Priest Serhii Zezul blesses Easter baskets in front of a church destroyed in fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, during celebration of the Orthodox Easter in Lukashivka village, Ukraine, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)2025-04-20T09:29:29Z LUKASHIVKA, Ukraine (AP) Dozens of Ukrainians gathered outside the ruins of a damaged church in northern Ukraine on Sunday to mark Easter, doubting a ceasefire with Russia is possible.Russian President Vladimir Putin unilaterally announced a temporary Easter truce from Saturday evening to midnight following Easter Sunday, citing humanitarian reasons. This came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are coming to a head.Kyiv has voiced skepticism about the Easter ceasefire, saying it would only mirror a genuine halt in hostilities. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy reiterated Ukraines offer of a 30-day, full and unconditional ceasefire and called on Moscow to respond.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday night that Russian strikes continued, although with less intensity, particularly near the border where Ukrainian forces maintain footholds in Russias Kursk and Belgorod regions. Ukrainian soldiers interviewed by The Associated Press at various frontline positions confirmed the ongoing hostilities. Christ is risen! In the village of Lukashivka in the Chernihiv region, briefly occupied by Russian forces in 2022, parishioners of the damaged Ascension Church arrived early at a small makeshift wooden church built last year to cater to the needs of the faithful, holding traditional Easter baskets and cakes to have them blessed. As the sun rose, they stood quietly in the spring chill, the roofless silhouette of the wrecked church behind them, its pale walls scarred by shell fragments.The churchs priest, Serhii Zezul, walked among them, shouting Christ is risen! as he sprinkled holy water over the baskets his voice nearly drowned out by the hum of a nearby generator.The restoration of the original church, a 20th-century architectural landmark, would require at least hundreds of thousands of dollars, money the community doesnt have as the war rages on. Since the start of Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022, about 530 churches across Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed, and at least 25 clergy members have been killed, according to Ruslan Khalikov, head of the Religion on Fire project, which monitors Russian war crimes against religious communities.A destroyed church is a shattered soul of the community, Zezul said. When churches fall, the heart and core that unite people begin to collapse.Marking Easter in fearMore people than usual gathered in the damaged churchs courtyard on Sunday. Some said they drove from cities to Lukashivka to mark Easter, fearing Russian forces might target large gatherings, especially after a recent string of missile strikes killed dozens of civilians.For 26 years, 44-year-old Olha Rudeno attended church in the nearby city of Chernihiv, where she got married.But given the war, its psychologically difficult for me to go where there are large gatherings in cities, she said.Rudeno doesnt think a ceasefire with Russia will happen. Believing in a ceasefire is deceiving yourself. I dont know how much time has to pass for me to truly believe one is possible, she said. Doubt of a truce between Russia and Ukraine has deepened as U.S.-led efforts have so far yielded no breakthrough. Moscow has effectively rejected a separate, comprehensive ceasefire proposal, backed by Trump and endorsed by Ukraine, tying any agreement to a halt in Kyivs troop mobilization and Western arms supplies conditions Ukraine has refused, fearing they would allow Russia to regroup and escalate.My personal opinion is that there will be no ceasefire, said the churchs priest Serhii Zezul. And even if there is one, there are no details on where it would apply. On the front line, our soldiers are still fighting.Still, Zezul said that celebrating Easter among ruins reflects the resilience of faith during war. Despite everything, people still gather. They believe in something better. We are being reborn, we are standing back up. Truth always triumphs over evil. People believe that, they hope for that. In his Easter message, Zelenskyy reflected on suffering and the struggle to hold on to faith. Each of us has lived through such moments ... and you ask: God, why is this happening to us?He also mentioned the deadly missile strike on Sumy during Palm Sunday, and the bombardments of Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa, and other cities, saying people tend to turn inward when they cant make sense of things.Something invisible yet powerful within us doesnt let us give up. It shows us where to find the light, so we dont lose our way. HANNA ARHIROVA Arhirova is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine. She is based in Kyiv. twitter instagram mailto

The motorcade of U.S. Vice President JD Vance is seen en route to Vatican, in Rome, Italy, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)2025-04-20T09:53:41Z VATICAN CITY (AP) U.S. Vice President JD Vance met briefly with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday as the pontiff recovers from pneumonia.Vances motorcade entered Vatican City through a side gate and parked near Francis hotel residence while Easter Mass was being celebrated in St. Peters Square. Francis, who has greatly cut back his workload to recover, delegated the celebration of the Mass to another cardinal.The Vatican said they met for a few minutes at the Domus Santa Marta to exchange Easter greetings.Vance and the pope have tangled sharply over migration and the Trump administrations plans to deport migrants en masse. Francis has made caring for migrants a hallmark of his papacy.Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, met with the Vatican secretary of state and foreign minister on Saturday.___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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Elizabeth Mahon, owner of baby store Three Littles, unpacks strollers and other inventory ordered by customers ahead of tariff-driven price increases at her Union Market location in Washington, on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)2025-04-20T10:40:01Z Sam Rutledge and his wife have a baby due in mid-July, so they thought they had a few more months to research and buy the gear theyll need.But President Donald Trumps tariff announcement in early April turned the couples slow walk into a sprint. In the past few weeks, theyve bought two strollers, a car seat, a nursery glider, a crib and a high chair. All of them are made overseas.These are all pretty expensive under normal conditions, but when it became clear tariffs were coming we decided to buy them in case they became prohibitively expensive, said Rutledge, who is a high school physics teacher.Raising a child in America has never been cheap. In the first year alone, it costs an average of $20,384, according to Baby Center, a parenting website. But tariffs ranging from 10% for imports from most countries to 145% for imports from China -- will make it many times more expensive for new parents. An estimated 90% of the core baby care products and the parts that go into making baby paraphernalia from bottles and diaper pails to strollers and car seats are made in Asia, according to the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, a U.S. trade group. The vast majority come from China. Overseas manufacturing has been the norm in our industry for decades, said Lisa Trofe, the associations executive director.It wasnt always this way. When Munchkin Inc. CEO Steven Dunn founded his company in 1991, it made baby bottles in California with tooling from New Jersey. But over the years, the manufacturers he used shut down and the cost of doing business in the U.S. skyrocketed. Now, about 60% of Munchkins 500 products, from a $5 sippy cup to a $254 Night Owl Stroller with headlights, are made in China. In response to the tariffs, Dunn halted orders from China and instituted a hiring freeze at Munchkins California headquarters, where 320 people are employed. Dunn expects Munchkin will run out of some products within three months. There is no possibility of being able to pass on those tariffs to customers in the form of price increases, he said.Dunn said he tried to reduce his dependence on China in recent years, shifting some manufacturing to Vietnam and Mexico. He also spent a year communicating with American manufacturers to see if one could make Munchkins new Flow Nipple Shield, which allows a breastfeeding mother to see if her milk is flowing. But most said they couldnt make the complex silicone product, Dunn said. Its now made in Vietnam.Theres not enough tool makers and manufacturing expertise and automation and skilled labor in the U.S. to make the thousands of products the juvenile industry needs, Dunn said.Multiple baby brands and companies contacted by The Associated Press didnt respond or said they werent commenting on the tariffs, including Graco, Chicco, Britax, Nuna, Dorel Juvenile, UppaBaby, Evenflo and Bugaboo.The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association said it asked the Trump administration for a tariff exemption, arguing that baby products are essential for childrens well-being. Trump exempted some baby products, including car seats and high chairs, from import taxes during his first administration. But he hasnt said whether he would consider doing so again. The Associated Press left a message seeking comment with the White House.Nurture&, a company that makes a popular nursery glider and other baby furniture, said its trying to be transparent about the impact of tariffs. In a recent email, the company told customers it started lowering prices on some items when the tariffs hit. The company, which was founded in 2020, said it would keep those lower prices in place until April 30, but after that it may not be able to absorb the full cost of the import duties. These are large purchases, these are investments, and this is a very sensitive life stage, Nurture& Chief Merchant Jill Gruys said. We want people to make the best decision for their budget and their family.Elizabeth Mahon, the owner of Three Littles, a baby store in Washington, said shes worried the tariffs will make essential products too expensive for some families. Mahon volunteers twice per month at the Department of Motor Vehicles, where she teaches people how to buckle their kids safely into car seats. Some families still must be persuaded to use car seats, she said. Mahon fears higher prices would be another deterrent. No one is dying if they cant buy a toy, but if they dont have access to car seats, kids will get seriously injured, she said.At her own store, Mahon is getting notices that some manufacturers plan to introduce steep price increases in May. She feels lucky she could rent a storage facility and build up inventory ahead of the tariffs. For many small businesses, she said, the extra costs are a death sentence. At The Little Seedling baby shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, owner Molly Ging said she would normally be putting in Christmas orders at this time of year. Instead, shes sorting through price increase notices from many of the vendors she works with. Its a lot to manage, and I just have no idea how its going to play out, she said.Business is brisk right now, with customers hoping to beat tariff-related price increases. But Ging worries about her 13 employees all moms who bring their kids to work and about whether she can maintain enough inventory to meet future demand.Babies dont stop being born because theres tariffs, she said. DEE-ANN DURBIN Durbin is an Associated Press business writer focusing on the food and beverage industry. She has also covered the auto industry and state and national politics in her nearly 30-year career with the AP. twitter mailto

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The Richard Bolling federal building, at center, rises among other downtown landmarks, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)2025-04-20T12:31:10Z KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) In her 28 years working for the federal government, Shea Giagnorio provided day care for the children of U.S. soldiers, training for employees and oversight for safety net programs.Public service took her from Germany to Alaska to Kansas City, Missouri, where she moved last year for a long-sought promotion.But when she reported to a downtown federal building for work one day last month, her access card did not work. After a co-worker let her into the building, she checked her email: Her entire office had been let go in the latest mass firing ordered by President Donald Trumps administration.The 46-year-old single mom has canceled her apartment lease, is selling her new furniture and may have to pull her daughter of college. She wonders what will happen to the at-risk populations her team helped serve at the Administration for Children and Families, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Not only me, but all these peoples lives are turned upside down, Giagnorio said.The impact of the cuts by Trump appointees and Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency can be found everywhere in the Kansas City metropolitan area, which has long been a major hub for federal agencies about 1,000 miles away from Washington, D.C. Money once promised to the region for public health, environmental, diversity, food aid and an array of other programs has been axed, and thousands of local jobs are in jeopardy. With nearly 30,000 workers, the federal government is the largest employer in the region. One longtime Kansas City economic researcher said he believes the region could lose 6,000 good-paying federal jobs, which in turn would wipe out thousands of others in service industries. An IRS worker said thousands of her coworkers fear they will lose their jobs, even as they put in overtime processing tax refunds in a building so crowded that they struggle to find desks. Under pressure, hundreds more agreed this week to retire early or take a buyout. A U.S. Department of Agriculture grant revocation disrupted a historically Black neighborhoods plan to expand its program growing fresh produce in a food desert. A nearby pantry reduced its monthly grocery allotment for those in need after federal cuts left food banks shorthanded.The withdrawal of federal funding for new lab equipment and vaccines means the city may be less prepared for the next pandemic.A landlord may have to sell an office building for a loss after his federal tenants were among several that abruptly canceled local leases, adding a glut of real estate to the market.And the citys Tesla showroom has become a spot of weekly protest. Activists are seeking to have it closed by pushing a referendum intended to drive Musks electric car company out of Missouri.HHS: Cuts to service for low-income families Shea Giagnorio, left, talks to a recruiter at a job fair on the day she was laid off from her job at the Administration for Children and Families, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Shea Giagnorio, left, talks to a recruiter at a job fair on the day she was laid off from her job at the Administration for Children and Families, Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The nations health department is slashing its full-time national workforce from 82,000 to 62,000. Among them were Giagnorio and her colleagues in her agencys 10 regional offices around the country that helped deliver services through programs such as Head Start and emergency assistance for low-income families.The poor will become even more poor now, Giagnorio said. If were taking away social safety nets, what is the end result? If were not helping homeless people anymore, will they freeze to death in the winter? Is that what we want? Giagnorio, who spent most of her career as a U.S. Department of Defense civilian employee at bases in Germany and Alaska, is on paid leave until her June 2 termination. She wasted no time looking for another position after being locked out of her office, visiting a job fair hours later that Kansas City hosted for displaced federal workers.But she doubts she will be able to find a public sector salary anywhere near the $117,000 she made and doesnt know how her skills translate to the private sector. She worries about losing the health insurance that covers her family and having to pull her daughter out of Maastricht University in the Netherlands after her first year.For now, she cant get any answers from the agency to basic questions about her financial future. Does she still qualify for an early retirement buyout offer that had been extended? How much would she receive and when? IRS: A rush to Tax Day, then layoffs and buyouts IRS customer service representative Shannon Ellis, stands outside a processing center where hundreds of her colleagues have taken buyouts and others face potential layoffs, Monday, April 14, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) IRS customer service representative Shannon Ellis, stands outside a processing center where hundreds of her colleagues have taken buyouts and others face potential layoffs, Monday, April 14, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The days leading up to the April 15 tax filing deadline were always going to be busy for workers at the IRS processing center near Union Station, but this year, they were particularly stressful.The IRS is considering a downsizing that could cut as many as 20,000 employees, or 25% of its workforce, in the coming weeks. The roughly 6,000 employees in Kansas City faced agonizing choices: decide whether to accept resignation or early retirement offers by April 14 or risk losing their jobs later.Its a kick in the stomach to people that are doing everything they can to meet whats required of them, said Shannon Ellis, a longtime IRS customer service representative and president of the union representing local workers. By Thursday, at least 238 Kansas City workers had taken the buyout offers and were expected to leave the agency in coming weeks. Ellis noted many of those same workers had been told they were essential and required to work overtime during tax season, some seven days per week.Their building has been overcrowded since the IRS ordered remote employees back to the office in March. Workers sometimes struggle to find open desks. Some have to bring their own ink pens and share date stamps to perform basic job functions after budget cuts have depleted supplies.Ellis said IRS workers share the publics disdain for taxes but understand that collecting them is necessary to support important programs like Social Security. She said shes decided to take a roll of the dice and stay in her job, spurning an early retirement offer.I love my job, she said. Im not going to let the bully force me out.USDA: An urban food desert loses help Volunteers weed garden plots in preparation for planting vegetables at the Ivanhoe neighborhood community garden, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Volunteers weed garden plots in preparation for planting vegetables at the Ivanhoe neighborhood community garden, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Urban farmer Rosie Warren grew 2,500 pounds of fruits and vegetables last year in community gardens to help feed the Ivanhoe neighborhood, where many Black families were concentrated under housing segregation policies of much of the 20th century.Warren harvested greens, potatoes and watermelons as part of an effort to address food insecurity and health concerns in a neighborhood challenged by blight, crime and poverty. She was ecstatic last fall when the USDA awarded the neighborhood council a three-year, $130,000 grant to expand the gardens and farmers market serving the area. Plans called for hiring an assistant to help Warren with growing more food and to add another market day aimed at serving more low-income older adults, mothers and children.In February, the council received a notice terminating the grant. The USDA had determined the award no longer effectuates agency priorities regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and activities. A client picks up staples at the Bishop Sullivan Center food pantry, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) A client picks up staples at the Bishop Sullivan Center food pantry, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More On a recent morning, Warren took a break from preparing the soil for planting to ponder the USDAs decision.What do you do if you dont support providing access to food to people who dont have it? Wouldnt this make your job easier? she said. I think its absurd. It doesnt make any sense.Other food aid in the neighborhood has taken a hit at a time when demand is rising.At the Bishop Sullivan Center food pantry, hundreds of low-income families are getting fewer groceries in their monthly pickups after USDA halted $500 million worth of deliveries to food banks. That included a planned order for 41,000 cases of meat, dairy and other commodities to a bank serving Kansas City.It just means giving families less food, said pantry director Christopher Lowrance, who said hes able to provide less chicken and other meat products. Its as simple as that.Public health: The city lab misses a needed upgrade Laboratory technician Asfaw Ayana examines a sample at the Kansas City Department of Public Health, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Laboratory technician Asfaw Ayana examines a sample at the Kansas City Department of Public Health, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More The Kansas City Health Departments laboratory is badly in need of an upgrade, with equipment dating to when the building opened in the 1990s.One basement space is water damaged and rarely used. Another has equipment that is so inadequate that the city has to ship samples to a state laboratory 150 miles away, causing inefficiencies, agonizing waits for results and delayed response times.Kansas Citys health director, Dr. Marvia Jones, made it a top priority to modernize the labs this year after studying their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her agency planned to use federal funding to purchase new microscopes and testing equipment. That early disease detection allows you to do more rapid intervention, more rapid treatment, more rapid isolation, she said.But the funding for lab upgrades was abruptly eliminated last month as part of the Trump administrations $11.4 billion cancellation of federal grants to states for public health. That news crushed the departments carefully laid plans, Jones said.Jones said the cuts, $3 million and counting for her department, mean the city will also have fewer vaccines to administer to low-income residents.It would be a sad shame for us to be in a worse position than we were before the pandemic, she said. We had processed all of our lessons learned, and then now this happens.Real estate: A landlord considers selling his buildingAmir Minoofar was surprised when two federal agencies notified him that they planned to vacate the office building hes owned for a decade in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City.Minoofar said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had recently agreed to extend its lease until 2029. The National Labor Relations Board, meanwhile, was paying month to month.Minoofar said the government initially notified him the agencies would be out of the building in August, part of a DOGE-led blitz of hundreds of lease cancellations that has been marked by errors and subsequent reversals. In the Kansas City metropolitan area, the government is moving to cancel 10 leases totaling 219,000 square feet that cost more than $4 million in annual rent, according to DOGEs online Wall of Receipts.Minoofar said he was more recently told the agencies will likely have to stay past August and their departure date is now unclear. He said he may have to sell the building, which has an appraised value of $2.9 million, and take a loss because of the difficult office market.But he said he understands why the government would unload the space, which he said has often been sparsely used since the rise of telework during the pandemic.Businesswise, it makes sense for government to cut costs, he said. A lot of people are going to be unhappy but its a huge gigantic family and they need to take care of it. You cannot keep everybody happy.Tesla: Elon Musks car company faces a statewide campaign Demonstrators protest against Elon Musk and Department of Government Efficiency cuts outside a Tesla dealership, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Demonstrators protest against Elon Musk and Department of Government Efficiency cuts outside a Tesla dealership, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More With liberal anger growing at Musks role in the government, protesters have gathered Saturdays outside his Tesla dealership in Kansas City to denounce the cuts.State records show Tesla sales there have dropped amid calls for a boycott. Now, enough voter anger could even force the business to close.Organizers of a newly launched Unplug Musk initiative are seeking to use democracy to strike at the worlds richest man by changing state law to ban car manufacturers from selling directly to consumers. They say they plan to soon begin gathering the 111,000 signatures of registered voters that they would need to put the change on the statewide ballot in November 2026. If approved by voters, it would force the closure of the Tesla showrooms in Kansas City and St. Louis.Missouris governor, Republican Mike Kehoe, a former auto dealer himself, sponsored a 2014 bill when he was a state senator aimed at requiring manufacturers like Tesla to sell through local dealers. The bill passed the Senate but died in the House after Tesla lobbied against it. The referendum revives that plan.Theres not a soul in this country whos against trying to weed out government inefficiency but just taking a chain saw to peoples lives and their health care is a ridiculous way to achieve that. And it is going to cause some devastating impacts, said organizer Brad Ketcher, a prominent Democrat and lawyer who helped draft the states 2022 marijuana legalization referendum.The administrations response: Temporary hardshipAn HHS spokesperson said the agencys downsizing, including cutting jobs and consolidating divisions, would save money and make the organization more efficient. As for the $11.4 billion in grant funding cuts, the spokesperson said, HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a nonexistent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.The IRS has offered a similar rationale for its downsizing, saying it is making process improvements that will ultimately more efficiently serve the public.Musk said last year that Trumps budget cuts would cause a temporary hardship that would soon put the economy on stronger footing. One local economic researcher said it remained unclear just how deep that hardship will be in Kansas City, including whether it will just slow growth or cause population losses.Its a big burden thats being placed on a narrow group of people, said Frank Lenk, director of the Office of Economic Development at the Mid-America Regional Council, a nonprofit of city and county governments in the Kansas City region. It will definitely take some of the steam out of the local economy.Trump has credited DOGE with helping end the flagrant waste of taxpayer dollars, saving billions to help improve the nations finances. The White House didnt respond to questions about Kansas City. But Trump said recently he would invite the Kansas City Chiefs to the White House to make up for a 2020 Super Bowl victory celebration that was canceled during the pandemic.__Associated Press writer Heather Hollingsworth contributed to this report. RYAN J. FOLEY Foley covers state and national news for The Associated Press and is based in Iowa City, Iowa. A 20-year AP veteran, hes known for investigative reporting and using open records laws to obtain information. twitter mailto

COVID-19: A Case Study in MisinformationDuring the pandemic, misinformation spread faster than the virus. People shared fake “cures,” claimed the virus was a hoax, or argued that vaccines were dangerous. And many believed it — often with tragic results. Hospitals filled with patients who refused to take precautions because they’d been misled. Families lost loved ones....

The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)2025-04-20T13:54:39Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court acted literally in the middle of the night and without sufficient explanation in blocking the Trump administration from deporting any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th-century wartime law, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a sharp dissent that castigated the seven-member majority.Joined by fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, Alito said there was dubious factual support for granting the request in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union. The group contended that immigration authorities appeared to be moving to restart such removals under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The majority did not provide a detailed explanation in the order early Saturday, as is typical, but the court previously said deportations could proceed only after those about to be removed had a chance to argue their case in court and were given a reasonable time to contest their pending removals. Both the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law, Alito said in the dissent released hours after the courts intervention against Republican President Donald Trumps administration. The justices brief order directed the administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center until further order of this court.Alito said that unprecedented relief was hastily and prematurely granted. He wrote that it was not clear whether the Supreme Court had jurisdiction at this stage of the case, saying that not all legal avenues had been played out in lower courts and the justices had not had the chance to hear the governments side.The only papers before this Court were those submitted by the applicants. The Court had not ordered or received a response by the Government regarding either the applicants factual allegations or any of the legal issues presented by the application. And the Court did not have the benefit of a Government response filed in any of the lower courts either, Alito said. Alito said the legal filings, while alleging that the applicants were in imminent danger of removal, provided little concrete support for that allegation. He noted that while the court did not hear directly from the government regarding any planned deportations under the Alien Enemies Act in this case, a government lawyer in a different matter had told a U.S. District Court in a hearing Friday evening that no such deportations were then planned to occur either Friday or Saturday. In sum, literally in the middle of the night, the Court issued unprecedented and legally questionable relief without giving the lower courts a chance to rule, without hearing from the opposing party, within eight hours of receiving the application, with dubious factual support for its order, and without providing any explanation for its order, Alito wrote. I refused to join the Courts order because we had no good reason to think that, under the circumstances, issuing an order at midnight was necessary or appropriate. Both the Executive and the Judiciary have an obligation to follow the law. The administration has filed paperwork urging the high court to reconsider its hold. On Friday, two federal judges refused to step in as lawyers for the men launched a desperate legal campaign to prevent their deportation. Early Saturday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused to issue an order protecting the detainees from being deported.The ACLU had already sued to block deportations of two Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet facility and sought an order barring removals of any immigrants in the region under the Alien Enemies Act.In the emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan men held there of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which would make them subject to Trumps use of the law.It has only been invoked three previous times in U.S. history, most recently during World War II to hold Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The administration contends it gives them the power to swiftly remove immigrants they identified as members of the gang, regardless of their immigration status. Following the unanimous high court order on April 9, federal judges in Colorado, New York and southern Texas promptly issued orders barring removal of detainees under the law until the administration provides a process for them to make claims in court. But there had been no such order issued in the area of Texas that covers Bluebonnet, which is 24 miles north of Abilene in the far northern end of the state.Some Venezuelans subject to Trumps use of the law have been sent to El Salvador and housed in its notorious main prison.

FILE.- Mourners gather around the bodies of 8 Red Crescent emergency responders, recovered in Rafah a week after an Israeli attack, as they are transported for burial from a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, file)2025-04-20T13:23:29Z JERUSALEM (AP) An Israeli probe into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics last month in Gaza by Israeli forces said Sunday it has found professional failures and a deputy commander will be fired.Israel at first claimed that the medics vehicles did not have emergency signals on when troops opened fire but later backtracked. Cellphone video recovered from one of the medics contradicted Israels initial account.The military investigation found that the deputy battalion commander, due to poor night visibility, assessed that the ambulances belonged to Hamas militants. Video footage obtained from the incident shows the ambulances had lights flashing and logos visible as they pulled up to help another ambulance that came under fire earlier. The teams do not appear to be acting unusually or in a threatening manner as three medics emerge and head toward it. Their vehicles immediately come under a barrage of gunfire that goes on for more than five minutes with brief pauses.Eight Red Crescent personnel, six Civil Defense workers and a U.N. staffer were killed in the shooting before dawn on March 23 by troops conducting operations in Tel al-Sultan, a district of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later to dig out the bodies. The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said the slain men were targeted at close range. The Israeli military investigation said the Palestinians were killed due to an operational misunderstanding by Israeli forces, and that a separate incident 15 minutes later, when Israeli soldiers shot at a Palestinian U.N. vehicle, was a breach of orders.It was not immediately clear whether the military investigation found that any of those killed were Hamas militants. Israels military initially said nine were militants. The investigation found that the decision to crush the ambulances was wrong but denied that there was an attempt to conceal the event.The examination found no evidence to support claims of execution or that any of the deceased were bound before or after the shooting, it added.The statement on the findings concluded by saying that Israels military regrets the harm caused to uninvolved civilians. The one survivor was detained for investigation and remains in custody for further questioning.The investigations findings have been turned over the Military Advocate General, which can decide whether to file charges. It is meant to be an independent body, with oversight by Israels attorney general and Supreme Court.There are no outside investigations of the killings underway.Israel has accused Hamas of moving and hiding its fighters inside ambulances and emergency vehicles, as well as in hospitals and other civilian infrastructure, arguing that justifies strikes on them. Medical personnel largely deny the accusations.Israeli strikes have killed more than 150 emergency responders from the Red Crescent and Civil Defense, most of them while on duty, as well as over 1,000 health workers during the war, according to the U.N. The Israeli military rarely investigates such incidents. Palestinians and international human rights groups have repeatedly accused Israels military of failing to properly investigate or whitewashing misconduct by its troops.The International Criminal Court, established by the international community as a court of last resort, has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant of war crimes. Israel, which is not a member of the court, has long asserted that its legal system is capable of investigating the army, and Netanyahu has accused the ICC of antisemitism.The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas currently holds 59 hostages, 24 of them believed to be alive. Israels offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. Around 90% of the population is displaced, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.Frustration has been growing on both sides, with rare public protests against Hamas in Gaza and continued weekly rallies in Israel pressing the government to reach a deal to bring all hostages home.___Follow coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war MELANIE LIDMAN Lidman is an Associated Press reporter based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs are underway and it's the drip in goal that could potentially steal the show.

The Marlins have lost left fielder Griffin Conine for at least two months after he suffered a dislocated left shoulder during Saturday's game vs. the Phillies.

Shohei Ohtani returned to the Dodgers' lineup Sunday for the series finale against the Rangers, activated off the paternity list after his wife gave birth to the couple's first child.

Participants take part in the Corgi Derby at Musselburgh Racecourse as part of its Easter Saturday race day celebration, in Musselburgh, Scotland, Saturday April 19, 2025. (Lesley Martin/PA via AP)2025-04-20T10:43:19Z LONDON (AP) Some of the fastest canines on four very short legs have raced for glory in Scotlands annual Corgi Derby.The Musselburgh Racecourse Corgi Derby was first held in 2022 to mark Queen Elizabeth IIs 70 years on the throne. The late monarch was a devoted corgi fan who owned almost 30 of the breed over the decades, along with a few dorgis a corgi-dachshund cross. Four-year-old Juno beat a 16-strong field of dashing dogs dressed in bright sweaters over the 230-foot (70-meter) race on Saturday at the racecourse outside Edinburgh. She came from behind in the final stretch to beat last years winner, Rodney.The winner and her owners, Alisdair Tew and Fran Brandon, were presented with a trophy and dog treats by tennis coach Judy Murray, mother of Scottish star Andy Murray.Tew told the BBC that we trained her for this last year but this year we just resorted to just letting her chasing things, particularly seagulls on Edinburghs Portobello Beach. Juno is always ready for treats - that is probably why she won, he said.Elizabeths love of corgis began in 1933 when her father, King George VI, brought home a Pembroke Welsh corgi they named Dookie Corgis were often by Elizabeths side in the decades before her death in September 2022 accompanying her on official tours, reportedly sleeping in their own room at Buckingham Palace and occasionally nipping the ankles of visitors or royal family members.Three corgis even appeared alongside the queen as she climbed into James Bonds waiting helicopter in the spoof video that opened the 2012 London Olympics.

A woman is reflected in a picture as she looks at a makeshift memorial at the scene of a mass shooting at a shopping complex Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019, in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)2025-04-20T04:03:39Z DALLAS (AP) The long-running criminal case against a Texas gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack targeting Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in El Paso in 2019 is on the verge of coming to a close. Patrick Crusius, 26, is expected to plead guilty Monday to capital murder and receive a sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole for the massacre near the U.S.-Mexico border. El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya said last month he was offering Crusius a plea deal and that he wouldnt face the death penalty on the state charge.Crusius has already been sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in federal court after pleading guilty in 2023 to hate crime and weapons charges. Under the Biden administration, federal prosecutors also took the death penalty off the table.Crusius is expected to serve his time in a state prison. Crusius initially was arrested by local authorities and will enter the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice if he is sentenced on the state charges, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said.Heres what to know about the deadly attack on Aug. 3, 2019, and its aftermath: The attack Crusius was 21 years old when authorities say he drove for more than 10 hours from his home in suburban Dallas to El Paso and opened fire at the Walmart, which is popular with shoppers from Mexico and the U.S. Prosecutors have said Crusius was wearing earmuffs that muted the sound of gunfire when he began shooting people in the parking lot.He then moved inside the store and continued firing an AK-style rifle, cornering shoppers at a bank near the entrance where nine were killed before shooting at the checkout area and people in aisles.Exiting Walmart, he fired on a passing car, killing an elderly man and wounding his wife.Crusius was apprehended shortly after and confessed to officers who stopped him at an intersection, according to police. Targeting Hispanic shoppers In a posting to an online message board just before the massacre, Crusius, a white, community-college dropout, said the shooting was in response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas. He said Hispanics were going to take over the government and economy. On social media, he appeared consumed by the nations immigration debate, tweeting #BuildtheWall and posts praising the hard-line border policies of Republican President Donald Trump, who was in his first term at the time.After the shooting, Crusius told officers that he had targeted Mexicans.Joe Spencer, one of Crusius attorneys, on Thursday described Crusius as an individual with a broken brain. Spencer said Crusius has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which can be marked by hallucinations, delusions and mood swings. The victimsThe people who were killed ranged in age from a 15-year-old high school athlete to grandparents. They included immigrants and Mexican nationals who had crossed the U.S. border on routine shopping trips.They included Jordan Anchondo and Andre Anchondo, who were killed while shopping with their 2-month-old child, Paul, who survived. Authorities have said Jordan Anchondo shielded the baby from gunfire while her husband shielded them both.Guillermo Memo Garcia and his wife Jessica Coca Garcia were fundraising for their daughters soccer team in the parking lot when they were both shot. She suffered leg wounds but recovered. He died from his injuries nearly nine months after the shooting, raising the death toll to 23.A week after the shooting, Coca Garcia rose from her wheelchair to give a speech across the road from the county jail where Crusius was being held.Racism is something I always wanted to think didnt exist, she said. Obviously, it does. A long-running court caseMontoya said he decided to offer the plea deal because a majority of victims relatives were eager for the case to be resolved. He acknowledged not all the families agreed. Montoya, a Democrat, said he supports the death penalty and believes Crusius deserves it, but the case might not have gone to trial until 2028 if his office had continued seeking the death penalty.When Montoya took office in January, he became the fourth district attorney to oversee the case in nearly six years. One of his predecessors resigned in 2022 under pressure over her handling of the case. He said the pandemic also caused delays. Stephanie Melendez, whose father, David Johnson, died shielding his wife and granddaughter, said she initially wanted Crusius to get the death penalty but as the case dragged on she wanted it to end.I just wanted it to be over, Melendez said. I was done reliving everything. I was done going to court for hours. I was done with the briefings that happened after that would last hours and it was just the same talk over and over again. We were just ready to be done with it all because, honestly, its like reliving the trauma over and over again.

Shakur Stevenson will defend his WBC lightweight championship against William Zepeda, while Edgar Berlanga will face Hamzah Sheeraz on July 12 in New York City.

Holger Rune defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the Barcelona Open final Sunday to lift his first title in two years.

2025-04-20T12:22:32Z MOORE, Okla. (AP) Two people, including a child, have died in Oklahoma flooding as meteorologists warned Sunday of further flooding, thunderstorms and tornadoes from the Midwest to the South.Police in Moore, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City, received dozens of reports of high-water incidents over the weekend including two cars stranded in flood waters Saturday evening. One car was swept away under a bridge, and police said they were able to rescue some people, but a woman and 12-year-old boy were found dead.This was a historical weather event that impacted roads and resulted in dozens of high-water incidents across the city, Moore police said in a statement Sunday. Moore has about 63,000 people. The National Weather Service issued flooding and severe thunderstorm warnings in large swaths of Oklahoma as well as portions of Texas, Missouri, Arkansas and southern Illinois amid a storm system from the southern Plains to the Upper Midwest. Meteorologists predicted heavy rainfall and potential tornadoes in Arkansas and Missouri. On Easter Sunday, communities were beginning to assess the damage wreaked by several confirmed tornadoes throughout south central and southeast Oklahoma, according to the National Weather Service. A few thousand customers were without power Sunday morning. Bill Macon, Marshall County emergency management director, said their early assessments show a tornado skipped and jumped around over a path of six to seven miles (about 10 to 11 kilometers) in the rural area that left at least 20 homes damaged, some destroyed completely. Macon said people were mostly home when the late night tornado came through, downing huge trees, dozens of electric poles and power lines, but there had not been reports of injuries or fatalities.We take those things pretty serious down here in Oklahoma, Macon said of the NWS warnings. One Oklahoma town that was still recovering from an early March tornado also saw one come through late Saturday. The north side of Ada, home to about 16,000 people, sustained damage that the National Weather Service said was at least an EF1 tornado based on a preliminary survey.In a video posted to Facebook, Jason Keck, Ada director of emergency management, said the tornado seemed to track across the north side of town toward the North Hills Shopping Center, leaving a lot of damage to buildings, power lines and trees.

Leicester City have been condemned to an immediate return to the Championship after their relegation from the Premier League was confirmed with a defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.

Ronald Acuna Jr. took to social media Sunday to criticize the way Braves manager Brian Snitker handled Jarred Kelenic being thrown out at second base after failing to hustle out of the batter's box on a long drive Saturday.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen speaks to the press in La Libertad, El Salvador, where he arrived regarding Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland and deported to El Salvador by the Trump administration, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)2025-04-20T18:13:50Z NEW YORK (AP) Now, its Chris Van Hollens turn.The mild-mannered Maryland senator has suddenly emerged as a leading figure in the resistance to Donald Trumps norm-busting presidency, becoming the latest in a small but growing collection of Democratic officials testing the strength of their political power in a weakened party with no clear leader.Van Hollens rise follows his decision to travel 2,000 miles to El Salvador last week to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly deported and federal courts have said should be returned.Van Hollen did not secure the release of the Salvadoran citizen who had been living in Maryland. But simply by meeting with him, in defiance of Trump and his ally El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, Van Hollen created a new sense of hope and momentum for Abrego Garcias family and the anti-Trump resistance. Sen. Van Hollens leadership in this moment is exactly how Democrats should be pushing back against a wannabe dictator like Donald Trump calling for law and order over chaos and adhering to the Constitution instead of a tyrant, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin told The Associated Press. No matter how much Trump tries to act out his dictatorial fantasies, Democrats will always defend democracy when its on the line. Van Hollens emergence in a critical national debate offers a fresh window into the Democratic Partys monthslong leadership carousel as it struggles to counter a series of Trump administration policies with far-reaching consequences, from slashing the federal workforce to stripping funding from universities, pushing back against court orders and launching a trade war thats rattling the global economy. Looking for the face of the Democratic PartyThe Democrats most visible elected leaders, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer, both of New York, have lost the confidence of many progressive activists for not fighting Trump with the urgency or creativity that the moment demands.Ezra Levin, co-founder of the resistance group Indivisible, said the growing protest movement is directed both at Trump and the Schumers of the world, those who want us to roll over and play dead.Courage is impressive and contagious, Levin said, noting that hes hearing a ton of positive feedback for (Van Hollen) among our folks on the ground. He said the reaction is akin to the outpouring of support for Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., earlier in the month.Booker had stepped into the leadership void by delivering a record-breaking 25-hour speech on the Senate floor that briefly served as a rallying point for the frustrated anti-Trump movement. Concerned voters also have packed into rallies hosted by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who have launched a national Stop Oligarchy tour.At the same time, potential 2028 presidential contenders such as Govs. Gavin Newsom of California and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan have gone the other way by downplaying their Trump criticism at times. Others, including Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Wes Moore of Maryland, have largely avoided stepping into the national debate. I dont think its ever wrong to fight for the constitutional rights of one person, because if we give up on one persons rights we threaten everybodys rights, Van Hollen said Sunday on CNNs State of the Union. I think a lot of voters both Republican and Democrat are tired of elected officials and politicians who just put their finger to the wind. And I would say that anyone whos not prepared to stand up and fight for the Constitution doesnt deserve to lead. Critics in both parties go on the attackVan Hollens trip was praised by many on the left, but there was no shortage of detractors even within his own party.Newsom described the Democratic Partys focus on the Abrego Garcia case as the distraction of the day that allows Republicans to avoid tough questions about Trumps tariffs, which have upended global trade and threaten to worsen inflation. Indeed, Republicans have embraced the Abrego Garcia debate. White House border czar Tom Homan called Van Hollens move disgusting. Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller, speaking at the White House, said Van Hollens heart is reserved for an illegal alien whos a member of a foreign terrorist organization.It seems to me that these Democrats are representing the illegal aliens against the very constituents, the U.S. citizens, that theyre supposed to be protecting, said Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., also on CNN.When pressed repeatedly, Emmer did not say whether he backed Trumps suggestion that U.S. citizens convicted of serious crimes could be jailed in other countries such as El Salvador.Abrego Garcia came to the United States illegally in 2013 at 16, but an immigration judge in 2019 granted him legal protection that allowed him to stay and work in the U.S. He has a valid work permit. His wife and their three children are U.S. citizens. The administration insists that Abrego Garcia is a MS-13 gang member, although he has not been charged with any crimes. Van Hollens long pathVan Hollen is no stranger to national politics, although he has perhaps spent as much time shaping the political landscape during his two decades in Congress as fighting on its front lines. Since he joined Congress in 2003, the 66-year-old attorney has done his turn as head of both the House and Senate campaign arms, a rare feat that put him at the center of his partys national political strategy.That said, he has a lower national profile than other Democrats who have stepped into the spotlight in recent months. Van Hollen has never run for president nor hinted he may. Sanders nearly won the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, while Booker ran unsuccessfully for president that year and told the AP recently that he would not rule out another bid. Still, Van Hollen has been especially aggressive against Trump this year. He was a co-host of the first major rally against Trump and Elon Musks cuts at the U.S. Agency for International Development, a protest that brought out a dozen members of Congress. Given that so many government agencies and workers live in Maryland, the senator has been a leading advocate against Trumps cuts, including those at NASA, the National Institutes of Health and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among others. On Sunday, he was interviewed on five major new shows.He repeatedly pushed back against questions on allegations about Abrego Garcias gang affiliations. Like Democrats across the country, he tried to cast the debate as not about immigration but about Trumps refusal to follow the law.A federal appeals court issued a blistering order Thursday raising serious constitutional concerns about the Trump administrations behavior.The three-judge panel said the Republican presidents government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.Van Hollen highlighted those concerns.My whole point here is if you deprive one man of his constitutional rights, you threaten the constitutional rights of everybody, he said on Fox News Sunday. Im not vouching for the individual. Im vouching for his rights under the Constitution.

Oklahoma City opened a 35-point lead in the first half of Game 1 vs. Memphis, the biggest first-half lead in any playoff Game 1 since at least 1996-97.

Man United suffered another home loss, this time to Wolves, but at least debutant Tyler Fredricson was something to be positive about.

Oscar Piastri moved into the lead of the drivers' championship for the first time in his career after securing his third victory of the season at Sunday's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Chelsea will need to produce the best performance in their 33-year history to overturn a 4-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Women's Champions League.

Liverpool's fans were already celebrating the title in the win at Leicester. The team itself will soon join in.

Reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen slipped up with a 1-1 draw at St Pauli on Sunday to drop eight points behind leaders Bayern Munich as their slim hopes of defending the Bundesliga title were all but ended.

Oscar Piastri put Australia on top of the Formula 1 world championship for the first time since 2010 on Sunday but the McLaren driver said he was still a long way from where he wanted to be despite his Saudi Arabian Grand Prix victory.

If not for Fede Valverde's golazo, Real might have lost LaLiga on Sunday.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele waves as he departs following a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump, Monday, April 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)2025-04-20T22:08:14Z SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) El Salvador President Nayib Bukele proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela on Sunday, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the United States his government has kept imprisoned for what he called political prisoners in Venezuela.In a post on the social media platform X, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the governments electoral crackdown last year.The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud, he wrote. However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and surrender of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners you hold. It comes as El Salvador has come under sharp international scrutiny for accepting deportees from Venezuela and El Salvador deported by the Trump administration, which accused them of being alleged gang members with little evidence. Deportees are locked up in a mega-prison know as the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), built by the Bukele government during his crackdown on the countrys gangs. Controversy has only continued after it was revealed that an American citizen, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was among those deported, and court battles have broken out fighting over his return. Criticisms continued on Sunday, with El Salvadors archbishop Jos Luis Escobar Alas calling on Bukele not to allow our country to become a big international prison.Despite the controversy, Bukele on Sunday maintained that all of the people he has kept in the prison were part of part of an operation against gangs like the Tren de Aragua in the United States. MEGAN JANETSKY Megan Janetsky covers migration, conflict, human rights and politics in Mexico and Central America for The AP based in Mexico City. Previously, she covered Cuba and the Caribbean for The AP and worked as freelance journalist in Colombia, reporting across South America. twitter instagram facebook mailto

Jay Sigel watches his tee shot on the 12th hole during the second round of the Senior PGA Farmers Charity Classic, Saturday, May 25, 2002, in Ada, Mich. (AP Photo/Al Goldis,File)2025-04-20T20:51:32Z BERWYN, Pa. (AP) Jay Sigel, who was widely viewed as Americas best amateur since Bobby Jones, has died of pancreatic cancer, the U.S. Golf Association said Sunday.The USGA said Sigel died Saturday at age 81. Along with his two U.S. Amateur titles and three U.S. Mid-Amateur victories, Sigel played in nine Walker Cup matches, twice as a playing captain.Sigel was low amateur in the Masters three times, and once each at the U.S. Open and British Open during his sterling career.His intention was to turn pro when he starred at Wake Forest on an Arnold Palmer scholarship. But his left hand went through a pane window on a swinging door that required 70 stitches. Sigel decided to remain amateur and started a successful insurance business.I always thought things happen for a reason, Sigel once said. The hand injury was the best thing to happen to me. He won his first U.S. Amateur in 1982, and the following year became the first player to win the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Mid-Amateur for players at least 25 years old in the same season. He also captured some of the nations most prestigious titles, such as the Sunnehanna Amateur, the Northeast Amateur and the Porter Cup.Sigel joined the PGA Tour Champions when he turned 50 and won eight times, though his legacy was amateur golf.He was on eight winning Walker Cup teams, and played as the captain in 1983 and 1985.___AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Jay Sigel, who was widely viewed as America's best amateur since Bobby Jones, has died of pancreatic cancer, the U.S. Golf Association said Sunday.

Nate Ament, a top-5 recruit and the best available high school prospect in the 2025 class, has committed to Tennessee, he told ESPN Sunday, saying afterward that "I built a great relationship with the staff. I trust them, and they have big goals for me."

Puppeteers move cardboard animals in canoes at the Makoko Slum in Lagos Nigeria, Saturday, April 19, 2025, as part of "The Herds," a moving theatre performance that started its journey from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Arctic Circle in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)2025-04-20T20:29:09Z MAKOKO, Nigeria (AP) Several canoes paddle toward Makoko, a vast floating slum built on stilts in the lagoon at one end of Nigerias economic hub of Lagos. Riding on the vessels are giant cardboard puppet animals along with their puppeteers dressed in black.Once on the water, the animals a gorilla, a leopard, an elephant, a wildebeest, a giraff and a donkey all come alive. The gorilla hoots, the donkey brays and wags its tail as the leopard bends its neck toward the surface as if to drink but halts just before its face meets the water and then turns to look around. It is Saturday, the second day of The Herds theatrical tour stop in Nigeria on a journey 20,000 kilometers (12,427 miles) from Africas Congo Basin to the Arctic Circle with puppet animals. Its a journey organizers say is meant to bring attention to the climate crisis and renew our bond with the natural world. The tour started last week in Kinshasa, the capital of Congo, and will continue across the world with Dakar, the Senegalese capital, as the next stop.The story goes that the animals will be forced out of their natural habitats due to global warming and displaced north, stopping in cities along the way and being joined by more animals. The sprawling slum of Makoko an old fishing village was perfect to illustrate that because it has for many years shown resilience in the face of climate change, often finding ways to adapt to extreme weather, said Amir Nizar Zuabi, The Herds artistic director. Dubbed the Venice of Africa, the Makoko slum is a low-lying community vulnerable to rising sea levels and flooding. Lagos itself is no stranger to the impacts of climate change, with roads and houses across the coastal city often engulfed during annual flooding.We are on the edge of one of the greatest global crises, and ... I think the global south offers a lot of knowledge and a lot of resilience, Zuabi said, referring to developing countries in the Southern Hemisphere with lower incomes and higher poverty rates compared to the global north. Spread out beneath the Third Mainland Bridge that connects much of Lagos, Makoko came alive as The Herds moved in. People poked their heads out of windows in awe of the exhibition. Children and women stood on the plank porches outside their rickety wood houses, watching as the animals paddled in through the narrow waterways. Some mimicked the animals while others applauded and waved at them.It looked so real, Samuel Shemede, a 22-year-old resident of Makoko, said in awe of the puppets. I had never seen something like that before in my life. It is not real, but they made it look so real.As the tour left Makoko and moved to the Yaba suburb, the citys notorious traffic stood still for the puppets as they towered over people and vehicles. The big animals had been joined by smaller primates like monkeys who hoot noisily, prance around, and even dance.The tour was punctuated by dance and choreography performances from a local theater group whose performers, clothed in beige sack material and straw hats, intermittently charged toward the puppets as though they were about to attack them. As they journeyed through the streets, spectators were treated to chants from the Hausa language song Amfara, which loosely translates to We have started.At a time when African nations are losing up to 5% of their gross domestic product every year as they bear a heavier burden than the rest of the world from climate change, The Herds organizers said it is important to break down climate change and its impacts in a way that many people can relate to.A lot of climate debate is about science and scientific words dont mean anything for most people, Zuabi, the artistic director, said. I wanted to create a piece of art that talks about nature, beauty and how animals are wild and majestic.The animals invading cities is a metaphor for abnormal things now becoming normal as the world deals with climate change, he said. And hopefully this becomes a way to talk about what we are going to lose if we continue burning fossil fuels. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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Justin Thomas ended nearly three years without a victory Sunday by making a birdie putt from just outside 20 feet in a playoff at Harbour Town to beat Andrew Novak in the RBC Heritage.

A trio of transfers -- Army outside linebacker Elo Modozie, Illinois running back Josh McCray and Miami defensive lineman Josh Horton -- have signed with Georgia, sources told ESPN.

New York Yankees veteran left-hander Max Fried lost a no-hit bid in Sunday's 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays just as the bottom of the eighth inning was about to start when the official scorer changed a sixth-inning call to a hit from an error.

Yemenis watch a hole at Magel Al-Dammah cemetery a day after it was struck by U.S. airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo)2025-04-21T01:34:01Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemens capital killed 12 people and wounded 30 others, the Houthi rebels said early Monday.The deaths mark the latest in Americas intensified campaign of strikes targeting the rebels. The U.S. militarys Central Command declined to answer questions about the strike or discuss civilian casualties from its campaign. The Houthis described the strike as hitting the Farwa neighborhood market in Sanaas Shuub district. That area has been targeted before by the Americans.Footage aired by the Houthis al-Masirah satellite news channel showed damage to vehicles and buildings in the area, with screaming onlookers holding what appeared to be a dead child. Others wailed on stretchers heading into a hospital Strikes overnight into Monday also hit other areas of the country, including Yemens Amran, Hodeida, Marib and Saada governorates. The strikes come after U.S. airstrikes hit the Ras Isa fuel port in Yemen last week, killing at least 74 people and wounding 171 others.The strikes follow the resumption of negotiations in Rome between the U.S. and Iran over Tehrans rapidly advancing nuclear program, which Washington has linked to its attacks in Yemen. The U.S. is targeting the Houthis because of the groups attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on Israel. The Houthis are the last militant group in Irans self-described Axis of Resistance that is capable of regularly attacking Israel. The new U.S. operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than attacks on the group were under President Joe Biden, an AP review found. The new campaign started after the rebels threatened to begin targeting Israeli ships again over Israel blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip.From November 2023 until this January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it. The Houthis also launched attacks targeting American warships without success. Assessing the toll of the month-old U.S. airstrike campaign has been difficult because the military hasnt released information about the attacks, including what was targeted and how many people were killed. The Houthis, meanwhile, strictly control access to attacked areas and dont publish complete information on the strikes, many of which likely have targeted military and security sites. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth departs the Commander-in-Chief trophy presentation to the Navy Midshipman football team in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-04-20T23:20:11Z WASHINGTON (AP) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth created another Signal messaging chat that included his wife and brother where he shared similar details of a March military airstrike against Yemens Houthi militants that were sent in another chain with top Trump administration leaders, The New York Times reported.A person familiar with the contents and those who received the messages, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, confirmed the second chat to The Associated Press. The second chat on Signal which is a commercially available app not authorized to be used to communicate sensitive or classified national defense information included 13 people, the person said. They also confirmed the chat was dubbed Defense ' Team Huddle.The New York Times reported that the group included Hegseths wife, Jennifer, who is a former Fox News producer, and his brother Phil Hegseth, who was hired at the Pentagon as a Department of Homeland Security liaison and senior adviser. Both have traveled with the defense secretary and attended high-level meetings. The White House late Sunday dismissed the report as a non-story, suggesting that disgruntled former Pentagon employees were spreading false claims. No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same non-story, they cant change the fact that no classified information was shared, said Anna Kelly, White House deputy press secretary. Recently-fired leakers are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the Presidents agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable. The revelation of the additional chat group brought fresh criticism against Hegseth and President Donald Trumps wider administration after it has failed to take action so far against the top national security officials who discussed plans for the military strike in Signal. The details keep coming out. We keep learning how Pete Hegseth put lives at risk. But Trump is still too weak to fire him, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X. Pete Hegseth must be fired.The first chat, set up by national security adviser Mike Waltz, included a number of Cabinet members and came to light because Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was added to the group.The contents of that chat, which The Atlantic published, shows that Hegseth listed weapons systems and a timeline for the attack on Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen last month.The National Security Council and a Pentagon spokesperson did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment about the additional chat group.Hegseth has previously contended that no classified information or war plans were shared in the chat with the journalist.The Times reported Sunday that the second chat had the same warplane launch times that the first chat included. Multiple former and current officials have said sharing those operational details before a strike would have certainly been classified and their release could have put pilots in danger. Hegseths use of Signal and the sharing of such plans are under investigation by the Defense Departments acting inspector general. It came at the request of the leadership of the Senate Armed Services Committee Republican Chairman Roger Wicker of Mississippi and ranking Democratic member Jack Reed of Rhode Island. Reed urged the IG late Sunday to probe the reported second Signal chat as well, saying that Hegseth must immediately explain why he reportedly texted classified information that could endanger American servicemembers lives.I have grave concerns about Secretary Hegseths ability to maintain the trust and confidence of U.S. servicemembers and the Commander-in-Chief, he added.The new revelations come amid further turmoil at the Pentagon. Four officials in Hegseths inner circle departed last week as the Pentagon conducts a widespread investigation for information leaks.Dan Caldwell, a Hegseth aide; Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg; and Darin Selnick, Hegseths deputy chief of staff, were escorted out of the Pentagon. While the three initially had been placed on leave pending the investigation, a joint statement shared by Caldwell on X on Saturday said the three still have not been told what exactly we were investigated for, if there is still an active investigation, or if there was even a real investigation of leaks to begin with.Caldwell was the staff member designated as Hegseths point person in the Signal chat with Trump Cabinet members.Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot also announced he was resigning last week, unrelated to the leaks. The Pentagon said, however, that Ullyot was asked to resign.___AP writer Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed to this report. TARA COPP Copp covers the Pentagon and national security for the Associated Press. She has reported from Afghanistan, Iraq, throughout the Middle East, Europe and Asia. twitter mailto

The Rockets center throws down a vicious slam early in Game 1.

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A soldier carries out an anti-gang operation in the Kenscoff neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)2025-04-21T01:48:48Z PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) At least three Haitian soldiers were killed in what appeared to be a gang ambush in a town on the outskirts of Haitis capital on Sunday, Haitian authorities confirmed. The area of Kenscoff has been under heavy fire in recent days as Haitian law enforcement have warred with the gang coalition known as Viv Ansanm. Its just the latest explosion of violence as Haitian authorities and foreign forces scramble to reign in gang warfare in the Caribbean nation. Haitis government in a post on the social media platform X wrote that the soldiers died on the front line ... weapons in hand.These soldiers are not just members of our armed forces. They are worthy sons of the Nation, defenders of our sovereignty, whose ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten. Their commitment is a powerful reminder that freedom and security come at a price, and that this price is sometimes paid in the blood of our bravest, wrote the Haitian government in a statement. Local media reported earlier in the day that a military reinforcement mission, traveling in an unarmored car, was transporting soldiers to a conflictive area in Kenscoff, when the soldiers were violently targeted by heavily armed men.Video circulating social media show soldiers in camouflage pulling dead bodies out of the truck.

San Diego designated hitter Luis Arraez returned to the stadium postgame after he was taken to a hospital following a collision with Mauricio Dubon on a play at first base in the first inning of the Padres' 3-2 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday night.

The NBA unveiled the three finalists for each of its seven major individual awards for the 2024-25 regular season Sunday night.

A drone hovers in airspace outside the safety perimeter surrounding St. Louis Lambert International Airport as an airliner approaches for a landing on March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)2025-04-21T04:03:36Z WASHINGTON (AP) A commercial airliner was on final approach to San Franciscos international airport in November when the crew spotted a drone outside the cockpit window. By then it was too late to take evasive action, the pilots reported, and the quadcopter passed by their windshield, not 300 feet away.A month earlier, a jetliner was flying at an altitude of 4,000 feet near Miamis international airport when its pilots reported a close encounter with a drone. In August, a drone came within 50 feet of clipping the left wing of a passenger jet as it departed Newark International Airport.The incidents were all classified as near midair collisions any one of which could have had catastrophic consequences, according to aviation safety experts. They were also not isolated encounters.An Associated Press analysis of an aviation safety database reveals that drones last year accounted for nearly two-thirds of reported near midair collisions involving commercial passenger planes taking off and landing at the countrys top 30 busiest airports. That was the highest percentage of such near misses since 2020, when air traffic dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first reports of near misses involving drones were logged in 2014, the AP found. The number of such encounters spiked the following year. Over the last decade, drones accounted for 51% 122 of 240 of reported near misses, according to APs analysis.Passenger jets have long been subject to risks around airports whether from bird strikes or congested airspace as was made clear by the January collision between a military helicopter and commercial jet near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people. The threat has become more direThe threat from drones has become more acute in the last decade as the use of quadcopters and remote-controlled planes has exploded in popularity. The FAA estimates that Americans are operating more than a million drones for recreational and commercial purposes.If you have the money, you can go on the internet and buy a pretty sophisticated drone that can reach altitudes they really have no business being at, said William Waldock, a professor of safety science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.The risk is most acute near airports because that is where the flight paths of drones and airplanes most overlap, experts said.The incidents represent only a portion of such close calls because the database NASAs Aviation Safety Reporting System relies on voluntary submissions from pilots and other aviation workers. A separate FAA program, which includes reports from the public, tallied at least 160 sightings last month of drones flying near airports. The FAA recognizes that urgency, and we all know additional changes need to be made to allow the airports to go out and detect and mitigate where necessary, said Hannah Thach, executive director of the partnership, known as Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence. Have a news tip?Contact APs global investigative team at [emailprotected]. For secure and confidential communications, use the free Signal app +1 (202) 281-8604. FAA says it is taking steps to improve safetyThe FAA said it has taken steps to mitigate the risks of drones. It has prohibited nearly all drones from flying near airports without prior authorization, though such rules are difficult to enforce, and recreational users may not be aware of restrictions.The agency requires registrations for drones weighing more than 250 grams (0.55 pounds), and such drones are required to carry a radio transponder that identifies the drones owner and broadcasts its position to help avert collisions. Additional rules govern commercial drone use.The agency has also been testing systems to detect and counter drones near airports. Among the methods being examined: Using radio signals to jam drones or force them to land. Authorities are also weighing whether to deploy high-powered microwaves or laser beams to disable the machines.Experts said the FAA and other authorities could do more. They suggested creating a system similar to speed cameras on roadways that could capture a drones transponder code and send its pilots a ticket in the mail. They also said the FAA should consider regulations that require all manufacturers to program a drones GPS unit to prevent it from flying near airports and other sensitive areas, a method called geofencing. Drone manufacturer ends mandatory geofencing DJI, a leading drone maker, used such geofencing restrictions for years. However, it eliminated the feature in January, replacing it with an alert to drone pilots when they approach restricted areas.Adam Welsh, head of global policy at DJI, said managing requests from authorized users to temporarily disable the geofencing became an increasingly time-consuming task. More than one million such requests were processed last year.We had around-the-clock service, but the number of applications coming in were becoming really hard to handle, Welsh said. They all had to be reviewed individually.With no other manufacturers enabling geofencing, and without government rules requiring it, DJI decided to end the practice, he said.The FAA declined to say if it is considering whether to mandate geofencing. Drone users can face consequencesExperts said authorities should take more aggressive action to hold drone users accountable for violating restricted airspace to highlight the problem and deter others from breaking the rules, pointing to recent arrests that they hoped might send such a message.In December, for example, Boston police arrested two men who operated a drone that flew dangerously close to Logan International Airport. Police reported that they were able to find the drone flyers, in part, by tracking the aircraft thanks to its FAA-mandated transponder signal.A month later, a small drone collided with a Super Scooper plane that was fighting wildfires raging through Southern California. The drone punched a hole in the planes left wing, causing enough damage that officials grounded the aircraft for several days to make repairs. Authorities tracked down the 56-year-old drone operator, who pleaded guilty to a federal charge of recklessly flying his aircraft. The man, who has yet to be sentenced, admitted he launched his DJI quadcopter to observe fire damage over the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, despite the FAA having restricted drone flying in the area, according to court records. The operator lost sight of the drone after it flew about 1.5 miles from where he had launched it. And thats when it struck the Super Scooper.___Contact APs global investigative team at [emailprotected] or https://www.ap.org/tips/ AARON KESSLER Kessler is a data scientist specializing in investigative reporting and data analysis at the intersection of business and politics. He is based in Washington, D.C. mailto MICHAEL BIESECKER Biesecker is a global investigative reporter for The Associated Press, based in Washington. He reports on a wide range of topics, including human conflict, climate change and political corruption. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold remained tight-lipped on his future at Anfield amid continued links to Real Madrid, although he added that Sunday's winner over Leicester City would always be "special."

Ruben Amorim has insisted that Rasmus Hjlund is not solely to blame for Manchester United's problems scoring while also urging the rest of the team to take responsibility in front of goal.

Holders Barcelona put themselves in the driving seat with a resounding 4-1 over Chelsea in the first leg of their women's Champions League semifinal on Sunday, with substitute Claudia Pina netting twice.

Arsenal's Mikel Arteta said Bukayo Saka was left in pain after suffering a knock in the 4-0 win at Ipswich, although he ruled out any chance of a "serious" injury.