As I saw on our Exact Track 4D radar this morning, rain is spreading across parts of our area, especially around St. Augustine, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, World Golf Village, and stretching up toward Georgia.

When I drove in, some spots were dry, but that’s changing fast. Areas like Middleburg, Orange Park, Pomona Park, Palatka, and even Folkestone are expecting showers to build through the day.

For those closer to the coast—while some spots are still clear, a wind advisory is in effect right now. That means gusts strong enough to knock branches around and pose a risk to power lines.

If you see saturated ground, don’t be surprised—uprooted trees are possible as rain continues, so keep an eye out.

According to our future track, this pattern is expected to stick around right through the afternoon and into the evening.

More rain is likely Wednesday, too. It’s not the sunniest news, but this is just what we’ve been hoping for to help kick our drought.

Jacksonville’s drought and rainfall deficit

I want to be real with you: our rain deficit has been serious. The numbers and drought maps we showed this morning put much of the region solidly “in the red.”

We actually need more than 20 inches of rain to fully erase the deficit—and while this week’s forecast will help, it’s not likely to close the gap entirely.

The good news? The storms today and tomorrow are chipping away at that shortfall.

Let’s keep looking on the bright side—every drop helps, and right now, we need every one!

Cooler temps now, warmer weekend ahead

With the clouds and rain, it’s a milder start to the day—around 61 degrees as I was walking through the forecast. Most neighborhoods are waking up to 50s and 60s this week, which feels like a big shift after recent warmth!

But don’t pack away the sunglasses or short sleeves yet. Looking ahead on our 7-day, temperatures are forecast to bounce back to the 80s by the weekend and into Monday. That means beach weather is on the horizon if you’re eager to get outdoors again. First, we just need to get through these next couple of soggy days.

Have a snapshot of today’s dramatic skies or stormy scenes? Share it with our weather team using SnapJAX—we love seeing your view of Jacksonville weather!

Mayor Donna Deegan presented an official proclamation declaring April Sexual Assault Awareness Month, as community leaders, law enforcement and nonprofit advocates gathered to mark the national theme for 2026: “25 Years Strong. Looking Back, Moving Forward.”

Marcy Scott of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who chairs the city’s Sexual Assault Advisory Council, traced local efforts to support survivors back to the mid-1990s and detailed the councils that coordinate services across Duval, Baker and Nassau counties.

“Around the nation, communities like ours are proclaiming April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month,” Scott said. “The purpose is to gather in support of survivors, to bring awareness to this public health crisis, to take a stand against sexual violence, and to promote prevention.”

Ed Cayenne, a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office official, emphasized that trauma-informed responses are central to the agency’s approach.

“Our agency fundamentally believes that empowering individuals is as critical as bringing offenders to justice,” Cayenne said. “[Survivors] have a stronger foundation for survivor-centered journeys through the criminal justice system.”

Khary Gaynor of the State Attorney’s Office described the Special Victims Unit’s work, which she said includes more than 30 staff members who guide survivors through the criminal justice process.

“We foster an environment to support, encourage, and guide our survivors through the criminal justice system,” Gainer said. She cited a drug-facilitated assault case that resulted in a conviction and prison sentence.

Survivor Jennifer Bellinger described growing up in a church environment that discouraged questioning authority and silenced victims.

“We didn’t have the language, support, or freedom to navigate this environment, so silence became survival, ”Bellinger said.

She praised Detective McClellan, other JSO officials, prosecutors and her victim advocate, Zina, for their support.

“I would still be living in silence today, except for the men and women in this room who did see me,” Bellinger said. “And they reached out a lifeline and because of this, my voice became healing.”

She urged continued investment in programs that provide counseling, advocacy, crisis intervention and forensic exams, singling out the local Women’s Center of Jacksonville for its services.

Organizers encouraged Jacksonville residents to view prevention as a collective responsibility and to support resources that make it easier for survivors to seek help.

The city’s advisory councils meet regularly to coordinate those efforts and to plan events throughout the month.

The good news is the rainfall is very beneficial, but is it enough to get our area out of the drought?

First, let’s look at what has fallen and see how much more rainfall is expected over the next few days.

Several spots have picked up over an inch of rain over the past two days, especially across Columbia, Duval, St. Johns and Putnam counties.

This is in part due to the storms we saw over the weekend, along with pockets of moderate to heavy rain this morning.

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, the front responsible for the rainfall will stall to our south. An area of low pressure will move along the front on Wednesday, bringing with it the potential for moderate to heavy rain to our south.

The highest totals will generally be south of St. Augustine. It’s important to note that areas in Georgia are not expecting much rain through the rest of the week.

Regarding the drought, the latest drought monitor reflects the overall pattern over the past few months.

Most of our area remains in an extreme drought. An exceptional drought classification has been expanded to include more of our area.

This is in part due to how dry it has been over the past year.

In fact, several spots are around or above 20 inches in deficit. This means we would need almost 2 feet of rain to get out of the drought.

From Aug. 25, 2025, through April 4, 2026, Jacksonville International Airport picked up only 11.17 inches of rain. Average rainfall during this period is 27.36 inches.

This is 16.19 inches below normal for this time frame and is the driest on record since records have been kept, starting in the late 1800s.

Looking ahead, the pattern looks drier.

In fact, the Climate Prediction Center has placed our area in a higher probability of seeing below normal rainfall. This is in part due to an area of high pressure moving over our area.

Tehran’s representative at the U.N said the threats “constitute incitement to war crimes and potentially genocide.” Amir-Saeid Iravani said Iran would “take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures” if Trump launches devastating strikes.

Even before the deadline, airstrikes hit two bridges and a train station, and the U.S. hit military infrastructure on Kharg Island. It was the second time American forces struck the island, a key hub for Iranian oil production.

Since the war began, Trump has repeatedly imposed deadlines linked to threats, only to extend them. But the president insisted this one is final and will expire at 8 p.m. in Washington without a major diplomatic breakthrough.

He has also offered contradictory statements about what might actually happen.

Trump has made reopening the strait — through which a fifth of the world’s oil transits in peacetime — part of avoiding wider attacks and suggested that the waterway is not as vital to U.S. oil interests as it is to other countries. He has also said he would be willing to deploy ground troops to seize Iranian oil, while maintaining that major combat operations in that country could soon conclude.

That means the next moves by the U.S. are largely a mystery, even as rhetoric on both sides has reached a fever pitch.

Meanwhile, Iran’s president said 14 million people, including himself, have volunteered to fight. That’s despite Trump threatening that U.S. forces could wipe out all bridges in Iran in a matter of hours and reduce all power plants to smoking rubble in roughly the same time frame. He also suggested the entire country could be wiped off the map.

New strikes may not have been linked to Trump’s larger threats

It was not clear if the latest airstrikes were linked to Trump’s threats to widen the civilian target list. At least two of the targets were connected to Iran’s rail network, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli warplanes struck bridges and railways in Iran.

Tehran fired on Israel and Saudi Arabia, prompting the temporary closure of a major bridge.

While Iran cannot match the sophistication of U.S. and Israeli weaponry or their dominance in the air, its chokehold on the strait is roiling the world economy and raising the pressure on Trump both at home and abroad to find a way out of the standoff.

Officials involved in diplomatic efforts said talks were ongoing, but Iran has rejected the latest American proposal.

Trump has shrugged off concerns about war crime accusations

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if a deal isn’t reached, Trump said in an online post Tuesday morning. But he also seemed to keep open the possibility of an off-ramp, saying that “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.”

Earlier, Iranian official Alireza Rahimi issued a video message calling on “all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors” to form human chains around power plants.

Iranians have formed human chains in the past around nuclear sites at times of heightened tensions with the West. State media posted videos online that showed hundreds of flag-waving people massed at two bridges and at a power plant hundreds of kilometers (miles) from Tehran, though it was not clear how widespread the practice was.

President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X that 14 million Iranians had answered campaigns urging people to volunteer to fight — and said he would join them — while a Revolutionary Guard general urged parents to send their children to man checkpoints.

The Guard warned that Iran would “deprive the U.S. and its allies of the region’s oil and gas for years” and expand its attacks across the Gulf region if Trump carries out his threat.

In Tehran, the mood was bleak. A young teacher said that many opponents of Iran’s Islamic system had hoped Trump’s attacks would quickly topple it.

As the war drags on, she fears U.S. and Israeli strikes will spread chaos.

“If we don’t have the internet, and if we don’t have electricity, water, and gas, we’re really going back to the Stone Age, as Trump said,” she told The Associated Press, speaking on the condition of anonymity for her safety.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot joined a growing chorus of international voices saying that attacks targeting civilian and energy infrastructure could constitute a war crime.

Such cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute, though, and Trump says he’s “not at all” concerned about committing war crimes.

Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said he deplored the rhetoric being used over the last two weeks “by all parties, including the latest threats to annihilate a whole civilization and to target civilian infrastructure.”

Airstrikes hit Iran, which fires on Saudi Arabia and Israel

Intense airstrikes pounded Tehran, including in residential neighborhoods. In the past, such strikes have targeted Iranian government and security officials.

The Israeli military said it attacked an Iranian petrochemical site in Shiraz, the second day in a row it hit such a facility. The military later said it also struck bridges in Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, Kashan and Qom that were being used by Iranian forces to transport weapons and military equipment.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, described the strikes on Kharg Island as hitting targets previously struck and not directed at oil infrastructure.

Earlier in the war, American forces hit air defenses, a radar site, an airport and a hovercraft base there, according to satellite analysis by the Institute for the Study of War and the American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted seven ballistic missiles and four drones launched by Iran.

Saudi Arabia temporarily closed the King Fahd Causeway, the only road connection between Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, and the Arabian Peninsula. Iran also fired on Israel.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, but the government has not updated the toll for days.

In Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, more than 1,500 people have been killed. and more than 1 million people have been displaced. Eleven Israeli soldiers have died there.

In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 23 have been reported dead in Israel, and 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

Chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz

Iran effectively blocked shipping through the strait after Israel and the U.S. attacked in February. That, and Iran’s attacks on the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbors, have sent oil prices skyrocketing, raising the price of gasoline, food and other basics far beyond the Middle East.

Tehran has rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal, saying it wants a permanent end to the war. But as Trump’s deadline neared, an official said indirect communications between the United States and Iran remained underway. Mediators from Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey “are racing against time” to reach a compromise before the deadline, the official said.

He said Iran has linked the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to sanctions relief, and the U.S. was open to easing some sanctions, especially on Iran’s oil sector, in part to stabilize the global oil market.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing diplomacy.

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, and Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers David Rising in Bangkok; John Leicester in Paris; Rod McGuirk in Melbourne, Australia; Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem; and Konstantin Toropin, Seung Min Kim, Michelle Price and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as Trump threatened that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran does not meet his deadline at 8 p.m. Eastern time to open the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials, meanwhile, urged young people to form human chains to protect power plants that Trump has threatened to bomb.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 165 points, or 0.4%, as of 2:01 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% lower.

The moves were tentative, much like they've been since the start of the war with Iran, because of deep uncertainty about when the fighting may end. During just the first hour of Tuesday's trading, the Dow careened between a gain of 74 points and a loss of 425.

The moves were sharper in the oil market, where prices have spiked because the war has snarled the production and transportation of crude in the Persian Gulf. Much of that oil exits the gulf through the Strait of Hormuz to reach customers around the world, but Iran has blocked it to enemies.

The price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude climbed 1.3% to $113.82. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.3% to $110.06 and is well above its roughly $70 level from before the war in late February.

The worry in markets has been that a long-term disruption will keep oil prices high for a long time and send a painful wave of inflation crashing through the global economy. Iran on Monday rejected the latest ceasefire proposal and instead said it wants a permanent end to the war.

So far in the war, Trump has made a series of threats to blow up Iranian power plants if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz, only to delay it several times. The possibility remains that Trump could back down again, among other scenarios, which is keeping uncertainty high.

A year ago, Trump ultimately backed off many of the stiff tariffs that he initially threatened to put on imports from other countries, though they ended up higher than from before his second term.

“Investors are likely to remain on edge and markets unable to establish trends, probably until there is a clear outcome later this evening: a deal, the U.S./Israeli strikes intensify, or Iran’s retaliation becomes escalatory instead of proportional,” according to Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

On Wall Street, companies with big fuel bills fell to some of the sharpest losses as high oil prices crank up the pressure.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings dropped 3.8%, and United Airlines sank 2.9%.

Companies whose customers may have the least room to absorb the recent jump in gasoline prices also struggled. Dollar Tree slid 4.7%, and Dollar General fell 1.8%.

The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline across the United States has leaped to $4.14, according to AAA. It was below $3 a couple days before the United States and Israel launched attacks to begin the war in late February.

Companies enmeshed in the cryptocurrency industry were also losers as the price of bitcoin sank. Coinbase Global dropped 1%, and Strategy fell 2.7%.

Stocks of health insurers helped limit the market’s losses after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said Medicare Advantage payments will likely see a net average increase of 2.48% in 2027. That was well ahead of what some investors expected, according to UBS analysts led by AJ Rice.

UnitedHealth Group jumped 10.5%, and Humana rose 9.2%.

Universal Music Group also helped to limit losses for global stock indexes after Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management offered to buy the record label behind Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $64 billion.

The proposed purchase, which Pershing Square argued would clear uncertainty that’s weighed on UMG’s stock, would bring the company to Nevada and move its stock listing from Amsterdam to the New York Stock Exchange. UMG’s stock in Amsterdam jumped 11.4% but remains below what Pershing said its bid is worth. That could indicate investor doubt that the deal will happen.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell across much of Europe. Asian stock indexes were stronger, with South Korea’s Kospi up 0.8% for one of the world’s bigger gains.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of Trump’s looming deadline. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.35% from 4.34% late Monday, egged on in part by the rise in oil prices.

That's well above its 3.97% level from before the war, and the rise has pushed up rates for mortgages and other loans going to U.S. households and businesses, which slows the economy.

___

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

The American leader issued the stark threat Tuesday, about 12 hours ahead of his deadline for Iran to agree to a deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz or face punishing strikes.

Iran rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the war as Trump's ultimatum to make a deal ticked closer with an expanded threat of strikes against the Islamic Republic to include all power plants and bridges.

Trump said Monday he is “not at all” concerned about committing possible war crimes as he again threatened to destroy Iranian infrastructure if Tehran does not meet his deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned the U.S. that attacking civilian infrastructure is banned under international law, his spokesperson said Monday.

Here is the latest:

Israel says Iran has fired a new barrage of missiles

Israel’s military said Iran had launched missiles at the country Tuesday evening, the seventh time of the day.

Sirens sent people to shelters in the southern part of the country, while earlier salvos had been centered on the major metropolis of Tel Aviv, as well as central Israel and parts of the occupied West Bank.

Northern Israeli communities continued to come under fire from Hezbollah as well.

Sundown Tuesday marks the beginning of the last day of the Passover holiday, an especially important religious occasion in the Jewish calendar.

Earlier in the day, an elderly couple and their son, who were killed in a missile attack, were buried in Haifa.

Top House Democrats issue joint statement asking for Congress to be brought back into session to end war

House Democratic leaders in a joint statement called President Donald Trump “completely unhinged” and asked the House to be brought back immediately into legislative session.

“His statement threatening to eradicate an entire civilization shocks the conscience and requires a decisive congressional response,” said the joint statement from Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and four other top House Democrats.

“The House must come back into session immediately and vote to end this reckless war of choice in the Middle East before Donald Trump plunges our country into World War III,” the Democratic lawmakers said.

They called on House Republicans to put patriotic duty over party loyalty and “join Democrats in stopping this madness.”

Iranian envoy says Tehran will ‘take immediate and proportionate’ action if Trump follows through on attack threats

Iranian envoy says Tehran will not “stand idle’ if Trump follows through on ‘war crime’ threats

Amir-Saeid Iravani, Tehran’s representative at the U.N., said that Trump’s threats earlier Tuesday that a “whole civilization will die” if Iran does not make a deal “constitute incitement to war crimes and potentially genocide.”

During a Security Council session on the Strait of Hormuz, Iravani urged the international community to call out Trump’s rhetoric before it’s too late.

“Iran will not stand idle in the face of such egregious war crimes. It will exercise, without hesitation, its inherent right of self-defense and will take immediate and proportionate reciprocal measures,” he said.

WHO warns about long-term impact of strikes near Iranian nuclear plant

Top World Health Organization official warned about the long-term health risks caused by the continued military activity near an Iranian nuclear power plant.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director general, wrote on X that more military operations near the Russian-built Bushehr power plant, where hundreds of workers were evacuated following a strike recently.

“Such actions could lead to a severe radiological accident, with serious and long-term health consequences for people now and for generations to come, while also harming the environment across Iran, the region, and beyond,” he wrote.

Tehran resident says attacks on power plants will plunge Iran into darkness and leave hundreds of thousands unemployed

An engineer in a construction company who lives in Tehran says hitting infrastructure, including some power plants, has already left many people unemployed.

“Because of this, workers and employees, and people who are losing their jobs and income are becoming against the war,” they said. “There is a huge amount of fear about tonight.”

Speaking to The Associated Press through a messaging app from Tehran, the engineer said only people who are financially able are buying generators to prepare for possible power outages. Just like the internet outage ... so they are less (doomed),” they said. But the fact is, everyone is impacted, the engineer added, speaking anonymously for his own safety.

The engineer said Trump’s threats still lack any clarity.

“People don’t know what his plan is.”

Trump phones into rally to praise Hungary’s Orban

Hours ahead of a deadline he imposed on Iran to capitulate, President Donald Trump boosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday when Vice President JD Vance dialed him into a rally in Budapest.

Trump told the crowd gathered ahead of Hungary’s weekend election that he loves their country and praised Orban.

“You have a man that kept your country strong,” Trump said.

Vance spoke at the rally for Orban in the Hungarian capital, defending Western civilization and criticizing “bureaucrats in Brussels.”

The vice president attempted to dial the president in front of the crowd and first got an automated message saying the voicemail box wasn’t set up, to laughter from attendees. Soon after, he got Trump on the phone and put him on speaker for the crowd.

Bread and cash shortages leave Palestinians in Gaza struggling to feed their families

In Gaza City, dozens of people had to wade through flooded streets to reach a bread distribution point on Tuesday because of war-damaged drainage systems, AP footage showed.

A $1 bag of bread — about 15 loaves — is barely enough to feed large families, residents said.

Israel’s two-year war has been muted by a fragile ceasefire since October, but many in Gaza fear the Iran war is overshadowing urgent humanitarian needs and delaying reconstruction.

Jamal Hamad, a displaced resident from northern Gaza, said shortages of small bills are compounding the crisis, leaving many unable to pay. Digital options remain out of reach.

People waited for hours in the rain, pushing to reach the front as supplies ran low. Some resold bags for up to $6.

Key bridge between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain closes

The King Fahd Causeway, a key bridge linking Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, closed Tuesday for the second time as a precautionary measure following alerts issued by the National Early Warning Platform in the Eastern Province.

The King Fahd Causeway Authority said on X Tuesday evening vehicle traffic has been suspended.

Iran-backed Iraqi militia releases American journalist Shelly Kittleson

American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped in Baghdad last week, has been released, an Iraqi official with direct knowledge of the situation said Tuesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said Kittleson was freed in the afternoon. He did not share her current whereabouts but said that before her release, she was being held in Baghdad.

The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement earlier Tuesday that it had decided to free the journalist, and officials with the militia told The Associated Press that members of the group previously detained by Iraqi authorities would be released in exchange.

Pope Leo expresses solidarity with Lebanese Christians facing ‘injustices’ as Israel invades

In an Easter message released Tuesday by the Vatican, Leo suggested a parallel between Christ’s crucifixion and the suffering of south Lebanese Christians.

“In your misfortune, in the injustice you endure, in the feeling of abandonment you experience, you are very close to Jesus. You are close to Him also on this Easter Day when He conquered the forces of evil, and which resonates for you as a promise of the future,” read the message.

The message was written in French, was signed by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and was addressed to the residents of the village of Debel.

A convoy carrying over 40 tons of aid led by the Vatican was supposed to have reached the Christian village of Debel for Easter, but was canceled for what Lebanon’s Maronite Church said were “security reasons.”

Leo visited Lebanon late last year on his first international trip as pope.

US senators warn Britain against changes to Diego Garcia island base

Two Republican senators warned Prime Minister Keir Starmer that altering the status of the U.S. military base on the remote Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia could harm U.S.-U.K. relations, as the base plays a key role in operations tied to the Iran war.

Sens. Ted Cruz and Tommy Tuberville urged Britain to halt a planned transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, saying it would undermine U.S. national security.

Passage of the deal through the U.K. Parliament is on hold until American support can be regained.

The Trump administration initially welcomed the deal, but the president changed his mind in January, calling it “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY.”

Iraqi militia says it will free a kidnapped American journalist

The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia known as Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement Tuesday that it will release American journalist Shelly Kittleson, who was kidnapped from a Baghdad street last week.

The group said its decision came “in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing Prime Minister,” Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, without giving more details. It added that “this initiative will not be repeated in future.”

Kataib Hezbollah had not previously acknowledged that it was the group responsible for Kittleson’s abduction, although both U.S. and Iraqi officials had pointed fingers at the group.

Iran agrees to French prisoner swap deal

Iran’s state-run IRNA news outlet confirmed Tuesday that an agreement was reached with Paris for the release of two French citizens, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, held in Iran over alleged espionage, in exchange for Iranian woman Mahdieh Esfandiari, who was detained over her social media content. The French government will also drop its case against Iran.

The French citizens had been holed up in the country’s diplomatic premises there since their release from prison.

The green light for them to leave Iran, long sought by France, signaled how Iran is differentiating between nations, treating some favorably and others as foes, in the context of the Iran war.

Iranian diplomat responds to Trump’s latest threat

Responding to Trump saying “a civilization will die tonight,” an Iranian diplomat described the country’s civilization as a tree that nourished the West.

“Therefore, no fool would cut off the branch of a tree he is sitting on because he himself would fall first, and it is the sturdy tree that always stands, not the branches and appendages that have grown from it,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press.

Iran fires more missiles at Israel

Just before sunset on Tuesday — twice in less than half an hour — Israel’s military said it was working to intercept missiles launched from Iran.

Sirens went off in the Tel Aviv area as well as parts of the occupied West Bank.

Rubio accuses Iran of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday accused Iran of committing acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz by attacking commercial shipping vessels attempting to navigate the key waterway.

“The whole world has been impacted, unfortunately, because Iran is violating every law known by striking commercial vessels in the Straits of Hormuz,” Rubio told reporters at the State Department. “It’s a big problem for the world. I mean, this is a regime that doesn’t believe in laws and rules or anything like that. It’s a state sponsor of terrorism, so it is not surprising that they’re now conducting terrorist operations against commercial vessels.”

He declined to respond to a question about what Trump meant when he threatened that “a whole civilization will end tonight” if Iran does not meet U.S. demands to reopen the strait.

Congress, away from Washington, watches and waits on Trump’s threat

Lawmakers are on recess from Washington as Trump threatens to kill “a whole civilization” in the Iran war. So far, the reaction from Congress — which is supposed to have the ultimate say in matters of war — has drawn sharp rebukes from Democrats and mostly silence from Republicans.

Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro called on Trump to immediately make it clear that he is not considering using nuclear weapons, and Colorado Democratic Rep. Jason Crow warned that “calling for the elimination of a civilization is a war crime.”

Most Republicans stayed away from the issue, though Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said on the “John Solomon Reports” podcast that he was “hoping and praying” that Trump’s threat was “bluster.”

“I do not want to see us start blowing up civilian infrastructure,” Johnson said.

Democrats intend to force further votes on legislation to rein in Trump’s ability to attack Iran, but not until Congress returns to Washington next week.

Russia and China veto a watered-down UN resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz

The vetoes by Russia and China came despite the resolution being repeatedly weakened to get the two countries to abstain.

The vote in the 15-member Security Council on the Bahrain-sponsored resolution was 11-2, with Pakistan and Colombia abstaining. It came hours before Trump’s 8 p.m. Eastern deadline for Iran to open the strategic waterway or face attacks on its power plants and bridges.

Bahrain’s initial proposal would have authorized countries to use “all necessary means” — U.N. wording that would include military action — to ensure transit through the Strait of Hormuz and deter attempts to close it.

The final text eliminated Security Council authorization for offensive or defensive action. Instead, it “strongly encourages” countries using the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate defensive efforts to ensure safe navigation through the waterway, where about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.

Canada’s prime minister urges US not to target Iran’s civilian infrastructure

“Canada expects all parties in this conflict to respect international laws, the rules of engagement, and that means not targeting certainly civilians or civilian infrastructure,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said. “And we urge all parties in this war to follow those responsibilities.”

He made the comments Tuesday at an unrelated announcement outside Toronto.

Carney has at times been critical of Trump, who has previously threatened Canada’s sovereignty. Early in the war, Carney said he supported the strikes on Iran “with some regret” as they represented an extreme example of a rupturing world order.

Iraqi authorities say a drone fired from Iran hit a civilian home, killing two people

The authorities say the explosive-laden drone hit a home in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

The drone dive-bombed and crashed into a house in the village of Zargazawi, in the province of Irbil, early Tuesday, killing a couple asleep in their bed. As the latest in a wave of Iranian bombardment of Iraqi Kurdistan, the attack underscored the rising danger to civilians in the area as the Islamic Republic retaliates against the United States and Israel by hitting their allies in neighboring countries.

The dead couple’s children, sleeping in a separate room, were unharmed. Surveying the damage to the home, Aladdin Jabbar, a cousin in the family, said the two bodies were torn beyond recognition.

“It was a huge injustice,” he said.

Regional authorities condemned the strike and urged the Iraqi government to do more to protect the Kurdish population.

Pakistan’s premier Sharif speaks to Saudi crown prince and briefs him on his peace efforts

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke by phone Tuesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reaffirming Pakistan’s “unwavering solidarity” with the kingdom and condemning a strike on an oil facility in Saudi Arabia earlier in the day.

According to a government statement, Sharif praised Saudi restraint amid the current tensions and reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to advancing peace efforts aimed at de-escalating the region.

It said Sharif praised the “wisdom and sagacity” of Saudi leadership in exercising restraint during the ongoing conflict.

He also briefed the crown prince on the latest developments in Pakistan’s mediation efforts to ease the Middle East crisis. It said the crown prince appreciated Pakistan’s peace efforts.

Packing up to leave Tehran, a young designer says she’s ‘terrified’

Facing heavy bombardment, many middle-class residents of Iran’s capital have been waiting out the war in the country’s coastal north.

A young designer who lives in central Tehran said her parents left at the beginning of the war but she stayed behind to take care of her cat.

Now, she says she’s “terrified” by Trump’s threats and is planning to drive north with her cat to join her family — if the U.S. really does knock out power plants after Tuesday night’s deadline.

“If there is no electricity, there is no water because the water pressure in Tehran is low and all buildings have electric water pumps. You can’t cook either. In the north, you can at least do something in nature, like the ‘Stone Age’ that he promised,” she said.

The designer spoke on condition of anonymity for her safety.

Normally a popular vacation spot, the Caspian Sea coast is carpeted in forested mountains with plentiful water — unlike other areas which have suffered years of drought.

— Amir-Hussein Radjy

In Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah militants, more than 1,500 have been killed

And more than 1 million people have been displaced, the country’s health ministry said.

Among the 1,530 killed are 102 women and 130 children are among the dead, as well as 57 paramedics, according to the government count.

The number of Hezbollah militants killed is unclear.

More than 4,800 people were also wounded in the war.

Eleven Israeli soldiers have died there.

This latest war was sparked after Hezbollah fired rockets towards northern Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran also at war with Israel and the United States.

Israel’s military says it struck eight ‘bridge segments’ in Iran

The military gave more details on the strikes following Netanyahu’s confirmation that he and Defense Minister Katz had ordered them.

In a statement, it said it struck bridges in Tehran, Karaj, Tabriz, Kashan, and Qom that were being used by Iranian forces to transport weapons and military equipment.

Top Senate Democrat calls Trump ‘an extremely sick person’

Sen. Chuck Schumer responded to President Trump’s dire threat against Iran by calling on Republicans to vote against the war.

Schumer, a New York Democrat, has joined with others in his party in forcing votes on legislation that would halt Trump from ordering further attacks on Iran unless he received congressional approval. So far, though, just a few Republicans have voted to rein in Trump’s power to order the attacks.

Schumer said on social media that any Republican who declines to vote “against this wanton war of choice owns every consequence” of Trump’s actions.

Oil prices rise as US stocks dip, but markets hold mostly steady ahead of Trump’s deadline for Iran

Oil prices are rising and U.S. stocks are falling Tuesday, but the moves aren’t as dramatic as the dire talk coming from both sides in the war with Iran.

President Trump threatened that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if Iran doesn’t meet his latest self-imposed deadline at 8 p.m. Eastern time to open the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials, meanwhile, urged young people to form human chains to protect power plants Trump has threatened to bomb.

But the S&P 500 slipped just 0.5% as officials involved in diplomatic efforts said talks were ongoing, even though it was unclear if a deal would come in time to head off Trump’s threatened attacks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 271 points, or 0.6%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% lower.

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Netanyahu confirms that Israeli warplanes struck bridges and railways in Iran

In a statement released by his office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard was using them to transport materials to make weapons.

He said he approved the strikes with Defense Minister Israel Katz and said they weren’t meant to target Iranian civilians but the government.

“This is no longer the same Iran, nor is it the same Israel. We are changing the balance of power from one end to the other,” Netanyahu said.

Pakistan’s military backs mediation efforts, warns attacks on Saudi Arabia risk derailing diplomacy

Pakistan’s military on Tuesday voiced support for government efforts aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East, stressing the need for restraint and dialogue while warning that recent attacks on Saudi Arabia risk undermining ongoing diplomatic initiatives.

The remarks came during a meeting of top commanders chaired by Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to a statement from the military.

It said the military strongly condemned recent attacks on Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical and industrial facilities, calling them an “unnecessary escalation” that could spoil “sincere efforts to resolve the conflict through peaceful means.”

The forum noted that Saudi Arabia’s restraint “despite grave provocations” had helped enable mediation and diplomatic options but warned that continued attacks risk damaging the “conducive environment” needed for negotiations.

US didn’t target oil infrastructure in Kharg Island strikes, US official says

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations, described the strikes overnight as hitting targets previously struck and not directed at oil infrastructure.

The official didn’t clarify what was specifically hit on the island.

The U.S. has already struck various targets on the island, including air defenses, a radar site, the airport and a hovercraft base, according to satellite analysis by the Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project.

— Konstantin Toropin

Iran has allowed two French former detainees to leave country, French President Emmanuel Macron says

They had been holed up in French diplomatic premises there since their release from prison.

“Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris are free and on route toward French territory, after three and a half years of detention in Iran,” Macron tweeted.

The green light for them to leave Iran, long sought by France, signaled how Iran is differentiating between nations, treating some favorably and others as foes, in the context of the Iran war. Macron has distanced France from the conflict, saying his country wasn’t consulted in advance about the U.S-Israel strikes and didn’t want the war.

Macron thanked Oman for playing a mediation role.

Vance seemed to confirm reports of US strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island

Responding to a question on the reported strike, he said it is “my understanding ... that we were to strike some military targets on Kharg Island. I believe we’ve done so.”

US Vice President JD Vance says he’s ‘confident’ Iran will respond to US demands by evening deadline

“I hope they’re smart,” he said.

Speaking during a news conference in Hungary’s capital Budapest, Vance said the United States had already defeated Iran’s militarily and that Iran was now “trying to exact as much economic pain on the world as possible” by keeping the Straight of Hormuz closed.

The U.S., he said, “has the ability to extract much greater economic cost on Iran than Iran has an ability to extract cost on us or on our friends in the world.”

“We feel confident that we can get a response, whether it is positive or negative, by 8 o’clock tonight,” he said referring to the 8 p.m. ET deadline set by President Trump.

US again strikes Kharg Island, a critical oil hub for Iran

That’s according to a White House official who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. hit military targets on the island, the official said Tuesday. The strikes came hours ahead of a deadline Trump set for Iran to capitulate to his demands or face a major attack. He said Tuesday morning that “’whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not make a deal.

Trump has threatened to deploy ground troops to seize critical oil infrastructure on the island, but experts warn such an operation would cost the lives of many U.S. military members and would not be a decisive move to ending the war.

The U.S. had earlier in the war struck several targets on the island, including air defenses, a radar site, an airport and a hovercraft base, according to satellite analysis by the Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Institute’s Critical Threats Project.

Earlier Tuesday, the semiofficial Mehr news agency put out a report saying there had been several explosions on Kharg Island, without elaborating.

— Seung Min Kim and Michelle L. Price

Strikes on Iran’s railroads threaten to disrupt travel out of the country

Since the war shut Iran’s air travel, trains, along with buses and rented taxis, have ferried thousands of Iranians toward the Turkish border, carrying to safety those who’ve chosen to wait out the war abroad.

Passenger trains were booked through this week, one Tehran resident told The Associated Press shortly after he crossed into Turkey at the end of March. Speaking anonymously for his security, he said he had rented a taxi to travel roughly 545 miles (880 kilometers) west to the border. He planned on returning to Iran after a few months.

Earlier Tuesday, Israel’s military warned Iranians not to use train travel “for the sake of your security.”

— Amir-Hussein Radjy

Israel’s foreign ministry condemned the attack on its consulate in Istanbul

And the foreign ministry said it appreciated the action of Turkish security forces to combat it.

“Terror will not deter us,” the ministry wrote on X.

President Trump warns a ‘whole civilization’ could die but adds Iran still has time to capitulate

The American leader issued the stark threat Tuesday, about 12 hours ahead of his deadline for Iran to agree to a deal that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz or face punishing strikes.

Trump wrote on his social media site: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.”

He added: “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

But Trump’s statement nonetheless kept the possibility of an off-ramp open, saying that “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen.”

Missile strikes UAE telecommunications building, injuring 2

A telecommunications building in the United Arab Emirates was struck Tuesday by an Iranian ballistic missile, injuring two people, authorities said.

The missile hit an administrative building for the Thuraya Telecommunications Company in Sharjah, the medical office said.

The two Pakistani nationals injured in the strike were taken to a hospital, the office said.

Bridges struck by airstrikes in Iran

Iranian authorities said Tuesday that a series of airstrikes took out a railway bridge in Kashan, a train station in Mashhad and highway bridge near Tabriz on Tabriz-Tehran freeway.

Neither the United States nor Israel immediately claimed the attacks.

Tehran resident fears Iran will be ‘destroyed’ by US infrastructure attacks

A northern Tehran resident says friends and family are storing water and charging phones over fears the U.S. will take out Iran’s energy infrastructure.

“By attacking infrastructure, the Islamic Republic will not be destroyed, only we will be destroyed,” the resident told The Associated Press, speaking anonymously for her safety.

The teacher in her 20s spoke to the AP in the weeks before the war when Iranians were reeling from the killing of thousands of anti-government protesters.

Many opponents of Iran’s government hoped a threatened U.S.-Israeli strike would quickly overthrow it, she said.

“Like the people who were desperate and were afraid of people getting killed again, I believed Trump’s words. I thought that he would kill a few leaders of the regime and the work of this regime would be finished,” she said Tuesday.

Now she fears U.S. and Israeli attacks will spread chaos: “If we don’t have the internet, and if we don’t have electricity, water, and gas, we’re really going back to the Stone Age, as Trump said.”

Iran’s internet remains largely blocked, throttling news as panic spreads that critical infrastructure will be destroyed in the next 24 hours.

Gunmen attack building housing Israeli Consulate in Istanbul

Three assailants opened fire at police outside a building housing the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, sparking a gunfight that left one attacker dead, Turkish officials said.

The two other assailants were captured with injuries.

Two police officers sustained slight injuries in the clash, Istanbul Gov. Davut Gul told reporters. The assailants were carrying long-barreled weapons.

Interior Minister Mustafa Cifti wrote on X that the attackers had traveled to Istanbul from the neighboring city of Izmit in a rented car. One of the assailants was linked to a group he described as “exploiting religion,” without naming the organization.

The Islamic State group has carried out deadly attacks in Turkey in the past.

___

A previous version of this item incorrectly reported two assailants had been killed.

Iran warns fuel will be cut off ‘for years’ if Trump carries out threat

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned Tuesday it would “deprive the U.S and its allies of the region’s oil and gas for years” if U.S. President Donald Trump carries out his threat to attack power plants and bridges if the Strait of Hormuz doesn’t open.

Multiple Iranian media outlets carried the statement.

It also issued a new threat to the Gulf Arab states.

“We have exercised great restraint and had considerations in choosing retaliatory targets, but from now on all these considerations have been removed,” the warning read.

1 wounded in northern Israel rocket attack

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said a 20-year-old woman was taken to hospital with a mild head injury from shrapnel in the northern town of Nahariya.

Several cars burst into flames and buildings were damaged from a direct impact on a residential street, medics and Israel’s Fire and Rescue service said.

Rocket and drone attacks by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah have set off sirens throughout Tuesday in Israeli communities close to the Lebanon border.

Container ship hit in Persian Gulf

A container ship in the Persian Gulf has been hit by a projectile that caused damage, the British military said Tuesday.

The attack happened in international waters south of Iran’s Kish Island, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

It said no one was hurt and there was no environmental impact from the apparent attack.

Over 20 ships have been attacked in the Mideast by Iran since the war began.

Beginning Wednesday, most passengers on domestic and short-haul international routes will pay $10 more for their first and second checked bags, and $50 more to check a third. That brings the fees to $45 for the first bag, $55 for the second and $200 for the third, according to Delta.

“These updates are part of Delta’s ongoing review of pricing across its business and reflect the impact of evolving global conditions and industry dynamics,” the carrier said in a statement.

The change marks Delta's first increase in checked baggage fees on domestic routes in two years. Fees for long-haul international flights are not affected.

CEO Ed Bastian told investors last month that the jump in jet fuel prices had already added about $400 million to Delta's operating expenses since the conflict began on Feb. 28. Executives at United Airlines and American Airlines reported similar increases.

The average price for a gallon of jet fuel in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and New York was $4.69 on Monday, up from $2.50 just before the war, according to Argus Media. The energy market intelligence company’s U.S. Jet Fuel Index tracks average prices across those major hubs.

Delta said complimentary bags will still be available to customers flying in premium cabins, active-duty military personnel, eligible co-branded credit card holders and members of certain loyalty tiers.

The carrier's move follows similar announcements from United and JetBlue, both of which raised baggage fees last week while maintaining complimentary first checked bags for some customers.

Airlines around the world have been grappling with volatile oil markets as fighting near the Strait of Hormuz — where roughly a fifth of the world's oil passes — disrupts global supplies. Because jet fuel is refined from crude oil, swings in energy prices quickly feed into a carrier’s costs. Fuel typically ranks as the second-largest expense after labor.

In addition to raising ticket prices, analysts say U.S. carriers are more likely to lean on ancillary fees to offset the higher expenses, while many non-U.S. carriers are responding by adding or increasing fuel surcharges.

Bidunga finished his second season with the Jayhawks as the Big 12 defensive player of the year and an Associated Press All-Big 12 second-team pick. He averaged 13.3 points and 9.0 rebounds and was a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year finalist. He led the Big 12 and was fourth nationally with 91 blocked shots and 10th in field-goal shooting at 64%.

Bidunga recorded 13 double-doubles and was the only Division I player to average more than 13 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots.

Harris was voted the Atlantic Coast Conference's most improved player after he increased his scoring average from 6.1 points as a freshman to 21.4 this past season. He also was an AP All-ACC second-team pick after becoming one of two players in program history to score 750 points in a season. Myles Colvin, the Demon Deacons' second-leading scorer, joined Harris and four other teammates in the portal.

Murauskas was joined in the portal by four of his teammates as the Gaels transition from longtime coach Randy Bennett, who left for Arizona State, to Mickey McConnell, who was Bennett's associate head coach. Murauskas was the West Coast Conference's second-leading scorer with 18.4 points and had two 30-point games. He was an All-WCC first-team pick both years he was with the Gaels after transferring from Arizona.

Isaiah Johnson, who led Colorado and was third in the Big 12 in scoring with 16.9 points per game, went into the portal after one season with the Buffaloes.

Providence, which fired Kim English last month and hired Bryan Hodgson, had just one player listed on its 2026-27 roster Tuesday. Among seven players in the portal was Stefan Vaaks, who as a freshman averaged 15.2 points and 3.3 assists and made a Big East-leading 91 3-pointers.

LSU's Dedan Thomas (15.3 ppg) and Michael Nowoko (13.4 ppg), the Tigers' second- and third-leading scorers, were among seven players in the portal with Will Wade returning as coach after the firing of Matt McMahon.

California saw its top two scorers enter the portal in Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen. Ames is looking for his fourth school in four years after having made one-year stops at Kansas State and Virginia. He scored 16.9 points per game for the Bears. Pippen, son of NBA great Scottie Pippen, started his career at Michigan and will be heading to his third school in three years after averaging 14.2 points.

KJ Lewis, who averaged 14.9 points and 5.1 rebounds at Georgetown after two seasons at Arizona, is seeking a third school in four years.

Also entering the portal was San Diego State forward Miles Byrd, the Mountain West's defensive player of the year.

Gavin Doty, who averaged 18 points for Siena to rank second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, announced he would follow coach Gerry McNamara to Syracuse.

Purdue announced it had signed forward Caden Pierce, who played three seasons at Princeton and sat out this year as a redshirt while completing his degree. Pierce started 89 games for the Tigers and was 2023-24 Ivy League player of year after averaging 16.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He chose the Boilermakers over Duke, Gonzaga, Louisville and Connecticut.

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Offset, who was once married to Cardi B, was being treated at a hospital after Monday night's shooting, the spokesperson said in a statement, although his exact condition was unknown. Police said the injuries were not life threatening.

More than three years ago, Offset’s cousin Takeoff, another member of Migos, was shot and killed at a Houston bowling alley.

Monday's shooting followed a fight at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, just north of Miami, police said. Officers detained two people.

A rapper known as Lil Tjay, Tione Jayden Merritt, was arrested for the altercation that occurred before the shooting, the Seminole Police Department in Florida said. He was charged with disorderly conduct and operating a vehicle without a valid license.

His lawyer, Dawn M. Florio, told The Associated Press that Lil Tjay did not have a gun and was not charged with any weapons or gun-related crimes.

She said he paid his bond and was released Tuesday afternoon. The 24-year-old rapper is a stalwart of New York’s South Bronx scene, celebrated for his sing-rapping and pop-hip-hop style delivered atop drill beats.

While police said one person sustained injuries at a valet area outside the casino, they did not identify the victim.

The second person detained at the scene has not been charged and investigators were working to identify others involved, police said in a statement Tuesday.

Offset, born Kiari Kendrell Cephus, first made a name for himself with Migos. The Atlanta trio is one of the most popular hip-hop groups of all time, celebrated for their rapid-fire triplet flow, an often imitated delivery that changed the trajectory of trap.

Their career kicked off with the 2013 hit “Versace.” They then had several multiplatinum selling singles, including “Bad and Boujee,” which went No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Stir Fry,” “Narcos,” and “T-Shirt.” Migos released four full-length albums across their career, closing that chapter after the killing of Takeoff.

Offset and Cardi B were secretly wed in September 2017 in Atlanta. In 2024, Cardi B announced that she filed for divorce. They have three children together.

The third member of Migos, rapper Quavo, sought to transform his nephew Takeoff’s tragic shooting into a force for change, holding a summit against gun violence in 2024.

Police said Takeoff was an innocent bystander when he was shot outside a Houston bowling alley after a disagreement over a dice game. Takeoff’s death was among a string of fatal shootings in recent years that involved hip-hop stars such as Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke, PnB Rock and Young Dolph.

Offset embarked on a solo career years before Takeoff's death.

As a solo artist, Offset is known for an idiosyncratic style — a melodic, aggressive finesse. He released three full-length albums: 2019’s “Father of Four”; 2023’s “Set It Off,” which he described to The Associated Press as an effort to “bring rap back” in a genre currently led by rappers who sing; and 2025’s “Kiari.”

“‘Set It Off’ was a freedom,” he told AP last year, proof that he could shine as a solo artist outside of Migos. “Kiari,” instead, is “me, for what I am. And recognizing who I am, because I feel like sometimes you could get lost in trying to please other people and trying to do what they want you to do. So, this is like my rebellion. My rebellion album.” ___

Sherman reported from New York. Associated Press reporters Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

While a lot of attention is currently on fentanyl, in the past few years, a new drug has been slowly causing damage: Kratom. And — it’s legal in most of the U.S.

(NOTE: It’s banned for purchase in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Indiana, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin.)

Kratom is a plant that looks harmless, but when condensed, can have the same euphoric power as opioids, and you can buy it online and at smoke shops, gas stations, and health food stores.

“When it’s getting to the point where it’s a heavy usage, it can go into this euphoria that can be hallucinogenic in its nature,” said Scott Harrell, executive director & CEO of Fresh Start Ministries of Central Florida.

Kratom is a Southeast Asian plant that can be turned into powder, liquid, or tea.

It’s sold online and in gas stations and smoke shops. According to the Wall Street Journal, people use it for energy, focus, pain relief, and to get over opioid addictions.

“What I think the excuse is, is that it’s legal and because it’s legal, it’s a replacement for opioids,” explained Harrell.

And some users say that’s not all.

“It’s not alleviating pain, it’s making other people rich,” said a Fresh Start Ministries client.

Last year, the FDA recommended that 7-OH, a byproduct of kratom, be classified as a controlled substance. Fresh Start Ministries says they had to request a specialized drug test to make sure their clients aren’t using it.

“We have had… some of the guys will say, I just didn’t know it was in there,” recalled Harrell.

Harrell also says kratom is a gateway drug for younger men and can lead to use of other drugs and even overdoses.

“They’ll start with kratom for a night, and then they reach into, you know, looking for a little bit better, bigger, faster fix,” he said

“Kratom is a self-induced death sentence, period,” said a Fresh Start Ministries client.

Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous.

Harrell has been told by his clients that withdrawal from kratom is not significantly different from withdrawal from other drugs, and Healthline says many symptoms are the same as opiate and opioid withdrawal.

Withdrawal symptoms such as muscle aches, nausea, cramps, and decreased appetite can start as soon as 12 hours after the last dose and last from 3 to 10 days.

Vance's two-day visit to Budapest was the clearest sign yet that U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is going all-in for an Orbán victory when Hungarians go to the polls on Sunday. With only five days until the vote, Orbán, the European Union’s longest-serving leader and a close Trump ally, is trailing in the polls.

Speaking before over 1,000 Orbán supporters at an election rally at a sports arena in Budapest, Vance campaigned openly for the autocratic leader, telling the crowd: “We have got to get Viktor Orbán reelected as prime minister of Hungary, don’t we?”

Orbán is running for his fifth-straight term as prime minister. He and his nationalist-populist Fidesz party are facing their toughest race in two decades against a center-right challenger, the Tisza party led by Péter Magyar, that could bring an end to his 16 years in power.

Orbán has bristled at the slightest mention of the Hungarian election by any of his EU partners, decrying any expressions of support for his opponent as a grave breach of Hungary’s sovereignty and meddling in the election.

Yet Vance's appearance alongside Orbán at the election rally — dubbed a “Day of Friendship” event — was an unusual step from a foreign leader, and a break with most politicians who avoid taking an active role in the political campaigns of other countries.

To loud applause, Vance asked rally attendees: “Will you stand for Western civilization? Will you stand for freedom, for truth, and for the God of our fathers?”

"Then, my friends, go to the polls in the weekend. Stand with Viktor Orbán, because he stands for you, and he stands for all these things,” Vance said.

‘I love that Viktor’

Long accused by critics of taking over Hungary’s institutions, clamping down on press freedom and overseeing entrenched political corruption — charges he denies — Orbán has become an icon in the global far-right movement.

Trump has repeatedly endorsed Orbán’s candidacy for reelection, and many in the Make America Great Again movement approve of the Hungarian leader's opposition to immigration, curtailing of LGBTQ+ rights, and capture of the media and academia.

But with most independent polls showing a double-digit deficit for Fidesz among decided voters ahead of the April 12 vote, Orbán has sought to boost his profile by appearing publicly with his international admirers.

Vance spoke at length on Tuesday about what he views as the civilizational dangers posed by progressivism, “faceless bureaucrats” and censorship. He lauded Orbán for his strong stand against immigration, and his adversarial approach to the EU.

“I admire what you’re fighting for,” Vance said. “I am here because President Trump and I wish for your success, and we are fighting right here with you.”

Vance used his phone to call Trump from the lectern, to loud applause. After first reaching an automated message about the caller’s voicemail box not being set up yet, Trump answered the call and told the crowd through a microphone: “I love Hungary and I love that Viktor, I tell you he’s a fantastic man.”

Trump said Orbán had not allowed migrants “to storm” and “ruin” Hungary.

“He’s kept Hungarian people in your country,” Trump said.

Hungarian ‘reconquista’

The Trump administration’s embrace of Orbán reflects its affinity for European far-right parties broadly, and the admiration, from Spain to France to Germany and the Netherlands, has been mutual.

Orbán has long been a thorn in the side of the EU, and has tested the bloc’s system of governance by frequently using his veto power to paralyze decision making in order to leverage concessions.

Last month, he vetoed a major, 90-billion euro ($104-billion) EU loan to Ukraine, angering the bloc's leaders who accused him of hijacking the critical aid while undermining the EU in an effort to win his election.

At the rally on Tuesday, Orbán declared that “freedom-loving Americans and Hungarians must unite and save Western civilization.”

“To do this, we must fight the progressives that nest in Brussels,” the EU's de-facto capital, he continued. He declared that Hungary had launched a “reconquista” of EU institutions which “will bring new patriotic governments to power.”

Late last month, Orbán hosted dozens of allies from around Europe and beyond at the Hungarian iteration of the Conservative Political Action Conference, and at a meeting of the far-right Patriots for Europe party family, the third-largest group in the European Parliament.

Trump sent a video message to CPAC Hungary, saying Orbán had his “complete and total endorsement” and was a “fantastic guy.”

Still, Trump’s recent approach to foreign affairs has reverberated in Europe, with his actions over Greenland, Venezuela and Iran straining those relationships. Some commentators have suggested support from Vance and Trump may not help boost Orbán's popularity at home.

Orbán, however, has remained deferential, and echoed Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election.

Russian energy

Orbán's government has broken with most EU countries by refusing to assist Ukraine with financial assistance or weapons to ward off Russia's full-scale invasion. Meanwhile, it has remained firmly committed to purchasing Russian energy despite EU efforts to wean off such supplies.

In November, Hungary received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian oil and gas after a White House meeting between Orbán and Trump.

Yet at a joint news conference with Orbán earlier on Tuesday, Vance seemed to contradict U.S. efforts to push its allies to break with Russian energy, excoriating other EU countries for moving to cease their imports of Russian fossil fuels in response to the war.

“It's funny to watch prime ministers and leaders in some of the Western European capitals talk about the energy crisis when frankly they should have been following the policies of Viktor Orbán,” he said.

Despite his clear endorsement of Orbán, Vance lashed out at the EU for what he said was “one of the worst examples of foreign election interference that I’ve ever seen or ever even read about.”

Vance did not address numerous recent reports that Russian secret services are meddling in Hungary's election to tip it in Orbán’s favor.

___

Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania contributed.

The vote — 11-2, with two abstentions from Pakistan and Colombia— took place just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an unprecedented threat that a “whole civilization will die tonight" if Iran does not open the strategic waterway and make a deal before his 8 p.m. Eastern deadline. One-fifth of the world’s oil typically passes through the strait, and Iran’s stranglehold during the war has sent energy prices soaring.

Russia and China strongly defended their opposition, both directly citing Trump’s most recent and perilous threat yet to end Iran’s civilization as confirmation that the proposal would have given U.S. and Israel “carte blanche for continued aggression," as Russian envoy Vassily Nebenzia put it.

Nebenzia and China’s U.N. ambassador, Fu Cong, said the most recent text failed to capture the root causes and full picture of the conflict by showing that America and its closest ally started the now spiraling war.

“Such language is highly susceptible to misinterpretation or even abuse,” Cong said in his statement.

He added, “The draft resolution, should it have been adopted, would send a wrong message and have serious, very serious consequences.” Cong said the war is likely to escalate, with the United States now “openly threatening the very survival of a civilization.”

,The foreign minister of Bahrain, which authored the draft, assailed the U.N.'s most powerful body for not taking action and allowing the international community to be “held hostage to economic blackmail" from Iran.

“Failing to adopt this resolution sends the wrong signal to the world, to the people of the world,” Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani said after the vote — “the signal that the threat to international waterways can pass without any decisive action by the international organization responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security.”

But Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. thanked its allies on the 15-member council for refusing to adopt the resolution.

“The text unjustifiably and misleadingly portrays Iran’s lawful measures in the Strait of Hormuz, which have been taken in the exercise of its inherent right of self-defense in accordance with the UN Charter, as threats to international peace and security,” Amir-Saeid Iravani said in his statement.

It’s doubtful the resolution, even if it had been adopted, would have impacted the war, now in its sixth week, because it was been significantly weakened to try to get Moscow and Beijing to abstain rather than veto it.

The initial Gulf proposal would have authorized countries to use “all necessary means” — U.N. wording that would include military action — to ensure transit through the Strait of Hormuz and deter attempts to close it.

The United States, which had supported the draft from its original form, assailed the countries that objected to the resolution.

“No one should tolerate that they are holding the global economy at gunpoint," Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said of Iran, “but today, Russia and China did tolerate it.” He said in his statement: “They sided with a regime that seeks to intimidate the Gulf into submission, even as it brutalizes its own people during a national internet blackout, for daring to imagine dignity or freedom.”

After Russia, China and France, all veto-wielding countries on the 15-member Security Council, expressed opposition to approving the use of force, the resolution was revised to eliminate all references to offensive action. It would have authorized only “all defensive means necessary.” A vote had been expected on Saturday.

But instead the resolution was further weakened to eliminate any reference to Security Council authorization — which is an order for action — and limit its provisions to the Strait of Hormuz. Previous drafts had included adjacent waters.

The resolution vetoed Tuesday "strongly encourages states interested in the use of commercial maritime routes in the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate efforts, defensive in nature, commensurate with the circumstances, to contribute to ensuring the safety and security of navigation across the Strait of Hormuz.”

This should include escorting merchant and commercial vessels, and deterring attempts to close, obstruct or interfere with international navigation through the strait, it says.

The resolution also demanded that Iran immediately halt attacks on merchant and commercial vessels and stop impeding their freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and attacking civilian infrastructure.

In response to the U.S. and Israeli attacks beginning on Feb. 28, Iran has targeted hotels, airports, residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure in more than 10 countries, including the Islamic Republic's Gulf neighbors, some of the world’s major exporters of oil and natural gas.

Iran's blockade in the strait is seen by Gulf nations as an existential threat. Bahrain, a Gulf nation that hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet and is the Security Council’s Arab representative and its president this month, has been pressing for U.N. action.

In response to Iran’s strikes against its Gulf neighbors, the Security Council adopted a Bahrain-sponsored resolution on March 11 condemning the “egregious attacks” and calling for Tehran to immediately halt its strikes.

That resolution, adopted by a vote of 13-0 with Russia and China abstaining, also condemned Iran’s actions in the Strait of Hormuz as a threat to international peace and security and called for an immediate end to all actions blocking shipping.

RELATED: Bait-and-switch? Study finds most ‘Mayport Shrimp’ dishes served in Jacksonville area are actually imported

Researchers from SeaD Consulting say they discovered 57% of restaurants ‘explicitly misrepresented’ that they were serving local or American wild-caught shrimp, including shrimp marketed as iconic “Mayport Shrimp.”

Erin Williams, Founder and COO of SeaD Consulting sat down with Jennifer Waugh on News4JAX+ at 10 a.m. via Zoom to discuss the findings.

Watch the full interview above.

The suit, filed last year, marked a new front in the PETA's long-running campaign against dog breeders. The case accused the American Kennel Club of promulgating unhealthy “standards,” or ideals, for Frenchies — the nation's most prevalent dog breed, by the club's count — as well as bulldogs, Chinese shar-peis, dachshunds and pugs. The AKC, the nation's oldest purebred dog registry, rejected the claims and said it prioritizes canine health.

Club President Gina DiNardo hailed the decision Tuesday.

“We remain focused on what matters most, the preservation of purebred dogs, advocating for all dogs and the people who care for them, and supporting the right of individuals and families to choose the dog that is right for their household,” she said in a statement.

PETA, also called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said its lawyers were assessing any legal options.

“Money-grubbing dog merchants flood the market with deformed dogs bred at the AKC’s direction,” founder Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement. She urged people to adopt dogs from shelters instead of buying purebred pups: “No dog should be custom-made for a look that causes pain.”

The suit invoked a New York law that is generally used to challenge state and local government decisions, though it's occasionally applied to private organizations. But those have been organizations with some authority over the people suing them, such as union members bringing complaints about their leadership or co-op apartment residents suing their building's board, state Judge David B. Cohen said in a decision filed Monday.

Since PETA isn't subject to the kennel club's authority, the case “must be dismissed,” he wrote, without opining on the dog health issues at the heart of the case.

It focused on canine ailments that can be associated with flat faces — such as those of bulldogs, pugs and Frenchies — or with the short legs and long backs that dachshunds have. Shar-peis, meanwhile, may suffer spates of fever and inflammation known as “shar-pei autoinflammatory disease.”

The problems aren't universal but can be serious.

PETA had wanted the judge to order the AKC to stop using the “standards” for those breeds. The standards guide dog show judges and many breeders.

The AKC has said the standards — which fanciers develop and the kennel club reviews and circulates — reflect “decades of collaboration with veterinary experts and breeders.” The kennel club says it has given over $40 million since 1995 to its canine health research charity.

Kittleson was freed in the afternoon, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. He did not share her current whereabouts but said that prior to her release, she had been held in Baghdad.

The powerful Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement earlier in the day it had decided to free Kittleson, who was abducted on March 31.

The group said its decision came “in appreciation of the patriotic stances of the outgoing prime minister," Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, without giving more details. It added that “this initiative will not be repeated in the future.”

The statement added a condition — that Kittleson must “leave the country immediately” upon her release.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kataib Hezbollah had not previously acknowledged that it was the one responsible for Kittleson’s abduction, although both U.S. and Iraqi officials had pointed fingers at the group.

Two officials within the militia, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, told the AP that in exchange for freeing Kittleson, several members of the group who had previously been detained by Iraqi authorities would be released.

Kittleson, 49, a freelance journalist, had lived abroad for years before the kidnapping, using Rome as her base for a time and building a respected journalism career across the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Syria. Like many freelancers, she often worked on a shoestring budget and without the protections afforded by large news organizations to staff.

She had entered Iraq again shortly before her abduction. U.S. officials have said that they warned her multiple times of threats against her, but that she did not want to leave.

Iraqi officials have said that two cars were involved in the kidnapping, one of which crashed while being pursued near the town of al-Haswa in Babil province, southwest of Baghdad. The journalist was then transferred to a second car that fled the scene.

Three Iraqi officials said earlier Tuesday that attempts to negotiate her release had run into obstacles.

The two Iraqi security officials and one official from the pro-Iran Coordination Framework political bloc spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the sensitive case publicly.

One of the security officials said that an official with the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-backed militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military, had been tasked with communicating with the abductors to secure Kittleson’s release but had run into difficulties in communicating with the Kataib Hezbollah leadership.

“The primary challenge is that the leaders of the Kataib militia — specifically, the commanders of the battalions — are nowhere to be found. No one knows their whereabouts, and the process of establishing contact with them is extremely complex,” they said. “These leaders have gone underground, maintaining no active lines of communication, out of fear of being targeted.”

The political official said a message had been sent to the Kataib leadership to determine their demands in exchange for releasing the kidnapped journalist. Iraqi authorities were willing to release six Kataib Hezbollah members who are currently detained, most of them in connection with attacks on a U.S. base in Syria, they said.

Kataib Hezbollah has previously been accused of kidnapping foreigners.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton graduate student with Israeli and Russian citizenship, disappeared in Baghdad in 2023. After she was freed and handed over to U.S. authorities in September 2025, she said that she had been held by Kataib Hezbollah.

The group never officially claimed responsibility for kidnapping her.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have also launched regular attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

This after a Florida Tributary report found that the same bus camera program being used in Duval County was suspended last April in Miami- Dade County for wrongly issuing tickets to drivers.

The report also found incorrect numbers on violations, drivers were overbilled fine amounts, and that police who were supposed to review all violation notices and weed out those improperly issued were overwhelmed by the sheer volume—more than 400 a day in Miami-Dade County.

Chief Jackson Short with Duval public schools joined Jennifer Waugh on News4JAX+ at 10 a.m. to discuss this new report.

Watch the full interview above.

Some have pitched him as a gateway to young people — particularly young men — who have drifted to the right in recent years. Others fear he is a sign of the party beholden to its extremes, pointing to inflammatory rhetoric like “Hamas is a thousand times better” than Israel, describing some Orthodox Jews as “inbred” and that “America deserved 9/11."

Piker's scheduled appearances with Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, have catalyzed questions of how big a tent the party wants to build as it works to regain power in the midterm elections and win back the White House.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Piker cast the reaction as part of a broader fight for the party's future.

“There is definitely, I think, a battle right now for who gets to be more representative of the national Democratic Party,” he said.

Piker remains largely unapologetic for his past remarks, although he's said some were poorly worded. He called the renewed focus on them “totally ridiculous, especially considering that there are far more consequential things happening in the world right now.”

“The super wealthy are picking apart the scraps of the American carcass like a bunch of vultures, and some of the Democrats are talking about their affiliations with a Twitch streamer,” Piker said. “I think Americans understand that this is totally ridiculous.”

The 34-year-old Turkish American streamer has 3.1 million followers on Twitch and 1.8 million on YouTube, making him an influential voice in a shifting media landscape where mainstream outlets are losing clout. Unlike traditional podcasts, his livestreams are often unscripted and interactive. He has hosted prominent Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Piker said he is a “megaphone” for an angry electorate, and he believes the criticism that he faces is less about him personally and more about what he represents — a younger, more populist wing of the party.

“I think they find me to be a more appropriate target than to just actively disparage the voters,” he said.

El-Sayed, who has been backed by progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders, is attempting to channel that appeal in appearances at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan on Tuesday. A physician and former county health official, he is locked in a competitive Senate primary with U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. It's a critical race for a seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Gary Peters and the winner of the primary will likely face former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers.

The three candidates have differing views on U.S. foreign policy toward Israel. Both El-Sayed and McMorrow have described the war in Gaza as a genocide. El-Sayed wants to stop all military assistance while McMorrow has pushed for a two-state solution. Stevens has described herself as a “proud pro-Israel Democrat."

McMorrow told Jewish Insider that Piker was someone who “says extremely offensive things in order to generate clicks and views and followers," and she compared him to white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Trump's decision to dine with Fuentes between his presidencies ignited a firestorm of controversy over his association with extreme voices on the right. Stevens said El-Sayed is “choosing to campaign with someone who has a history of antisemitic rhetoric.”

El-Sayed responded to the backlash over Piker by saying “if we want to have a conversation where we're actually bringing people together about the things that we need and deserve, we're gonna have to go to unlikely and uncommon places.”

Not everyone in the party wants to go to those places. Rep. Brad Schneider of Illinois, who chairs the moderate New Democratic Coalition and co-chairs the Congressional Jewish Caucus, called Piker “an unapologetic antisemite.”

“We are deeply disappointed by the decision to host a speaker at the University of Michigan with a documented record of antisemitic rhetoric," said Rabbi Davey Rosen, the CEO of Michigan Hillel. “Such invitations normalize hate and contribute to a hostile environment for Jewish students.”

Piker said he is not antisemitic and describes himself as anti-Zionist. Hostility toward Israel has risen across the political spectrum and became a fault line within the Democratic Party during the war in Gaza.

Criticism has centered on Piker's past remarks. After the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Piker argued that whether reports of sexual violence are accurate “doesn’t change the dynamic” of the conflict. He has repeatedly said the core issue is Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

Piker has drawn backlash for a comment in which he said “America deserved 9/11,” made during a 2019 livestream while discussing U.S. foreign policy. Piker has said the remark was poorly worded and added in the AP interview that he “didn’t mean that Americans deserved to die.”

The eldest child of the U.S. president said that “the biggest players, the biggest names in banking and finance, in tech and AI across the board” believe that “Europe is a disaster,” but “the disaster that they feel also needs to be fixed.”

“The only way it gets fixed, though, in my opinion is if they (Europe) get out of of their own way,” Trump Jr. said during a business discussion in the northwestern Bosnian town of Banja Luka, according to video recordings provided by the official television RTRS television.

Banja Luka is the main town in Republika Srpska, the Serb-run part of Bosnia, whose leaders are staunch admirers of U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The press office of the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia’s capital, told The Associated Press in an email that Trump Jr. came “in a private capacity.” The visit was nonetheless seen here as a boost for the Serb separatist political leadership.

Trump Jr.’s trip came as U.S. Vice President JD Vance traveled to Hungary to support the reelection bid of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán before a highly-contested vote next weekend.

Bosnian Serb politician and former Republika Srpska president, Milorad Dodik, an ally of Orbán, said on X that the two visits “signal an important shift of the U.S. administration under the leadership of President Trump and the care for this part of Europe regarding the position of Christians.”

Trump Jr,, in Banja Luka, said that eastern European countries “have a work ethic that has (withstood) some of the ‘woke’ nonsense that has really been a parasitic thing in the mind in Western Europe.”

“I see that creating major fractures in the European Union between those few countries in eastern Europe that actually still believe in common sense, and Western Europe that’s clearly missing in the political discourse these days,” he said.

Dodik has repeatedly called for the Serb-run half of Bosnia to break off from the rest of the country that is run by Bosniaks, who are mainly Muslims, and Croats. The Serb bid to form its own state and unite with neighboring Serbia was seen as the main cause of the 1992-95 ethnic war that killed more than 100,000 before ending in a U.S.-brokered peace agreement.

The Biden administration in 2022 imposed sanctions on Dodik and individuals and companies linked to him because of the separatist policies that stoked fear of renewed instability. The sanctions were lifted by the Trump administration last year.

The Trump administration has long been critical of the EU, notably over trade and EU regulation of the technology sector. Its criticism of long-time European allies has intensified during the Iran war.

Bosnia is a candidate country for EU membership and the 27-nation bloc says it's Bosnia’s biggest trading partner, investor and provider of financial aid.

It was 40 years ago — April 6, 1986, to be exact — the “Sony Ranking” was introduced.

What began as a list in 1968 for IMG founder Mark McCormack's “World of Professional Golf” annual got the attention of the R&A as it was reviewing criteria for the British Open. It was officially introduced at the 1986 Masters.

The headline that week proclaimed, “Europeans Top Golf Rankings.”

Langer was No. 1 in world, followed by Seve Ballesteros and Sandy Lyle. The leading American was Tom Watson at No. 4. Jack Nicklaus, considered to be past his prime at age 46, checked in at No. 33. By the end of the week, Nicklaus famously won his sixth Masters and 18th professional major.

“It was time to have something like that because international golfers were excluded from tournaments like the Masters, the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship,” Langer said under the big oak tree next to the Augusta National clubhouse.

"Only two or three of us got in," he said. “In Europe, I had to win the money list to get in the Masters. And we had more than one good golfer.”

It wasn't perfect then, and probably isn't now. It's nigh impossible to measure the runner-up of this week's Token Homemate Cup on the Japan Golf Tour against whoever finishes 15th at Augusta.

But it was a start, and its influence is greater now than anyone might have imagined.

Every major championship uses the Official World Golf Ranking an an integral part of its criteria. The Masters and British Open take the top 50, the U.S. Open takes the top 60. The PGA Championship uses invitations in a bid to have everyone from the top 100.

The Sony Rankings — yes, it had a corporate sponsor — became the Official World Golf Ranking when the major tours and the four majors formed a board in 1997. Now the OWGR has 25 tours around the world, the most recent addition being Saudi-funded LIV Golf.

Whether LIV Golf should get more points awarded to more than the top 10 players is a debate as endless as deciding whether the PGA Tour gets too much weight.

But there is no doubt that OWGR has been critical to opening the borders beyond American golf.

The U.S. Open had only three foreign-born champions from 1926 through 1993 — Gary Player of South Africa, Tony Jacklin of England and David Graham of Australia. Starting with Ernie Els of South Africa in 1994, 13 of the last 32 champions were international players.

Padraig Harrington in 2008 became the first European in 78 years to win the PGA Championship when he won at Oakland Hills in 2008.

It wasn't a matter of getting better. It was a matter of getting an opportunity. That much should have been made clear during the 1980s when Europe began its dominance in the Ryder Cup.

More than his own three-week reign atop the world ranking, Langer said it created more paths. Ballesteros, Langer and Lyle combined for six majors in the seven years before the ranking began in somewhat an official capacity.

“That helped open it up, especially in the majors, to some international golfers who Americans never heard of or didn't know much about,” he said. “It's different now with the media. But it was an important step in the right direction. Was it perfect? Maybe not. But it was a good way to get the best field.”

That was mainly for the majors. More hurdles came from the PGA Tour, which always had the best collection of players. The requirement under former Commissioner Deane Beman was a minimum of 15 events for membership.

Europe required 11 events. Top players with a global eye often played the occasional event in Japan and Australia, and the travel and time took a toll.

“We didn't go on boats,” Langer said with a smile, “but we didn't go on private jets.”

Langer recalled that 11 top Europeans asked Beman to reduce the PGA Tour requirement to 12 events and “he wouldn't budge.”

So much has changed.

The man behind the math for years was London-based Tony Greer, and his original plan was to prioritize tournaments into four sections. The four majors received the most weight, followed by most PGA Tour and top European Tour events, on down to lesser events around the world.

There have been changes over the years, most notably going from a three-year rolling period to a two-year system in 1995, and recently expanding the strength-of-field to include everyone playing, not just the top 200 players.

The 40th year of world ranking has Scottie Scheffler on top — he has been No. 1 a total of 185 weeks, trailing only Tiger Woods (683 weeks) and Greg Norman (331). There are five Americans and five Europeans in the top 10. All are on the PGA Tour.

Perhaps the best measure is the Masters, which has a 91-man field from 23 countries. The week the world ranking began, the 88-man field came from 11 countries.

___

On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season. More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Baylee Adair lived at Spinnaker Reach Apartments on San Pablo Road with her two young sons. She says the roach problem in her unit became so severe that it was impossible to ignore.

“There were just bugs everywhere — my kids would be eating, and there would be roaches crawling on their food,” Adair said.

Her son summed it up simply.

“The bug house!” he said. “Because there were so many bugs.”

Failed inspection, broken lease

Adair says conditions worsened over time. She described waking up in the middle of the night to find bugs on the walls above her family as they slept.

“We’d wake up in the middle of the night, and there would be bugs crawling — coming down the wall. I’d look up and see them crawling down toward us while we were sleeping,” she said.

Adair says the unit ultimately failed a housing authority inspection — twice — and that property management gave her permission to leave.

Adair provided News4JAX with documentation to support her claims, including a lease stating pest control would be paid for by the apartment, and paperwork from the housing authority — filled out by the property management company — confirming she did not owe money upon breaking her lease.

Debt collection notice arrives

Despite that documentation, Adair says, she received an unexpected notice months later.

“In August or September of 2025, I received a notification from the debt collection company saying that I owed them the lease fees,” she said.

Adair now has an outstanding balance of approximately $2,000. News4JAX contacted a local real estate attorney to explore her legal options.

Zach Roth, a real estate attorney with Ansbacher Law, says the documentation Adair has could work in her favor.

“If you have a document that’s going to provide proof that if you move out, you don’t owe anything, that is almost certainly going to be covered by the doctrines of waiver — meaning that the landlord has knowingly waived the right to enforce that,“ Roth said. ”They can’t now subsequently take a position inconsistent with that position."

Current residents describe similar conditions

News4JAX visited the Spinnaker Reach Apartments, where property management declined to comment on camera, saying a media representative would follow up. That response has not yet been received.

While on the property, News4JAX was invited into the unit of current resident Michelle Martinez. The conditions she described mirrored what Adair had experienced.

“I literally came in here to get my laundry, to put my robe on, and I had four cockroaches crawling around all over me — they get in through the hole in the wall,” Martinez said.

Adair says the experience speaks to a larger issue affecting low-income renters.

“Just because someone is on low income or struggling doesn’t mean they are less entitled to living in a clean space,” she said.

Adair says she will continue to dispute the charges. News4JAX will continue reaching out to Spinnaker Reach property management for comment.

Trump's previous deadline was weeks ago, but it was postponed several times as the Republican president oscillated between heated threats, announced delays and proclamations that the negotiations were going well, sometimes in the same statement.

That was true in Trump's Truth Social post before his Tuesday 8 p.m. ET deadline. After threatening a “whole civilization," Trump said Iran's new leaders were more reasonable and “maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?”

Officials involved in diplomatic efforts said talks continued, but it was unclear if a deal would be reached by the deadline, which Trump has suggested was final. Trump raised the ante on his threats from Monday.

“They’ll have no bridges," he wrote. “They’ll have no power plants. They’ll have no anything.”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned the U.S. that attacks on civilian infrastructure are banned under international law, according to his office. Trump, speaking with reporters, said he's “not at all” concerned about committing war crimes with such attacks.

So how did Trump's deadline delays and threats escalate over the last weeks?

An ultimatum about reopening the Strait of Hormuz

On March 21, Trump posted on Truth Social that the U.S. would “hit and obliterate” Iranian power plants if it did not fully reopen the strait within 48 hours.

Iran had until the evening of March 23.

Then 12 hours before the deadline, Trump took to Truth Social to share what seemed good news: that both countries had productive conversations toward concluding the conflict.

He wrote that he had instructed the Pentagon to postpone any strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for five days, to give more time for talks.

That pushed the deadline out to the end of that week.

A threat to target desalinization plants

Before that deadline, on March 26, Trump doubled down on his threats on Truth Social: “They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!”

But later that day, he extended the deadline for 10 more days, to April 6 at 8 p.m. Eastern, and said on Truth Social that negotiations were “going very well.”

On March 30, Trump put out a mixed statement: celebrating progress in the talks with Iran while also expanding his threatened bombing if a deal wasn't “shortly reached,” adding that “it probably will be."

“We will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!),” he wrote.

It's unclear how soon “shortly reached” meant for Trump, but a deal was not made as the deadline loomed.

An expletive-filled threat to attack power plants and bridges

“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday, "Time is running out - 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.” He meant rain down.

As the deadline approached, his posts had doubled down on his threats until Sunday, when Trump pushed it again in an expletive-filled post.

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F——-in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” Trump said on Truth Social, followed by another post that specified 8 p.m. as the deadline.

Trump then suggested on Monday that Tuesday's deadline would be final, saying he'd already given Iran enough extensions.

“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said. “We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night.”

By Tuesday morning, Trump had sent his statement saying “a whole civilization will die tonight,” to which he added that “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

What's next for diplomacy with Iran?

Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Cairo, said Iran no longer trusts the Trump administration after the U.S. bombed the Islamic Republic twice during previous rounds of talks.

“We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” he told The Associated Press.

The talks were continuing as the 8 p.m. Tuesday deadline — 3:30 a.m. Wednesday in Iran — ticked closer.

Operation Green Light, also known as Driver License Reinstatement Days, as referred to in Florida Statutes § 322.75, is an annual event where clerks’ offices waive collection agency surcharges for individuals with overdue court fines and unpaid traffic tickets.

This can help drivers get back on the road with a legal driver’s license.

Payments, including the option to set up a payment plan, can be made in person at the Richard O. Watson Judicial Center (St. Johns County Courthouse), 4010 Lewis Speedway, St. Augustine.

Payments can also be made online by visiting stjohnsclerk.com/OGL.

Only collection surcharges are waived during this event. Late fees cannot be waived.

Individuals who have not yet been referred to a collection agency but have an expired payment plan may be eligible to reinstate their suspended driver’s license by establishing a new payment plan and meeting all requirements.

Additional fees for reinstatement with the Department of Motor Vehicles may apply.

For more information about Operation Green Light, the Customer Care Call Center is available Monday – Friday, from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. at 904- 819-3600, and by email at clerk@stjohnsclerk.com.

On Thursday morning, about 30 kindergarteners from San Pablo Elementary School were on board the Duval County School Bus headed to the Jacksonville Zoo when the semi crashed into the bus as it crossed the train tracks on Zoo Parkway.

Four children were injured and taken to the hospital and the crash report notes a fifth person was also transported for their injuries. The injuries range from two broken legs to cuts to the head and chest pain. No updates have been released regarding the students’ current conditions.

According to the report, the semi truck driver told police that he saw the bus stopped at the railroad tracks, tried to step on the brakes, but his “brakes were not working,” causing the semi to swerve to the inside in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid hitting the bus.

The driver was cited for careless driving but officers note he was not distracted at the time of the crash.

Dalya Farah, an attorney with Farah and Farah who is representing the families of three of the injured students, said the next step is a deeper investigation into the truck itself.

“We will most likely inspect the truck. There’s a lot of information on semi-trucks that we can’t obtain otherwise,” Farah said.

Farah said inspection records and maintenance history will be critical in determining what caused the crash.

“When it comes to a semi case, there could be a lot of factors that go into fault,” she said. “We’re looking into whether there was a brake failure, whether the truck was properly maintained, or if distracted driving played a role.”

The News4JAX I-TEAM also uncovered a history of crashes tied to the trucking company.

Using the USDOT number on the truck, records show five other crashes linked to the same company over the past two years. It is unclear who was at fault in those incidents or whether the same driver was involved.

Records also show 74 inspections were conducted during that time frame, though that number may reflect inspections across the company’s entire fleet.

Farah said those inspection records could provide key insight into whether the crash could have been prevented.

“It’s definitely terrifying,” Farah said. “I can’t imagine a kindergartener going through that trauma, especially on a trip to the zoo.”

News4JAX reached out to the trucking company, Universal Logistics Holdings, about the reported brake failure. A manager declined to answer questions.

The investigation is focused on determining the cause of the crash, including whether the truck driver was distracted or if there were mechanical failures.

It’s unclear how this information would add to the lawsuit.

Watch the full interview above.

You can help solve cold cases by calling the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office or if you would like to remain anonymous call First Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477).

“Florida has had more adjusted gross income move into our state since I’ve been governor than has ever moved into any state in the history of the United States, even adjusted for inflation,” DeSantis said at a Miami conference.

DeSantis credited Florida’s business-friendly measures, including tort reform and changes to the state judiciary, for helping spur the influx. He said the movement of people and businesses also reflects reactions elsewhere to tax proposals such as a proposed 5% wealth tax in California.

“It’s a bad way to tax,” he said of the proposal, criticizing its focus on unrealized gains and the broader implications for owners of large equity stakes. “We’ve seen the flight of really, really significant folks, into Florida, many of them here in the Miami area.”

DeSantis also defended the idea of interstate competition for residents and investment, pointing to states such as Tennessee, Texas and Georgia as part of a regional dynamic that he said benefits the broader economy.

“We’ve shown a great framework for how you can succeed and really grow your economies and give people more opportunities,” he said, thanking attendees for coming.

Indianapolis councilman Ron Gibson said he and his 8-year-old son weren’t harmed in the incident that occurred around 12:45 a.m. Monday, but the bullets struck just steps from the dining room table where his son played with Legos the day before.

“That reality is deeply unsettling,” Gibson said. “This was not just an attack on my home, but endangered my child and disrupted the safety of our entire neighborhood.”

The incident comes as data centers have emerged as a target for extremists motivated by a range of anti-tech, anti-government and pro-environment narratives, according to Jordyn Abrams, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

Though the details behind the latest incident are not yet clear, Abrams said local conversations around data centers have increasingly made them a symbol for grievances spanning the political spectrum.

Concerns include the centers’ massive energy consumption and water usage, which consumer advocates fear could drive up electric rates and deplete wells. Data center developers also can strike confidential power deals with local utilities that are profitable for utilities, making it unclear whether center operators are paying for their electricity or are foisting costs onto ratepayers, consumer advocates warn.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that officers called to a home on East 41st Street just after 9 a.m. Monday found evidence of gunshots being fired at a house, but no injuries were reported. Police said they believe it was an isolated, targeted incident and the FBI was assisting.

“I understand that public service can bring strong opinions and disagreement, but violence is never the answer, especially when it puts families at risk,” Gibson said on Monday. “This will not deter me. I will continue to serve the residents of this district with integrity and respect for all voices.”

Last week, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Commission approved a rezoning petition for a project for Metrobloks, a data center developer, in Gibson's district. Some area residents and leaders opposed to the project attended last week’s hearing, raising concerns about the project’s impact on the community, news outlets reported.

Gibson supported the commission's decision in a statement last week.

“The site has remained underutilized for years, and today’s action is an important step toward bringing it back into productive use in a way that benefits both the surrounding neighborhood and our city,” Gibson said. “As the district councilor, when this petition comes before the full Council, I do not intend to call it down.”

But new research released Tuesday shows that such financial gains for many Black-led nonprofits were short-lived, if they happened at all. A subset of large, Black-led nonprofits saw only temporary funding increases between 2020 and 2022, according to the analysis by nonprofit research service Candid and Black philanthropy group ABFE. Smaller organizations saw no significant change.

The pattern of disinvestment put many community groups at a greater disadvantage when President Donald Trump’s policies curtailed funding for diversity, equity and inclusion. The nonprofit sector's struggles deepened as the administration threatened a range of social service programs, left future grants uncertain by cutting agency staff and chilled racial justice funding through anti-DEI executive orders.

Black Voters Matter co-founder Cliff Albright noted these community nonprofits are the same ones now tasked with helping more and more low-income families deal with spiking healthcare costs and rising food prices.

“We're literally being asked to do more with less resources,” Albright told The Associated Press.

Small, Black-led nonprofits tended to have to rely on new rather than continuing funders, losing out on transformational relationships that sustain their longer-term goals and cushion them through challenging periods. These small organizations — those with annual expenses of $1 million or less — got just over one-third of their funding from continuing supporters, according to the report.

The dynamic rang true for a South Side Chicago group serving a predominantly Black neighborhood among the city's most impoverished. Asiaha Butler, the CEO of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood, cofounded the nonprofit more than 15 years ago to empower her neighbors to combat their area's negative narratives.

That mission had a handful of consistent backers. But summer 2020 brought more than two dozen new funders.

“All of a sudden, we were desirable for people to fund,” recalled Butler, adding the “spurt” became a “curse” as the quick infusion of capital tapered off.

“We started seeing this revenue and thinking we're gaining really great relationships with funders," she said. "And, really, those priorities shifted quickly.”

Lacking relationships

Foundations lacked relationships with Black organizations of any scale prior to 2020, according to ABFE CEO Susan Taylor Batten.

Black philanthropy professionals say that distance created a scramble when protestors demanded businesses and philanthropies address systemic racism.

Kia Croom, whose fundraising firm works with nonprofits in Black communities, said her clients received more funding than ever from corporations. Some hired additional development staff to meet the demand — and then underwent layoffs when funds disappeared.

“It was just a very transactional gift at best,” she said.

Positive Results Center CEO Kandee Lewis oversees a Los Angeles nonprofit assisting survivors of domestic violence and other harms. It was wonderful, she said, to receive checks from new supporters. But oftentimes, the support turned out to be a one-time donation rather than the beginning of a relationship.

Lewis felt the funding came only because her group was Black-led — not because funders understood its work.

"They were so busy trying to figure out who was who that they didn’t really take time to get to know people," she said.

Limited networks

Jaleesa Hall knows philanthropy is a relationship game.

She heads Raising A Village Foundation, which aims to advance educational equity through tutoring programs. She didn't have many high net worth members in her network when she founded the Washington, D.C. nonprofit more than six years ago.

That circle made it difficult to catch the attention of foundations, which she said “haven't really cracked” how to find potential grantees outside of their existing web of connections.

“Small, Black-led nonprofits simply aren't in those rooms to begin with," Hall said.

Most of their foundation grant dollars came from first-time funders, according to the report.

Cathleen Clerkin, the associate vice president of research at Candid, said the nonprofits' work is made even more challenging by the “song and dance” necessary to secure long-term investment every year.

“They're just constantly going on first dates with new funders and hoping that somebody will invest in them and understand them,” she said.

Small nonprofit leaders are so focused on day-to-day upkeep and financial viability that they don't have time to attend networking opportunities or money to fly out for national convenings.

T’Pring Westbrook, a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute's Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, co-founded a consulting group that works with small nonprofits. The problem isn't that foundations don't want to support marginalized communities, she said, but that they do so through “trend funding.”

“Maybe during Black History Month there will be a funding campaign,” she said. “But the thing about a campaign is a campaign doesn't build sustainability.”

Restrictive practices

Small nonprofits say they face additional barriers, regardless of race, including grant eligibility requirements. And limited staff may prevent qualifying organizations from keeping up with foundations' required weekly or monthly reports on the status of projects they’ve funded.

“It ends up feeling like a burden,” Hall explained. “The juice isn't worth the squeeze."

Philanthropy has seen a sector-wide shift towards trust-based models that offer general operating support and multi-year grants, acknowledging nonprofits' expertise on how to best fulfill their missions. But Batten, the ABFE leader, said Black-led nonprofits generally have not reaped the benefits of those best practices.

The report showed Black-led nonprofits had significantly fewer continuing funders than their non-Black counterparts. Only one-third received general operating support, compared to just over half of other nonprofits.

“We are still seeing remnants of bad practice when it comes to investing in Black communities," Batten said. "There’s just no way for a foundation to move its mission for communities in this country, let alone Black nonprofits to move theirs, if we do not evolve this sector."

‘Pulling teeth’ in Chicago

Butler, the Chicago neighborhood association leader, hears excuses now from supporters who gave at the height of the 2020 racial justice movement: “Priorities have shifted,” they tell her, or there are “new strategic goals."

“Little buzz words that just say perhaps this nonprofit -- grassroots, Black-led, very focused on the Black population -- is probably just not in peoples’ cards to continue to support,” she said.

That downturn delayed a nearly $7 million capital project building off their economic justice work after the post-George Floyd civil unrest. An 8,800-square-foot (817 square-meter) building would include a dine-in restaurant and another Black-owned business. One tenant would provide workforce development trainings. Her goal is to strengthen Englewood’s economic and social fabric through a thriving Black business district.

By 2023, she had secured a $1 million grant — her nonprofit's largest — to start the project. But she compared her search for additional funding to "pulling teeth.” Past philanthropic partners withheld support. Their prospects weren't good.

She's turning to public funding. The City of Chicago provided a $2.5 million grant and Butler said another $1.5 million state award is pending.

“Things shifted and so we didn’t want to start soliciting for a capital campaign,” she said. “The timing was off.”

___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

The Board of Regents announced it had scheduled the meeting for 6 p.m. EDT to consider firing Jay Rothman, the leader of the state's four-year colleges. The regents have not given a clear reason why they're considering terminating Rothman, who has served a little more than four years in the top leadership post.

The vote is scheduled just five days after The Associated Press first reported that the regents asked Rothman to either resign or be fired. Rothman said in two letters to the regents that he would not leave voluntarily without knowing what he did wrong.

Regent President Amy Bogost said in a statement Monday that the board has shared results of a performance review with Rothman, with “direct conversations and clear feedback regarding leadership expectations.” She said the system needs “a clear vision” but did not elaborate on the review's findings.

Rothman countered Tuesday with his own statement insisting regents repeatedly declined to cite a specific reason for finding no confidence in his leadership. No one ever indicated to him that an evaluation could lead to termination, he said, adding that Bogost called his review “overwhelmingly positive.”

“It is disappointing that the first I heard any sort of defense of their position was when they communicated with the media,” Rothman said. “I am left to conclude that, at best, this reflects an after-the-fact rationalization of a decision that was previously made.”

The secrecy has drawn the ire of Republicans who control the Legislature and the system's purse strings.

“This lack of transparency is unacceptable,” said GOP state Rep. David Murphy, chair of the Assembly's colleges and universities committee. “President Rothman deserves to know exactly why the Board has lost confidence in his leadership.”

Rothman has served as president of the 165,000-student, multicampus system since January 2022. The former chair and CEO of the Milwaukee-based Foley & Lardner law firm, Rothman had no prior experience administering higher education.

He has spent his tenure lobbying Republican legislators to increase state aid for the system in the face of federal cuts, navigating free speech issues surrounding pro-Palestinian protests, and grappling with declining enrollment that has forced eight branch campuses to close. Overall enrollment across the system has remained steady under his leadership.

He has to tread carefully dealing with a Republican-controlled Legislature and a Board of Regents with a majority of members appointed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Rothman brokered a deal with Assembly Republican Speaker Robin Vos in 2023 that called for freezing diversity hires and creating a position at UW-Madison focused on conservative thought in exchange for Vos releasing money for UW employee raises and tens of millions of dollars for construction projects across the system.

The regents initially rejected the deal only to approve it in a second vote held just days later. Evers said at the time the deal left him disappointed and frustrated.

Asked Monday about the move to oust Rothman, Evers didn't take a side. “It's their call,” he said of the board.

The fight over Rothman’s future comes as the flagship Madison campus is losing its chancellor. Jennifer Mnookin is leaving in May at the end of the current academic year to take the job as president of Columbia University.

Rothman makes $600,943 annually as UW president. He can be fired for no stated reason and he has no appeal rights, said Wisconsin employment law attorney Tamara Packard, who reviewed Rothman’s contract at the AP’s request.

Under the contract, Rothman would have to be given six-months’ notice of his termination. In practice, what usually happens is the person is told to focus on transitioning their duties and not actually work in the office any longer, Packard said.

It’s not the prettiest day out there, but I know a lot of you have been hoping for some of this wet weather—especially with how dry northeast Florida’s been. Rain is covering much of Jacksonville, dipping all the way down to St. Augustine and up toward Brunswick.

You may have noticed the rain really soaking the beaches, including Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Neptune Beach. Even now, the winds are strong enough that the cameras are shaking. Folks walking out on the sand probably caught a quick break, but as I’ve been sharing on The Weather Authority, this rain is expected to return throughout the day.

From the Exact Track 4D radar, you can see big blobs of blue, green, and yellow, showing those showers sweeping across our area. This rain is much-needed for our drought-stricken zones—just look at the drought monitor showing deep reds across so many communities.

What you need to know right now

Let’s talk about what you’re feeling outside. We’re sitting in the 50s and 60s for temperature right now—pretty comfortable considering how gray it is. Humidity is up at 93 percent, and wind from the northeast is steady at 16 miles per hour, so it probably feels like 64 degrees if you’re stepping out.

Visibility is still good for most areas. The rain hasn’t caused much trouble seeing out on the roads, but I did want to remind you—just because everything is soaked doesn’t mean it’s safe to burn. I got an email asking about this, and it’s still not safe or recommended to burn anything right now. Please hold off, even with the rain on the way.

In case you’ve snapped any photos or video of today’s wild weather, you can share them with us at SnapJAX. We love seeing what’s happening in your neighborhood.

How long will the rain last?

The rain is forecast to stick around for most of the day, with occasional breaks before coming back again, especially along the coast and through communities like Macclenny, Lake City, and Starke. Don’t count on the downpour ending the drought just yet—it’ll help, but based on what we’re seeing, it’s only expected to chip away at the dry conditions over time.

As always, keep an eye on The Weather Authority and our Exact Track 4D radar for the latest updates.

It was 1978. I was 10. “I don't know how much longer I can catch these,” said my already aging parent, who would deny two decades later that he ever said anything of the sort until I was at LEAST 14.

How many children have held an American baseball since it sort of coalesced into being in the latter half of the 19th century? How many have felt those nubby stitches underneath their fingers while their palms cupped the smooth white leather? How many have swung a tiny bat — wooden, then aluminum, now graphite — and connected with a softer, younger kids' baseball, a “T-ball,” and felt that unique thrill of kinetic energy and possibility?

Baseball is, in the end, all about the ball. In the pantheon of the national pastime, bat and glove — as crucial as they are — are but the supporting cast. The ball remains forever at the center. Spinning, bobbing, weaving. Pulverized, soaring, gone.

The baseball itself is a curious object. One killed a man once, Ray Chapman, in 1920. These days dozens are used in a single big-league game.

There, it emerges pristine onto a field from an umpire's waist pouch. From there, it is held meticulously and lovingly and gingerly by one player, who arranges fingers just so and treats the leather sphere like a firstborn for a few seconds. Then it is delivered to another player, an opponent with a large stick who tries mightily to smack the bejeezus out of it. You gotta feel for that little ball.

When I moved overseas in 1979, I met an elderly man who had once interviewed Ted Williams, one of the game's greatest hitters. He — the man, not Williams — knew I was feeling homesick for baseball in particular. When I produced my ball and glove, he said something to the effect of: “As long as you have a baseball, you're home.”

I still pack one most everywhere I go. For me, it is America encapsulated — burning a hole in my glove or my jacket pocket, biding its time, ready for the next big game … of catch.

___

Ted Anthony has written about American culture for The Associated Press since 1992. This story is part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250 anniversary of the United States.

The development of the click-clacking, feet-as-instruments art form traces its roots to a blend of different cultural influences.

The percussive element came from the traditions of enslaved people brought to the southern United States from central Africa. In the 18th century, when they weren't allowed to play musical instruments by plantation owners, they used the rhythmic stomping of their feet as a way to stay connected to their cultures.

Over time, that blended with the fast footwork of dancing styles brought to America by immigrant groups, like Irish step dancing and English and Welsh clog dancing, to evolve into tap. Before metal plates on the bottom of shoes became standard, dancers attached objects like nails or coins to make their sounds.

Tap became popular to watch as entertainment, as in the early 20th century when vaudeville variety shows grew in popularity and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson became one of the few Black men to perform without a white partner in a segregated era.

It became a staple of movies in the middle of the century, with stars like Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, the Nicholas brothers and Shirley Temple showing their tap skills on the silver screen. It faded from that level of popularity as the 20th century came to a close, but still had bright stars and moments, including dancers Gregory Hines and Savion Glover and in the movie “Happy Feet.”

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Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250 anniversary of the United States.

For certain families in the years after WWII, though, they were perfect — a chance to have a home of one's own, an answer to a serious housing shortage. So was born Levittown, about 40 miles outside of New York City on Long Island. It grew to more than 17,000 houses, the first wholly planned American suburb.

Developer William Levitt wasn't the first builder to use mass-production methods to build homes that were accessible to the middle class, but “nobody was building on the scale that he did,” says Ed Berenson, professor of history at New York University and author of “Perfect Communities: Levitt, Levittown and the Dream of White Suburbia.”

Levitt started out with 2,000 homes, unsure of what the demand would be. About three times that many people signed up, so eager were returning veterans for their own homes. The Federal Housing Authority played a part as well, guaranteeing mortgages.

But the first Levittown and others that he built, and suburbs developed by others, weren't open to all. Federal backing of mortgages was aimed at white buyers, in white communities, not Black buyers. Levitt refused to sell to Black families and included restrictive covenants that barred those who bought the homes from reselling to Black people.

That's left a legacy in a country where the biggest financial asset for many Americans has been their homes, Berenson says.

“What Levitt did by creating these exclusively white communities is he set up a structure that still exists today, and it’s a structure that has really maintained racial inequality, even more than class inequality,” Berenson says. “It’s not nearly as bad as it was, but it still exists.”

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Part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” marking the 250 anniversary of the United States.

April 7 marks a year since an unspecified “incident” involving nine corrections officers, who were later reassigned, led to the death of a 31-year-old Charles Faggart at the Duval County Jail.

Faggart, owner of a food truck and catering company, was arrested on misdemeanor charges of simple assault and criminal mischief on April 1, 2025.

On April 10, 2025, he was officially declared dead.

Many questions remain in the case that was turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Participants at the rally are expected to demand changes to JSO’s policies and honor Faggart’s memory.

According to a heavily redacted report, six days into Faggart’s misdemeanor jail stay, he was handcuffed for unclear reasons and began acting “aggressive, erratic and disruptive,” prompting a sergeant to order him strapped into a restraint safety chair.

RELATED: ‘Do your job’: Nearly 4 months after Duval County inmate’s death, his mother continues to demand accountability from JSO | Medical records shed new light on controversial jail death, contradict JSO account: The Tributary

The report said Faggart kept struggling with officers, but key details about what officers did are redacted; it said a mental health director later approved moving him to “self-harm housing,” and officers put an anti-spit mask on him.

The report noted that Faggart said he “did fentanyl,” but UF Health records said a urine test showed no fentanyl. The report also said a nurse flushed his eyes with saline —suggesting pepper spray—while medical records indicated lung damage.

Faggart was taken out of the chair and put back in minutes later for a redacted reason, the report said. The remaining narrative is largely redacted.

Medical staff arrived, and the paramedics were called. The report listed a “seizure” as the medical emergency, but according to an attorney for Faggart’s family, he was “beaten.”

Faggart’s family will also be in attendance, according to organizers.

JSO said the corrections officers who were reassigned remain in those roles.

Also, the sheriff’s office said the internal investigation cannot begin until the criminal investigation is finished.

JSO provided no additional updates, and the FBI also said it had no new information.

It’s not President Donald Trump. It’s not Vice President JD Vance. It’s not Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. It’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio — the man who has quietly been doing two of the most demanding jobs in the U.S. government at the same time.

For nearly a year, Rubio has served simultaneously as secretary of state and as Trump’s national security adviser. Critics say those roles are nearly impossible to do well at the same time.

And yet, even as questions swirl about the administration’s preparation for the Feb. 28 operation and its messy aftermath — oil-price spikes, drones targeting U.S. embassies, muddled public messaging — Rubio has largely walked away unscathed.

How? That’s the question worth asking.

The criticism that never quite landed

To be fair, Rubio didn’t escape entirely without scrutiny. He raised eyebrows when he suggested Israel had pulled the U.S. into the conflict — a comment he quickly walked back.

He also faced criticism over delays in evacuating American diplomats and citizens. But neither moment gained the kind of traction that stuck to his colleagues.

Curt Mills of The American Conservative didn’t mince words about it.

“He deserved more criticism,” Mills said — before acknowledging the obvious reality shaping the conversation. There’s “a halo around the guy” in Republican circles, he added.

That halo is real, and it’s doing a lot of work. Rubio is widely seen as one of the more competent, measured voices in an administration that has not always been associated with either of those things.

That perception has become a kind of political armor.

Even Democrats seem reluctant to go after him too hard — and the reason one senator gave was remarkably candid.

“He’s the least crazy,” an anonymous Democratic senator said. “If he gets fired, Trump would replace him with someone a lot worse.”

The administration fires back

The State Department had little patience for the suggestion that Rubio was disengaged or uninvolved. Spokesperson Tommy Pigott called the premise flat-out “ridiculous.”

“Over 50,000 Americans have been provided security guidance and travel assistance by our 24/7 task force,” Pigott said.

The White House backed him up, saying Rubio is working “in lockstep” with the president. Spokeswoman Olivia Wales put it even more bluntly.

“The United States is crushing the Iranian terrorist regime,” Wales said.

A leaner NSC — critics say too lean

Here’s where things get more complicated. Reporting shows Rubio moved to shrink the National Security Council staff and scale back the kind of cross-agency meetings that typically happen before a major military operation.

Instead, sensitive discussions were funneled into the West Wing.

Critics say that left key government agencies on the sidelines — and the broader national security apparatus unprepared for consequences that, in hindsight, weren’t exactly hard to see coming.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., put it plainly: Rubio’s regime-change instincts may have quietly discouraged the kind of tough internal debate that could have caught problems before they became crises.

Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, agreed that Rubio bore some responsibility — but also acknowledged the bind Rubio was in.

“He deserved blame for not pushing a fuller process,” Daalder said, while noting the president would have quickly removed him for doing so.

It’s a damning Catch-22: push back on the president and lose your seat at the table, or stay quiet and share responsibility for what follows.

So why does the insulation hold?

The answer, really, is a mix of factors that all happen to work in Rubio’s favor at the same time:

• Public attention is squarely on Trump.
• Rubio’s reputation as a steadying hand gives him credibility to burn.
• The ambiguity of his dual roles makes it easy to blur lines of accountability.
• And both Republicans and Democrats, for different reasons, have little appetite to go after him.

Whether that shield holds is another question entirely.

The conflict with Iran is still unfolding. And if the process gaps critics are describing lead to consequences too big to ignore, the halo around Marco Rubio might not be quite so durable after all.

Our conversation

Jacksonville University political analyst Matt Corrigan joins me on this week’s episode of Politics & Power to discuss:

• How Rubio’s dual roles provide political cover amid U.S.-Iran war scrutiny
• Trump’s Iran operation fallout: Why Rubio isn’t taking the heat
• How Republican insulation, Democratic caution protect Rubio from Iran criticism
• Whether Marco Rubio, Secretary of State is competent, cautious — accountable?

Watch our encore shows at 7 p.m. or 9 p.m. Tuesday on News4JAX+.

You can also watch any time on demand on News4JAX+, News4JAX.com and our YouTube channel.

Two police officers sustained slight injuries, Istanbul Gov. Davut Gul told reporters. The assailants were carrying long-barreled weapons.

The consulate is located in a high-rise building in Levent, one of the city’s main business districts. Officials said that there are no Israeli diplomats present in Israeli missions in Turkey. Israel withdrew its diplomats amid security concerns and deteriorating relations with Turkey during the war in Gaza.

Interior Minister Mustafa Cifti wrote on X that the attackers had traveled from the city of Izmit, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Istanbul, in a rented car. One of the assailants was linked to a group he described as “exploiting religion,” without naming the organization.

The Islamic State group has carried out deadly attacks in Turkey in the past.

The two wounded assailants are brothers, identified as Onur C. and Enes C. The first has a criminal record related to drugs. Both are being interrogated, according to the Interior Ministry.

Video from the attack showed one assailant carrying what appeared to be an assault rifle, wearing a brown backpack and hiding behind a bus when exchanging fire with police. A police officer falls to the ground, apparently having been shot, and then rolls away to get behind a tree for cover.

One of the police officers was wounded in the leg and the other in the ear, the Interior Ministry said.

Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said that three prosecutors, including a deputy chief prosecutor, have been assigned to lead an investigation.

Police sealed off the building and blocked several roads, while forensic experts in white protective suits combed the area for evidence.

A witness described seeing officers take cover behind parked cars and communicate with each other during the shooting.

“In general, this is a noisy area, so initially we thought this might be something else. But the gunshots continued,” said Omer Dilki, 34. “We saw the police officers standing behind the cars, take shelter, and call out to each other.”

Ali Rıza Arpacı, who works nearby, described witnessing “serious clashes” happening right in front of him.

“We were almost inside the clashes,” he said, adding that the gunfight lasted for around 10 minutes.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced what he said was a “treacherous” attack.

“We will resolutely continue our fight against all forms of terrorism, and we will not allow the climate of security in Turkey to be harmed by vile and timed provocations like today’s,” he said.

U.S. Ambassador Tom Barrack condemned the assault, praising Turkish authorities for “their swift and decisive response.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry similarly condemned the attack and commended Turkish security forces for their rapid action in thwarting it.

___

Suzan Fraser reported from Ankara. Mehmet Guzel contributed to this report from Istanbul.

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A previous version of this story, relying on Turkey’s Haberturk news, incorrectly reported that two attackers had been killed. Only one of the three assailants was killed, while the other two were wounded and captured, according to Turkish officials.

According to an end of service announcement published on the tech giant's U.S. support website, Samsung Messages will be discontinued in July. Impacted owners of Samsung smartphones and other gadgets are being asked to switch to Google Messages in the meantime, “to maintain a consistent messaging experience on Android.”

All Samsung Galaxy phones run on Google's Android operating system. To switch to Google Messages, Samsung's website gives users instructions to download the app from the Play Store, if not already on their phone, and set it as the default. Some people may also receive an in-app notification to guide them through the process.

Samsung says switching to Google Messages will give users access to updates like the latest artificial intelligence features from Google's Gemini — which includes an experimental feature called “Remix” to generate images during conversations and AI-powered reply suggestions — and the ability to share higher quality photos between Android and Apple iOS devices through RCS-enabled messages.

Users of older Android operating systems (dating back to Android 11 or older) will not be impacted by the end of Samsung Messages, the company noted. To check what Android OS you have on a Samsung device, open the settings app, click on “software information” and scroll to “Android version.”

Meanwhile, owners of Samsung's latest Galaxy 26 lineup and other newer phones cannot download the Samsung Messages app from the Galaxy Store today.

All devices will no longer be able to download Samsung Messages after it's officially discontinued in July, the company noted. Samsung said users can check their app for the exact date for when service will go offline.

Samsung confirmed in an update on its website Tuesday that this end of service guidance only applies to the U.S. market.

Like its predecessor, “The Testaments” is based on a novel by Margaret Atwood of the same name. It takes place five years after the events of “The Handmaid's Tale,” and follows privileged girls in Gilead who are on the cusp of adulthood. Viewers are reintroduced to Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) from the original, who now runs a school training girls to be proper young ladies who are ready for marriage and most importantly, babies. There is a class where the girls are tested in how they pour tea.

Lydia has become a bit softer since we last saw her. “At the end of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ she’s in a deep state of remorse and begging for forgiveness when her life, as she knew it, collapses,” said Dowd of her character. “She’s come into this world a gentler human being. She’s still Lydia, but I think she’s had time to let go of the wall that was built around her.”

New story, new heroes

We meet Agnes, played by Chase Infiniti (“One Battle After Another”) and her friends Shunammite and Becka played by Rowan Blanchard and Mattea Conforti. Lucy Halliday portrays Daisy, a new student who is instructed to shadow Agnes at school.

“I see them as two cats who’ve been put in a room together and are sniffing each other out,” said Halliday. “I think they are aware that there is an inherent similarity overlapping with them both, but they will refuse to admit it because they don’t want to be like the other person.”

Because Agnes and Becka have each started to menstruate, it's immediately declared mating season and the girls must marry. This is when cracks begin to show in the Gilead status quo as Becka is uninterested in finding a husband. Agnes is swept up in the romantic idea of it all — until she's introduced to potential mates who are generally older with powerful positions in Gilead's government. She realizes marriage would be a power move for her family and that love isn't required.

Bruce Miller created both “The Handmaid's Tale” and “The Testaments” and says each tells stories about the oppression of women.

“In ‘Handmaid’s,' they take a child away from its mother and then say to the mother, ‘You’re going to be docile,’” said Miller. By contrast, he said, “The Testaments” “takes a bunch of teenage girls and tells them what they are going to be and also remove their adolescence from their lives.”

A gentler tone, but aiming to create new inspiration for girls and women

This new focus on young women in Gilead, who've only known Gilead “is an easier show on the system to watch, I believe,” said Dowd. “It doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its intensity. It does. But we’re dealing with a whole group of different characters. We’re focusing on the young women and how they interact with one another, and they can’t help but resist and grow.”

“These teenagers’ lives have a certain level of lightness to them,” added Miller. “That’s the interesting thing, their lives have all this lightness that Gilead lets them have and then crushes it into some horribleness and breaks that lightness up.”

Because of “The Handmaid's Tale,” women have been inspired to dress in red cloaks and white bonnets as a symbol of resistance against oppression, most recently at last month's “ No Kings ” rallies. The cast of “The Testaments” hopes this new chapter also moves people to act.

“There are a lot of topics and a lot of things that happen in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ that are unfortunately still happening to this day,” said Infiniti. “If people can watch our show and if any way they feel emboldened to get off the couch and go out there and fight for their communities, fight for their neighbors unapologetically and with love and respect — I think that that would be the ultimate gift for any of us.”

Blanchard, who has been an advocate for women's rights and other causes since she was a teenager, says she can empathize with the teen characters in the story.

“There’s nothing more powerless than being a teenage girl. There’s so much happening in such a short amount of time. So many emotions, you know? So much like self-realization is happening, so much self-actualizing, and these girls are having to form their identities in a very specific way.”

Encouragement from Moss

When the weight of stepping into Gilead seemed daunting, Halliday said she and her co-stars could turn to Elisabeth Moss — who starred in “The Handmaid's Tale” and is an executive producer of “The Testaments” — for reassurance.

“She’s an encyclopedia of information. She was open with us, and she was there for us if we ever had a question or needed guidance on something. But more than anything, what she gave us was the reassurance that we were doing OK and the space to step into these characters and to step into this world and to kind of trust in ourselves.”

The trial started last month, nearly a year after Gerhardt and Arielle Konig went on a hike on the Pali Puka trail in Honolulu that ended with her bloodied and screaming that he tried to kill her. Gerhardt Konig has pleaded not guilty.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the national domestic violence hotline: 1-800-799-7233 in the U.S.

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The couple were on a weekend trip to Hawaii's capital city for her birthday in March 2025 while their two young sons stayed home on Maui. Near a lookout offering sweeping views, Gerhardt Konig, 47 — upset about his wife's relationship with a coworker — tried to push her off the steep trail, bashed her head with a rock and attempted to stab her with a syringe, prosecutors said.

The trial, with testimony livestreamed by Court TV, has aired the couple's marital problems leading up to the hike, along with their versions of what happened on the trail.

Gerhardt Konig testified that his wife was having an affair, which he confirmed by unlocking her phone while she slept. The relationship, which Arielle Konig characterized as an “emotional affair” involving flirty messages with a coworker, came up during the hike.

Arielle Konig testified that her husband grabbed her and moved her toward the cliff's edge, but she threw herself on the ground in an attempt to hold on. He straddled her and had a syringe in his hand, she said, but she batted it away. She bit his forearm and squeezed his testicles in attempt to get him off her, she said.

Her husband denied pushing her toward the edge and testified that she hit him with a rock on the side of his face. He wrestled the rock away and hit her with it twice in self-defense, he said.

He denied having any syringes on the mountain, or trying to stab her. His defense attorney told jurors no syringe was found at the scene.

Two hikers who heard Arielle Konig's screams helped her get down the trail.

Pali Puka, which means “pierced cliff” in Hawaiian, leads to a hole in a rock ridge through which hikers can look out over the forest to see the ocean. The trail is closed because state officials have deemed it unsafe, but hikers often enter through a small clearing, ignoring a warning sign that reads: “Area Closed! Do not go beyond this sign.”

Gerhardt Konig testified that as he watched his wife crawl away, he believed his marriage and career were over, and he decided to jump to his death. But first, he called his adult son from a previous marriage. The son told authorities that his father said he "tried to kill your stepmom” — a confession Gerhardt Konig denied having made.

He spent hours on the mountain before deciding to come down and surrender to police.

His wife has since filed for divorce.

The Moline, Illinois-based manufacturer, which does business under the John Deere brand, has faced a handful of “right to repair” complaints over the years. The deal announced Monday — which still needs final approval from the court — would settle a 2022 lawsuit that accused the company of withholding repair software and conspiring with authorized dealers to force farmers to use their services for repairs, when they could otherwise fix tractors and other equipment themselves or use independent alternatives.

The plaintiffs alleged that meant Deere and its dealers could charge higher, “supracompetitive” prices and reap benefits from an “unlawfully restrained” market, per court filings.

Deere has continued to deny any wrongdoing, and maintained Monday it's dedicated to supporting customers' ability and access needed to repair their equipment. But the company agreed to the settlement “to move forward and remain focused on what matters most — serving our customers,” Denver Caldwell, vice president of aftermarket and customer support, said in a statement.

Under the proposed agreement, filed in federal court in Illinois, the $99 million would go into a settlement fund for class members who paid Deere or its authorized dealers for large agriculture equipment repairs between Jan. 10, 2018 until the date of the deal's preliminary approval.

The company also agreed to additional injunctive relief, aimed at strengthening the availability of repair resources and things like diagnostic checks.

Beyond this case, Deere still faces separate litigation from the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC sued Deere in January 2025, at the end of the Biden administration, accusing the company of “unfair practices that have driven up equipment repair costs for farmers while also depriving farmers of the ability to make timely repairs.” Deere at the time said the claims were baseless.

“Right to repair” calls have piled up across sectors over the years, particularly as technology found its way into more and more products workers and consumers rely on. Beyond farm equipment, makers of goods like smartphones and video game consoles have also been accused of withholding tools or creating software-based locks that prevent even simple updates, unless they’re done by a shop authorized by the company — in turn, hampering independent repair businesses. Under public pressure, lawmakers in several states have tried to combat this.

But the weight of that phrase truly sunk in at the O’Smach Resort complex that we visited Tuesday. Thailand's military, which conducted a tour for the media, said that the whole area encompasses around 197 acres (80 hectares), equivalent to 150 American football fields.

It wasn't my first time at a scam center, but its scale dwarfed anything I had seen before.

From my base in Southeast Asia, I have followed this issue for the past few years, watching its scale only grow larger and larger.

Scam compounds have mushroomed across Southeast Asia since the pandemic. Inside these industrial-scale complexes, workers attempt to lure unsuspecting targets from countries all across the world in sophisticated online-based scams. The latest estimates from the U.N. office on Human Rights are that around 300,000 workers are caught up in the industry regionally.

Thailand’s military invited journalists back to the huge scam complex that it had seized in December during its border conflict with Cambodia. The military said that it had taken the area in response to the Cambodian side using it as a base of operations for launching attacks.

The complex was called the O’Smach Resort, owned by Cambodian politician Ly Yong Phat, who faces U.S. sanctions for rights abuses in the very same complex. It's unclear, however, whether the new construction also belongs to Ly. Throughout the massive grounds of the self-contained town, there were signs of construction. Piles of bricks and construction cranes sat waiting for workers to finish the job.

The military also took us to the premises where workers likely scammed Americans. FBI data released Tuesday shows that Americans lost near $21 billion to scams in 2025 alone.

On the desks inside the four-story office building were still snacks from the previous users, as well as scripts and notes in Chinese on each aspect of the scam. American SIM cards were scattered on the surface as well.

There was an elaborate backstory to target the Americans. One of the scripts on the desk was 24 pages of an in-depth character sketch of a woman named Mila who had earned a lot of money on the gold options trading market.

But the script went further. Mila had lost her husband to leukemia when their daughter was just a baby. It constructed memories of her childhood, such as her getting bullied by other girls, and then her parents sending her to South Africa to live with her uncle in order to be in a healthier environment.

There’s 157 buildings, 29 of which were buildings that housed the scam companies and their offices. The rest included massive dorm complexes, and more luxurious accommodations that included apartments and three-story villas. The military officials said that they estimated at least 10,000 people were living there.

There was also a variety of Chinese restaurants, catering to people who wanted spicy Hunan cuisine, or southern Shaxian cuisine, or hot and sour rice noodles, a Sichuanese classic.

While Thailand and Cambodia have vowed to tackle the problem, the scale of the problem is far more global.

“Every country of the world has to join together to solve this problem, (we) cannot do it alone with Cambodia and Thailand,” said Air Chief Marshal Prapas Sornchaidee, who was one of the officials leading the tour.

A new report from Florida TaxWatch shows that while prices rose modestly through the 2010s, the rate of increase has surged in the 2020s. The state’s regional price growth averaged about 1.3% annually in the previous decade but has jumped to roughly 5.8% per year in recent years, a nearly fivefold increase.

That rapid acceleration is being felt across nearly every household expense, from rent and groceries to child care and utilities, with housing costs leading the spike.

Nearly 90% of Floridians surveyed in 2025 said they were concerned about inflation, and about half reported considering moving out of the state because of rising costs.

Housing costs dominate affordability crisis

The report identifies housing as the primary driver of Florida’s affordability challenges.

Homeowners are facing some of the highest insurance costs in the nation. Average annual property insurance premiums reached $2,794 through 2025, up 63% since 2020. Combined with rising property taxes, annual housing-related costs can exceed $10,000 for many homeowners.

Renters are also under pressure. Florida’s average rent climbed from $1,194 in 2015 to $2,208 in 2025 an 85% increase over the decade. During that time, the state jumped from the 14th most expensive rental market in the country to the sixth.

The report notes that rent growth accelerated sharply after 2020, mirroring broader inflation trends but rising faster than much of the southern United States.

Everyday essentials rising, too

Beyond housing, essential goods and services have also seen significant price increases:

• Eggs have surged 135% over the past decade.
• Rice prices are up 46%, and bread has increased 30%.
• Child care costs have climbed steadily, reaching more than $42 per hour in 2025.

Even utilities like electricity and gas have trended upward, adding to monthly household expenses.

The report notes that while these increases are generally in line with national trends, wage growth has not kept pace, leaving many residents financially strained.

Economic growth vs. affordability

Florida’s economy remains one of the largest in the world, ranking fourth in U.S. GDP and third in population. But the report emphasizes that economic growth does not necessarily translate to affordability for residents.

An influx of new residents has helped fuel demand for housing, while long-term residents increasingly feel priced out.

While inflation has cooled somewhat since peaking around 2022, costs remain significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The report warns that future affordability will depend heavily on both federal monetary policy and state-level action, particularly around housing, insurance and tax policy.

Without intervention, researchers say, the gap between income and the cost of living could continue to widen, reshaping who can afford to live in Florida.

The Everglades facility remains open, still holding detainees, because the appellate court in early September relied on arguments by Florida and the Trump administration that the state had not yet applied for federal reimbursement, and therefore wasn’t required to follow federal environmental law. State officials opened the detention center last summer to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Questions by the three appellate judges during oral arguments in a Miami courtroom focused on how much control the federal government had over the state-built facility and under what circumstances an environmental review was required to be in compliance with federal law. The judges did not indicate when they would rule.

Jesse Panuccio, an attorney for the Florida Department of Emergency Management, told the judges federal funding and federal control of the facility were the two criteria for determining if the federal environmental law would apply and the federal agencies had no control over the state-run detention center.

Florida was notified in late September that FEMA had approved $608 million in federal funding to support the center’s construction and operation.

“You need both,” Panuccio said. “Even with funding, I don’t think that would follow because they don’t have federal control.”

An attorney for the environmental groups said the law requiring a review applied to the facility because the Department of Homeland Security had authorized the funding and immigration was a responsibility of the federal government, not the state.

“What is different about this property is that immigration is constitutionally a federal function,” said Paul Schwiep," an attorney representing the Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity. “The state has no role.”

The federal district judge in Miami in mid-August ordered the facility to wind down operations over two months because officials had failed to do a review of the detention center’s environmental impact according to federal law. That judge concluded that a reimbursement decision already had been made. The appellate court halted the order on an appeal.

The environmental lawsuit was one of three federal court challenges to the Everglades facility since it opened. In the others, a detainee said Florida agencies and private contractors hired by the state had no authority to operate the center under federal law. The challenge ended after the immigrant detainee who filed the lawsuit agreed to be removed from the United States.

In the third lawsuit, a federal judge in Fort Myers, Florida, ruled the Everglades facility must provide detainees there with better access to their attorneys, as well as confidential, unmonitored, unrecorded outgoing legal calls.

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

A day after the historic lunar flyaround, NASA on Tuesday released striking new photos taken by the U.S.-Canadian crew.

The four astronauts channeled Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968 with their own: Earthset, showing our planet setting behind the gray, pockmarked moon. Another photo captures the total solar eclipse that occurred when the moon blocked the sun from the crew’s perspective.

The three Americans and one Canadian are now headed home, with a splashdown in the Pacific set for Friday. In the meantime, scientists at Houston's Mission Control are poring over the stream of moon photos beaming down.

Apollo 8's three astronauts became the world's first lunar visitors, orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve 1968. Their Earthrise shot became a symbol of the modern-day environmental movement.

Artemis II marks NASA's first return to the moon with astronauts — a critical step toward a lunar landing by another crew in two years.

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

Festival organizers canceled the three-day outdoor event as a result of the travel ban and said those who had bought tickets would get refunds.

Ye applied for an electronic travel authorization to visit the U.K., but it was blocked by the government on the grounds that his presence in the country would not be “conducive to the public good.”

“Kanye West should never have been invited to headline Wireless,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement posted on social media. “This government stands firmly with the Jewish community, and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of antisemitism. We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.”

The rapper, who changed his name in 2021, had been expected to play his first U.K. dates for more than a decade in front of around 150,000 revelers over three nights July 10-12 at the Wireless Festival, in London’s Finsbury Park. Other acts for the festival had not yet been announced.

The event's organizers had been under mounting pressure from sponsors and politicians to cancel the gigs by the rapper, who has drawn widespread condemnation for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.

Last year, Ye released a song called “Heil Hitler” and advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website. Officials in Australia canceled the musician's visa in July after the release of the single.

The 48-year-old apologized in January with a letter, published as a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal. He said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”

Wireless sponsors Pepsi, Rockstar Energy and Diageo pulled out of the festival since Ye was announced as the headliner.

In a statement issued Tuesday before his travel authorization was revoked, Ye said he “would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the U.K. in person, to listen.

“I know words aren’t enough — I’ll have to show change through my actions,” he said. “If you’re open, I’m here.”

Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, had said the group would be willing to meet with the musician if he pulled out of the festival.

“The Jewish community will want to see a genuine remorse and change before believing that the appropriate place to test this sincerity is on the main stage at the Wireless Festival,” Rosenberg said.

Organizer Festival Republic had stood by Ye. In a statement issued Monday, managing director Melvin Benn urged people to offer the performer “forgiveness and hope.”

“We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions,” the statement said.

Announcing the cancellation, Festival Republic said that “multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time.

“Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognize the real and personal impact these issues have had,” it said in a statement. “As Ye said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the U.K.”

The Community Security Trust, which works to protect British Jews, said the government had made the right decision.

“Anti-Jewish hatred should have no place in society and cultural leaders have a role to play in ensuring that is the case,” it said in a statement.

“People who show genuine and meaningful remorse for previous antisemitic behavior will always receive a sympathetic hearing from the Jewish community, but that process must come before this kind of public rehabilitation.”

A representative for Ye didn’t reply to a request for comment.

The decision removes the federal obligations for the schools to keep up measures such as faculty training on abiding by a students' preferred name and pronouns and allowing students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity.

One of the school systems, Delaware Valley School District in rural eastern Pennsylvania, received notice of the change from the Trump administration in February and has since voted to roll back its antidiscrimination protections for transgender students. Another district, Sacramento City Unified, said Monday it "remains committed to the support of our LGBTQ+ students and staff.”

The other affected districts are Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware, Fife School District in Washington, and La Mesa-Spring Valley School District and Taft College in California.

Under the Biden and Obama administrations, the department interpreted Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education, to include protections for transgender and gay students.

The Trump administration has penalized schools that have made efforts to accommodate students based on their gender identity. It has filed lawsuits in California and Minnesota over state policies permitting transgender students to participate in interscholastic sports, and opened civil rights investigations into schools and universities over their policies on transgender students.

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said the action reflects the administration’s efforts to keep transgender students from participating in girls’ and women’s sports teams and accessing shared locker rooms.

“Today, the Trump Administration is removing the unnecessary and unlawful burdens that prior Administrations imposed on schools in its relentless pursuit of a radical transgender agenda,” she said in a written statement.

Rescinding civil rights agreements is an unusual step, but one the Trump administration has taken before on education issues. Last year, the Education Department terminated one agreement involving books removed from a school library in Georgia, and another targeting harsh discipline and unequal education opportunities for Native students in the Rapid City Area School District in South Dakota.

The rescission of the agreements would mean a step back from protecting vulnerable students in schools, said Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at the National Women’s Law Center.

“This is part of the Trump administration’s assault on education and assault on those who are most vulnerable to experiencing discrimination and harassment, including trans students,” Patel said. “They’ve made their intention very clear in wanting to erase protections for trans people.”

Taft College, a community college in California’s Central Valley, settled a case in 2023 with the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights after a student accused faculty of discrimination that included refusing to use the student’s preferred pronouns. The college agreed to faculty training on Title IX and a revision of college policies to clarify that refusal to use a person’s preferred name and pronoun could constitute harassment.

The agreement with Sacramento City Unified School District stemmed from a complaint brought in 2022 by a student after a teacher refused to use preferred pronouns or to place the student, who identified as male, in a boys’ group for a class activity. The 2024 resolution agreement mandated training for employees on civil rights law, sexual harassment and how to handle formal complaints.

Under a settlement the Delaware Valley School District reached with the Obama administration, the district was required to permit students to use bathrooms that aligned with their gender identity.

In February, the Trump administration sent the district a letter saying it was rescinding the settlement. The administration went further, requiring the district to roll back antidiscrimination protections for transgender students.

The school board voted in late March to change its transgender student policies to abide by the Trump administration’s demands.

Since the day he returned to the White House more than a year ago, Trump and his administration have aimed at the rights of transgender people in several ways — and not just in schools.

He has tried to end participation of transgender women and girls in women’s and girls' sports competitions and has sued states that don’t comply. He’s also blocked transgender and nonbinary people from choosing the sex markers on passports. His administration has also tried to stop those under 19 from receiving gender-affirming medical care. ___

Associated Press writers Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco, Moriah Balingit in Washington and Geoff Mulvihill in Haddonfield, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

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

Charles Faggart died days later from the injuries he suffered on April 7, 2025.

Faggart, owner of a food truck and catering company, was arrested on misdemeanor charges of simple assault and criminal mischief on April 1, 2025.

On April 10, 2025, he was officially declared dead.

Many questions remain in the case that was turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in September.

Now, exactly one year after the incident that proved deadly, Faggart’s family is taking their fight for answers to Duval County court.

READ: Full lawsuit filed by Charles Faggart’s family

Belkis Plata, the family’s attorney, filed suit on Tuesday against Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, demanding the release of “the complete public record” related to the incident and investigation, “including all video evidence.”

Formal public records requests have been made for the reports and video, but “those requests have been met with silence,” Plata wrote in a news release announcing the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses the sheriff and the agency of “blatantly” violating Florida’s public records laws, “denying the transparency and accountability the law requires and the public is entitled to.”

Many questions remain about Faggart’s death, days after the April 7 incident that led to the suspension of eight corrections officers and one sergeant.

The only information released so far is a heavily redacted report that says six days into Faggart’s misdemeanor jail stay, he was handcuffed for unclear reasons and began acting “aggressive, erratic and disruptive,” prompting a sergeant to order him strapped into a restraint safety chair.

The report said Faggart kept struggling with officers, but key details about what officers did are redacted; it said a mental health director later approved moving him to “self-harm housing,” and officers put an anti-spit mask on him.

The report noted that Faggart said he “did fentanyl,” but medical reports obtained through The Tributary, a Jacksonville nonprofit newsroom, stated that doctors at UF Health who evaluated him observed a broken, bruised and unresponsive Faggart. They concluded he did not have fentanyl in his system.

Faggart was taken out of the chair and put back in minutes later for a redacted reason, the report said. The remaining narrative is largely redacted.

Medical staff arrived, and the paramedics were called. The report listed a “seizure” as the medical emergency, but according to an attorney for Faggart’s family, he was “beaten.”

The UF Health records said doctors determined he did not suffer a seizure and also said a nurse flushed his eyes with saline —suggesting pepper spray—while medical records indicated lung damage.

RELATED: ‘Do your job’: Nearly 4 months after Duval County inmate’s death, his mother continues to demand accountability from JSO | Medical records shed new light on controversial jail death, contradict JSO account: The Tributary

The Jacksonville Community Action Coalition plans to hold a vigil and rally at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office headquarters Tuesday evening to demand answers in Faggart’s death. His family is expected to attend.

“The Faggart family is deeply grateful for the continued support from the community,” Plata wrote in the release. “The love and encouragement they have received, from those who knew Charles and those who did not, remain a source of strength as they continue their fight for justice.”

JSO said the corrections officers who were reassigned remain in those roles.

Also, the sheriff’s office said the internal investigation cannot begin until the criminal investigation is finished. JSO provided no additional updates, and the FBI also said it had no new information.

The meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 20 at 5 p.m. at the Willie Galimore Center, 399 Riberia St. Current and former residents of Lincolnville and descendants of community members are encouraged to attend and join the discussion.

Between 2021 and 2024, the Archaeology Program excavated several sites tied to segregated Black education in the Lincolnville National Register Historic District, including School No. 2, Excelsior High School, St. Benedict the Moor School and the Eddie Vickers “Little Links” recreation fields. The investigations produced artifacts and other evidence that shed light on the educational experiences and daily lives of Black children in St. Augustine’s earliest post‑emancipation schools.

School No. 2, also called the Junior High and Graded School, was built in the late 1890s and was Lincolnville’s first public Black school. Overcrowding led to the opening of Excelsior High School in 1924. St. Benedict the Moor School, established in 1898 and staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph, was the neighborhood’s first Black Catholic school. Both schools closed after desegregation in the 1960s and their properties were repurposed. The institutions played a central role in community identity and place-making.

The Archaeology Program said it will combine excavation data, artifacts, oral histories and archival research into an online interactive StoryMap and a traveling pop-up exhibit, with completion expected in fall 2026. Final exhibit locations will be announced later.

The project is supported by a Small Matching Grant from the Florida Division of Historical Resources. Excavation and documentation were conducted in accordance with the city’s Archaeology Preservation Ordinance.

Questions about the meeting or project can be directed to the Archaeology Department.

The activist and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback has completed “The Perilous Fight,” to come out Sept. 15 through the Hachette Book Group imprint Legacy Lit. His memoir will come out almost exactly 10 years after he knelt before a preseason game, a protest against police violence and racial inequality that was emulated by some players and criticized by politicians, team owners and fans, some of whom booed him and burned his jersey.

Kaepernick, who has not played in the NFL since 2016, said in a statement that he wanted to offer context for what led to his taking a knee. Before that, he had remained seated during the anthem.

“People saw the moment. But they didn’t see the years that made it possible: the questions about who I was; the injustices I could no longer ignore; the voices of those who came before me that I carried into that stadium,” Kaepernick said in a statement released Tuesday. “That journey, from a Black kid navigating an identity the world didn’t always make space for, to an athlete who realized the game was bigger than football, shaped everything. When I took a knee, it wasn’t a sudden act.”

Legacy Lit is calling the book “equal parts memoir and manifesto,” tracing “the off-the-field battles that turned a single act of protest into a movement that changed American sports and culture forever.” Kaepernick is narrating the audio edition, produced and to be sold exclusively by Audible.

Kaepernick, 38, played six years for the 49ers and helped lead them to an appearance in the Super Bowl in 2013. Baltimore won the game 34-31.

Kaepernick has spoken out often on social issues, launched his own publishing imprint and co-written the picture story “We Are Free, You & Me” and the graphic novel “Change the Game.”

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As time ticks down on U.S. President Donald Trump's latest ultimatum, their thoughts were clouded by new fears: How long will the power be out if plants are bombed? How would they leave the city if the bridges are taken out?

Five weeks on, they have grown used to the roar of American and Israeli fighter jets, the sound of explosions and sleepless nights. Like many, they've left the capital and returned in search of elusive safety. Married for over a decade, they made it through the COVID pandemic and the 12-day war last June.

They've used clear packing tape to lines the edges of their windows, a precaution against blasts. Mirrors and fragile objects have been moved or secured. A packed bag holds documents, medications and essentials, ready in case they need to leave quickly.

In an expletive-laden threat over the weekend, Trump vowed that “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day,” and that Iran's leaders will be “living in Hell” if they don't open the Strait of Hormuz.

“Honestly, the situation is really unclear,” Arghavan said. “We don’t really understand things like how long the power might go out if it does, or what life without electricity would even look like.”

Alishir said he and his wife could handle life without power — and potentially without running water — for a week at most. “If it goes on longer, we’ll definitely run into problems,” he said.

Their struggles began even before the first American and Israeli bombs slammed into Iran on Feb. 28.

The Iranian government's crackdown on nationwide protests in January severely limited internet access. The internet monitoring organization NetBlocks says it's the longest nationwide shutdown ever recorded.

Arghavan runs a small language school that teaches French to Iranians who want to live in the Canadian province of Quebec.

“We were basically an online school, and our students had classes with kids abroad,” she said. “Around 50% of our learners were outside the country. But now, with all these internet outages, it’s really disrupting our work.”

Iranians are divided over the war: Some take part in daily pro-government rallies; others quietly cheer the strikes against their leaders while condemning the deaths of civilians and damage to infrastructure.

The couple blames Israel and the U.S. for starting the war and hope for a diplomatic solution.

“I really hope an agreement is reached soon and that whatever happens, it ends up helping people, because right now people are the ones paying a heavy price,” Arghavan said.

Florida authorities determined Woods was impaired March 27 when his Land Rover struck a trailer and flipped on its side on a residential street. They found two painkiller pills in his pocket. Woods was arrested and briefly jailed for refusing to submit to a urine test.

“He's just a human being like everyone else and we have struggles,” Day said. "It's unfortunate. The only thing that I don't understand is that it's a little bit selfish of him to drive and put other people in harm's way, as well.

“But when you're the player that he was and how strong-willed he is, he thinks he can do almost anything,” Day said. “And that's probably why he's driving and a little bit under the influence.”

This is the second straight year Woods has missed the Masters, under entirely different circumstances. He had ruptured his Achilles tendon in March of 2025 and didn't even make it to the Masters Club dinner for champions.

Woods entered a plea of not guilty last week, and then sought — and was granted — a motion to seek treatment outside the country.

“He was my hero — he's my hero,” said Day, the Australian who reached No. 1 in the world a decade ago. “The reason why I play golf is because of this tournament and Tiger. It’s hard to see him go through what he’s going through, and especially under the microscope. It must be hard to be who he is and have everything, everyone look on, kind of down on him.

“Some people want him to fail. Some people obviously want him to succeed,” Day said. “It’s really difficult for me to go through that and watch him, and I know that he’s getting the help now, which is good. I’m just hoping he comes out on the other side and is better.”

Woods is a five-time champion at the Masters, the last one in 2019 to complete a most remarkable comeback in golf. In the 14 years between winning green jackets, he had reconstructive knee surgery (2008) and four back surgeries (2014-17), and one arrest for taking what he said was a bad mix of painkillers when he was found asleep behind the wheel of his running car (2017).

Since winning his last Masters, his right leg and ankle were crushed in 2021 when his SUV going about 85 mph ran over a median and tumbled down a hill on a coastal road in Los Angeles. He also had surgery on the Achilles tendon and a seventh back surgery last year.

Nick Faldo was particularly critical of Woods in an interview with Britain's Daily Telegraph last week when he said, “There are two sides to this right now. There’s one side that’s like ... let’s care for Tiger. And then there has got to be a responsibility and an accountability side as well.”

“Forget about golf. We are not meant to be on the streets with two pills in our pocket,” Faldo said. "The bottom line is that I really think that this is a serious issue and something should be done that is a little bit more serious than waving him off to a tropical island and saying, 'Welcome back,’ in three or four months or whatever it might be.”

Phil Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion who was a runner-up in 2023 at age 52, also is skipping the Masters as he deals with a family health matter at home. It's the first time since 1994 neither Woods nor Mickelson was at Augusta National for the first major of the year.

Mickelson is with LIV Golf and plays on a big stage only four times a year at the majors. Jacob Bridgeman, one of the 22 newcomers to the Masters, didn't know Mickelson wasn't playing and is young enough in golf to have only played two majors with him last year.

Woods is a huge part of the Masters, not only from the records he shattered in 1997 at age 21 but recently with his work on a short course during the refurbishing of a municipal course in town known as “The Patch.” He also is opening a TGR Learning Lab in Augusta.

“He’s such a legend in this game, somebody I looked up to,” Harris English said. “Watching him win around this place in ’97 is kind of the reason I started getting into golf. I know he’s going to get through this. He has a big fight ahead of him. He’s a fighter. That’s what he does.”

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

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school hasn't publicly discussed its search. Malone would replace Hubert Davis, who was fired March 24 after five seasons as the successor to retired Hall of Famer Roy Williams.

ESPN was the first to report UNC moving toward hiring Malone.

The 54-year-old Malone spent 12 seasons as a head coach in the NBA, including a 10-year run in Denver. He led the Nuggets to the 2023 championship behind three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic.

The Nuggets fired Malone last spring with less than a week left in that regular season. Almost a year to the day, in another surprise move, Malone is on the verge of taking over a blue-blood program with six national titles, a record 21 appearances in the Final Four and alums including Michael Jordan, James Worthy Vince Carter and Atlantic Coast Conference career scoring leader Tyler Hansbrough.

UNC now has big-name former pro coaches leading its two highest-profile programs. The Tar Heels hired six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick as their football coach in December 2024. Belichick struggled to a 4-8 record in his debut season.

Davis’ firing opened one of the top jobs in college basketball for only the fourth time since the late Hall of Famer Dean Smith’s retirement after 36 seasons in October 1997.

The job had stayed in the “Carolina Family” ever since. Longtime assistant Bill Guthridge replaced Smith, followed by former UNC player Matt Doherty, former Smith assistant Williams and then Davis, who played under Smith and worked on Williams' staff.

Names like Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd, Michigan’s Dusty May and Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan — who led Florida to the 2006 and 2007 NCAA titles — had been linked to the job since Davis’ firing. Lloyd announced Friday at the Final Four that he would return to the Wildcats while praising UNC for “the way they’ve handled this.”

Three days later, the search had turned in an unexpected direction with Malone, who has never been a college head coach and has spent most of his career in the NBA. His primary connection to UNC athletics is the presence of daughter Bridget on the Tar Heels’ volleyball team.

During an October appearance on the UNC athletic department’s “Carolina Insider” podcast, Malone recalled hearing his late father, NBA coach Brendan Malone, talk often about Smith and UNC basketball. He also mentioned attending multiple recent practices and Davis asking him to speak to the team at least once.

“I’ve always been a Carolina fan,” Malone said. “And when (Bridget) decided to come here that made it even that much more special, because now I’m ‘Go Heels’ for everything. I root for all the teams, have fallen in love with Chapel Hill.”

Malone's time in the NBA included a brief stint in Sacramento, where he was fired in December 2014, just 24 games into his second season. He also worked as an assistant with the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Hornets and Golden State Warriors.

Malone had stints in college as an assistant at Oakland, Providence and Manhattan. He spent only one season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, working as director of men's basketball administration at Virginia under Pete Gillen in 1998-99.

David Adelman, Malone's successor in Denver, said he was happy for his friend, adding that Malone would be comfortable with players earning big money through name, image and likeness deals.

“It’s more of a professional environment now, especially at schools like that, where you have to look at it like these guys are under contract now,” Adelman said. “And I think a lot of NBA coaches understand what it means to coach somebody that’s making money.”

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AP freelancer Michael Kelly in Denver contributed to this report.

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

The five fabulous transfers who make up coach Dusty May's starting lineup got down and dirty with the rest of the Wolverines — coming out with the national title trophy Monday night after muscling their way to a 69-63 victory over stingy, stubborn UConn.

Michigan only made two 3-pointers all night.

The Final Four's most outstanding player, Elliot Cadeau, led the Wolverines with 19 points, including the team’s first 3, which came 7:04 into the second half. The second 3, from freshman Trey McKenney, came with 1:50 left and felt like a dagger, giving May's team — which had scored 90 points in five straight March Madness games leading to the final — a nine-point lead.

To no one’s surprise, UConn fought to the finish. Solo Ball banked in a 3 to cut the deficit to four with 37 seconds left — and after two missed free throws, UConn’s Alex Karaban (17 points) barely grazed the rim on a 3 that would’ve cut the deficit to one with 17 seconds left.

Not until McKenney sank two free throws to bring Michigan’s shooting from the line to 25 for 28 for the night could the Wolverines (37-3) kick off the celebration for the program’s second title — the other coming in 1989, a few years before the Fab Five arrived and made two trips to the championship game, but never won a title.

“HAIL TO VICTORS!!!!” Jalen Rose, one of the Fab Five stars, posted on social media. “NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!!!!”

It was the first men's hoops title for the Big Ten since Michigan State in 2000. Including UCLA's win in the women's NCAA Tournament Sunday, the conference swept the football (Indiana) and basketball titles this year.

Michigan won this one with defense, holding UConn to 30.9% shooting — the fourth straight game the Wolverines held their opponent to a season-low field-goal percentage.

“These guys have done it all year,” May said. “When one side of the ball has let us down, the other side has picked it up. Our togetherness defensively ultimately got us over the hump.”

Michigan had to fight for everything. The Wolverines missed their first 11 shots from 3, finished 2 for 15 beyond the arc and won despite the struggles of their best player, Yaxel Lendeborg. Ailing with a hurt knee and foot that kept him from elevating, the graduate transfer from UAB finished with 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

“If you’d told me we would shoot it this poorly and (be) dominated on the glass and still find a way to win, I don’t know if I would have believed you,” May said. “This team just found a way all season.”

The two 3-pointers were tied for second fewest by a winning team in the title game, according to Sportradar. Michigan also got outrebounded 22-12 on the offensive glass by a UConn team that would not go away.

“How are you disappointed at all in your group?” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “These guys have 22 offensive rebounds versus that group of ‘mon-stars’ out there. So, proud of the guys.”

Truth be told, it wasn’t anyone’s prettiest night.

UConn’s hopes of becoming the first team since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty to win three titles in four seasons came up short, done in by massive foul trouble and its own terrible shooting.

Hurley’s team missed its first 11 shots from 3 in the second half.

Braylon Mullins, the hero of the Duke win that put UConn in the Final Four, finished 4 of 17, though he made a pair of late 3s that kept the game in reach. Tarris Reed Jr., the transfer from Michigan, finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds but never took control.

UConn (34-6) covered the 6 1/2-point spread, and Hurley kept his players out on the court to watch the podium get set up for the victors.

About the only consolation: The Huskies clogged things up, slowed things down and made Michigan beat them at their game.

“It’s complicated, because everyone’s crushed,” Hurley said. “We came here to be out there, doing what those guys are doing right now.”

Nobody did it quite like the Wolverines this year. They came into the title game shooting freely and winning big. In each of their five tournament games, they broke 90 and won by 13 or more.

In this one, they didn’t hit 70 and had to battle to the buzzer. It was ugly — the opposite of an instant classic. And yet, in almost every way, it was the prettiest of them all for Michigan — the one that gives the school what the Fab Five couldn’t manage — namely, a natty.

“Nobody cared about stats the whole season,” Cadeau said. “Nobody cared about nothing but winning. I’m just glad to be part of that.”

Style points aside, this was a championship built from outside — the best team money could buy.

All five Wolverines starters played college ball elsewhere, and all but Nimari Burnett came to Ann Arbor this season. That’s a product of the transfer portal that May has shown no reluctance to use since he arrived from Florida Atlantic two seasons ago.

His ability to form a makeshift group into a winner shows the value of a coach and a culture.

“They might be still calling us mercenaries but we’re the hardest-working team,” Lendenborg said. “We’re the best in college basketball and we’ll be one of the greatest ever.”

Pretty much everyone in the maize and blue would second that.

“Go BLUE. …champions!!! Respect- Love!” was the social media post from another Fab Five icon, Chris Webber.

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

“I owe the truth to the French people,” Sarkozy told a three-judge panel during a hearing in the case that led him to spend 20 days in prison before being granted release pending appeal.

“I’m innocent,” he said.

Sarkozy, 71, is challenging his conviction after being found guilty in September of criminal conspiracy. He was sentenced to five years in prison for his alleged part in a scheme to obtain funds from the government of then Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in exchange for political and diplomatic favors.

Sarkozy has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and says the allegations are politically motivated.

Review of evidence

Sarkozy's wife, supermodel-turned-singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, attended Tuesday's hearing, which focused on his role as a conservative presidential candidate and then president from 2007 to 2012.

The 12-week appeal trial, which began last month, will reexamine all of the evidence and testimony related to him and nine co-defendants — including three former ministers.

Sarkozy said that he championed Western military intervention in Libya in 2011 after Gadhafi’s government violently cracked down on anti-government protesters, when Arab Spring pro-democracy protests swept through the region.

“I took the initiative, France took the initiative. Why? Because Gadhafi had no hold over me — financially, politically or personally,” Sarkozy said.

Gadhafi was killed by opposition fighters in October 2011, ending his four-decade rule of the North African country.

Families of plane bombing victims raise concerns

Sarkozy’s appeal hearing comes after families of French victims of a 1989 plane bombing expressed their distress last week over possible promises made to Gadhafi’s government as part of the alleged deal.

In 2003, Libya took responsibility for both the 1988 plane bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the bombing of UTA flight 772 over Niger the following year that killed 170 people, including 54 French nationals.

“I believe that such unspeakable suffering can only be answered with the truth,” Sarkozy said.

Financial prosecutors have accused Sarkozy of having promised to lift the arrest warrant targeting Gadhafi’s brother-in-law and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, accused of masterminding the attacks, in exchange for alleged campaign financing.

Sarkozy rejects allegations

“The truth is that I did not act in favor of Mr. Senoussi … who is in prison (in Libya) because he was arrested following the international action led by France,” Sarkozy said. “I never promised him anything.”

Visibly irritated, Sarkozy, who as interior minister met with Gadhafi in 2005 in Libya, told the court: “Why would I have chosen Mr. Gadhafi, whom I had never met before, to set up a suspicious financing arrangement with him during a 30-minute meeting? It makes no sense,” Sarkozy said.

In 2005, people close to Sarkozy, including his chief of staff, Claude Guéant, and junior minister Brice Hortefeux, traveled to Tripoli, where they met with al-Senoussi.

The trial at Paris appeals court is scheduled to last until June 3, with a verdict expected at a later date.

“Defendants have so far been unable to explain all the inconsistencies that may exist in this case," Vincent Brengarth, lawyer for French anti-corruption group Sherpa, told reporters.

"Up to now, the various hearings have not resulted in these explanations, and we are now expecting them from the main defendant, namely Nicolas Sarkozy,” he said.

Sarkozy has faced multiple legal cases since leaving office. In November, the Court of Cassation — France’s top court — upheld his conviction for illegal campaign financing of his 2012 reelection bid, requiring him to spend six months under house arrest wearing an electronic ankle tag, a sentence that has yet to be implemented.

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Oleg Cetinic contributed to this report.

According to an FDOT rendering of the proposed design, drivers coming from CR 2209 would no longer be able to turn left onto CR 210. Instead, drivers would continue past the intersection and make a U-turn at a signalized intersection further down CR 2209. The changes could impact how people enter into nearby businesses.

The proposed redesign aims to reduce congestion, improve traffic flow and enhance safety for drivers, people and bicyclists.

Residents will have two opportunities to learn more and make their voices heard. A virtual public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7, with an online open house beginning at 5:30 p.m. and a formal presentation at 6 p.m.

There will also be an in-person meeting on Thursday, April 9, at the Shearwater Kayak Clubroom, 100 Kayak Way, St. Augustine.

The open house begins at 4:30 p.m. with a formal presentation at 6 p.m.

Comments submitted by April 20, 2026, will be included in the official meeting record.

Residents may also review project information and submit comments online.

And keep in mind, the day begins with scenarios where six teams — Atlanta, Toronto, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Orlando and Miami — all have mathematical chances of finishing fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth or 10th in a muddled Eastern Conference. (Many of those chances are improbable, but they exist.)

Miami and Toronto start a two-game series in Ontario, with the Raptors trying to keep the No. 6 spot in the East and the Heat desperate to start a final-week clawing out of the No. 10 spot.

The game of the night might be in Boston, where Charlotte will pay the Celtics a visit. The Hornets are 43-36, tied with Philadelphia and Orlando for the seventh-best record in the East, and they'll hold either the No. 6, No. 7 or No. 9 spot in the conference — temporarily, anyway — when Tuesday's slate is complete.

Both Los Angeles teams are home; the banged-up Lakers could jump back into the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with a win, and the Clippers could strengthen their tenuous hold on the No. 8 spot.

Who's in and who's out?

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

— Eastern Conference playoff teams: Detroit has locked up the No. 1 seed and will open the postseason on April 19. Boston, New York, Cleveland are in. At this point, Atlanta and Toronto would get the other two guaranteed spots, but those are not clinched.

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

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

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

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

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

Monday recap

— Knicks 108, Hawks 105: Jalen Brunson had 17 in the 4th, CJ McCollum's miracle make was too late.

— Magic 123, Pistons 107: Orlando led almost the whole way, had 40-19 edge in free throw attempts.

— Cavaliers 142, Grizzlies 126: Memphis tied the NBA record with 29 made 3s — and still lost by 16.

— Spurs 115, 76ers 102: San Antonio hits 60 wins, waiting to hear about Victor Wembanyama's ribs.

— Nuggets 137, Trail Blazers 132, OT: Portland led by 13 with 6:01 left in regulation, then fell apart.

Tuesday's schedule

— Timberwolves at Pacers: Wolves still vying to clinch 6 seed, then focus on health before Round 1.

— Heat at Raptors: Miami plays at Toronto twice in a three-day span, huge stakes for both teams.

— Hornets at Celtics: Probably game of the night, which nobody would have predicted in October.

— Kings at Warriors: This week is basically preseason for Golden State and its play-in tune-up plan.

— Thunder at Lakers: Oklahoma City on verge of getting No. 1 overall seed for second straight year.

— Mavericks at Clippers: Dallas' Cooper Flagg’s final-week rookie of the year push tour continues.

— Rockets at Suns: Kevin Durant goes back to Phoenix, one of his former stomping grounds.

— Bulls at Wizards: All about lottery odds.

— Bucks at Nets: All about lottery odds.

— Jazz at Pelicans: For Utah, all about lottery odds. (New Orleans’ pick should convey to Atlanta.)

Wednesday's schedule

— Atlanta at Cleveland: A very possible East first-round preview.

— Minnesota at Orlando: Wolves sputtering, Anthony Edwards is aching.

— Milwaukee at Detroit: Giannis Antetokounmpo still wants to play.

— Memphis at Denver: Nuggets chasing No. 3 seed, need a win here.

— Portland at San Antonio: Blazers have work to do to avoid 9-10 game.

— Oklahoma City at L.A. Clippers: Clippers have work to do to avoid 9-10 game.

— Dallas at Phoenix: Suns almost certainly will be No. 7 seed for play-in.

National TV schedule

Tuesday on NBC and Peacock: Charlotte-Boston (8 p.m. Eastern) and Houston-Phoenix (11 p.m.).

Wednesday on ESPN: Atlanta-Cleveland (7 p.m. Eastern) and Portland-San Antonio (9:30 p.m.).

Betting odds

Oklahoma City (+130) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by San Antonio (+450), Boston (+550), Denver (+1200), Cleveland (+1200) and New York (+1900). Detroit, the No. 1 seed in the East, is +2500. The Los Angeles Lakers were +2500 before Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves got hurt; they're +45000 now.

Key dates

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

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

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

— April 18 and 19: NBA playoff series openers.

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

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

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

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

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

Numbers watch

If Denver averages 127 points in its final three games, the Nuggets would become the eighth team in NBA history to reach 10,000 points in a regular season. There have been three Western Conference teams to hit that milestone — they would be the Nuggets in 1981-82, the Nuggets in 1982-83 and ... you guessed it ... the Nuggets in 1983-84.

Stats of the day

— If Houston wins one more game this season, the NBA will have nine teams reach the 50-win mark. The last season with more than nine such teams was 2014-15, which saw 10 teams reach 50 wins. (Minnesota could get to 50 this season if it wins out.)

— Denver has allowed 134 and 132 points in its last two games, respectively, and gone 2-0. It's the seventh time a team has done that in NBA history; three of the previous six instances were done by the super-high-octane Nuggets in 1981 and 1982. San Antonio did it in 1984, Minnesota in 2021 and the Los Angeles Lakers did it in 2024.

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

As spring gets underway, retailers often start discounting products tied to outdoor living, yard work, and seasonal cleaning, making this a smart time to shop if you know what to look for.

Consumer Reports shopping expert Samantha Gordon says the beginning of spring is when shoppers can start finding deals on outdoor equipment and products meant to get patios and outdoor spaces ready for warmer weather.

It’s also spring-cleaning season, which means vacuums and other cleaning tools are often marked down.

One category to watch is carpet cleaners. If you’re planning a deep clean, Consumer Reports says it helps to think about how you’ll actually use one before buying.

If you only need to tackle occasional spills, you may not need a large, heavy-duty machine.

For bigger jobs, features like separate tanks for clean and dirty water, spinning brushes, a long cord, and a lighter overall weight can make the work much easier.

Spring can also be a good time to consider replacing drafty or aging windows.

Consumer Reports says sales this time of year may make the investment more manageable, and choosing Energy Star-certified models could save homeowners hundreds of dollars a year in heating and cooling costs.

Outdoor power equipment is another area where prices often soften in April.

Gordon says it’s a good time to start thinking about lawn care, which means retailers may offer deals on leaf blowers, string trimmers, and lawn mowers.

Before choosing a mower, Consumer Reports recommends considering the size and terrain of your yard. For smaller, flatter lawns, a basic push mower may be enough. But for larger or hillier yards—especially those over half an acre—a self-propelled model is often the better choice.

If winter left your patio, siding, or deck looking grimy, a pressure washer may also be worth a look.

Consumer Reports says performance varies widely, so it’s important to match the machine’s power to the task.

Lighter-duty models can work well for cars and outdoor furniture, while tougher jobs like concrete and decking usually require more power. Convenience features like wheels, built-in soap tanks, and onboard storage can also make a difference.

Even with spring sales underway, Consumer Reports says shoppers shouldn’t feel pressured to buy immediately.

Discounts on home and outdoor gear tend to come and go throughout the season, with Memorial Day sales just around the corner.

Taking time to compare prices and think through your needs can help you make the most of the season’s deals.

Updated information from JSO indicates Krause walked into the Gate not far from I-95 at 9:16 a.m., while several customers and employees were inside.

Convenience store surveillance video shows Krause walking around the store for several minutes. Five minutes after he entered the store, he pulled out an apparent handgun and pointed it at the store clerk, according to JSO.

Police said Krause demanded that the clerk call the police, stating he wanted to die and he wanted the police to kill him.

“You can go. I’m not hurting anybody. I just want to kill myself. Call the cops, please,” Krause can be heard saying on the store surveillance video. “I’m done with this ******* life.”

The customers ran out of the store, and the store clerk called 911 at 9:22 a.m.

WATCH: Full critical incident briefing with surveillance video (viewer discretion advised)

Once the employees left, Krause stayed inside and, at 9:24 a.m., opened the door and told the employees that he was going to come out shooting, police said.

JSO said officers arrived at the scene at 9:29 a.m. and when the officers got there, Krause opened the door again and yelled at the officers, “Are you ready?”

Officer H. Cascante then armed himself with his agency-approved rifle and took up a tactical position behind a patrol vehicle, while another officer ran toward people gathered at the scene outside, JSO said.

JSO said that at 9:30 a.m., Krause exited the store and began moving quickly toward Cascante with his right arm outstretched in front of his body with his weapon pointed at the officer.

Cascante fired his rifle, striking Krause, who fell to the ground, his weapon hitting the pavement. Krause died at the scene.

Investigators later learned the weapon Krause was holding was a Glock 19 replica airsoft gun.

Watch the full news conference:

Investigators said Krause never fired his gun, and the undersheriff said it appeared he wanted to provoke the officers into taking his life.

“We’re never going to let a person fire on us if we can avoid it,” Sheriff T.K. Waters said after the sixth officer-involved shooting of the year.

No officers were hurt in the encounter.

JSO said that had Krause survived his injuries, he would have been charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

Cascante was hired on July 6, 2020, and this is his first officer-involved shooting, JSO said.

The State Attorney’s Office is conducting its own independent investigation. JSO will then conduct an internal review to ensure the officer acted within policy. Conclusions remain pending.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can find a list of local resources at this link.

The horn sounded, and Morez Johnson Jr. came over to share a celebratory scream and hearty hug — from one transfer to another — as the Wolverines began running toward midcourt to celebrate a national championship.

Maybe a school really can build an ideal college basketball roster amid the topsy-turvy chaos of the transfer portal, paying players and top-to-bottom overhauls.

Michigan proved it Monday night, rolling out an all-transfer starting lineup that was too big, too strong and too capable of countering anything that UConn could muster — even on a night when the 3-point shot wasn't falling and All-American Yaxel Lendeborg was hobbled by ankle and knee injuries.

The Wolverines still had enough to hold off the Huskies 69-63 and claim the program's first title in 37 years.

And they showed how second-year Dusty May assembled a resilient roster by diving all the way into the portal.

“Man, this whole year, we were a team that played together,” Lendeborg said as he stood amid the confetti on the court at Lucas Oil Stadium. “We didn't have a best player, like I said before. We have a guy that steps up big-time in these games.

“We have players that make plays when they need to make them. And we just played a full all-around team basketball game today. We did it.”

It didn't matter that the Wolverines shot just 38% while making 2 of 15 3-pointers — stunning numbers for a team that entered the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 8 nationally in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency (126.6 points per 100 possessions).

It didn't matter that they were outrebounded — and gave up an incredible 22 offensive boards.

Nor that Lendeborg carried an awkward gait as he grinded his way through a 4-for-13 shooting effort in 36 minutes after twisting his left ankle and spraining a knee ligament in Saturday's win over Arizona in the Final Four.

Not the way these guys complemented each other on the sport's biggest stage.

Point guard Elliot Cadeau, in his first season after two up-and-down years at North Carolina, had 19 points and was named the Final Four's most outstanding player. Johnson, in his first year from Illinois, had 12 points and 10 rebounds. The 7-foot-3 Aday Mara, in his first year from UCLA, helped hold UConn big man Tarris Reed Jr. — who had been a March Madness force — to just 4-of-12 shooting.

“Nobody cared about stats the whole season. Nobody cared about nothing but winning,” Cadeau said.

Four of Michigan's five starters were in their first year after transferring: Cadeau, Johnson, Mara and Lendeborg (UAB).

The fifth starter, Nimari Burnett, was practically a Michigan lifer by comparison; he was in his third season with the Wolverines, after starting his career at Texas Tech then spending two years at Alabama. A similar story followed Gayle, a reserve who had spent two years at rival Ohio State before these last two years in Ann Arbor.

That left only two players in Michigan's eight-man rotation who would qualify as “homegrown” talent: freshman Trey McKenney and fifth-year graduate Will Tschetter.

It's an approach that tailored to the current era of the sport, with players transferring freely between campuses and cleared to profit from the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL), along with schools able to pay athletes directly with the arrival of revenue sharing.

Purists have complained that the revolving door of players makes it harder for fans to get behind their schools than it was when most players spent multiple seasons in the same uniform. Transfers even featured prominently in an executive order signed last week by President Donald Trump seeking to reform college sports.

May shrugged off the critics on Sunday, noting, “I think we are all better in certain situations than others.”

Athletic director Warde Manuel offered a similar defense on the court Monday night after the program claimed its first national title since the Glen Rice-led Wolverines cut down the nets in Seattle in 1989.

“A lot of teams around the country benefited from transfers,” Manuel said. “You can't just say, ‘Well, Michigan had the most transfers.’ Dusty put this team together the way he did.”

And it worked to perfection.

By the end, Mara was jumping around with a few teammates after they had watched the “One Shining Moment” music montage of tournament highlights, with someone picking up a handful of confetti and tossing it into the air to flutter around them.

“It's important to get the right people on the bus,” assistant coach Justin Joyner said. “It's important to get unselfish guys that are about winning, that are about the group. We had that with the best of our players. Yaxel Lendeborg's one of the most unselfish superstars you'll ever be around.

“So when you have that from the top, it permeates through your locker room, it permeates through your group. And eventually you can become a unit that's about winning.”

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This story corrects a typo in McKenney's last name.

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

Troopers said a 23-year-old Jacksonville woman riding in the SUV suffered serious injuries.

According to the crash report, the SUV was headed south on North Lowder Street near Constitution Place just after 4 p.m. Monday when it traveled onto the east shoulder, hitting the fence and a tree.

The 25-year-old driver, who is from Macclenny, died at Ed Fraser Memorial Hospital, troopers said.

Both women were wearing seat belts, according to the report.

Troopers are still investigating what caused the SUV to leave the roadway.

Agyemang was visibly emotional when he was stretchered off, with his right leg strapped, after landing awkwardly in Derby’s 2-0 victory over Stoke in the second-tier English Championship on Monday.

Derby confirmed on Tuesday that the striker would miss soccer’s biggest tournament, which is being held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in June and July.

“As a result of this injury, Patrick will unfortunately miss this summer’s FIFA World Cup,” Derby said in a statement. “At this stage it would be wrong to put a timeline on his recovery."

The club added that Agyemang would undergo more tests later on Tuesday and “further updates will be communicated in due course.”

Agyemang has helped Derby into contention for promotion to the Premier League thanks to a team-leading 10 goals since arriving last summer from Charlotte in Major League Soccer.

During the recent international break, he came off the bench for the United States and scored in a loss against Belgium and also got some minutes against Portugal.

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

The proposed deal would involve Universal Music merging with Pershing Square SPARC Holdings, an acquisition company approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023. Plans would include the new company being based in Nevada and moving its stock listing from Amsterdam to the New York Stock Exchange.

“UMG’s stock price has languished due to a combination of issues that are unrelated to the performance of its music business and importantly, all of them can be addressed with this transaction,” Ackman said in a statement on Tuesday.

The total cash-and-stock value of the deal is estimated at 30.40 euros per share, or $35.12. That puts Universal Music's value at approximately 56 billion euros based on its outstanding shares.

Universal Music shareholders will receive 9.4 billion euros in cash (or 5.05 euros per share) and 0.77 shares of the newly created company's stock for each share of Universal Music that they own.

Universal Music did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The proposed transaction is anticipated to close by the end of the year, according to Pershing Square.

In 2021 Ackman walked away from a deal that would have given him a 10% stake in Universal Music. At the time, Ackman cited questions from the SEC about whether the structure of a special-purpose acquisition company would allow such an acquisition under the rules of the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of Universal rose more than 10% in midday trading in Amsterdam.

The offer was made through the United States, which has been mediating talks between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv, Zelenskyy said, as Russia’s invasion stretches into a fifth year.

“If Russia is ready to stop strikes on our energy infrastructure, we will be ready to respond in kind,” the Ukrainian leader said in a public address late Monday. "This proposal, conveyed through the Americans, has already been presented to the Russian side.”

There was no immediate comment from Moscow about the proposal. Previous attempts to secure ceasefires have had little or no impact. Russian President Vladimir Putin unilaterally declared a 30-hour ceasefire last Easter, but each side accused the other of breaking it.

Russia effectively rejected a 30-day unconditional truce proposed last year by the U.S. and Ukraine as a step toward peace, insisting instead on a comprehensive settlement, but Moscow has announced several short, unilateral ceasefires.

Zelenskyy said he doubted the Kremlin would take up his offer for the April 12 holiday pause as Russia is currently benefiting from higher oil prices driven by the Iran war.

Zelenskyy is concerned that a prolonged U.S.-Israeli war on Iran could erode America’s support for Ukraine.

The U.S.-led talks have made no progress on key issues, as Washington’s attention is held by the Middle East conflict, and the Russian and Ukrainian armies remain locked in battle on the roughly 1,250-kilometer (800-mile) front line.

At the same time, Russia has pounded Ukraine’s power grid in an effort to demoralize civilians while Kyiv’s domestically produced long-range drones have repeatedly hit Russian oil infrastructure in a bid to dent Moscow’s main export revenue.

“Ukraine’s expanding long-range strike campaign against Russian oil infrastructure is exploiting overstretched Russian air defenses and significantly damaging Russian oil export capabilities,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said in an assessment late Monday.

“Russia’s geographical size poses an enormous challenge to defend, especially with traditional air defense systems on which the Russians reportedly still rely to protect against Ukraine drone salvos,” it added.

Russia is also targeting public transport, including Ukraine’s vital rail network and bus services.

On Tuesday morning, a Russian drone struck a bus as it approached a stop, killing four civilians and injuring 15 others, in the southeastern Ukraine city of Nikopol, authorities said.

“This brutal attack on civilian regular transportation occurred during rush hour, when people were just going to work,” Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote in an online post. “This is not an accident, it’s their (Russian) tactic: deliberate strikes on civilians.”

Also, Ukrainian authorities said three people were killed and three others were injured in an attack on a residential building in the southern city of Kherson. An 11-year-old boy was killed in a drone strike near the eastern city of Synelnykove, officials there said, bringing the day’s civilian death toll to eight.

Government and military authorities also reported power cuts in several eastern and southern areas in Ukraine following artillery and drone strikes.

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

Police have not confirmed the name of the 47-year-old former soldier who was arrested Tuesday. But he has been widely reported in the media to be Roberts-Smith, a former Special Air Service Regiment corporal who was awarded both the Victoria Cross and Medal of Gallantry for his service in Afghanistan.

Police charged him Tuesday with five counts of war crime murder. He will remain in custody overnight and make his first court appearance on Wednesday, a police statement said.

He will potentially apply for release on bail Wednesday.

Roberts-Smith is only the second Australian veteran of the Afghanistan campaign to be charged with a war crime.

Former SAS soldier Oliver Schulz, 44, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of war crime murder. He is accused of shooting Afghan man Dad Mohammad three times in the head in an Uruzgan province wheat field in May 2012.

War crime murder carries a potential sentence of life in prison. It's a federal crime in Australia, defined as the intentional killing in the context of armed conflict of a person who is not taking an active part in hostilities, such as civilians, prisoners of war or wounded soldiers.

Police arrested Roberts-Smith at Sydney Airport on Tuesday after he arrived on a flight from Brisbane, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said.

“It will be alleged that the victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan. It will be alleged the victims were detained, unarmed and were under the control of ADF members when they were killed,” Barrett told reporters, referring to the Australian Defense Force.

“It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused or shot by subordinate members of the ADF in the presence of and acting on the orders of the accused,” Barrett added.

A civil court has already found similar allegations against Roberts-Smith credible in a defamation suit he brought after several newspapers published articles in 2018 accusing him of a range of war crimes. In 2023, a federal judge rejected Roberts-Smith’s claims and ruled that he likely killed four noncombatants unlawfully in 2009 and 2012.

But while the civil court found the war crimes allegations were mostly proved on a balance of probabilities, the new charges would have to be proved in a criminal court to a higher standard of beyond reasonable doubt.

In September, Australia’s High Court said it would not hear an appeal, ending his chances of overturning the ruling.

Nick McKenzie, a reporter unsuccessfully sued for defamation by Roberts-Smith who has been investigating allegations against the soldier since 2017, expected SAS colleagues to testify in the criminal trial as they had during the civil trial.

“You’re investigating conduct allegedly taken by some members of the most secretive, elite fighting force Australia has. The journalism task is difficult. What’s been really difficult, though, is those brave SAS witnesses” testifying, McKenzie told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“For them to come forward and say: ‘Well, we served our country bravely like Ben Roberts-Smith did, alongside him in Afghanistan, but we saw things with our own eyes that we feel uncomfortable about.’ These brave soldiers, some of them broke down after they testified, so difficult was it for them to stand up and speak out,” McKenzie added.

The charges follow a military report released in 2020 that found evidence that elite Australian SAS and commando regiment troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and other noncombatants.

Barrett said few soldiers were involved in the new allegations.

“The alleged conduct related to these charges is confined to a very small section of our trusted and respected ADF which helps keep this country safe,” Barrett said.

“The overwhelming majority of our ADF do our country proud. Today’s charges are not reflective of the majority of members who serve under our Australian flag with honor, with distinction and with the values of a democratic nation,” she added.

The Office of the Special Investigator was established to work with police on the war crime allegations. The office’s director of investigations Ross Barnett said allegations of 53 war crimes had been investigated and 39 of those investigations had concluded without charges. Around 40,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021, of whom 41 were killed.

Hoping to ease some pain for consumers, President Donald Trump and other heads of state have been pulling on various levers, launching more oil on the market in a bid to calm the chaos.

A group of 32 nations that are members of the International Energy Agency began releasing the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history: 400 million barrels. Trump is tapping into oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve while lifting sanctions on Russian and Iranian crude and temporarily waiving the Jones Act, a maritime law that requires ships carrying goods between U.S. ports to be U.S.-flagged.

But despite those maneuvers, crude oil has soared well past $100 a barrel and gasoline is selling for $4.14 a gallon on average in the U.S. While the stopgaps are helping, they're not adding up to enough oil to replace what's stranded, experts say.

“They're all incremental,” said Mark Barteau, professor of chemical engineering and chemistry at Texas A&M University. "You’re talking about these different patches being at the level of maybe 1 to 2 million barrels a day each, and you’ve got to get to 20, so it’s hard to see those actually adding up to the numbers that are needed. And then the question is, how long can you sustain those?”

Trapped oil

Before the war began, roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil and 5 million barrels of oil products passed daily through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, amounting to about 20% of global oil consumption, according to the International Energy Agency.

In addition to that loss, some oil producing nations in the Middle East have halted oil production because they can't ship fuel out of the Gulf and their storage tanks are full. That's taken about 10 million barrels per day off the market, the IEA said.

Then there are the eight countries around the Persian Gulf that together hold about 50% of global oil reserves. Under normal circumstances, they coordinate closely to raise or lower their output to keep prices steady, said Jim Krane, energy research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute. Usually Saudi Arabia steps in to bring spare oil to market and calm things down, he said.

“But all of that spare capacity is also bottled up inside the Persian Gulf right now and it can’t get to market either,” Krane said. “So the main emergency response system that we have is also blocked.”

The IEA said in its recent report that “the resumption of transit through the Strait of Hormuz is the single most important action to return to stable oil and gas flows and reduce the strains on markets and prices.”

Barring that, world leaders are grasping for ways to free up more oil.

Limitations of short-term fixes

Some nations have found workarounds to move oil out of the Gulf. Saudi Arabia is using its East-West pipeline, which stretches from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, to transfer about 5 million barrels per day out of the Gulf, said Michael Lynch, distinguished fellow at Energy Policy Research Foundation, a non-partisan institution focused on energy and economics. But the nation was already using that pipeline to transport oil, so it doesn’t have a lot of spare room to move oil from stranded tankers.

Trump also temporarily lifted sanctions on approximately 140 million barrels of Iranian oil that was already in transit. But that didn’t add oil to the market — it just widened the pool of potential buyers, said Daniel Sternoff, senior fellow at the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy.

Typically, most Iranian oil was bought by private refiners in China, who purchased it at a steep discount, Sternoff said. But with sanctions lifted, others could scramble to buy the oil, which in turn raises its price to the benefit of Iran, he said.

“As soon as you are moving to waive sanctions on your adversary with whom you’re fighting a military conflict, to do something in their benefit, it just shows you that you are running out of options to try to prevent a rise in the price of oil,” Sternoff said.

The decision to lift sanctions on Russian oil could have more impact, because Russia had been storing unpurchased oil in tankers, Sternoff said. “By waiving sanctions, it will allow those barrels to clear.”

Trump’s temporary waiver of the Jones Act to allow foreign ships to temporarily transport goods between U.S. ports could potentially help ease natural gas prices by enabling companies to more efficiently ship liquefied natural gas from the Gulf Coast to New England.

But experts don’t expect the waiver to significantly impact the price of oil or gasoline. “It’s helpful, but not a game changer,” Lynch said.

Why U.S. oil production can't solve the problem

The U.S. is a major oil producer, and exports more oil than it imports. But like any other oil producing nation, it can't just ramp up production instantly to fill the void.

“If the U.S. were to try to make up the global shortfall, we would need to nearly double our production,” Barteau said. “We couldn’t drill wells that fast even if we wanted to.”

Increasing domestic production by even 1 million barrels per day, a feat the U.S. accomplished during the shale boom, would be hard to duplicate, Lynch said.

“If we run every drilling rig right now, what happens a week from now when the war is over and the price goes back down $20?” Lynch asked. “People don’t want to develop long-term production based on a short-term price spike.”

Halting exports and using that oil within the U.S. wouldn't bring down gasoline prices either, experts say.

For one, oil is traded on a global market, so events happening halfway around the globe impact prices for everyone.

In addition, the U.S. doesn't produce enough of the type of oil its refineries process. It produced about 13.7 million barrels per day of oil at the end of 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration. And refineries processed about 16.3 million barrels per day that year, relying on imports to fill in the gaps, according to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), a trade association.

That's because nearly 70% of U.S. refineries are set up to process heavy, sour crude, according to AFPM. But much of the oil produced in the U.S. is light, sweet crude, which was unlocked during the shale revolution.

“They need different crudes than the ones that are being produced right next to them now,” Krane said.

As a result, just 60% of the crude oil processed in U.S. refineries is extracted domestically, according to the AFPM. And retooling domestic refineries would cost billions of dollars, the group said. It also would require shutting down the refinery for a period of time, which generally raises gasoline prices.

“A lot of people like the IEA are making the point that this is the biggest oil crisis ever, which is partly true, partly an exaggeration, depending on how you count things,” Lynch said. “A lot of it has to do with how long does this last ... if it goes on for another six weeks we get to be in some serious trouble.”

Rose is 45 — only four players older than him have won major championships — and yet he prefers to refer to his “Indian summer” of playing great golf at this stage in his career. Evidence can be found three months ago when he beat a strong field at Torrey Pines.

He became a footnote in Masters history last year when Rory McIlroy beat him in a playoff, making Rose the only player to have twice lost in a playoff at Augusta National without ever having won the Masters green jacket.

The consolation — fine print, at that — is getting his name etched three times on the Masters trophy because the club lists the runner-up each year. The playoff loss to McIlroy. A more crushing playoff loss to Sergio Garcia in 2017. A runner-up by four shots to Jordan Spieth in 2015.

All that means to Rose is he knows his way around Augusta National, and that's the inspiration he brings to the Masters this year.

“I'm very aware that I've been close here,” Rose said Monday afternoon. “I'm very aware that I've had tough, tough losses here. I also am aware that I enjoy this place. I don't want to feel that those three second-place finishes need to create a different sort of feeling for me.”

The record for winning the silver salver awarded to the runner-up without ever having Tuesday night plans at the Masters Club dinner is held by the late Tom Weiskopf, four times a bridesmaid.

Weiskopf was haunted by coming close without ever winning the Masters, as were so many others over the years. Greg Norman had Larry Mize hole a miracle chip in a playoff in 1987 and blew a six-shot lead to Nick Faldo in 1996. David Duval, who had three chances in a four-year stretch. It's a long, sad list.

There is desire and obsession when it comes to the green jacket.

“I’d say firmly in the desire camp, just because I know that the latter is not going to help me,” Rose said. “It’s probably professional discipline just to keep it in the desire realm. I think I probably wouldn’t let myself go down the other path. Like I said, that probably won’t be fruitful. Professionally, I’m not going to do that.”

Rose had a two-shot lead with six holes to play and Sergio Garcia in the azaleas left of the 13th hole, but the Spaniard caught him and beat him in a playoff. Last year, Rose holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th and needed McIlroy to make bogey from the fairway on the 18th to get in a playoff.

Both times he lost to friends. That doesn't make it easier.

“The key is showing up. The key is to try to be as free as you can in those moments,” Rose said. “Yeah, you have to hope a little bit along the way that it’s your day. It could have been my day in a couple of major championships. Hopefully with that mindset, keep chipping away, my day might still happen where a little bit of something goes my way.”

And now he returns to Augusta National, which holds so much familiarity as the only major held on the same course every year. That's what can make it so difficult to win after coming so close. There's a lot of scar tissue built up over the years.

Rose is leaning on that half-full glass.

“I hope it only boosts my belief that I can go ahead and do it,” he said. "I feel like I’ve pretty much done what it takes to win. I just haven’t walked over the line. I feel like I’ve executed well enough to have done the job. From that point of view, I don’t feel like I have to find something in myself to do something different. I truly believe that.

“No, I don’t feel like it owes me anything. I come here with a good attitude. It’s a place that I enjoy being. There’s certain places you get to and you take a deep breath and go, ‘Right, it’s nice to be here.’ Augusta still is one of those places for me.”

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

Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd reunited to mark the show's 50th anniversary at PaleyFest LA on Monday night. They were greeted with a standing ovation and whoops and cheers from an audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

The hour-long crime adventure series debuted on Sept. 22, 1976, in a pre-Internet and streaming world when there were just three major television networks. It was a top-10 hit for ABC in its first two of five seasons, ending in 1981.

“I knew the show was different, special and unique,” Smith told the audience. “Three women chasing danger instead of getting rescued.”

Jackson added, “We made an impact, I think.”

Farrah Fawcett-Majors became a 1970s icon with her feathered hair and sexy swimsuit poster. She left after the first season to pursue a film career. She died in 2009.

She was replaced by Ladd, who showed up on her first day wearing a Farrah Fawcett Minor T-shirt. She had turned down producer Aaron Spelling three times, knowing how beloved Fawcett had been.

“I knew that there was nobody that was going to replace Farrah, so I made a joke of myself,” Ladd said on the red carpet. “Everybody laughed. Farrah would have done something like that.”

Jackson added, "Cheryl stepped in and we didn’t miss a beat.”

Critics weren’t kind, however, calling the show “jiggle television” because the women dressed scantily to go undercover and slamming it for vapid acting.

“It didn’t bother me,” Jackson said on the red carpet. “I knew what we were doing and Gloria Steinem knew what we were doing, and some other very impressive people knew what we were doing. We were helping to punch a hole in that glass ceiling and that makes a big difference."

Five decades later, the show remains popular in reruns and DVDs, having spawned a film series starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu.

"We were giving people an hour to sit back, put their feet up, forget everything and watch television,” Jackson said, “and then again just kind of subtly getting the message in there that women are just as capable, intelligent, can do anything that a man can do.”

The mostly older audience cheered and laughed as scenes from various episodes were played. Included in the highlights were Shelley Hack, who lasted one season after replacing Jackson, and the late Tanya Roberts, who appeared in the final season. Smith and the late David Doyle, who played Charlie's go-between, were on the show's entire run.

Smith, who is 80, and Ladd, who is 74, went on to prolific careers in made-for-TV movies and guesting on other shows. Jackson, who quit after three seasons, later starred in the CBS hit “Scarecrow and Mrs. King.”

Jackson left the business nearly 20 years ago to raise her son. Now 77, she said, “I’m ready to go back.”

The trio's sisterhood includes all of them overcoming breast cancer, with Ladd revealing for the first time publicly Monday that she had an aggressive form of the disease. She didn't say when it occurred.

“When Cheryl called me,” Smith said, “the first thing I did was send her my wigs.”

Smith was at Jackson's bedside during her cancer battle. Each of them urged the audience to have regular health screenings.

In one of many lighter moments, the women were asked to name their favorite outfits.

“I wore a lot of turtlenecks,” Jackson said, drawing laughs.

Smith singled out her tiny white bikini seen in the opening credits.

Ladd recalled, “Bikinis, a lot of bikinis.”

Smith joked, “Our ratings went up.”

Jackson, Smith and Ladd will reunite again on May 14 when they are among the recipients at the Paley Honors gala in New York. Smith's memoir titled “I Once Knew a Guy Named Charlie” comes out in September.

“I was really proud to be part of that show,” said Ladd, who always welcomed fans expressing their fondness for the Angels. "I felt so loved. You couldn't be in a bad mood. It was always uplifting to hear it.”

Early retirement

Early retirement — before the standard age of 65 — is an increasingly common scenario. While Social Security’s full retirement age is currently between 66 and 67, the average retirement age is 62, according to  a study from MassMutual. That’s corroborated by  Social Security filing data, which show that roughly 25% of retirees take Social Security when it’s first available at age 62, and 15% file at 63 or 64. Nearly half of the retirees surveyed by MassMutual said they had retired earlier than planned; commonly cited reasons included layoffs, being able to retire sooner than expected, or illness or injury.

Early retirement has significant implications for retirement spending, with longer drawdown periods necessitating lower spending to maintain a high likelihood of not running out later on. In our base-case spending simulation, expanding the drawdown period from 30 to 35 years reduces the starting safe withdrawal rate from 3.9% to 3.5%. Stretching the time spending horizon to 40 years takes the starting safe withdrawal rate to 3.2%.

Keeping withdrawals low in early retirement may be challenging on a few levels, however. First, individuals aren’t eligible for Medicare coverage until age 65, so bridging healthcare coverage in the intervening years has the potential to increase spending. Insurance coverage for 62- to 65-year-olds from the ACA marketplace averaged between $800 and $1,200 a month in 2025, according to  data from Boldin. Meanwhile, Cobra coverage (extending workplace-provided coverage) for people 62 to 65 averaged $700 to $1,500 a month. For a62-year-old taking a safe withdrawal rate of 3.5% ($35,000) from her $1 million portfolio, healthcare costs would consume roughly a third of those withdrawals.

Further complicating matters for young retirees is that many individuals wish to delay Social Security to increase their eventual benefits. At the same time, delaying Social Security can necessitate higher withdrawals in the early part of retirement, thereby imperiling the portfolio’s ability to last over the longer time horizon.

Long-term care spending

Just as early retirement can cause a spending shock at the front end of retirement, long-term care costs can prompt a spending shock later in life.  A 2025 report authored by Spencer Look and Jack VanDerhei of the Morningstar Center for Retirement & Policy Studies found that 43% of baby boomers will incur long-term care costs, with the average cost of that care $242,373. The likelihood of needing care correlates with longevity: While just 24% of men and 27% of women who die at age 75 will require long-term care, 52% of men and 60% of women who die at age 95 will require long-term care.

Incurring sizable long-term care costs can have catastrophic effects for a financial plan: The Morningstar study found that when long-term care costs are included in the analysis of the viability of retirement assets, 41% of older-adult households that incur long-term care costs are likely to run out of funds.

Older adults can take different approaches to address this risk. They might set aside  a separate long-term care “bucket,” separate from their spending portfolios. Others may plan to use home equity.

Alternatively, those with very tight finances might create a spending plan to cover their costs during their healthy years, then rely on government resources if they require long-term care after that.

The final option for handling the cost of long-term care is to build it into the spending plan, spending less throughout retirement to account for the possibility of a spike later in life. To help model a long-term care shock, we assumed spending in years 29 and 30 to be twice what spending was in year 28. Factoring in that type of shock, the starting safe withdrawal percentage for the person retiring and claiming Social Security at age 67 is 3.5%, versus 3.9% for our base case without that shock.

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This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more retirement content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/retirement.

ChristineBenz is director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar and co-host of The Long View podcast.

Related Links

What to Do in the Five Years Before You Retire

https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/emily-guy-birken-what-do-five-years-before-you-retire

What You Need to Know About Annuities

https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/what-you-need-know-about-annuities

10 Sources of Emergency Cash, Ranked From Best to Worst

https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance/10-sources-emergency-cash-ranked-best-worst

Then again, they rarely show up with a resume like Chris Gotterup's.

The 26-year-old Gotterup already has four PGA Tour wins, meaning he'll be the third player since World War II to make his Masters debut with that many. He's already won twice this year and joins Ben Griffin and Jacob Bridgeman as the highest-ranked first-timers this week. All three are in the world top 20.

“Just embracing the whole experience,” Gotterup said. “Trying to take it all in and enjoy it while also trying to go out there and compete and give it everything I’ve got.”

Not since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 has a Masters rookie won the tournament, and before that nobody had won his debut since Gene Sarazen in the second year of the event. But favorites like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy haven’t been all that dominant lately, and Gotterup stands out with his wins in the Sony Open and Phoenix Open earlier this year.

He also won the Scottish Open last year. The immediate reward for that victory was a trip to Royal Portrush for Gotterup's first British Open, but it also qualified him for the Masters.

Gotterup finally visited Augusta National more than a month ago. He says he didn't want to come to the Masters previously because watching — instead of playing — would be difficult to handle. And it's not as though he was being bombarded with opportunities to try out the course on his own time.

“I don’t think I’ve actually ever declined an invite. I don’t know if I’ve been invited. So you can’t turn down nothing,” said Gotterup, whose first PGA Tour win was at an opposite-field event in 2024. “I have gotten offered to come watch the tournament from sponsors or from whoever it may be, and I said I can’t go over there until I play. Or else if I’m retired, then I can go over.”

Bridgeman, who won at Riviera in February in his first attempt there, came to Augusta as an autograph-seeking 10-year-old in 2010. He got the chance to play the course when he was a freshman at Clemson, which is about 100 miles away.

“We had a couple members that hosted and we were able to bring down a group of nine of us, so I played with a roommate of mine and we had a blast.” Bridgeman said. “I remember teeing it up on (No.) 1 and there was not a soul around and I was super nervous. A little bit more comfortable this time. I don’t know what it is. I’m kind of in tournament mode.”

Griffin came to the course in November and again last week. Of course, he didn't need to see Augusta National up close to understand its history.

“Tons of memories, all the iconic shots that have been hit. The one that comes to mind first is Tiger Woods’ chip on 16 with the dramatic Nike symbol,” he said. “I feel like every hole there’s like a shot that’s been hit by someone that I’ve either heard of or seen on television that I kind of remember.”

Griffin played the back nine Monday. Gotterup played the front with veteran Justin Rose. Bridgeman's group included 18-year-old Mason Howell, last year's U.S. Amateur champion. Howell is a University of Georgia commit who figures to have plenty of support this week.

Howell is keeping expectations manageable and says his goal is to play four good rounds. Bubba Watson, a two-time Masters champ who finished tied for 20th in his first appearance, recommends that approach for any young newcomer.

“There’s very few that’s won it the first time,” Watson said. “But talent can take over and anybody can win because they’re good enough to get here, they’re good enough to win. Just enjoy it. You want your first one to be, just enjoy it, take it all in, try to learn some things and get ready for the next time you come around here.”

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

The alert, which went out at 2:45 a.m., said that Isaac Suter had last been seen Monday in the area of Stagecoach Drive.

He is described as a white male, with black hair (see below) and brown eyes, about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and weighing 130 pounds.

He was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt with a white geometrical design, light brown sweatpants and black shoes.

The move departs from Vietnam’s tradition of shared leadership, in which the jobs have typically been held by different people, and echoes power structures in China under Xi Jinping and neighboring Laos.

It has been widely expected since Lam’s reelection as Communist Party head in January, when observers noted that his consolidation of party authority positioned him to assume the presidency as well.

Former central bank governor Le Minh Hung was elected as the country's prime minister for the next five years.

After being sworn in, the 69-year-old told the National Assembly that his top priority was to maintain peace and stability, which were the foundation for fast and sustainable growth. “We aim to improve people’s livelihoods so all can share the benefits of development,” he said.

This is To Lam’s second time holding both jobs, after briefly doing so in 2024 when his predecessor as party chief, Nguyen Phu Trong, died.

The concentration of power was significant since it meant that Lam had a “stronger mandate and far more political room to push through his agenda than any leaders” since the 1980s, when Hanoi launched reforms to shed a state-run economy in favor of a market-oriented one open to foreigners, said Nguyen Khac Giang, of Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute research center.

“The opportunity is obvious. Faster decision-making, greater policy coherence, and a better chance of pushing difficult reforms at a pivotal moment. But the risk is that concentration of power can move faster than institutional reform,” he said.

Lam's rise to the top caps the ascent of a career policeman who advanced from Vietnam’s security services to the top of the political system. This was aided by a sweeping anti-corruption campaign launched by his predecessor, which he oversaw as head of the Ministry of Public Security.

As party chief, Lam has led Vietnam’s biggest bureaucratic overhaul since the 1980s, cutting jobs, merging ministries, redrawing provincial boundaries and advancing major infrastructure projects.

He has focused on economic performance and private-sector growth, aiming to move Vietnam beyond the labor- and export-driven model that has helped lift millions from poverty and build a manufacturing-based middle class. The country is targeting 10% or higher annual economic growth over each of the next five years.

Hung, the new prime minister, said that the 10% growth target is meant to help achieve the country’s strategic goals and that the government had identified “strengthening science, technology, innovation and digital transformation as top priorities.”

But challenges remain, especially the immediate task of turning this ambitious vision into reality with the world economy upended by the energy shock from the war in Iran. Vietnam’s economy expanded at an annualized rate of 7.8% in the first three months of the year, up from 7.1% last year but below the 9.1% target and slower than in late 2025.

Giang said that Lam also faces political hurdles for reform buy-in and the challenge of maintaining Vietnam's pragmatic approach to foreign policy.

Vietnam is facing U.S. pressure over its trade surplus but also has to balance ties with China, its largest trading partner and rival claimant in the South China Sea.

“It has benefited from a careful balancing strategy in foreign policy, but maintaining that position will become harder in a more turbulent world,” he said.

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The Huskies were physical, controlled the pace and held the Wolverines' potent offense in check. But this time, the big shots that propelled them to the cusp of a third national championship in four seasons simply didn't fall.

Not for fabulous freshman Braylon Mullins, not for record-breaking forward Alex Karaban, not even for Malachi Smith, who missed a layup with 7 seconds left that might have kept hope alive in Storrs, Connecticut. Instead, UConn came up short in a 69-63 loss, its first in seven title game appearances, thwarting its chance to become the first team since the UCLA dynasty of the 1960s and 1970s to win three crowns in such quick succession.

“This is where you wanted to be. It hasn’t set in yet,” Hurley said. “On the flight (Monday) it’ll set in, on the bus ride back. Eventually it’ll hit you that you were close to pulling off what would have been a historic third championship. But this team just gave us so much this year — just didn’t make enough shots.”

Karaban also had a shot to become the first player to win three titles since UCLA captured eight during a nine-season span from 1967-75. He played all 40 minutes in his finale and leaves UConn as the school's leader in games played (151), wins (126) and 3-pointers (292).

UConn picked the wrong night to shoot a season-low 30.9% from the field and a dismal 27.3% from 3-point range. The Huskies were even worse in the second half: 28.9% from the field and 4 of 18 from beyond the arc.

Maybe UConn didn't have enough fight left after it survived the tourney's top seed, Duke, with a 19-point comeback in the regional semifinals and after winning a 71-62 bruiser against Illinois on Saturday night.

This loss was UConn's first after the second round of an NCAA Tournament since 2011, ending a 19-game winning streak in the toughest parts of the bracket.

Michigan, which won its second national title and first since 1989, also brought plenty of physicality to the matchup. The Wolverines held each of their last four opponents to season-low shooting percentages.

They relied on the Big Ten's brand of bully ball to get UConn into foul trouble, win the wrestling matches for loose balls and eventually wear down the perimeter shooters who had saved UConn in its incredible 19-point comeback against Duke.

This time, it was the Huskies' shooters who came up empty.

Mullins scored 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting, including 3 of 10 on 3s. After opening the game by making his first two shots, Karaban made three of his next 12 and converted only one of his last eight 3-point attempts to finish with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Nobody else was much better. Big man Tarris Reed Jr. finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds but was 4 of 12 from the field. And while Mullins and Karaban combined for six 3s, the rest of the team was 3 of 13 beyond the arc.

“We came up short, missed some shots we normally make, but we gave it our all,” Karaban said.

The shooting woes were compounded by UConn's foul trouble.

Reed, Solo Ball and Silas Demary Jr. all finished the first half on the bench with two fouls. Ball picked up his third just 29 seconds into the second half and his fourth with 16:20 remaining.

He finished with 11 points but had no assists while playing on a sprained left foot.

“It’s definitely frustrating not being on the court for that long, and it hurts my team at the moment,” Ball sad. “But this has been the most fun year of my life with this group of guys, and I just cherish this team.”

Even though UConn held Michigan to its worst shooting of the tournament — 38.2% — the Huskies came up just short too many times.

“I’m not real emotional. Players are crying a lot more than I am,” Hurley said. “It’s hard to be upset with your team. We lost the game because we missed. We missed — we didn’t make enough shots.”

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

Wembanyama took an inadvertent elbow to the ribs from Paul George when the Philadelphia forward was attempting to deflect a pass as the 7-foot-4 Frenchman was sprinting up court on a fastbreak with 10:49 remaining in the first half. Wembanyama tumbled to the court and remained down for a minute while George patted him on the backside apologetically.

The extent of the injury and whether Wembanyama will be available for the Spurs' final three games of the regular season — all at home — against Portland (Wednesday), Dallas (Friday) and Denver (Sunday) wasn't known after Monday's game.

“At halftime I was told he wasn't coming back and I honest to God haven't heard anything else up to this point,” San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said after the win.

Wembanyama subbed out of the game shortly after the collision and immediately went into the tunnel leading to the locker room while keeping his arm pressed to his side.

Wembanyama returned with 5:33 remaining in the period, but asked Johnson to take him out with 44 seconds remaining in the first half. He again went into the tunnel leading to the locker room while holding his arm to his side and was ruled out at the start the second half.

“I think it would be a positive that he felt like he could come back and he played the last four or five minutes of the half," Johnson said. “So, that’s a positive from my perspective, but I have nothing (as far a status update).”

George was not available for comment after the game.

Wembanyama had 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks while playing 15:40 in the first half.

Wembanyama has made it clear that he wants to win the league's MVP award this season. The NBA allows a maximum of two games in which a player logs between 15 and 19.59 minutes to count toward the league-required minimum of 65 games played for award eligibility.

Wembanyama has played 63 games this season, including the NBA Cup Final.

San Antonio (60-19) is is 2 1/2 games behind Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City (62-16) and assured of finishing no worse than second in the conference.

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

There's been a lot of thinking to do given the new Giants manager's frustrating 3-8 start in his jump from college coach to the major leagues.

Vitello had a little extra time following Sunday afternoon's game with a night contest the next day to ponder everything that went wrong in San Francisco's third straight defeat, when he was ejected for the first time in his career for arguing in the seventh after Jerar Encarnación was ruled out for running inside the designated lane on his way to first base.

Yes, he constantly dissects the various decisions he makes and is determined to figure this out. The Giants lost again Monday night, squandering an early four-run lead to the Philadelphia Phillies in a 6-4 setback.

“At 3-7 and how yesterday went, I didn't think yesterday was the proper time for me to go gallivanting around San Francisco, so, yeah, I was in my condo the whole night,” Vitello said beforehand. “Whether I'm there or sitting with family I apologize to them, ‘Find something better to watch if you’re watching this.' We're at dinner, I am thinking about this more than that. So, yeah, yesterday sitting at home you finish on a day game and you have a night game, you've got a lot of time to go over that stuff. You replay it all.”

Before the start of a three-game series with the Phillies, Vitello and Matt Chapman connected to discuss the third baseman getting caught stealing after his leadoff single in the ninth inning of a 5-2 loss to the Mets that gave New York a weekend sweep.

Vitello knows those kinds of mistakes would be more magnified later in the season, and said the Giants are “trying” so hard to win "it's probably something that everybody's been a little guilty of, of not going about it the way they would if they were thinking clearly but when you're trying to win games as hard as possible sometimes it actually contradicts what your end goal is.”

Coming into Monday's game, the Giants had been outscored by 25 runs over their initial 10 contests — the worst mark through 10 games for the franchise since it was minus-49 in 1896. And the club's 3-7 record was tied for its second-worst through 10 games since moving to San Francisco in 1958 — the Giants began 2-8 in 1983.

Chapman, for one, hopes a few things will go the Giants' way so they can grab some much-needed momentum to climb their way up in the powerful NL West after falling to the bottom of the standings, and he is thankful the struggles are happening now when there is plenty of time left. San Francisco has missed the playoffs the past four years.

“Whatever it is, I think it's more of an accumulation of maybe some frustrating things happening because we're right there and we're not able to get the job done,” Chapman said. “... It sucks when it looks like it's sloppy baseball and we're making some sloppy mistakes that kind of shot us in the foot last year and was one of the reasons why we probably weren't able to finish as strong. But I don't think it's going to be something that's going to be the story of our season by any means.”

After his ejection, Vitello offered a long explanation to what had upset him. The former University of Tennessee coach regularly shares stories from his experiences in the college ranks.

“I’m sure he got it exactly technically right,” Vitello said postgame Sunday. “It’s just a play I’ve got a lot of history for. A little frustrated about something else that occurred in the game. … Got a ton of history with that play. Lost a game to Lipscomb on that play, lost the game to (Oklahoma State coach) Frank Anderson and a Big 12 championship on that play. The difference between the two that I’m talking about, and I can talk about others, is the runner in Frank’s instance — and I’ve called his team cheaters — completely interfered with the throwing lane for the pitcher. So again, umpires are held accountable by what the rules are, and they enforce those rules."

Several of his players and coaches have said dating to spring training how much they appreciate the passion, energy and approach Vitello takes.

From Day 1, Vitello acknowledged he would be learning on the fly from the dugout's top step and there would be plenty of ups and downs.

“Listen, Tony's great, I like Tony, he's cool,” said center fielder Harrison Bader, who began the series batting .118 (4 for 34) with a home run and determined to get on track. “At the major league level, a little different in terms of the fans and the speed but he won at a really high level in the SEC. It's the same game, so he's familiar to winning and what it looks like to help players win and what that feeling looks like and how to maintain it. So he's in the right spot.”

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

This year’s Supreme Court election stands in stark contrast to the swing state's previous two, where national spending records were set in battles over majority control. Spending and national attention is down dramatically this year without control of the court at stake.

Democrats are looking to tighten their control of the court just months before a November election in which they seek to keep the governor's office and flip the state Legislature, where Republicans have held the majority since 2011. Democrats aspire to undo a host of Republican-enacted laws that made Wisconsin a focal point for the nation’s conservative movement in the 2010s.

In Tuesday's Supreme Court race, Democratic-backed Chris Taylor, a former state lawmaker who also worked for Planned Parenthood, faces Republican-supported Maria Lazar. Both Taylor and Lazar are state Appeals Court judges.

Liberals would increase their majority on the court to 5-2 from 4-3 with a Taylor win. That would lock in the liberal majority until at least 2030.

Liberals took control of the state's top court in 2023, ending 15 years under a conservative majority. They held onto their majority with last year's victory in a race that drew involvement from President Donald Trump and billionaires George Soros and Elon Musk, who personally handed out $1 million checks to voters in the state.

Liberals argued that democracy was at stake in the 2025 election, noting that when the court was controlled by conservative justices in 2020 it came just one vote shy of siding with Trump in his attempt to invalidate enough votes to overturn his loss in that year's presidential election.

Since liberals took control, the court has reversed several election-related rulings, including one that overturned a ban on absentee ballot drop boxes, and it is poised to once again be in the spotlight around the 2028 presidential election.

Races for the court are officially nonpartisan, but support for candidates breaks down mostly along partisan lines.

Taylor has focused much of her campaign on abortion rights, with one TV ad saying that “abortion is on the ballot.” In another ad, she criticized Lazar for calling the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 “very wise.”

Lazar, who was supported by anti-abortion groups in her run for the appeals court, tried to brand Taylor as nothing more than a politician who will push a partisan agenda on the court.

They sparred over each other's partisanship during the campaign's sole debate last week.

Lazar accused Taylor of being a “radical, extreme legislator” and a “judicial activist.” Taylor said that Lazar would bring “an extreme, right-wing political agenda to the bench.”

Lazar has had a much harder time getting her message out. Taylor had a large fundraising advantage and spent about nine times as much as Lazar on television ads, based on a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice.

The liberal-controlled court has already struck down a state law banning abortion and ordered new legislative maps, fueling Democrats’ hopes of capturing a majority this November.

Taylor has been a judge since 2020 and before that she spent 10 years as a Democrat representing the liberal capital city of Madison in the state Assembly.

Lazar, a judge since 2015, previously worked four years under a Republican attorney general in the state Department of Justice. In that role, she defended a law enacted under former Republican Gov. Scott Walker that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers.

A circuit court judge ruled in December that the law is unconstitutional, a decision expected to ultimately land before the state Supreme Court.

Lazar also defended laws passed by Republicans and signed by Walker implementing a voter ID requirement and restricting abortion access.

Democrats are optimistic given the past two Supreme Court elections, which saw candidates they backed winning by double digits.

The seat is open due to the retirement of a conservative justice. Another conservative justice is retiring next year, giving liberals a chance to take 6-1 control of the court if they win on Tuesday.

Raleigh’s homer was pulled deep to right field against two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom of the Texas Rangers to end a 12-pitch at-bat in the first inning. Raleigh fell behind 0-2, fouled off six pitches with two strikes and connected on a 99 mph fastball low in the zone.

His homer was Seattle's lone run in a 2-1 loss.

“Just trying to put the bat on the ball there and fight, don’t punch out,” Raleigh said. “I was able to have a pretty long at-bat, saw some good pitches and put a good swing on that last one.”

It was the second-most pitches in an at-bat that ended with a Mariners homer. Raúl Ibañez homered on the 13th pitch he saw in June 2013.

According to Major League Baseball, it was both the most pitches ever delivered to Raleigh in a plate appearance ending in a hit and the most pitches ever thrown by deGrom during an at-bat ending in a hit.

“That was just an incredible at-bat,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said, “to battle all the way through like that and foul off as many pitches as he did and then finally put that perfect pitch into the right-field seats.”

Raleigh's longest home run drought last season was eight games. He had two homers last season through 11 games, hitting No. 3 in his 14th game.

Raleigh entered batting .132 this year with only one run scored. He nearly homered on Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels in the first inning, but the ball was caught above the wall by Jo Adell, the first of three potential homers the right fielder prevented in that game.

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

Harris led a first round of voting on March 10 with 37% in the district that stretches across 10 counties from suburban Atlanta to Tennessee. While Fuller came in second in the 17-candidate all-party special election with 35%, the Republican candidates combined won nearly 60% of the vote. The 14th District is rated as the most Republican-leaning district in Georgia by the Cook Political Report.

President Donald Trump in February endorsed Fuller, a district attorney who prosecuted crimes in four counties, to succeed Greene in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. Greene, once among Trump’s most ardent supporters, resigned in January after falling out with the president.

Fuller has backed Trump to the hilt, finding no issue on which he disagreed with the president when asked in a March 23 debate.

“We need an America First fighter to stand strong for northwest Georgia," Fuller said March 23. He was a White House fellow in the first Trump administration and is a lieutenant colonel in the Georgia Air National Guard.

Trump reiterated his support for Fuller on Monday night.

"I am asking all Republicans, America First Patriots, and MAGA Warriors, to please GET OUT AND VOTE for a fantastic Candidate, Clay Fuller, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement!" the president wrote on social media.

Harris, a cattle farmer and retired general who lost to Greene in 2024, has contrasted himself with Greene’s bomb-throwing style. He said he's a “dirt-road Democrat" with common sense, and practical-minded Republicans should vote for him because he will focus on the district's interest.

“He has sold his soul to Donald Trump," Harris said of Fuller on March 23. "The reality of it is he cannot fight for you because he cannot go against the president.”

The winner will serve out the remaining months of Greene’s term. A Republican win would bolster the party’s slim majority in the House, where Republicans control 217 seats to Democrats’ 214, with one independent.

But if the winner wants to remain in Congress beyond January, he will have to run again. Republicans seeking a full two-year term are set for a May 19 party primary, and possibly a June 16 party runoff, before advancing to the general election in November. Harris is the only Democrat running, meaning he faces no primary election.

Greene was one of the most well-known members of Congress until she left in January. She remained loyal to Trump after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, promoting Trump’s falsehoods about a stolen election. When Trump ran again in 2024, she toured the country with him and spoke at his rallies while wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat.

But Greene began clashing with Trump last year after he and other Republicans pushed back against her running for U.S. Senate or governor. Greene criticized Trump’s foreign policy and his reluctance to release documents involving the Jeffrey Epstein case. The president eventually had enough, saying he would support a primary challenge against her. Greene announced a week later that she would resign.

Dakota Mortensen, who has temporary custody of his and Paul's 2-year-old son, is asking the court to turn a short-term protective order against her into a long-term one as authorities investigate domestic violence reports from earlier this year.

Paul and Mortensen are expected to participate in the hearing remotely while their lawyers appear in person at the Salt Lake City courthouse. Details of the temporary protective order have been kept sealed.

Attorneys are expected to address reports under investigation from February, not a 2023 fight that led to Paul’s arrest and resurfaced just before her “Bachelorette” season was supposed to premiere, though the older issues may be discussed.

ABC last month announced the unprecedented move of shelving an entire, already-filmed new season of “The Bachelorette” with Paul in the title role. The network and its parent company Disney blamed the cancellation on a leaked video, shot in 2023 and posted by TMZ on March 19, in which Paul appears to punch, kick and throw chairs at Mortensen while her young daughter watches and cries.

Police body camera footage of Paul's arrest in that case was featured in the series premiere of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives," which first aired in 2024. Paul is shown calling it “the worst night of my life.” Video of the fight itself, which appears to be from Mortensen's point of view, was not made public until last month's leak.

Paul was charged with aggravated assault and other offenses, including domestic violence in the presence of a child. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge, and the other counts were dismissed.

Paul has two children with her ex-husband, Tate Paul, along with the son she had with Mortensen after their 2023 dispute.

A Paul representative said after the cancellation that she had been “silently suffering extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation” and was “finally gaining the strength to face her accuser.”

Mortensen said in a statement that he was “used to these baseless claims about me and our relationship, which I categorically deny.”

Production has also been paused on the fifth season of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” the Hulu series that made Paul a reality star. Her casting on “The Bachelorette” offered synergy between the shows for Disney, which owns both Hulu and ABC.

She became known as an influencer in the #MomTok community, a group of women from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sharing their lives on TikTok. The group, and Paul's admissions of polyamory within it, helped spawn the hit reality show.

On Sunday, Paul announced she was leaving what is widely known as the Mormon church. She said on Instagram that she will always have love and respect for the Utah-based religious institution but, “It's time to detach myself.”

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Dalton reported from Los Angeles.

According to AAA, the average gas price in Jacksonville was $4.21 on Monday. That 32-cent difference was enough to keep the pump lines long all afternoon, right up until the station closed at 10 p.m.

Amanda Jefferson, who drives a car that requires premium fuel, said Monday was her third attempt to get gas at the location.

“I attempted on Saturday and Sunday and the lines were just too long,” Jefferson said.

When she committed to waiting Monday, she had been in line for 30 minutes. An attendant told her the delay was tied specifically to the premium pump.

“The attendant did come through and tell us that the premium was running a lot slower - that was the delay,” Jefferson said. “So I’m hoping everybody in front of me needs the regular gas so I can get up there quicker.”

Alisha Lewis was visiting Jacksonville and made a point to stop at the Sam’s Club station. She said she had been waiting about five minutes when we met her at the back of a line.

“I’m trying to still save a lot of money, but in this particular case, coming to the Sam’s Club is helping,” Lewis said. “But at the same time, these prices from a few weeks ago is different.”

Brandi Staley agrees, saying it’s worth it to save a little extra money to wait in the line.

“It means that my gas tank will get filled up a lot cheaper,” Staley said. “So with prices of everything right now, every little buck helps.”

News4Jax reached out to the corporate offices for Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJ’s Wholesale to see if they’re seeing an increase of customers at their gas stations and how they’re addressing the increase. We’re waiting to hear back from them at this time.

“They always say, ‘I’m not trying to hit you,’’’ Contreras said after the Brewers beat the scuffling Red Sox 8-6 at Fenway Park. “That gets old. So, next time they hit me again, I’m going to take one of them out. That’s a message.”

Contreras has been hit by a pitch 131 times in his major league career, including 24 times by the Brewers — which is 10 more than he's been plunked by any other team. He has a testy history with Woodruff, who has nailed Contreras six times.

After the latest one, Contreras yelled at Woodruff from first base. Then, on a force play, Contreras slid hard into second, banging into shortstop David Hamilton’s left knee with his cleats and tearing his pants.

“I mean, we’ve been through that. It’s been like nine years for me. It seems like every year,” Woodruff said. “He’s trying to play a game and he’s trying to get his side fired up, which is fine. Once I knew what was going on, I wasn’t going to let it affect me.”

Before getting traded to the Red Sox in the offseason, Contreras spent his first 10 big league seasons in the NL Central where he played against Milwaukee a lot, first with the Chicago Cubs and then the St. Louis Cardinals.

Contreras was hit Monday night on the left hand with a fastball that grazed his fingers. Brewers manager Pat Murphy challenged the call, which was upheld following a replay review.

“I thought it wasn’t a hit by pitch,” Murphy said. “That’s why we challenged it. Those are really hard to get overturned.”

Contreras’ younger brother, William, was Milwaukee’s catcher Monday night.

Did he try to calm his big brother as he walked toward first with him?

“I tried,” he said. “He plays like that.”

Willson Contreras hit a solo homer in the ninth inning and reached base five times. He flung his bat not only after the homer, but his first-inning walk, too.

From behind the plate, his younger brother challenged a 2-0 pitch to Willson Contreras that was called a ball. The call was confirmed by ABS.

“I was going to check it whether it was my bother at the plate or not,” William Contreras said through a translator. “I saw it a little closer than it was.”

The teams have two games left in their three-game series.

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

And it wasn't enough.

Nine Grizzlies made at least one 3 in a 142-126 loss to the Cavaliers. The Grizzlies shot 49.2% (29 for 59) from deep and 45.7% (16 for 35) from inside the arc.

The 3-point record had been shared by Milwaukee and Boston. The Bucks made 29 3s in a 144-97 victory at Miami on Dec. 29, 2020, and the Celtics equaled the record in a 132-109 win against the New York Knicks on Oct. 22, 2024.

“I think we can be pretty proud of how we played with this group today on the court,” Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “Guys wanted to go for it in the end, and we were all for it. Unfortunately couldn't set a singular record, but tied it. Nonetheless, very proud of our group.”

The Grizzlies made 10 3s in the first quarter, three in the second, six in the third and 10 in the final period.

The Cavaliers went 12 for 32 from 3 for the game.

“Incredible shooting performance by the Grizzlies. Give them credit,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. “They shot the heck out of the ball.”

Memphis reserves Adama Bal and Dariq Whitehead each made six 3-pointers. Lucas Williamson went 5 for 12 from deep, and Olivier-Maxence Prosper was 4 for 5.

The Grizzlies lost for the 18th time in their last 20 games. They were averaging 13.7 made 3-pointers per game coming into the day.

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

Speaking to reporters at the White House, the president refused to say whether any civilian targets would be off-limits.

Iran on Monday rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the conflict.

“We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press.

Israel and the United States carried out a wave of attacks on Iran on Monday, killing more than 25 people. Iran responded with missile fire on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors.

Here is the latest:

Malaysian commercial vessel allowed to pass in Strait of Hormuz

Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that one of seven Malaysian commercial vessels stranded in the Strait of Hormuz has been allowed to pass and is now heading to its destination.

The ministry said this followed diplomatic talks with Iranian officials led by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. It didn’t give further details.

Malaysia reaffirmed its support for safe and open sea routes under international law, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It called for continued dialogue to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Japan says a Japanese national detained in Iran has been released

Japan said Tuesday a Japanese national who had been detained in Iran since January has been released on bail.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters in Tokyo that his release was confirmed Monday and that Japan is demanding a full release from Iranian authorities.

He said the Japanese ambassador to Iran met the person released and that he was in good health without providing further details.

The person is believed to be a journalist at Japan’s NHK public television.

Another Japanese national, who was detained in Iran last June, was released and returned to Japan in March.

Iran official calls for youths to form human chains around power plants ahead of threatened Trump strikes

An Iranian official early Tuesday issued a video message calling on youths of the Islamic Republic to form “human chains” around power plants in the country ahead of threatened strikes by U.S. President Donald

Alireza Rahimi, identified by Iranian state television as the secretary of the Supreme Council of Youth and Adolescents, issued the video call in a newscast.

“I invite all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors,” he said.

Gather “Tuesday at 2 p.m. around the power plants that are our national assets and capital, regardless of any taste or political viewpoint, belong to the future of Iran and to the Iranian youth.”

Iran has formed human-chain demonstrations, also known as human shields, in the past around its nuclear sites at times of heightened tensions with the West.

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s had similar human-shield demonstrations during the 1991 Gulf War. He also dispersed foreign nationals held by his security services to possible targets of the U.S.-led campaign during the war.

Dwindling naphtha stocks strain medical supplies in South Korea

South Korean officials say the country has about three months’ worth of materials to produce intravenous fluid bags as the war in the Middle East threatens to strain critical hospital supplies.

Senior Health Ministry official Jeong Kyung-sil said Tuesday that the country has about three months’ stock of syringes, and materials for roughly two more months of production.

Health Minister Jeong Eun Kyeong said Tuesday the government is prioritizing medical supplies as it seeks to secure more naphtha, a key petroleum product used in plastics manufacturing, amid supply disruptions caused by the war.

“We will continue to secure additional supplies going forward and we are also reviewing alternative supply sources to ensure there are no issues,” the minister said.

South Korea last week said it imported 2.7 tons of naphtha from Russia as it looks to address the shortage.

South Korean chemical giant LG Chem shut down a major industrial plant in Yeosu last month, citing naphtha supply disruptions.

Israel claims recent wave of airstrikes targeting Tehran

Israel claimed the recent wave of airstrikes targeting Iran’s capital, Tehran, but offered no immediate details on what had been targeted.

Already, Israel had faced one missile barrage from Iran on Tuesday.

New Zealand describes US threats against Iranian infrastructure as ‘unhelpful’

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has described Trump’s recent threats against Iranian civilian infrastructure as “unhelpful.”

“Unhelpful because more military action’s not necessary,” Luxon told Radio New Zealand on Tuesday.

“I think the bottom line is that the focus needs to be on not seeing this conflict expand any further,” Luxon said.

“We got threats from the president over the weekend. Any of those actions including bombing bridges and reservoirs and civilian infrastructure would be unacceptable as well,” Luxon added.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ message to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting in Washington, scheduled this week, would be to de-escalate the conflict, Luxon said.

Peters would “certainly be encouraging the U.S. and Iran to de-escalate quickly,” Luxon said.

UN to vote Tuesday on watered-down resolution on Strait of Hormuz

The U.N. Security Council scheduled a vote Tuesday on a resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz that was watered down for a second time because of opposition from Russia and China.

The original Bahrain-sponsored resolution would have authorized countries to use “all necessary means” – U.N. language that can include military action – to ensure transit through the vital waterway, which Iran has largely blocked, and deter attempts to close it.

The sixth revision of the initial text that will be voted on only “strongly encourages” countries using the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate defensive efforts to contribute to safe navigation in the strait.

It says this should include escorting merchant and commercial vessels, and deterring attempts to close, obstruct or interfere with international navigation through the strait.

The vote is scheduled at 11a.m. EDT, hours before an 8 p.m. EDT deadline set by Trump for Iran to open the strategic waterway, where one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes, or face attacks on its power plants and bridges.

US Central Command says it struck over 13,000 targets

The U.S. military’s Central Command said early Tuesday that it had struck over 13,000 targets in the war so far.

Latest reports of live fire in the war

Activists reported new strikes targeting Iran’s capital, Tehran, early Tuesday morning.

The United Arab Emirates began firing its air defense Tuesday morning, while Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens in the kingdom, with both Gulf Arab countries facing a new barrage of Iranian fire.

Filipina killed in missile attack in Israel, Philippines says

The Philippine government says a Filipino national was killed in a missile attack in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa over the weekend.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila did not immediately identify the Filipina but said she was killed with her Israeli husband and parents-in-law in a residential area in Haifa on Sunday.

On Feb. 28, a Filipina caregiver, Mary Ann de Vera, was killed in a missile strike in Tel Aviv while helping bring her charge to a bomb shelter in the first known Philippine casualty of the war in the Middle East.

About 30,000 Filipinos live and work — many as caregivers — in Israel.

Drone strike kills 2 in Iraq

Two people were killed in the Kurdish region of Iraq after a home was hit by a drone that authorities said had been launched from Iran.

The drone hit the home in the village of Zargazawi in Irbil province early Tuesday, the Counter Terrorism Directorate of the northern Kurdish region said in a statement. Officials condemned the attack, calling it a violation of international law.

The strike came as Iranian forces and allied militias targeted areas across northern Kurdistan with a wave of drones, rockets and missiles.

US special forces were on the ground in Iran as part of rescue mission

The special operators were part of the teams sent in to retrieve the pilot and weapon systems officer of a downed fighter jet, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military operation.

During a briefing Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “Our special operators, pilots and support crews performed with near perfection under fire,” but he stopped short of confirming that U.S. troops set foot on Iranian soil.

Hegseth and Trump have said they haven’t ruled out boots on the ground but also repeatedly argued that the conflict was limited in scope.

Hegseth has lambasted previous presidents who oversaw the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, insisting that the Iran war “is different. It’s laser-focused.”

— Konstantin Toropin

Shooting by Israel-backed group at a shelter in Gaza is followed by an Israeli strike, killing 8

An Israel-backed armed group in Gaza kidnapped children from a school-turned-shelter on Monday, according to a witness, after which Israel launched an airstrike on the site, health authorities said.

The Israeli military had no response when reached for comment.

An anti-Hamas Palestinian group called Abu Nusseirah posted on social media that they killed five Hamas fighters at the shelter in Maghazi.

An elderly displaced woman sheltering at the school told the AP that dozens of men stormed the site, clashed with people there and forced kids — including girls — into vehicles. Speaking anonymously for fear of reprisals, she said her son was killed in the fighting.

Bodies were taken to al-Aqsa hospital, where health officials said some had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the school after the clashes. AP footage showed dozens of mourners gathered at the morgue.

Many displaced Palestinians say they fear the Iran war has overshadowed Gaza’s dire humanitarian situation.

3 US troops injured during fighter jet shootdown and rescue

Those injured were the weapon systems officer from the U.S. Air Force F-15E fighter jet that was shot down in Iran late last week as well as two aircrewmen from a helicopter that took fire during the initial rescue for the pilot from the downed jet.

That’s according to a U.S. official, who spoke Monday on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive military operation.

After rescuing the pilot, the HH-60 Jolly Green II helicopters were “engaged by every single person in Iran who had a small arms weapon, and one of the aircraft, the trailing aircraft, took several hits,” said Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

At the same White House briefing, Trump said the jet’s downed weapons officer was “bleeding profusely” but still able climb mountainous terrain and communicate his location.

— Konstantin Toropin

A 12-hour drive through Iran offers glimpses of destruction, defiance and daily life

A black banner hangs over a border crossing and portraits of Iran’s killed supreme leader stare down, promising vengeance against the United States and Israel.

But on the 12-hour drive south to the capital, Tehran, daily life continues, with only occasional signs of the ongoing war, including a Shiite religious center that officials say was damaged by a recent airstrike.

Associated Press reporters made the journey on Saturday after crossing into Iran from Turkey. They gained a glimpse of the country at the center of a regional war that has jolted the world economy and shows no sign of ending.

▶ Read more

US stocks drift higher ahead of Trump’s deadline to bomb Iranian power plants

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%.

Like stock indexes, oil prices seesawed through the day amid continued uncertainty about what will happen in the war with Iran and how long it will slow the global flow of crude oil.

Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market.

▶ Read more

The US and Egypt are pushing Israel not to strike the main Lebanon-Syria border crossing, official says

That’s according to Lebanon’s General Security chief, Hassan Choucair, who said those “ongoing contacts” by Washington and Cairo aim to protect and reopen the Masnaa border crossing.

It’s been closed since Saturday after Israel warned it could be targeted over alleged weapons smuggling by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Officials in Lebanon and Syria deny that claim, saying vehicles are thoroughly inspected.

The crossing’s closure has forced travelers to take a longer northern route. More than 200,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria since the war escalated five weeks ago, many of them fleeing the conflict.

Trump details the rescue of US airmen shot down in Iran

The United States relied on dozens of aircraft, hundreds of personnel, secret CIA technology and a dose of subterfuge to rescue a two-man F-15E fighter jet crew downed deep inside Iran.

Trump and his top defense aides detailed the daring rescue operation in an unusual level of detail during a news conference at the White House on Monday.

The U.S. surged helicopters, midair refuelers and fighter jets deep into Iran to rescue the pilot within hours. But finding and picking up the jet’s weapon systems officer was a more complicated endeavor.

▶ Read more

Israeli TV station counts down to Trump deadline

As reporters spoke on air, Channel 13 TV’s evening newscast showed a large digital clock marking down the hours and minutes until Tuesday night’s deadline.

Trump lashes out at Pacific allies for not assisting in Iran fight

The president continued to grumble about NATO allies’ refusal to get involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz and their hesitance to assist U.S. offensive operations against Iran.

As he wrapped up his lengthy news conference Monday, he also fumed about the lack of support from Pacific allies.

“You know who else didn’t help us? South Korea didn’t help us,” Trump said. “You know who else didn’t help us? Australia didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Japan. We’ve got 50,000 soldiers in Japan to protect them from North Korea. We have 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect us from Kim Jong Un, who I get along with very well.”

Trump says it would take 4 hours to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants

The president described the consequences that Iran would face if it didn’t reach a deal with the U.S. by Trump’s 8 p.m. Tuesday deadline.

“We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night,” Trump said during his Monday news conference.

Power plants in Iran, he continued, would be “burning, exploding and never to be used again.”

Trump refused to say whether any civilian targets would be off limits in the U.S. response.

UN chief warns the US not to strike Iran’s civilian infrastructure

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the U.S. that attacking civilian infrastructure is banned under international law, his spokesperson said Monday.

“Even if specific civilian infrastructure were to qualify as a military objective,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, an attack would still be prohibited if it risks “excessive incidental civilian harm.”

A court would need to decide whether such attacks were war crimes, he said.

Trump dismisses that his threatened attacks on Iran’s infrastructure would be war crimes

Trump says he’s “not at all” concerned about committing war crimes as he continues to threaten the destruction of Iran’s bridges and power plants if they don’t meet a Tuesday evening deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“I hope I don’t have to do it,” Trump added.

Israeli military is preparing for weeks of battle against Iran

The military’s chief spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, says the army’s chief has approved battle plans for the next three weeks in the absence of a ceasefire.

“Every day that passes, we hit them more and more. Already we have very good achievements, and we want to reach excellent achievements,” he told a press conference Monday.

Israel’s defense industry to export a $750 million rocket system to Greece

The Israeli and Greek defense ministries signed the four-year export agreement Monday in Athens, said a statement from Israel’s defense ministry.

The Precise & Universal Launching System, is built to launch rockets of different ranges, the statement said.

Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems will supply the rocket launchers and the warheads to Greece. Greek defense industries are expected to produce some parts of the system.

US fighter jet was downed by shoulder-held missile launcher, Trump says

Trump said the F-15E fighter jet that set off a two-day search-and-rescue operation was downed by a shoulder-launched rocket.

Trump described the weapon as a “hand-held shoulder missile — heat-seeking missile.”

The president went on to suggest that the fighter jet was ultimately downed not by the explosion but because of related damage to the aircraft’s engines.

“They shot it and it got sucked in right by the engine,” Trump said.

Trump insists Iranian civilians want the US to keep bombing

Asked why Iranians would want him to follow up on his threat to blow up the country’s infrastructure, Trump says everyday citizens are “willing to suffer ... in order to have freedom.”

“‘Please keep bombing. Do it,’” Trump claimed U.S. officials have heard Iranians say via “intercepts.”

“And these are people that are living where the bombs are exploding,” he said.

US warplane that crashed amid search for downed aviators was hit by enemy fire, general says

A U.S. aircraft that crashed amid the search for the downed airmen was hit by enemy fire while engaging Iranian forces, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday.

Caine, speaking at a briefing at the White House, said that a U.S. A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft was “violently suppressing and engaging the enemy in a close-in gunfight to keep them away” from the pilot of a downed F-15 fighter jet while also being “primarily responsible for communicating with the downed pilot.”

Caine said that after being hit, “this pilot continued to fight, continued the mission, and then upon exit, flew his aircraft into another country and determined that the airplane was not landable.”

The pilot then decided to eject over friendly territory and, according to Caine, “was quickly and safely recovered, and is doing fine.”

Hegseth describes ‘unblinking’ mission in coordination call

The defense secretary said the coordination call held by national security officials during the daring mission to rescue the U.S. airmen lasted nearly two days straight.

“For 45 hours and 56 minutes, we held that call open for coordination,” Hegseth said, describing the call that was held in a secure facility. “Our mission was unblinking.”

CIA Director John Ratcliffe says top-secret technology led to rescue of downed airman

Speaking at a White House press conference, Ratcliffe said the agency used “exquisite technologies that no other intelligence service” possesses to locate the aviator after the F-15 was shot down in Iran.

At the same time, the CIA mounted a deception operation to mislead the Iranians who were looking.

Ratcliffe said the search and rescue operation was “comparable to hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of a desert.”

The CIA declined to respond to questions Monday about the kind of technology used to locate the airman.

Hegseth draws parallels between the story of Easter and rescued airman

The Defense secretary, who has frequently infused his leadership of the Pentagon with references to Christianity and the language of his faith, said the airman who evaded capture for more than a day was shot down on Good Friday, “hidden in a cave” on Saturday, and on Easter Sunday, “a pilot reborn, all home and accounted for.”

Hegseth said that when the airman was finally able to activate an emergency transponder, his first transmitted message was: “God is good.”

Trump threatens to jail journalist who first reported on downed airman

Trump threatened to jail the journalist who first reported that U.S. forces were searching for an F-15 weapons officer shot down in Iran, if they don’t reveal their sources.

“The person that did the story will go to jail if he doesn’t say, and that doesn’t last long,” Trump said.

Trump didn’t name the journalist or news organization. He said the leak tipped off the Iranians, endangering the officer and his rescuers. He called the leaker “a sick person.”

Iran’s supreme leader issues a rare public statement

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei expressed condolences over the killing of the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence chief.

In a written social media post, Khamenei said Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi joined a “steadfast line of warriors and fighters” to sacrifice their lives. Israeli strikes have killed dozens of top Iranian leaders, including Khamenei’s father.

The younger Khamenei has not been seen or spoken in public since he succeeded his father as supreme leader.

Trump offers more details of dramatic airman rescue

The president described the scale of the operation undertaken by the U.S. to rescue the second airman from the downed aircraft.

The operation included 155 aircraft — four bombers, 64 fighters, 48 refueling tankers, and 13 rescue aircraft, among others, Trump said.

Much of it was an effort to throw off the Iranians, who were also looking for the missing crew member, the president said.

“We were bringing them all over and a lot of it was subterfuge,” Trump said. “We wanted to have them think he was in a different location.”

Trump says downed officer rushed to get away from the crash site

Trump says the downed weapons officer followed his training to get as far away from the crash site as possible.

When a plane crashes in hostile territory, “they all head right to that site, you want to be as far away as you can,” Trump said.

Trump says the officer was “bleeding profusely” but was able climb mountainous terrain and contact U.S. forces to communicate his location. Rescuers mobilized a massive response that included subterfuge to confuse the Iranians about where they were looking.

Trump says 21 aircraft came to help rescue airmen who crashed in Iran

The president began describing the rescue efforts from Friday and over the weekend after two airmen ejected and landed alive “deep in enemy territory” in Iran.

Trump said 21 aircraft were deployed to help with the search and rescue in the first wave, flying for hours under “very, very heavy enemy fire.” He said the U.S. has one helicopter with many bullets in it.

Trump news conference begins

He is accompanied by his top national security advisers, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Also in attendance are his children, Eric and Tiffany Trump, as well as their spouses.

Declaring that “this was one of our better Easters,” Trump started his news conference by speaking about the dramatic rescue of two U.S. airmen in Iran over the weekend.

Trump, with Easter bunny nearby, talks Iran war

In a surreal scene on the White House lawn with flowers and Easter decor, Trump decided to give reporters an update on the Iran war.

With children waiting nearby, someone in a bunny costume steps away, and soft, cheerful music in the background, the president spoke about the rescue of a missing airman shot down in Iran, defended his expletive-laden threats on social media, and warned that Iran should capitulate or face threats to its bridges and power plants.

Turkey’s president says his country has intensified push to end the war

“We are striving to seize any chance, however small, for hostilities to cease and negotiations to open,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised address following a Cabinet meeting. He did not provide details.

Erdogan, a vocal critic of Israel, again accused the country of undermining all attempts to stop the fighting.

Trump defends his use of vulgar language in a social media post

The president used profanity in a Sunday social media posting warning Iran he was serious about targeting the country’s infrastructure if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday deadline. He ended the short post by saying, “Praise be to Allah.”

Asked by a reporter about his language, Trump responded he used it “only to make my point.”

Trump added about his use of an expletive, “I think you’ve heard it before.”

Trump suggests Kurdish groups have held onto guns meant for Iranian protesters

Trump appeared to confirm that the U.S. had intended to arm Iranian protesters after mass demonstrations against the government broke out throughout Iran in late 2025 and continued early into this year.

Thousands of anti-government protesters were killed during the crackdowns by government forces. Fox News reported on Sunday that Trump had told the network’s Trey Yingst in a telephone interview that Kurdish groups who were supposed to be delivering the U.S.-provided weapons held on to them.

“They were supposed to go to the people so they could fight back against these thugs,” Trump told reporters on Monday about the weapons intended for protesters. “You know what happened? The people that they sent them to kept them because they said, ‘What a beautiful gun. I think I’ll keep it.’ So, I’m very upset with a certain group of people and they’re going to pay a big price for that.”

Trump says he’d prefer to ‘take the oil’

Trump said he’d prefer to use U.S. military power to take control of Iran’s vast oil reserves, but he acknowledged there’s not much appetite for such a move among the American electorate.

“Take the oil because it’s there for the taking,” Trump said. “There’s not a thing they can do about it. Unfortunately, the American people would like to see us come home. If it were up to me, I’d take the oil. I’d keep the oil. I would make plenty of money.”

Trump warns Iran they’re making a mistake by not capitulating

Shortly after state media reported Iran had rejected a ceasefire proposal, Trump offered a new harsh warning to Iran.

“They just don’t want to say ‘uncle,‘” Trump told reporters as he and first lady Melania Trump hosted the White House Easter Egg Roll. “They don’t want to cry as the expression goes ‘uncle,’ but they will. And if they don’t, They’ll have no bridges. They’ll have no power plants. They’ll have no anything.”

He added another ominous warning: “I won’t go further because there are other things that are worse than those two.”

A regional official involved in the ceasefire talks says the efforts haven’t collapsed

“We are still talking to both sides,” he says, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door diplomacy.

Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu says petrochemical attack weakens Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

He said Monday’s strike on an Iranian petrochemical facility is part of a systematic campaign aimed at destroying the Guard’s “money machine.”

“We are destroying factories, we are eliminating activists and we continue to eliminate senior figures,” he said in a videotaped statement.

An Iranian university student asks the world: ‘Stop this war’

A resident of Tehran in his early twenties says U.S.-Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure and Trump’s intensifying threats have “terrified” people.

“Everyone is very anxious and scared that the water, power and gas will be cut,” he said, speaking anonymously for his security.

The student first spoke with The Associated Press on the eve of the war, when he participated in anti-government protests at his Tehran university’s campus. At the time, he described heated disagreements with friends who said they hoped a threatened Israeli-U.S. attack would overthrow the Islamic Republic.

“Those who were supporting the war are no longer supporting it,” he said Monday.

— Amir-Hussein Radjy

Key Federal Reserve official open to possible rate hikes amid gas price spikes

Beth Hammack, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press that if inflation remains persistently above the Fed’s 2% target, the central bank should consider lifting its benchmark interest rate.

While Hammack also said the Fed might have to cut its rate if higher gas prices caused the economy to slow and unemployment to rise, a potential rate hike is a noticeable shift for the Fed from before the Iran war, when officials forecast two rate cuts this year. A hike could lift longer-term interest rates for things like mortgages and auto loans.

“My baseline is that we’re on hold for quite some time,” Hammack said, “but I can foresee scenarios where we would need to reduce rates ... if the labor market deteriorates significantly. Or I could see where we might need to raise rates if inflation stays persistently above our target.”

Houthis claim they hit military sites in Israel

The Iran-backed Houthis said they launched a barrage of cruise missiles and drones at several military sites in southern Israel, “successfully achieving its objectives,” according to the group’s military spokesperson.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency says Tehran has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal

The agency said it had has conveyed its response to the U.S. through Pakistan, a key mediator.

“We won’t merely accept a ceasefire,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press on Monday. “We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again.”

Israel to ramp up production of air defense interceptors

Israel’s ministry of defense said Monday that the country’s defense industries would “significantly increase” production and stockpiling of missile interceptors as the war with Iran stretches on.

In a statement, the ministry said production of missile interceptors for the Arrow system, which defends against long-range ballistic missiles, would be sped up. Arrow has been critical in Israeli air defense during the current war, throughout which Israeli authorities have maintained there’s no shortage of interceptor missiles.

Israel’s military says it struck 3 Tehran airports overnight

The military says the strikes hit dozens of helicopters and aircraft it said belonged to the Iranian Air Force. It said the strikes targeted Bahram airport, Mehrabad airport and Azmayesh airport.

US-Israeli assault brings ‘destruction and bloodshed’ to Iran’s capital, resident says

A resident of central Tehran has described living with “anxiety and fear” as U.S.-Israeli strikes pummel the capital.

“Constantly, there is the sound of bombs, air defenses, drones,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity for her safety.

At least one strike hit near her home, waking her on Wednesday, she said. Rushing into the neighboring street, she saw it “filled with people in pajamas, some of them wrapped in blankets, some of them crying with fear.”

She also described her anger at the popular satellite channel, Iran International, which is based abroad. She said its coverage had amplified exiled Iranian voices supporting strikes on the Islamic Republic. “Some people thought war might bring good things, but war doesn’t bring anything but destruction and bloodshed.”

— Amir-Hussein Radjy

“The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said. He suggested that his Tuesday 8 p.m. EDT deadline was final, saying he'd already given Iran enough extensions.

The U.S. has told Iran to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic or see power plants and bridges wiped out, sparking warnings about possible war crimes.

Israel piled on pressure by attacking a major petrochemical plant and killing the intelligence chief for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Tehran with its rejection conveyed its own, 10-point plant to end the fighting through Pakistan, a key mediator, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said.

“We only accept an end of the war with guarantees that we won’t be attacked again,” Mojtaba Ferdousi Pour, head of Iran’s diplomatic mission in Cairo, told The Associated Press. He said Iran no longer trusts the Trump administration after the U.S. bombed the Islamic Republic twice during previous rounds of talks.

A regional official involved in talks said efforts had not collapsed. “We are still talking to both sides,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy.

And even Trump said negotiations with Iran continued.

Activists reported a new wave of strikes on Tehran early Tuesday. Israel claimed credit but offered no immediate details on what had been targeted.

Meanwhile, Japan said Tuesday a Japanese national who had been detained in Iran since January has been released on bail.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters in Tokyo that his release was confirmed Monday and that Japan is demanding a full release from Iranian authorities. He said the Japanese ambassador to Iran met the person released and that he was in good health without providing further details.

The person released is believed to be a journalist at Japan’s NHK public television. Another Japanese national, who was detained in Iran last June, was released and returned to Japan in March.

Trump says Iranians ‘willing to suffer’ for freedom

Trump has issued ultimatums to Iran before, only to find ways to back off. But he was more explicit this time on plans to follow through.

“Every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night,” he said, and all power plants will be “burning, exploding and never to be used again.”

Asked if he was concerned about accusations of war crimes, Trump responded, “No, not at all." He suggested that Iranians want the U.S. to carry out its threats because it could lead to the end of their current leadership.

Iranian citizens are “willing to suffer," he said, "in order to have freedom.” But there has been no sign of an uprising in Iran as residents shelter from bombardment.

International warnings piled up against expanded strikes. “Any attack on civilian infrastructure is a violation of international law and a very clear one,” United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric later told journalists.

Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators had sent Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff a proposal calling for the ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, two Mideast officials told the AP. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private negotiations.

Iranian and Omani officials also were working on a mechanism for administrating the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in peacetime. Iran’s grip on it has shaken the world economy.

Tehran has refused to let U.S. and Israeli vessels through after they started the war on Feb. 28.

Iran's new supreme leader makes rare statement

Israel struck a key petrochemical plant in the South Pars natural gas field, saying it was aimed at eliminating a major source of revenue for Iran. The field, the world’s largest, is shared with Qatar and is Iran’s biggest source of domestic energy for its 93 million people.

The strike appeared to be separate from Trump’s threats. An earlier Israeli attack there in March prompted Iran to target energy infrastructure in other Middle East countries, a major escalation.

Israel also killed the head of intelligence for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, according to Iranian state media. And Israel said it killed the leader of the Revolutionary Guard’s undercover unit in its expeditionary Quds Force, Asghar Bakeri.

“We will continue to hunt them down one by one,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said of top Iranian officials.

New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who still has not been seen or heard in public, issued a rare statement expressing condolences over Khademi. Israeli strikes have killed dozens of top Iranian leaders, including Khamenei’s father.

Israel’s military also said it struck three Tehran airports overnight — Bahram, Mehrabad and Azmayesh — hitting dozens of helicopters and aircraft it said belonged to the Iranian Air Force.

A Tehran resident said “constantly there is the sound of bombs, air defenses, drones,” speaking on condition of anonymity for her safety. Another detailed taking sleeping pills to get through nightly bombardments, and said people worry about power, gas and water cuts.

Airstrikes kill at least 29 across Iran

Smoke rose near Tehran’s Azadi Square after an airstrike hit the grounds of the Sharif University of Technology. Multiple countries have sanctioned the university for its work with the military, particularly on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Authorities and Iranian state media reported at least 29 people killed across the country by strikes.

In Lebanon, where Israel has launched air attacks and a ground invasion that it says target the Iran-linked Hezbollah militia, an airstrike hit an apartment in Ain Saadeh, a predominately Christian town east of Beirut. It killed an official in the Lebanese Forces, a Christian political party strongly opposed to Hezbollah, his wife and another woman.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, but the government has not updated the toll for days.

More than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million people have been displaced. Eleven Israeli soldiers have died there.

In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 23 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

___

Weissert reported from Washington, Magdy from Cairo and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Isabel DeBre in Ain Saadeh, Lebanon, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Amir-Hussein Radjy in Cairo and Josh Boak and Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this story.

The government in partnership with the World Health Organization, the U.N. children's agency and the Gavi vaccine alliance began working to vaccinate children age 6 months to 5 years old in 18 high-risk districts Sunday and will expand nationwide in phases from next month, a joint statement said.

A UNICEF official said the agency was deeply concerned about the sharp rise in cases, which was putting the youngest and most vulnerable children at serious risk. “This resurgence highlights critical immunity gaps, particularly among zero-dose and under-vaccinated children, while infections among infants under nine months, who are not yet eligible for routine vaccination, are especially alarming,” said Rana Flowers, the agency's representative in Bangladesh.

More than 900 cases of measles have been confirmed among 7,500 suspected cases reported since March 15, according to the official data in the South Asian nation of more than 170 million people.

Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease causing fever, respiratory symptoms and a characteristic rash and can sometimes have severe or fatal complications, especially in young children, according to WHO.

Vaccination is crucial to preventing the spread of measles, but the WHO says 95% of the population has to be vaccinated in order to stop the disease from spreading.

Bangladesh’s Health Minister Sardar Mohammed Sakhawat Husain responding to questions in Parliament said Monday that the new outbreak was caused by the mismanagement and failures of past governments.

He said the previous government of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and an interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus failed to make proper decisions regarding vaccine stockpiles, causing shortages affecting vaccines for measles and six other diseases.

The vaccination campaign for measles was disrupted during Bangladesh's recent political upheavals. Hasina was ousted in a mass uprising in 2024, and Yunus led an interim administration that transferred power to an elected government after an election in February.

Authorities are advising parents to go to hospitals whenever someone is suspected to have measles.

““They should avoid taking medicine from shopkeepers unnecessarily. If a child has a fever, especially high fever — 101, 102, 3, 4 (Fahrenheit, or higher than 38.3 Celsius) — they should not rely on medicine from local shops,” said F. A. Asma Khan, deputy director of the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Dhaka.

“Instead, they must take the child to a hospital as soon as possible, because our medical officers are capable of providing proper basic treatment,” she said.

Since the launch of a massive immunization campaign in 1979, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress — raising the coverage of fully immunized children from just 2% to 81.6%.

But UNICEF warned last year that while Bangladesh has made strong strides to increase immunization coverage, stark disparities persist.

Their flyby of the moon — NASA’s first return since the Apollo era — even included some celestial sightseeing besides yielding rich science. It was a significant step toward landing boot prints near the moon's south pole in just two years.

A total solar eclipse greeted the three Americans and one Canadian as the moon temporarily blocked the sun from their perspective. Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn nodded at them from the black void. The landing sites of Apollo 12 and 14 also were visible, poignant reminders of NASA’s first age of exploration more than half a century ago.

In an especially riveting retro throwback, Artemis II shattered the distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. NASA’s Orion capsule reached a maximum distance of 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers) from Earth before hanging a U-turn behind the moon, 4,101 miles (6,600 kilometers) farther than Apollo 13.

“It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the moon right now. It is just unbelievable,” Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen radioed. He challenged “this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived.”

Artemis II astronauts get an Apollo wake-up message

Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell wished the crew well in a recording made two months before his death last August. Mission Control beamed up his message to commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Hansen, before their fly-around began.

“Welcome to my old neighborhood,” said Lovell, who also flew on Apollo 8, humanity’s first lunar visit. “It’s a historic day and I know how busy you’ll be, but don’t forget to enjoy the view.”

The Artemis II astronauts carried up with them the Apollo 8 silk patch that accompanied Lovell to the moon. “It’s just a real honor to have that on board with us,” Wiseman said.

Artemis II is using the same maneuver that Apollo 13 did after its “Houston, we’ve had a problem” oxygen tank explosion wiped out any hope of a moon landing.

Known as a free-return lunar trajectory, this no-stopping-to-land route takes advantage of Earth and the moon’s gravity, reducing the need for fuel. It’s a celestial figure-eight that put the astronauts on course for home once they emerged from behind the moon Monday evening.

Astronauts lock in on lunar observations

Artemis II’s lunar fly-around and intense observation period lasted seven hours, by far the highlight of the nearly 10-day test flight that will end with a splashdown in the Pacific on Friday.

Venturing as close as 4,067 miles (6,545 kilometers) to the gray dusty surface, the astronauts zipped through a list of more than two dozen targets, using powerful Nikon cameras as well as their iPhones to zoom in on impact craters and other intriguing lunar features.

Before getting started, they requested permission to name two bright, freshly carved craters. They suggested Integrity, the name of their capsule, and Carroll, commander Wiseman’s wife, who died of cancer in 2020.

Wiseman wept as Hansen put in the request to Mission Control, and all four astronauts embraced in tears.

“Such a majestic view out here,” Wiseman radioed once he regained his composure and started picture-taking. The astronauts called down that they managed to capture the moon and Earth in the same shot, and they provided a running commentary to scientists back in Houston on what they were seeing.

At one point, Koch reported an overwhelming sensation of emotion for a second or two while zooming in on the moon. “Something just drew me in suddenly to the lunar landscape and it became real,” she said.

The Artemis II astronauts made their closest approach to the moon and reached their maximum distance from Earth while they were out of contact. Their speed at closest approach: 3,139 mph (5,052 kph). The spacecraft accelerated as it appeared from behind the moon and the planned communications blackout and made tracks for Earth.

An Earthrise came into view showing Asia, Africa and Oceania as Mission Control called out: “We are Earthbound and ready to bring you home.” Flight controllers in Houston flipped their mission patches over to signify the return leg.

President Donald Trump phoned the astronauts following the flyby, calling them “modern-day pioneers.”

“Today you’ve made history and made all America really proud, incredibly proud,” the president said, adding that more lunar traveling is coming and ultimately "the whole big trip to Mars.”

Wiseman and his crew spent years studying lunar geography to prepare for the big event, adding solar eclipses to their repertoire during the past few weeks. By launching last Wednesday, they ensured themselves of a total solar eclipse from their vantage point behind the moon, courtesy of the cosmos.

Topping their science target list: Orientale Basin, a sprawling impact basin with three concentric rings, the outermost of which stretches nearly 600 miles (950 kilometers) across.

Their moon mentor, NASA geologist Kelsey Young, expects thousands of pictures.

Artemis II is NASA’s first astronaut moonshot since Apollo 17 in 1972. It sets the stage for next year’s Artemis III, which will see another Orion crew practice docking with lunar landers in orbit around Earth. The culminating moon landing by two astronauts near the moon’s south pole will follow on Artemis IV in 2028.

While Artemis II may be taking Apollo 13’s path, it’s most reminiscent of Apollo 8 and humanity’s first lunar visitors who orbited the moon on Christmas Eve 1968 and read from the Book of Genesis.

Glover said flying to the moon during Christianity’s Holy Week brought home for him “the beauty of creation.” Earth is an oasis amid “a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe” where humanity exists as one, he observed over the weekend.

“This is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing and that we’ve got to get through this together,” Glover said, clasping hands with his crewmates.

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

RELATED: Anonymous text targets JEA CEO amid ongoing political tensions

Rules Committee Chair Chris Miller said he marked both items for deferral to “tap the brakes” while multiple reviews play out, including an Inspector General-led effort tied to disputed capacity fees and a council special investigatory committee examining workplace culture allegations.

“My mind as the rules chair, I thought it was smart, prudent for us to tap the brakes,” Miller said. “Let’s slow down a little bit and not affect the changes of leadership until we know a little bit more about what’s going on.”

MORE|Timeline: How ‘big favor’ texts sparked a JEA board shakeup and allegations about utility leadership|Jacksonville City Council president issued subpoena after controversial ‘big favor’ text sent to JEA board member

When asked, Miller said his intent is to defer the items for one council cycle. But other council members in attendance said they are open to a longer wait period.

The deferred items involve Wyse replacing board member Arthur Adams and DiSalvo’s reappointment.

Miller told the committee there is “a lot going on” with JEA — including questions about leadership, employee surveys and ongoing investigations.

“To say there’s a lot going on with JEA right now is a gross understatement,” Miller said.

Several councilmembers joined the conversation to support Miller’s decision.

Councilmember Joe Carlucci said he supports Wyse but wants more time to get answers.

“We just don’t know until things continue to unfold but I’m going to use that time to get my answers to the questions I have,” he said.

The decision comes as the two nominations were set to go through final review at the Rules Committee ahead of a full vote from city council.

So far, the Special Investigative Committee on JEA has held two meetings to review workplace culture and disputes over capacity fees. A survey is set to go out to employees for review.

“There’s a lot of drama,” Howland said. “I think we should make decisions when we can cut the drama out and decide based on facts and evidence. And right now is not the time.”

Councilmember Michael Boylan encouraged the committee to continue deferring the nominations until the issues are resolved.

“I encouraged that you continue to defer it to such time that we have a solution to the matters at hand,” Boylan said.

Other members said the delay was about timing rather than the nominees.

“I do have full confidence in Mr. Wyse’s abilities,” Councilmember Mike Gay said. “So it’s no reflection on him whatsoever. But I do think it’s wise for us to just take our time.”

The deferral comes after the Jacksonville NAACP asked Council President Kevin Carrico to wait to appoint the next board member until investigations were complete.

It also follows a March 27 statement from Councilmember Matt Carlucci calling for a pause on appointments.

“In light of unfolding issues surrounding JEA, the City Council should pause appointments to the JEA Board until active investigations by the State Attorney and Inspector General are complete,” Carlucci said.

Until any changes are made by city council, Adams and DiSalvo will continue to serve in their current roles as JEA board members. The process could potentially continue at the next Rules Committee meeting on April 20.

In a statement, the mayor’s office said Deegan supports delaying appointments.

“Mayor Deegan supports a pause on all JEA board appointments until the active investigations are complete, and she looks forward to Board Member DiSalvo serving another term once that process concludes,” the statement said.

News4JAX has reached out to Carrico for comment on his appointment and will update this story when a response is received.

U.S. forces rescued the pilot within hours of the F-15E Strike Eagle going down late Thursday, surging helicopters, midair refuelers and fighter aircraft deep into Iran after confirming his location, Trump said in a valedictory news conference at the White House, describing the military operation in an unusual level of detail.

The second aviator aboard the aircraft — the weapons systems officer — was rescued nearly two days later.

Trump boasted of the military resources surged and coordination across U.S. agencies to pull off the daring mission to recover the troops in enemy territory, describing the shootdown of the jet by Iran as “a lucky hit” after claiming in a national address last week to have “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”

Another jet is downed in the rescue for the F-15 pilot

The search and rescue operation began in daylight over Iran, with helicopters and other aircraft flying low for seven hours, “at times facing very, very heavy enemy fire,” Trump said.

An A-10 Warthog, which was the attack aircraft primarily responsible for keeping in contact with the downed F-15 pilot on the ground, was hit by enemy fire while engaging Iranian forces, said Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The A-10 was “not landable,” Caine told reporters, but the pilot continued fighting before flying to a friendly country and ejecting. He was quickly rescued and is doing fine.

After rescuing the F-15 pilot, HH-60 Jolly Green II helicopters were “engaged by every single person in Iran who had a small-arms weapon, and one of the aircraft, the trailing aircraft, took several hits,” he said. The crew members received minor injuries and were going to be OK, Caine said.

The rescue of the fighter jet pilot, who was flying under the call sign Dude-44 Alpha, occurred before the Iranians could marshal a comprehensive search of their own, but finding and bringing home the weapon systems officer was an even more complicated endeavor.

An anchor on a channel affiliated with Iranian state television had been urging residents in the mountainous region of southwest Iran where the fighter jet went down to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward for anyone who did.

The weapon systems officer, who rode in the backseat of the F-15 under the call sign Dude-44 Bravo, was injured but followed his training to get as far from the crash site as possible.

Second airman climbs into the mountains to hide out

“Bleeding profusely,” in Trump's telling, the aviator managed to climb mountainous terrain and call for help Saturday using “a very sophisticated beeper-type apparatus.”

When a plane crashes in hostile territory, “they all head right to that site, you want to be as far away as you can,” Trump said.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe said the spy agency used “exquisite technologies that no other intelligence service” possesses to locate the aviator. At the same time, the CIA mounted a deception operation to mislead Iranians who also were trying to find him.

Ratcliffe said the search and rescue operation was “comparable to hunting for a single grain of sand in the middle of a desert.”

The CIA declined to respond to questions Monday about the kind of technology used to find the airman, but Trump colored in some details.

He said intelligence officials noticed something moving in the dead of night, in the mountains where they were surveilling. Trump said officials kept a camera on the moving object for 45 minutes and when it was no longer moving, they thought maybe they had it wrong.

But “it was the head of a human being,” the president said. “And then all of a sudden, 45 minutes later, he moved a lot, stood up, and they said, ‘We have him.’”

He added, “And that was really at the beginning of something incredible.”

Protected by an “air armada” of drones, strike aircraft and more, rescuers moved in on Sunday. Cargo planes flew in three small helicopters and assembled them near the patch of mountains where the missing airman was concealing himself inside a cave or crevice.

But when it came time to leave, the cargo planes were too weighed down by equipment and personnel to take off from the sandy terrain. The downed airman and his rescue team were picked up by three “lighter, faster aircraft” and the equipment on the ground was blown up to keep it out of Iranian hands, Trump said.

US makes several efforts to throw off Iranian forces

Many of the dozens of aircraft that were part of the operation were there for deception, Trump said.

“We were bringing them all over, and a lot of it was subterfuge,” Trump said. “We wanted to have them think he was in a different location.”

Back in Washington, national security officials coordinated on a call, keeping the phone line open for nearly two days straight.

“From the moment our pilots went down, our mission was unblinking," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said. “The call never dropped. The meeting never stopped, the planning never ceased.”

As Trump detailed the operation, his penchant for boasting and flair for dramatic imagery bumped up against some of his aides' instinct to protect military and intelligence secrets. At one point, Trump turned to Caine, his top military adviser, and asked, “How many men did you send altogether, approximately, for the operation?”

Caine equivocated, responding, “Uhhh, I’d love to keep that a secret, Mr. President.”

“OK, well, we are," Trump continued. "But I will tell you — the number, I’ll keep it a secret, but it was hundreds.”

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Cooper reported from Phoenix, and Amiri from New York. Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.

Windy conditions with increasing rain chances will persist through Thursday. Temperatures will stay below seasonal averages as onshore winds increase to 15-20 mph, gusting into the 30 - 40 mph range.

The increasing wind will create marine and coastal hazards, including a high risk of rip currents, high surf reaching the beaches tomorrow, Small Craft Advisories, and Gale Warnings starting Tuesday through Wednesday night. A Wind Advisory for coastal northeastern Florida is in effect for Tuesday and may need to extend into Wednesday.

Even with rising rain chances, a Fire Weather Watch has been issued for inland Southeast Georgia on Tuesday as Extreme to Exceptional Drought conditions continue.

Tonight: Beneficial rainfall with isolated thunderstorms possible.

Tuesday: Showers likely with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the morning, then a chance of showers in the afternoon. Expect breezy conditions with highs in the upper 60s. Northeast winds 15 to 25 mph, with gusts up to 35 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent. Breezy and cloudy overnight with a chance of showers. Lows in the upper 50s to 60s.

Wednesday and Thursday: Showers with isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon, 60 percent. Breezy with highs around 70. Northeast winds 20 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with showers and isolated thunderstorms in the evening, then a chance of showers after midnight. Lows in the upper 50s to 60s. Northeast winds 15 to 25 mph, gusting up to 30 mph in the evening.

Looking ahead: Weather improves and it becomes less windy starting Friday and through the weekend.

Sunrise: 7:09 a.m.

Sunset: 7:50 p.m.

Judge Alan Schneider told the “Old Town Road” rapper and singer on Monday that if he sticks to his treatment program and obeys all laws for two years, his four felony counts will be dismissed.

The court found that the incident was the result of his since-diagnosed bipolar disorder and was an aberration from his usual behavior.

The program, formally known as postponement of prosecution probation, also requires that he not possess guns or threaten violence.

Authorities allege that the 26-year-old was walking naked down a street in LA’s San Fernando Valley in August, and charged at police officers who were responding to calls about him. A criminal complaint says three officers were hurt. Photos and video apparently shot before the police confrontation showed him walking in the street in only white briefs and white boots.

He pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of battery with injury on a police officer along with one count of resisting an executive officer.

A few days later in a video posted to Instagram, Lil Nas X, who was free on bail, said “these last four days have been terrifying” but reassured fans that he would be fine.

Outside court on Monday he told Rolling Stone, which first reported on the diversion agreement, that he is “thankful. Just very thankful,” and that it “could have been much worse.”

The District Attorney's Office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Atlanta artist is best known for 2018's country and hip-hop merging “Old Town Road,” which spent a record 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won him two Grammys.

Known for his genre-bending, innovating sounds and style, Lil Nas X's first full studio album, 2021’s “Montero,” went to No. 2 on the Billboard album chart and was nominated for a Grammy for album of the year. Other hits have included “Industry Baby” and “Montero (Call Me by Your Name).”

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to a person shot around 4 p.m. When officers arrived, a teen was found suffering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

JSO said a homeowner walked into his home when he encountered an intruder and confronted them, which led to the shooting.

JSO said investigators were trying to understand the exact circumstances that happened and did not specify who the shooter was.

The teen was taken to the hospital in a life-threatening condition.

All parties involved were cooperating with police, and there is no threat to the community, according to JSO.

If you have any information that can assist in this investigation, call 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.

Co-owner David Blitzer announced Monday that a decision had been made for Fitzgerald to leave the organization. Fitzgerald had been GM since January 2020 and got the title president of hockey operations early in 2024, along with a contract extension.

“Tom and I had a thoughtful conversation today and agreed it was time to move in a new direction,” Blitzer said. “Tom changed the trajectory of our team here, including setting a franchise record for points in a season and helping make New Jersey a hockey destination. He is a well-respected leader across the Devils’ organization and NHL, and I am grateful for our friendship."

Fitzgerald was responsible for building much of the core of the roster around top picks Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes, who were drafted when he was an assistant to Ray Shero. The 57-year-old endured criticism in recent months for signing players to contracts with restrictive no-trade clauses and for extending Jacob Markstrom early, before the goaltender's struggles.

“After talking with David Blitzer, it was apparent to everyone that the best course of action is to move on for the benefit of the team,” Fitzgerald said. “The Devils are fortunate to have a core of great players, vocal and passionate fans, but most importantly, tremendous people who worked with me toward a common goal. I’ve always said that New Jersey is a hidden gem, and I’m proud of the effort that we put in to raise the standard and make it a destination."

New Jersey made the playoffs twice in the five seasons with Fitzgerald in charge, losing in the second round in 2023 and bowing out in the first round last year.

“As we prepare to move forward, it is important I acknowledge our fans: I recognize we have not delivered in the way you expect and deserve and I understand and share in your frustration,” Blitzer said. "This is a critical offseason for our franchise, and we will explore all avenues that best position the Devils to compete for a Stanley Cup once again.”

It's unclear what this means for the future of coach Sheldon Keefe, who is nearing the end of his second season. Fitzgerald hired Keefe in May 2024.

Fitzgerald, who was part of USA Hockey's management group that constructed the roster that won gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics, could immediately become a candidate for one of the other GM vacancies around the league. The Nashville Predators with Barry Trotz retiring and Toronto Maple Leafs after firing Brad Treliving are currently searching for a new head of hockey operations.

“I am incredibly appreciative to David, Josh Harris, and the entire New Jersey Devils organization for being a part of my life for the past decade," Fitzgerald said. "I look forward to the next step in my hockey career and will always look back fondly on my time with the Devils.”

Fitzgerald spent time in Nashville and Toronto during his playing career. He was the first captain of the Predators, wearing the “C” from 1998-02 while Trotz was coaching the team and played two seasons with the Maple Leafs from '02-04.

After going into management, Fitzgerald was director of player development when Pittsburgh won the Stanley Cup in 2009. He joined the Devils in 2015.

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

RELATED: Former JEA chief of staff tells City Council committee employees are ‘scared for their job’ as probe continues

The message targets JEA CEO Vickie Cavey, who is not an elected official.

Unlike typical mass political texts that urge recipients to vote or support a candidate, this message specifically criticizes Cavey, alleging mismanagement and highlighting planned rate increases.

The message reads in part: “Another JEA rate hike under Vickie Cavey. Annual increases. Ongoing scandals. Mismanagement. Her compensation: $700K salary + $500K pension. Yours: higher bills. STOP to opt-out.”

News4JAX has learned the message was sent using a “spoofed” number, allowing the sender to mask their identity through multiple carriers.

MORE|Timeline: How ‘big favor’ texts sparked a JEA board shakeup and allegations about utility leadership|Jacksonville City Council president issued subpoena after controversial ‘big favor’ text sent to JEA board member

The text comes amid ongoing political tensions surrounding JEA, including investigations into workplace culture and a separate probe involving Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico. Carrico was recently subpoenaed by the state attorney’s office to turn over phone records and electronic communications after attempting to help a former associate secure a position on the JEA board.

Nate Monroe, Executive editor of the Tributary, said the message reflects a broader political climate in Jacksonville.

“We live in a different political time,” Monroe said. “It seems like campaigns are never-ending.”

Monroe, who has extensively covered JEA, including the events leading to the conviction of former CEO Aaron Zahn, said the message is unusual because it lacks a clear call to action.

“Normally when you’re solicited by a campaign, they’re asking for your vote, a donation or volunteer help,” Monroe said. “This one had no ask. It was just pointing out what it claims are problems. That is unusual.”

He added that anonymous messages like this are often tied to so-called “dark money” efforts and are becoming more common.

JEA Board Chair Joe DiSalvo said recently that criticism of Cavey intensified after JEA chose not to renew a contract with a local lobbying firm connected to former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, who has denied involvement.

Monroe said he believes the controversy gained traction after Carrico sent a text message to a board member about helping an associate — a message that later became public.

State and federal laws require political text messages to disclose who paid for them. News4JAX has confirmed the Federal Trade Commission has received complaints related to the messages.

While JEA is not commenting on the text messages they released this statement about rate changes.

As a municipal utility, JEA is committed to keeping costs as low as possible while providing the reliable services our customers depend on every day. Like many industries, rising operating costs driven by inflation, stricter regulatory requirements, and growing demand are increasing the cost to serve our community.

While rate adjustments implemented in 2025 helped better align revenue with the cost of service, a recent cost-of-service study projects FY27 revenue shortfalls of $19.6 million for water, $26 million for sewer, and $61.5 million for electric.  Additional capacity charges and for capacity used above 20% of initial paid capacity that is currently at issue does not impact these projections or the potential need for future rate adjustments. 

The JEA Board of Directors will convene on April 14 for a rates and capacity fee workshop to evaluate options and determine the best path forward for JEA and its customers. The Board is expected to consider next steps, including a potential rate hearing on May 19, a budget workshop on June 9, and a public rate hearing on June 30.

To continue delivering safe, reliable service, future rate adjustments will be necessary. Even with potential adjustments, JEA’s rates are expected to remain among the lowest in the state. However, we recognize the impact changes to utility bills can have on our customers. That’s why we will remain committed to providing tools, solutions, and assistance programs to help customers manage their monthly expenses.

JEA spokesperson

“With sharp and striking prose, ‘Small Scale Sinners’ performs the magical feat of encompassing every aspect of humanity in a slim volume of stories, which reveals the hearty landscape of desire, rage, love, and loss contained in nearly every life,” PEN/Faulkner Awards Committee Chair Lauren Francis-Sharma said in a statement released Monday.

Sohail is from Pakistan and now lives in Washington, D.C. In a statement Monday, she said worked on the book for a decade to “map out possible ways of being an independent woman in the world.”

She will receive $15,000 for the award, which in previous years has been given to authors including Philip Roth,Don DeLillo and Ann Patchett among others.

Trump posted late Sunday on his social media platform Truth Social that he has known Hilton for years and called the conservative commentator “a truly fine man” who could turn around a state beset with notoriously high taxes. California, Trump wrote, “has gone to hell.”

“With Federal help, and a Great Governor, like Steve Hilton, California can be better than ever before!” Trump added.

The endorsement — coming about a month before mail ballots go to voters in advance of the June 2 primary — will help Hilton coalesce conservative support in a race with no clear leader. However, Trump is widely unpopular in heavily Democratic California outside his conservative base and Trump's backing would become a liability if Hilton faces a Democrat in the November election.

With a large field, Democrats have been fearful that a quirk in the state's unusual “top two” primary system could allow only two Republicans to reach the November general election ballot — Hilton and GOP rival Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff. Trump's decision — a strong signal to undecided conservative voters — will make that outcome less likely by helping Hilton lure additional support.

Democratic consultant Paul Mitchell called Trump's decision “the safe bet” for Republicans. Rather than cling to a long shot hope that both Republicans reach the November ballot — or risk that both Hilton and Bianco fall short — Trump's blessing should consolidate support behind Hilton and allow him to emerge from a large primary field and reach November.

“Having a Republican on the top of the ticket is essential” to drive turnout in critical down-ballot races, with control of the U.S. House in play,” Mitchell added. In an unpredictable, wide-open race, the smart play for the GOP is to “get one Republican on the ballot.”

There are more than 50 candidates on the ballot — including eight established Democrats and along with Hilton and Bianco, the two leading Republicans. An all-GOP general election is possible in California, which puts all candidates on one primary ballot and only the top two vote-getters advance to November, regardless of party.

Polling in early February by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found the field had broken into two distinct groups, with Bianco, Hilton and three Democrats — U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, former Rep. Katie Porter and billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer — in close competition, with other candidates trailing.

In a statement, Hilton, who hosted a Fox News show for six years and worked as an adviser to former British prime minister David Cameron, thanked Trump for his support and promised to grow jobs and bring down the state's punishing cost of living. “Together we can turn things around,” Hilton said.

Republicans have not won a statewide election in California in two decades. Registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in the state by nearly 2-to-1.

Bianco — Hilton's chief GOP rival — said in a video posted on X that “This race is about the future of California, not any one endorsement.” He also posted a photo of Hilton hugging outgoing Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom at a 2016 charity event.

“I have repeatedly said that a Fox News host courting a president's endorsement will never win in California,” Bianco said in the video.

Back home for the first time in 561 days after Hurricane Milton shredded the roof and caused extensive damage throughout the stadium, the Rays beat the Chicago Cubs 6-4 on Monday in front of a sellout crowd of 25,114.

“It felt pretty good to say the least,” Baker said of his reaction to the final pitch. “I think that was an encapsulation of how everybody felt getting back in this building and playing in front of these fans. To get out there and seal the deal for the boys was really fun.”

It cost nearly $60 million to replace the titled roof and rebuild the Trop after a hurricane swept through downtown St. Petersburg on Oct. 9, 2024.

High wind ripped sections of the original roof, allowing rain to fall into the stadium bowl for months. Water caused mold and damage to electrical, sound and broadcast systems.

The new roof was installed last August while the Rays played their 2025 season across the bay in Tampa at Steinbrenner Field — the spring training home of the New York Yankees.

The final panel was put in place Nov. 21. Luxury suites and the stadium video board also were upgraded. Players enjoyed playing on the new artificial turf and welcomed upgrades that include new clubhouse carpet and lockers.

“It was an important day for Rays baseball and unique for what we’ve gone through,” manager Kevin Cash said. “Very well done.”

The Rays don’t often draw well but it was the 20th consecutive sellout for a home opener, excluding the 2020 season when fans weren’t allowed to attend because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was great. Shout out to the city of St. Pete and the fans for showing up for us after everything they’ve been through,” said Chandler Simpson, who had two hits and two stolen bases.

Tampa mayor Jane Castor and St. Petersburg mayor Kenneth Welch threw out the first pitches, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also was in attendance.

It was the first home win for the team’s new owners. A group led by Florida-based real estate developer Patrick Zalupski purchased the Rays for $1.7 billion last year. Zalupski and top executives Ken Babby and Bill Cosgrove are pursuing a new ballpark that would be built in Tampa, in the shadows of the Yankees’ spring training complex and across the street from Raymond James Stadium, home to the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Rays are under lease to play at the Trop through at least the 2028 season.

“The fans’ support was amazing,” said Junior Caminero, who hit one of three home runs for Tampa Bay. “It was exciting to be back at Tropicana.”

The Rays debuted the newly renovated “Cownose Clubhouse,” home to the seven cownose stingrays from The Florida Aquarium who weathered Hurricane Milton. After the storm, the stingrays returned to The Florida Aquarium. In January, they were at TECO’s Manatee Viewing Center at Apollo Beach, before making their return to their permanent home at Tropicana Field ahead of the opener.

___

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

The issue could turn on whether the power plants were legitimate military targets, whether the attacks were proportional compared with what Iran has done and whether civilian casualties were minimized.

Trump's threat was so broad it did not seem to account for the harm to civilians, prompting Democrats in Congress, some United Nations officials and scholars in military law to say such strikes would violate international law.

The president's eventual actions often fall short of his all-encompassing rhetoric in the moment, but his warnings about the power plants and bridges were unambiguous both on Sunday and Monday as he set a deadline of Tuesday night for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz.

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday warned that attacking such infrastructure is banned under international law.

“Even if specific civilian infrastructure were to qualify as a military objective,” Stephane Dujarric said, an attack would still be prohibited if it risks “excessive incidental civilian harm.”

Rachel VanLandingham, a Southwestern Law School professor who served as a judge advocate general in the U.S. Air Force, said civilians are likely to die if power is cut to hospitals and water treatment plans.

“What Trump is saying is, ‘We don’t care about precision, we don’t care about impact on civilians, we’re just going to take out all of Iranian power generating capacity,’" the retired lieutenant colonel said.

Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint in the Persian Gulf through which 20% of the world's oil normally flows, has been all but halted, sending oil prices soaring and roiling the stock market.

Trump said Monday that he’s “not at all” concerned about committing war crimes as he continues to threaten destruction. He also warned that every power plant will be “burning, exploding and never to be used again.”

“I hope I don’t have to do it,” Trump added.

When asked for further comment Monday, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said “the Iranian people welcome the sound of bombs because it means their oppressors are losing.”

“The Iranian regime has committed egregious human rights abuses against its own citizens for 47 years, just murdered tens of thousands of protestors in January, and has indiscriminately targeted civilians across the region in order to cause as much death as possible throughout this conflict,” Kelly wrote in an email.

‘Clearly a threat of unlawful action’

As the conflict has entered its second month, Trump has escalated his warnings to bomb Iran's infrastructure, including Kharg Island, central to Iran’s oil industry, and desalination plans that provide drinking water.

In a Truth Social post on March 30, Trump warned that the U.S. would obliterate "all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched.’“

On Easter Sunday, Trump threatened in an expletive-laden post that Iran will face "Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one,” while adding that “you’ll be living in Hell” unless the strait reopens.

“This strikes me as clearly a threat of unlawful action,” said Michael Schmitt, a professor emeritus at the U.S. Naval War College and an international law professor at the University of Reading in Britain.

A power facility can be attacked under the laws of armed conflict if it provides electricity to a military base in addition to civilians, Schmitt said. But the strike must not "cause disproportionate harm to the civilian population, and you’ve done everything to minimize that harm.”

Harm does not include inconvenience or fear, said Schmitt, who has taught military commanders. But it does mean severe mental suffering, physical injury or illness.

Schmitt said military commanders should consider alternatives, such as targeting a substation or transmission lines that feed electricity to a base, before destroying an entire power plant.

“If you look at the operation and you’ve got a valid military objective, but it’s going to cause harm to civilians and you go, ‘Whoa, that’s a lot,’ then you should stop,” Schmitt said. “If you hesitate to take the shot, don’t take the shot.”

‘He’s using that leverage'

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said Monday that Trump is “absolutely not” threatening a war crime when he said he might bomb civilian infrastructure.

The infrastructure is also used by the military, Ernst said, and “it’s an ongoing operation.“

“If he needs leverage, he’s using that leverage,” she said while presiding over a brief pro forma session of the Senate.

But Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, also in the Capitol for the brief session, said it would be a “textbook war crime.”

“If you target civilian infrastructure for the purposes the president was talking about, it clearly is a war crime,” Van Hollen said.

Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, said the question of whether attacks on civilian infrastructure would be considered war crimes would have to be decided by a court.

However, Katherine Thompson, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, said any accountability would more likely come from Congress.

She said thinking otherwise would mean believing that the U.S. would allow its president to be held accountable by foreign entities.

“This is the persnickety, inconvenient truth about international law: It only works if sovereign nations are willing to cede their sovereignty to a foreign body for accountability,” she said.

But Congress would have to say the president has gone too far. And then both houses would have to take action and with enough support to overcome a presidential veto, a highly unlikely prospect.

Trump also appears to have broad legal immunity under the Supreme Court’s ruling in the criminal case before his reelection, said VanLandingham. And the president could also grant preemptive pardons to top officials if needed.

‘We’re giving them a gift'

Even if technically justified under the law of war, strikes that bring harm to civilians could backfire for the U.S. long term, VanLandingham said.

“There's a lot of violence that can still be justified as lawful, but lawful can still be awful,” VanLandingham said. “How far did that get us in Iraq? How far did that get us in Afghanistan? How far did that get us in Vietnam?”

Trump’s rhetoric risks spreading fear among regular Iranians and communicating that the U.S. isn’t worried about their well-being, VanLandingham said. The country’s leaders could use it as propaganda to create and harden opposition, contributing to a longer, tougher war.

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Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri and Edith M. Lederer in New York and Mary Clare Jalonick and Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.

The effort to remove the soldier's wife, who was born in Honduras and remained in a federal immigration detention center Monday, has drawn backlash from military family advocates who called the detention demoralizing in a time of war and warned that deporting spouses could undermine recruitment.

Staff Sgt. Matthew Blank said he brought his wife, Annie Ramos, 22, to his base in Fort Polk, Louisiana, last Thursday so that she could begin the process to receive military benefits and take steps toward a green card. The couple married in March.

Federal immigration agents detained Ramos as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda, which legal experts say has dispensed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's practice of leniency toward families of military members.

“I never imagined that trying to do the right thing would lead to her being taken away from me,” said Blank, 23, in a statement to The Associated Press. “What was supposed to be the happiest week of our lives has turned into one of the hardest.”

Ramos' detention was first reported by The New York Times.

Ramos entered the U.S. in 2005, when she was younger than 2 years old. That same year, her family failed to appear for an immigration hearing, leading a judge to issue a final order of removal, according to DHS.

“She has no legal status to be in this country,” DHS said in an emailed statement. “This administration is not going to ignore the rule of law.”

In 2020, Ramos applied to receive Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA, but her husband says her application has remained “in limbo” amid legal fights to end the Obama-era program.

Last April, DHS eliminated a 2022 policy that considered military service of an immediate family member to be a “significant mitigating factor” in deciding whether or not to pursue immigration enforcement. The administration’s new policy states that “military service alone does not exempt aliens from the consequences of violating U.S. immigration laws.”

Prior to the Trump administration's mass deportation push, DHS generally allowed the spouses of active-duty military members to gain legal status through policies like parole in place and deferred action that military recruiters promote, according to Margaret Stock, a military immigration law expert.

Ramos' case would have been easy to resolve in the past, Stock said, but instead DHS now appears to be focusing on detaining members of military families whenever the opportunity arises — including when, like Ramos, they are attempting to apply for legal status.

“It doesn’t make any sense — they’re going to get arrested for following the law? That's stupid," Stock said. “It's bad for morale, it disrupts the soldiers' readiness.”

In September, more than 60 members of Congress wrote to DHS and the U.S. Department of Defense warning that arrests of military personnel and veteran's family members was “betraying its promises to service members who play a key role in protecting U.S. national security."

The Pentagon declined to comment.

Lydiah Owiti-Otienoh, who runs an advocacy group called the Foreign-Born Military Spouse Network, said she's anecdotally seen an increase in cases where the lives of military families have been upended by tightening immigration restrictions. She believes the federal government is undermining its own interests by attempting to deport military spouses.

“It just sends a really bad message — we don’t care about you, about your spouses, anything you are doing,” Owiti-Otienoh said. “If military families are not stable, national security is not stable.”

Blank’s mother, Jen Rickling, told the AP in a statement that her daughter-in-law, a Sunday school teacher and biochemistry major, had been everything she hoped for — someone who “loves my son with her whole heart.”

“We absolutely adore her,” Rickling said. “I believe in this country. And I believe we can do better than this — for Annie, for other military families, and for the values we hold dear.”

Blank says he had been eager to start building a life and with Ramos on the base while he served his country.

“I want my wife home," Blank said. “And I will not stop fighting until she is back where she belongs, by my side.”

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Melvin Benn, the managing director at Festival Republic, shared a statement on Monday backing his company's decision to book Ye.

“Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world,” he wrote. "I would ask people to reflect on their instant comments of disgust at the likelihood of him performing (as was mine) and offer some forgiveness and hope to him as I have decided to do.”

Ye, who changed his name in 2021, is booked to perform in front of around 150,000 revelers over the course of the festival’s three nights, July 10 - 12.

The rapper has drawn widespread condemnation in recent years for antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler. Last year, he released a song called “Heil Hitler” and advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website. The 48-year-old apologized this past January for his antisemitic remarks in a letter, published as a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal. He said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”

Wireless sponsors Pepsi, Rockstar Energy and Diageo have pulled out of the festival since Ye was announced as the headliner, although lead sponsor Pepsi didn't offer a reason. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the booking “deeply concerning.”

“Ye’s music is played on commercial radio stations in this country. It is available via live streams and downloads in this country without comment or vitriol from anyone and he has a legal right to come into the country and to perform in this country,” Benn's statement said.

“We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions,” the statement continued.

Last week, Ye held two concerts at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, marking his first major U.S. performances in nearly five years. There, fans appeared to separate his personal beliefs and public statements from his music — and were ready to forgive after his January apology letter.

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

A representative for Ye didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment Monday.