe negotiate.

“Hopefully before Roland Garros there’s going to be opportunity to have these type of meetings and we’ll see how they go,” Swiatek added. “But boycotting the tournament, it’s a bit extreme kind of situation.”

The players' statement said Roland Garros generated 395 million euros in revenue in 2025, a 14% year-on-year increase, yet prize money rose by just 5.4%, reducing players’ share of revenue to 14.3%.

“With estimated revenues of over 400 million euros for this year’s tournament, prize money as a percentage of revenue will likely still be less than 15%, far short of the 22% that players have requested to bring the Grand Slams into line with the ATP and WTA Combined 1000 events,” the players said.

French Open organizers did not respond to a request for comment after the players issued their statement.

The Australian Open this year increased the players’ compensation by 16%, and the U.S. Open prize money last year went up by 20%.

The French Open starts on May 24 and the singles champions will each receive 2.8 million euros and the runners-up 1.4 million euros. Semifinalists earn 750,000 euros and first round losers get 87,000 euros.

___

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

In a recent case, a resident received a phone call from someone claiming to be an FBI agent. The caller used fear and urgency to pressure the resident, ultimately telling them that an agent was on the way to pick them up.

“This is happening where you live,” the Sheriff’s Office warned in a statement, urging residents to stay alert.

What law enforcement will never do

The Sheriff’s Office is reminding residents that legitimate law enforcement agencies — including the FBI — will never call to demand immediate action or threaten arrest, claim they are “on the way” to pick someone up without prior official contact, ask for payment or personal information over the phone, or involve a resident and their money in a “sting” operation.

How to protect yourself

The Sheriff’s Office says staying calm is one of the most important steps residents can take. Scammers depend on creating panic and a sense of urgency to get victims to act quickly without thinking.

If you receive a suspicious call, the Sheriff’s Office recommends hanging up immediately and verifying the call by contacting the agency directly using an official phone number. Residents are also encouraged to talk to a trusted friend, family member or advisor before taking any action, and to never provide personal or financial information over the phone.

How to report a suspicious call

Anyone who receives a suspicious call should hang up immediately and contact the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office at 904-824-8304.

Residents can also contact SJC Seniors vs. Crime to request a public presentation on fraud prevention or to file a request for assistance in a civil dispute at 904-209-1432. The Sheriff’s Office noted that senior residents are among those most frequently targeted by this type of scam.

“If something feels off, it probably is,” the Sheriff’s Office said.

A sweeping 6-3 Supreme Court decision Wednesday in Louisiana v. Callais, a case centered on the drawing of a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana, dramatically weakened the racial protections at the heart of the landmark civil rights law.

While the ruling leaves the VRA intact on paper, prominent legal scholars and the court’s three liberal justices say it has been gutted so thoroughly as to be nearly unenforceable.

“Very little remains,” said NAACP general counsel Kristen Clarke, who led the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division during the Biden administration. “There’s some small protections with respect to language access, an important prohibition on voter intimidation, but very little remains. This is a dark day in our democracy.”

Justice Elena Kagan, writing in dissent, called the ruling “the latest chapter in the majority’s now-completed demolition” of the law — and warned the decision would ultimately render it a “dead letter.”

What changed — and why it matters

At the center of the ruling is Section 2 of the VRA, the provision that broadly prohibits voting discrimination based on race.

For decades, courts interpreted Section 2 to allow — and at times require — the use of racial data in drawing congressional and legislative maps, ensuring minority communities had a meaningful shot at electing candidates of their choosing.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court’s conservative majority, upended that framework Wednesday. Under his new standard, it is no longer enough to show that a map produces discriminatory results.

Challengers must now prove discriminatory intent — a “strong inference that the State intentionally drew its districts to afford minority voters less opportunity because of their race.”

Justin Levitt, a constitutional law professor at Loyola Law School who served in the Biden White House as an adviser on democracy and voting rights, said that bar will be nearly impossible to meet.

“It’ll be not just hard, but really, really really hard,” to bring future VRA challenges “in any states that allow partisanship to infect the process,” Levitt said.

Rick Hasen, a prominent election law scholar at UCLA Law, agreed.

“It is hard to overstate how much this weakens the Voting Rights Act,” Hasen wrote in response to the ruling.

The new Alito test also requires challengers to submit new suggested maps that “cannot use race as a districting criterion,” while still proving minority voters are disadvantaged — and that the disadvantage isn’t simply the byproduct of partisan mapmaking.

That’s a significant hurdle, given that the court ruled in 2019 that partisan gerrymandering claims are not subject to federal court review.

“Simply pointing to inter-party racial polarization proves nothing,” Alito wrote, “because ‘a jurisdiction may engage in constitutional political gerrymandering, even if it so happens that the most loyal Democrats happen to be black Democrats and even if the State were conscious of that fact.’”

Years in the making

The ruling is the most significant blow to the VRA since the court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which gutted a separate provision requiring states and counties with a history of voting discrimination to get federal approval before changing election laws.

A string of rulings in the years that followed continued to tighten the law’s reach — save for a 2023 decision in which Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the court’s liberals to leave what remained of the VRA largely intact.

Justice Clarence Thomas, concurring Wednesday, argued the court should go even further and rule that Section 2 has no role in redistricting at all.

Only Justice Neil Gorsuch joined that view.

Kagan, writing for the dissent, warned that the stakes extend well beyond Louisiana.

“It is about the many other districts, particularly in the South, that in the last half-century have given minority citizens, and particularly African Americans, a meaningful political voice,” she wrote. “After today, those districts exist only on sufferance, and probably not for long.”

Conservatives declare victory

For conservatives, the ruling marked the culmination of a long legal campaign.

“For decades, the left has spent hundreds of millions of dollars seeking to divide Americans along racial lines in a cynical pursuit of partisan power masquerading as civil rights enforcement,” said Adam Kincaid, president of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, in a statement. “Race-based redistricting is an odious practice prohibited by our colorblind Constitution and now the Supreme Court has restored the Voting Rights Act to its proper context.”

Conservatives have long argued that in a politically polarized America — where race and party affiliation often overlap — a results-based legal standard effectively turned VRA litigation into a partisan tool for Democrats.

“Vast social change has occurred throughout the country and particularly in the South,” Alito wrote. “In a State where both parties have substantial support and where race is often correlated with party preference, a litigant can easily exploit §2 for partisan purposes.”

Republicans move fast on redistricting

The ink was barely dry on the decision before Republicans across the South were calling for action.

Within hours of the ruling, top GOP candidates, elected officials and party chairs in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, and South Carolina were pushing for special legislative sessions to dismantle majority-minority congressional districts — and build more aggressively gerrymandered maps ahead of the midterms.

“There is no time to waste,” said Rick Jackson, a leading GOP candidate for Georgia governor, in a statement.

“LET’S GO!” wrote Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is also running for governor in Alabama, on social media.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, described as the Republicans’ frontrunner for governor in Tennessee, shared a suggested map of her state featuring no Democratic-held districts.

“I’ll do everything I can to make this map a reality,” she said.

President Donald Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, said he would encourage states to redraw their maps if time allows.

“I would say generally I would think that they would want to do it,” Trump said.

The logistical hurdles ahead

GOP operatives are optimistic — but realistic. Filing deadlines have already passed in several states, and primaries are rapidly approaching in others, including Louisiana, where early voting began last weekend.

“There are opportunities for states that want to adjust some maps, but lots depends on timing and where the state election machinery in each state stands,” said Jason Torchinsky, a top Republican election lawyer.

Kincaid said states with maps that were drawn with race as an explicit factor should “evaluate whether you’re on any kind of strong footing to defend those maps.”

Not everyone in the GOP is sprinting toward a special session.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, rejected calls to convene one, citing a separate court ruling that prevents the state from redrawing its maps until 2030.

“While we are not in position to have a special session at this time, I hope in light of this new decision, the court is favorable to Alabama,” Ivey said.

Democrats scramble to respond

Democrats are divided on how to play the moment.

Some are dismissing the practical likelihood of Republicans pulling off quick redraws before the midterms. Others are calling for Congress to restore the VRA. And a few are ready to hit back hard.

“I have long felt that we all have to play by the same set of rules and the Republican caucus has made it very clear that they want and are setting rules of partisan gerrymandering,” Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told reporters.

“I take 52 seats from California, and 17 seats from Illinois, because at the end of the day, they’re rigging this election to try to win. And we just can’t sit back here and do nothing. We’re going to play their game, and we’re going to beat them at it,” said Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), whose own seat may be among those targeted.

New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is working with the state legislature to “change New York’s redistricting process so we can fight back against Washington’s attempts to rig our democracy” — though an earlier effort was already blocked in court and changes are unlikely before 2026.

Democrats have notched some early wins: California voters passed a ballot measure backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that could deliver five more Democratic House seats, and Virginia voters last month passed a measure that could net the party four seats — though that measure faces a state supreme court challenge.

“There will be a lot of redistricting for the next couple years,” Kincaid said.

Florida Legislature passes new map

As the redistricting battle erupted nationally, Florida lawmakers were already acting.

The Florida Legislature passed redrawn congressional lines Wednesday on largely partisan lines, creating four more GOP-leaning seats and making Florida the eighth state to complete mid-decade redistricting this cycle.

The map, proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis just one day before the start of a special legislative session, is widely expected to face a historic legal challenge.

Much of the opposition centered on DeSantis’ move to effectively sidestep Florida’s anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment, known as Fair Districts, which bans new political maps that benefit a political party or incumbent and protects districts with large minority populations.

State Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, a Republican sponsoring the map, acknowledged on the floor Wednesday that the plan does not comply with the state constitution — but said it is grounded in “viable legal theory” and that Florida has an “evolving legal landscape.”

DeSantis’ general counsel, David Axelman, argued in a memo that the Fair Districts minority protections are themselves unconstitutional.

“Properly understood, the Fourteenth Amendment forbids the government from divvying up the citizenry based in whole or in part upon race,” he wrote.

DeSantis has long maintained that the expected SCOTUS ruling would validate his approach.

“Called this months ago,” he wrote on social media after the decision dropped.

Democrats in the House asked for a recess to review the ruling. Republicans blocked the request.

Among the communities critics say stand to lose the most: the large Puerto Rican population in the Orlando area, currently largely represented by Democratic Rep. Darren Soto, whose seat would be eliminated under the new plan.

The Tampa Bay area would be carved into three separate districts, eliminating the region’s only Democratic seat held by Rep. Kathy Castor. Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, both of South Florida, would also see their districts redrawn to favor Republicans.

“So many communities are losing representation,” said Democratic Rep. Fentrice Driskell.

Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon offered the session’s sharpest rebuke. After Persons-Mulicka said she could not speak to how the map was drawn because she was not involved in the process, Nixon fired back: “Why are you even sponsoring this bill?”

The underlying question of whether the DeSantis map violates Florida’s constitution is all but certain to land before the Florida Supreme Court.

DeSantis has appointed six of the seven current justices.

Our conversation

Sean Freeder, a political scientist and analyst, joins me on this week’s episode of “Politics & Power” to discuss the pushback and the legal fights ahead.

You can watch live at 10:30 a.m. on News4JAX+ or catch our encore presentations at 7 p.m. or 9 p.m. on News4JAX+.

You can also catch up any time on demand at News4JAX+, News4JAX.com or our YouTube channel.

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The men were described as people contracted to clean up after baseball games. They didn't work directly for the MLB team.

“This could have happened anywhere, but what happened tonight was a dispute between two people. Unfortunately, it happened at a treasured St. Louis staple,” said Mitch McCoy, spokesperson for St. Louis police.

The Cardinals said it was an “isolated altercation.”

Police were summoned around 3 a.m. Monday. The victim was a 27-year-old man. The suspect, a 65-year-old man, was interviewed by investigators.

The Cardinals earlier played the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. The fatality had no impact on the Monday game against Milwaukee.

Lawyers for the county filed a motion on Monday night to quash a grand jury subpoena that asks for the names and personal contact information of county employees and volunteer poll workers. This latest action comes after the FBI in January went to a Fulton County elections warehouse and seized ballots and other documents from the 2020 election, which Georgia’s certified totals showed Trump lost in the state to Biden by 11,779 votes out of nearly 5 million cast. Trump, a Republican, still insists the election was stolen from him even though judges and his own attorney general concluded otherwise.

Monday's court filing says the subpoena is meant to “target, harass and punish the President's perceived political opponents.” The request is “grossly overbroad and untethered to any reasonable need,” the county's lawyers argue. It “cannot yield any evidence that could result in a criminal prosecution," they wrote, arguing that the statute of limitations on any federal crime related to the 2020 election has already expired.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday.

County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts, in an emailed statement, called the subpoena “yet another act of outrageous federal overreach designed to intimidate and chill participation in elections.”

“Let me be crystal clear. Fulton County will not be intimidated,” said Pitts, a Democrat who’s running for reelection.

Since the 2020 election, Trump “has obsessively propagated the debunked conspiracy theory that Fulton County ‘stole’ the 2020 election from him,” the county’s lawyers wrote. “And he has made it clear that he seeks retribution against those who refuse to indulge his baseless claims.”

Trump has already targeted individual poll workers like Ruby Freeman, who was attacked by him and his supporters after the election. Freeman, who's Black, has said she was forced to flee her home after false claims of election fraud against her led to racist threats and strangers showing up at her home.

The grand jury subpoena, dated April 17, was served on the county's director of elections on April 20, the county's court filing says. It seeks the “name, position/function, residential and email addresses, and personal telephone number(s)” for thousands of election workers “ranging from county employees who assisted on election day, to bus drivers who operated a mobile voting location, to volunteers and temporary poll workers,” the filing says.

The subpoena “is a chilling escalation in the campaign to terrorize Fulton County election workers," the county's lawyers wrote, adding that threats arising from the current political environment have caused election workers to “fear for their physical safety.” That and other stresses “including the likelihood of being scapegoated by public officials” are causing election workers to leave their jobs “in unprecedented numbers,” they wrote.

The county's lawyers note that the subpoena directs the county to provide the records not to the grand jury but to an out-of-state Justice Department lawyer or to the FBI agent who wrote the affidavit used for the seizure of the county's 2020 ballots in January.

The January seizure of the ballots and other records from Fulton County was one in a string of moves by Trump's administration to obtain past election records from critical swing states. The FBI in March used a subpoena to get records related to an audit of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County in Arizona. And the Justice Department in April demanded that Michigan’s Wayne County turn over its ballots from the 2024 election, which Trump won against Biden's vice president, Kamala Harris.

The Justice Department is also fighting numerous states in court for access to voter data that includes sensitive personal information. Election officials, including some Republicans, have said handing over the information would violate state and federal privacy laws.

Employers posted 6.87 million jobs in March, compared to 6.92 million in February, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.

The job market has been up and down so far this year after a dismal 2025. And the Iran war, which began Feb. 28, has clouded the outlook for the economy and hiring.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that layoffs rose in March. But hiring improved: Employers added 5.55 million gross jobs, most since February 2024. More Americans also quit their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects.

Job openings have come down more or less steadily since peaking at a record 12.3 million in March 2022 as the U.S. economy bounded back from COVID-19 lockdowns. High interest rates, a response to an outburst of inflation in 2021-2022; uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s policies; and, potentially, the disruptive impact of artificial intelligence have discouraged robust hiring.

Last year, employers added fewer than 10,000 jobs a month, weakest hiring outside a recession since 2002. So far in 2026, job creation has bounced around — strong in January (160,000 new jobs) and March (178,000) but weak in February when employers slashed 133,000 jobs.

The Labor Department issues its job report for April on Friday. According to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet, it is expected to show that companies, nonprofits and government agencies added a steady 57,000 net jobs last month and that the unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%.

Partly because of Trump's immigration crackdown, fewer people are competing for work. That means the economy doesn't need as many new jobs to keep the unemployment rate from rising. A year ago, economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis estimated that the "break-even'' rate of monthly hiring was 153,000. In an update published in March, St. Louis Fed economist Alexander Bick calculated that it could be as low as 15,000 jobs a month.

Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a commentary that Tuesday's JOLTS report showed a “steady labor market.'' But he cautioned that ”this picture of the labor market will change as the economy adjusts to $100+ a barrel oil, higher inflation, possibly tighter monetary conditions and global recession starting in Asia,'' which is dependent on disrupted supplies of oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf.

Authorities were continuing to search for suspects Monday in the shooting that critically injured at least three of those hurt. No arrests have been made.

It wasn’t clear how many of the injured had been shot, police said Monday in a statement. It provided few answers about what had happened.

The shooting broke out Sunday night at a public park near a campground at Arcadia Lake, a popular swimming and boating spot in Edmond, just north of Oklahoma City, said Edmond police spokesperson Emily Ward.

Jeremiah Braxton estimated 250 people showed up at the party. He said the trouble began when a group of girls started arguing over boyfriends. “It just started a whole bunch of chaos,” he said.

“Everybody got scared, dudes was panicking, women was panicking, people seeing their friends fight,” Braxton said.

The 18-year-old said he heard shots ring out in different directions for several minutes as he ran toward the lake. Those hit included two of his friends, he added.

At least 18 people were treated at hospitals in the Oklahoma City area. One healthcare system said the victims it treated ranged in age from 16 to 30. It said three people were in critical condition and four were listed as serious.

Police in Edmond said Monday that the party had been promoted across social media, drawing a large crowd of mostly young adults from across the Oklahoma City area.

Edmond Mayor Mark Nash said the shooting took place at a public park where spaces can be reserved for large gatherings. “To our knowledge, there was no reservation through the parks department,” he said.

Nash declined to answer questions about the shooting, saying police were handling the investigation.

“We’re already taking steps to review and strengthen park operations, permitting processes and security measures,” the mayor said.

Some of those injured were transported for medical attention while others sought treatment on their own, authorities said.

Integris Health said it treated 13 people at its hospitals in Edmond and Oklahoma City. Seven remained in Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, including three in critical condition.

OU Health said it received five people at its trauma center but didn't elaborate.

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

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

Arcadia Lake is dotted with picnic pavilions, campgrounds, a fishing pier, and swimming beaches. Built in the 1980s for outdoor recreation and flood control, the lake also provides water to the city of Edmond, a suburb of about 100,000 residents.

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

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

___

This story was first published on May. 4. It was updated on May 5 to correct the last name of Jeremiah Braxton, who was erroneously referred to as Jeremiah Smith

___

Associated Press reporters Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Corey Williams in Detroit, Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

The analysis obtained by The Associated Press includes the first economy-wide projections behind a policy at the core of Trump’s pitch to voters going into November’s midterm elections for control of the House and Senate. Democratic lawmakers have been doubtful about the savings claimed by Trump and these new numbers are likely to trigger additional questions about the data.

Cost-of-living issues are at the forefront of voters’ concerns and higher energy prices tied to the Iran war have deepened the public’s anxiety. Trump has tried in part to address affordability concerns by focusing on his efforts to cut deals with companies so that the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. would no longer be dramatically higher than in other affluent nations.

“Now you have the lowest drug prices anywhere in the world,” Trump said at a Friday rally before a crowd of seniors in Florida. “And that alone should win us the midterms.”

The analysis was done by administration officials for the White House Council of Economic Advisers. They also estimated that federal and state governments could save a combined $64.3 billion on Medicaid during the next decade because of what Trump calls his “most favored nation” policy on drug prices.

Few of the details of the deals struck by the Trump administration and 17 leading pharmaceutical companies have been made public, making it hard to independently verify the projected savings. The White House analysis sought to estimate the prospective savings as more medications come onto the market and fall under Trump’s framework — with one model in the report tallying the possible savings at $733 billion over a decade.

Trump and his Department of Health and Human Services have touted his drug-pricing deals as transformative and urged Congress to codify their principles into law. Democratic lawmakers have challenged the administration’s claims of savings. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and 17 Senate Democrats in April proposed a measure requiring the administration to disclose the terms of the agreements signed by pharmaceutical companies.

“If these deals are so great, why is the Trump administration afraid of showing them to the public?” Wyden said when announcing the measure. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his team would share details that didn’t include proprietary information or trade secrets.

The White House said it has not shared the text of the agreements because they include highly sensitive data that could move financial markets.

The potential savings estimated by the Trump administration would be substantial as Americans spent $467 billion on prescription drugs in 2024, according to the most recent government data available. The analysis is premised on the idea that foreign countries would also pay more for their prescription drugs, which would diversify drugmakers’ sources of revenue and preserve their ability to innovate with new treatments.

Outside economists have caveated that any savings might not flow directly to patients, many of whom already pay discounted prices for their drugs through their insurance coverage.

The Congressional Budget Office in October 2024 estimated that a plan similar to what Trump ended up adopting could reduce prescription drug prices by more than 5%, though the decrease “would probably diminish over time as manufacturers adjusted to the new policy by altering prices or distribution of drugs in other countries.”

The scope of the savings claimed by the Trump administration are likely to intensify the scrutiny by Democrats, who counter that any price reductions would be offset by higher costs for prescription drugs not covered by the “most favored nation” framework. One of their main critiques is that pharmaceutical companies have increased their profit margins while working with the administration.

In April, staff working for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., released an analysis that looked at 15 of the companies that have agreed to this drug-pricing plan and found that their combined profits jumped 66% over the past year to $177 billion. The report noted that the tax cuts Trump signed into law last year “exempted or delayed many of the most expensive drugs” from price negotiations with Medicare.

The Trump administration has countered that they consider Sanders’ critique to be flawed, saying that it’s based on the list prices for pharmaceutical drugs instead of the actual price that patients pay.

I’m tracking the latest conditions here at News4JAX with The Weather Authority and Exact Track 4D radar, and we are seeing extreme to exceptional drought around the area — and honestly, I don’t expect those conditions to improve any time soon.

The wind gusts along the coast are easing up, now down in the teens, which helps reduce fire danger a bit.

Still, I want everyone to keep doing what you’re doing: you’ve let me know you aren’t burning, and I can’t thank you enough for thinking about safety.

We all need to stay extra cautious with any potential fire sources until we get real, soaking rain.

Sunny skies and rising heat

Even though we’re loving the sunshine, these dry conditions are sticking around.

This morning started mild, around 62 degrees at 7 a.m., and I expect us to reach 83 degrees by mid-afternoon.

It’s going to be a beautiful, sun-filled day with temperatures staying well above our usual for this time of year.

For tonight, skies will stay mostly clear, and temperatures are likely to fall into the mid to upper 60s.

Get ready for even more heat! Wednesday and Thursday, I’m forecasting daytime highs in the 90s — about 10 degrees above what we’d typically see. So break out the shades and the sunscreen!

Rain chances might bring some relief

I know we’re all hoping for some rain, and there’s a glimmer of hope. Using Exact Track 4D, I’m watching for a 30% chance of showers on Thursday, and a 50% chance on both Friday and the start of next week (Monday).

Most of these will be scattered, with isolated areas seeing the wet weather Thursday through Sunday.

Not everyone will get relief, but it’s the best chance we’ve seen so far to knock back the dry spell.

Once that rain does arrive, temperatures look to drop back into the mid-80s. Lows overnight will keep in the 50s and 60s — a little more comfortable all around if the rain helps cool us down.

Stay weather aware and share

I’ll be tracking every update for you on News4JAX.com and The Weather Authority. If you capture photos or videos of the weather in your neighborhood, you can share them with me and the rest of Jacksonville by uploading them at SnapJAX.

Keep up the great work staying fire safe and keeping an eye on changing conditions.

Meanwhile, the New York Knicks are on a historic heater.

The NBA playoffs continue Tuesday with a pair of Game 1s in the second round, with the Lakers-Thunder and Cavaliers-Pistons getting their series started.

The Thunder and Pistons are the top seeds in their respective conferences, though they had very different experiences in the first round. Oklahoma City crushed the Phoenix Suns in a four-game sweep while the Pistons were pushed to seven games before getting past the Orlando Magic.

The Knicks get a day to rest after becoming the first team in NBA history to win three straight playoff games by at least 25 points. New York routed the Philadelphia 76ers 137-98 in Monday's Game 1.

Tuesday's schedule

— Game 1, Cleveland at Detroit, 7 p.m. EDT (Peacock/NBCSN)

Odds: Detroit by 3.5.

Both teams are coming off seven-game grinds in Round 1, and will have to refocus quickly. At least it won't be a long trip for the Cavaliers; by air, their flight to Detroit is only 96 miles.

— Game 1, LA Lakers at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m. EDT (NBC/Peacock)

Odds: Oklahoma City by 15.5.

A team with LeBron James, as a 15.5-point underdog, in a playoff game? The only thing that has come close to that in the last 15 years is when James and Cleveland were 12.5-point underdogs to Golden State in an NBA Finals game in 2018.

Wednesday's schedule

— Game 2, Philadelphia at New York, 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Odds: New York by 6.5.

Jalen Brunson scored 35 points in the opener as the Knicks rolled in Game 1. The 76ers — who had a gritty effort to overcome the Celtics in the first round — will need to bounce back with a similar performance.

— Game 2, Minnesota at San Antonio, 9:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Odds: San Antonio by 9.5.

Anthony Edwards made an unexpected return from a knee injury for the Timberwolves and helped the team to a Game 1 win. The Spurs will need a little more offense in Game 2 to supplement Victor Wembanyama's monstrous defensive presence.

Monday recap

— Knicks 137, 76ers 98 for a 1-0 New York series lead. Philadelphia tries to respond after a beatdown.

— Timberwolves 104, Spurs 102 for a 1-0 Minnesota series lead. Anthony Edwards to the Spurs: “I'm back!”

Awards watch

A breakdown of this season's NBA awards:

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

— Hustle Award: Moussa Diabaté, Charlotte.

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

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

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

— Sportsmanship Award: Derrick White, Boston.

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

— Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, Dallas.

— Executive of the Year: Brad Stevens, Boston.

Among the announcements still to come:

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

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

Betting odds

Defending champion Oklahoma City (-140) is favored to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.

The Thunder were followed by San Antonio (+350), New York (+900), Detroit (+1700), Cleveland (+2000) and the Los Angeles Lakers (+2500). Philadelphia (+3500) is next, followed by Minnesota (+10000).

Some neighborly rivalries are underway

Expect plenty of fans of visiting teams in the stands around the NBA during Round 2, especially in the Eastern Conference.

By car, it's only 100 miles between the arenas in Philadelphia and New York and only 168 miles between the arenas in Detroit and Cleveland. That means it'll be relatively easy for fans who want to hit the road to do some cheering.

The West series aren't exactly drive-able. It's 1,248 miles between arenas in San Antonio and Minneapolis, and 1,330 miles between the ones in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City — but Lakers fans are everywhere, so it surely won't be all Thunder fans in OKC.

Key dates

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

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

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

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

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft

Quote of the day

“Same as last series. They don’t get any extra points for going up big tonight,” 76ers veteran Paul George said after their lopsided loss to the Knicks. “We’ll be ready for Game 2.”

Stats of the day

— Wembanyama had 11 points and 15 rebounds and set an NBA postseason record with 12 blocks in San Antonio's Game 1 loss. He’s the third player to get a triple-double in the playoffs including blocks since the league began tracking blocks in 1973-74.

— The Knicks shot 63% from the field in their Game 1 win, including a blistering 51% (19 of 37) from 3-point range.

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

The Real Madrid and France forward is sidelined by a left hamstring issue which is casting doubt about his availability for Sunday's clasico in Barcelona, the biggest match in Spanish soccer.

During his time off, Mbappé reportedly traveled to Italy with actress Ester Expósito last weekend, prompting criticism in Spanish media that he may not be taking his rehabilitation seriously. Madrid fans also questioned why the league's best striker was on holiday ahead of the clasico.

Mbappé denied any wrongdoing through a statement from his representatives sent to The Associated Press.

“Part of the criticism is based on an overinterpretation of elements related to a recovery period strictly supervised by the club, without reflecting the reality of Kylian’s commitment and the work he puts in every day for the team,” the statement read.

Unhappy Real Madrid supporters believe Mbappé is saving himself for the World Cup that begins in five weeks.

He also drew criticism earlier this season when he couldn't play because of a knee ailment.

Madrid has little to play for in the final stretch of the season. It has been eliminated in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, and is virtually out of contention in La Liga as it trails Barcelona by 11 points with four rounds remaining. Barcelona could clinch on Sunday.

Madrid has yet to say whether Mbappé will be fit and available for the clasico. Spanish media say Mbappé went to Madrid’s training center on a day off to continue his recovery.

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AP Sports Writer Tales Azzoni in Madrid contributed.

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

Hedman, in a statement released by the Lightning, did not provide specifics about what he has been dealing with. He didn't play in Tampa Bay's final 22 games of the season, including the seven playoff matchups in a first-round loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

Hedman, 35, had been around the team in recent weeks, even taking part in some skates. But the defenseman's last game was in mid-March.

“Over the past couple of months, I made the decision to step away and focus on my mental health,” Hedman said. "It was not an easy decision, but it was the right one.

“I’ve always believed that being a leader means doing what’s best for the team. In this case, it also meant doing what was necessary to take care of myself, so I can be the best player, teammate, husband and father I expect to be.”

Hedman missed significant time earlier in the season with an elbow injury that required surgery in December. He returned before the Olympics and played for Sweden until tweaking something in pregame warmups before the quarterfinal against the U.S., which kept him from participating.

He told reporters at Tampa Bay's exit-interview day that he leaned on best friend and former Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, as well as Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark, who also spent time away from the Senators to address his mental health.

Hedman — the No. 2 pick in the 2009 draft — has been with the Lightning for all 17 of his NHL seasons, helping the franchise win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2020 and 2021. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in the 2020 pandemic “bubble.”

He played in only 33 games this season, by far the fewest of his career, because of the injury and this subsequent absence.

Hedman thanked his teammates, the Lightning organization, his family and his therapist for their support and said he’s “in a much better place today.”

“This is something that exists in our game more than people see,” Hedman said. “If this moment helps make it easier for others to take care of themselves when they need to, that matters.”

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