This Feb. 26, 2016 file photo, shows the entrance to St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole, File)2026-03-11T04:06:48Z The son of Cher is scheduled to be in court Wednesday for a hearing over allegations he broke into a New Hampshire home earlier this month.It was the second arrest in a matter of days for Elijah Allman, 49, of Malibu, California, who was detained Feb. 27 after allegedly acting belligerently at a prestigious prep school in New Hampshire. It was unclear if Allman had any connection to either St. Pauls School or the home in Windham, New Hampshire.Allman remains in the Rockingham County Department of Corrections in what is called preventive detention, Superintendent Jonathan Banville said. Allman, whose father was the late singer Gregg Allman, faces two counts of criminal mischief, one count of burglary and a count of breach of bail for breaking into the home on March 1. Police said in a report that Allman did not have permission to be at the home and forcibly entered it . In the incident at the prep school, Allman was charged with four misdemeanors: two counts of simple assault, criminal trespass and criminal threatening. Allman was also charged with a violation of disorderly conduct, which is illegal in the state but not considered a crime. At about 7 p.m. that day, Concord police responded to reports that Allman was disturbing people in the dining hall of St. Pauls School. After charging Allman, police said he was released on bail as his case works through the court system. Allman did not respond to an email requesting comment, and a phone number for him was not working. It was unclear from the court records if Allman has an attorney.In December 2023, Cher filed a petition to become a temporary conservator overseeing her sons money, saying Allman struggles with mental health issues and addiction have left him unable to manage his assets and potentially put his life in danger.The petition from the singer and actress said Elijah Allman is entitled to regular payments from a trust fund. But given his ongoing mental health and substance abuse issues, she is concerned that any funds distributed to Elijah will be immediately spent on drugs, leaving Elijah with no assets to provide for himself and putting Elijahs life at risk, the petition says. A few weeks later, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jessica Uzcategui denied the request, saying she was not convinced that a conservatorship was urgently needed. Allman was in the courtroom with his his attorneys, who acknowledged his previous struggles but argued that he is in a good place now, attending meetings, getting treatment and reconciling with his previously estranged wife. MICHAEL CASEY Casey writes about the environment, housing and inequality for The Associated Press. He lives in Boston. twitter mailto

Gas prices are displayed, Monday, March 9, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)2026-03-11T04:01:36Z WASHINGTON (AP) Inflation likely was elevated last month even before the spike in oil and gas prices of the past two weeks that is expected to send consumer costs soaring in the months ahead. Consumer prices are forecast to have risen 2.5% in February from a year earlier when the Labor Department reports last months figures Wednesday, according to a survey of economists by data provider FactSet. That would be up slightly from 2.4% in the previous month. Core prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, are expected to have also risen 2.5% in February, matching Januarys figure for the lowest in five years. But the data will represent an already-faded snapshot of inflation before the Iran war was launched Feb. 28, which has caused violent gyrations in oil prices as shipping lanes through the Persian Gulf have suffered a rare shutdown. Gas prices have already jumped and are expected to push inflation much higher when March figures are released next month. The price spike will unnerve the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve and could slow consumer spending and weigh on the broader economy. The increase could be a one-time event and potentially reverse if the war ends soon, as President Donald Trump has hinted. But the spike in gas prices threatens to worsen inflation for at least a few months even as Americans are already weary from nearly five years of stubbornly high prices that have made affordability a thorny political issue for congressional Republicans who will soon face voters in midterm elections later this year. Oil prices soared as high as nearly $120 a barrel late Sunday before rapidly falling back Monday after Trump suggested that the conflict would be a short-term excursion. Still, he has also threatened ongoing attacks and it isnt clear when the conflict might end. Some analysts warn prices will move much higher if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, which has removed roughly three-quarters of the Persian Gulf regions oil production from world markets, according to Wood Mackenzie, an energy analytics firm. Oil prices could soar to $150 a barrel in the coming weeks, the firm forecasts, if shipments dont resume. That would push gas prices still higher in the United States, where they jumped to $3.54 a gallon on average nationwide Tuesday, according to AAA, an increase of about 20% just in one month. Over time, higher gas prices will lift some other costs as well, including air fares and shipping costs, which could make groceries and restaurant meals more expensive. At the same time, given the ups-and-downs of oil prices U.S. crude prices fell nearly 9% to $86.55 Tuesday afternoon it is difficult to forecast how big the impact will be over time. If shipments resume in a week or so, gas prices will likely decline fairly soon, though they typically fall much more slowly than they rise. Laura Rosner-Warburton, senior economist at MacroPolicy Perspectives, a consulting firm, expects inflation could jump by as much 0.8% or 0.9% just in March from the previous month, when that data is reported next month. It would be the largest monthly gain in nearly four years. Yearly inflation could easily surpass 3% in that case and potentially near 4% in the following months. By comparison, overall prices are projected to climb just 0.3% in February from the previous month. The jump in gas prices so far this month has been the largest since March 2022, and before that since June 2009, Rosner-Warburton said. That is enormous, she said. Increases of that magnitude are highly unusual.Core prices will be much less affected this month, but could tick higher over time as more expensive gas pushes up airline fares and other transportation costs. Core inflation is expected to have increased 0.3% in February from the previous month. Even if the sharp rise is short-lived, it will almost certainly delay any interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve, which meets next week. It cut its key rate three times last year before leaving it unchanged at its last meeting in January. The Fed is already deeply divided over whether it needs to keep its rate at its current level of about 3.6% to push inflation down closer to its 2% goal, or whether it should reduce the rate to support borrowing, spending, and hiring. Last Friday, the government reported an unexpectedly sharp job loss in February, as employers slashed 92,000 jobs and the unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.4% from 4.3%.The weak jobs report puts the Fed in an especially difficult position: It would normally reduce rates to boost growth and hiring, but it typically raises rates or at least keeps them where they are if they are worried about inflation. Thats always the worst-case scenario for the central bank, said Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, on Bloomberg Friday. As we get more uncertainties, I kind of think that the time at which it makes sense to act keeps getting pushed back. Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, a consulting firm, said that normally the Fed would expect an oil price shock to have at most a temporary impact on inflation and might still cut rates if the economy needed lower borrowing costs. But Fed policymakers were burnt just a few years ago when they initially said the post-COVID inflation spike in 2022-23 the worst in four decades would be temporary, Daco said. As a result, they will be reluctant to take the risk of prematurely lowering rates. A few officials even mentioned during the January meeting that they might have to hike rates soon, rather than cut them, according to the meetings minutes and that was before the Iran war. They do not want to be burned again, Daco said. CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto

Firefighters and police officers install barriers to secure the area where a postal bus caught fire in Kerzers, Switzerland, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, after several passengers were killed and others injured when a postal bus caught fire late Tuesday afternoon in the center of Kerzers, according to the Fribourg cantonal police. (Laurent Merlet/Keystone via AP)2026-03-10T22:07:06Z GENEVA (AP) A bus caught fire in a town west of the Swiss capital killing at least six people and severely injuring three others, police said Tuesday.Police spokesperson Frederic Papaux of Fribourg canton, or region, said an unspecified voluntary act could have caused the fire Tuesday evening in the town of Kerzers, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of Bern, the capital.The regional transport bus is operated by PostBus, which is affiliated with the national postal service. Images from the scene on Swiss media showed flames tearing through the bus.After rushing to the scene, rescue teams noted that the vehicle was totally engulfed in flames, the regional government said in a statement.Ambulance and helicopter teams ferried three injured people with severe injuries to hospitals, while two others were treated on site, police said. Papaux said at least six people were killed. An investigation was underway. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The Trump administrations immigration enforcement arm is requesting unfettered access to what is considered to be the most comprehensive government database of people in the United States and their most private information, including sensitive details about individual children, according to six current and former federal officials.It is called the Federal Parent Locator Service, and its meant for finding people who owe child support. Granting access to the Department of Homeland Security, the officials said, would violate a federal law that explicitly limits its use to determining and collecting child support payments and a handful of other narrow purposes. But DHS ask is being seriously considered within the Department of Health and Human Services, which maintains the database.The database contains the name, address, Social Security number, employer, and salary or wages of every employed person in the country, as well as the equivalent details for anyone listed in state unemployment systems. It exists so that if someone owes child support, the government can pursue them for it even if theyve changed jobs or moved to another state.The repository includes these personal details and employment records, updated throughout the year, for all types of people even those who dont have any children. Only some who work exclusively in the gig or cash economy, or who are entirely self-employed, might not be listed.The database also names every child in the U.S. who is the subject of a state child support case, including each childs sex, birthday and Social Security number, as well as family members names and relationships. And it identifies when single mothers and kids who receive child support are domestic violence victims alongside their address.This is the most powerful people-finder system that the U.S. government has, and possibly that exists, said Bethanne Barnes, who from 2019 through October of last year was a data director for the Administration for Children and Families, the subdivision of HHS that oversees the database.Turning the child support data over to Homeland Security would be disastrous for child support enforcement and would ruin the foundation of the child support program, said Vicki Turetsky, who was commissioner of HHS office of child support enforcement from 2009 to 2016. Turetsky said that if this were to happen, many employers, fearful of ICE arrests of their employees or workplace raids, would consider no longer reporting new hires to the government. This in turn would degrade the ability of the system to find parents who owe payments to their kids, she said.State child support agency leaders have been nervously messaging one another about this prospect recently, said Kate Cooper Richardson, the longtime head of Oregons child support program who retired in January. State officials have spent decades building trust with employers, Cooper Richardson said, reminding them that submitting their new-hire data to child support authorities is required and that sensitive information about their workers will be used only for child support enforcement and otherwise kept confidential. Some business leaders have already reached out to state administrators, she said, concerned about rumors of President Donald Trumps administration seeking to use this data for immigration enforcement.And if were not learning from employers when a parent who owes child support gets a new job, who loses in that situation? Cooper Richardson said. The 1 in 5 U.S. children who rely on consistent and regular child support.A White House spokesperson said in a statement that the entire Trump administration is working to lawfully implement the Presidents agenda to put Americans first. Any sensitive information required to do so will be obtained and handled properly. A DHS representative requested additional time to respond to detailed questions sent by email, which ProPublica agreed to, but DHS did not provide any responses.Last year, Department of Government Efficiency appointees sought and for a brief period gained access to the National Directory of New Hires, the part of the child support database that contains peoples employment information. It is unclear what, if anything, the DOGE team did with this data; the federal courts temporarily blocked it from continuing to access Social Security, IRS and other sensitive records, and then DOGE disbanded last summer before final rulings on the legality of its efforts had been made.Over the past month, though, three officials said, DHS has separately and expressly requested both the new-hire data and also the Federal Case Registry, the other half of the database where the catalog of all child support cases is housed. This has the much more sensitive specifics on families and children, including information on paternity, domestic violence and more.It is unclear why DHS would want this, given that locating undocumented immigrants at their places of work or targeting those businesses for raids would be possible using just the employment data, without all of the case registrys additional personal details. Whatever DHS intentions might be, multiple officials and privacy experts interviewed for this story expressed concern that abusers in the ranks of law enforcement would soon be able to see their victims case information and addresses, and that a manifest of vulnerable children would become widely available in the government.Read MoreThe Untold Saga of What Happened When DOGE Stormed Social SecurityThe Department of Health and Human Services general counsels office, which is run by a Trump political official, must now decide whether it believes federal law allows the agency to provide DHS with the full child support database. Child support staff strongly oppose doing this, but the request is now with the lawyers, people familiar with the situation said.HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may also have to approve the data sharing. If its approved, the department is likely to be sued by legal advocacy groups almost immediately, lawyers and experts said.HHS did not respond to a request for comment.Internal emails show that HHS Administration for Children and Families last year was also directed to cross-check all of its other datasets on families who interact with child care, foster care, Head Start and other systems against DHS immigration records. The Trump administration has expanded a DHS tool called SAVE to allow federal and state agencies to check the citizenship of millions of people at once, including those who rely on public assistance programs like these. (Also using this tool, the administration has consistently inaccurately flagged citizens as noncitizens on state voter rolls, ProPublica has reported.)In DHS efforts to gather data from other agencies, the department has argued that several U.S. statutes allow federal law enforcement to obtain information without a warrant from any government agency pertaining to the identity and location of people living in the country illegally, especially if national security is at stake. In DHS view, these statutes should overrule all others, even a law that would seem to bar the department from obtaining an entire database of sensitive information about children unrelated to immigration.Congress has previously permitted a handful of exceptions that allow certain agencies to access parts of the child support data archive. That includes using it in limited ways to help manage custody and visitation cases, to pursue people who have federal student loan debt and to check the incomes of those who apply for means-tested government programs, like housing assistance.Maya Bernstein has overseen federal data privacy policies for over three decades, starting during the first Bush administration. In the 1990s, she helped lead the work on the creation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the medical records privacy law, before serving 20 years as the senior adviser for privacy policy at HHS. I know a lot about a lot of different databases, she said, and the child support database is the one that Im most worried about.It is very unusual for them to want the Federal Case Registry, Bernstein added, referring to the part of the database with childrens case information. In my career, no one has asked for access to that. Most people have never even heard of it.The post DHS Seeks Access to Massive Employment, Salary and Family Database Legally Restricted to Use in Child Support Cases appeared first on ProPublica.

A plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohsen Ganji, File)2026-03-11T09:03:36Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) The war on Iran, for all its complexity and global effects, boils down to a single question: Who can take the pain the longest? A surge in oil prices points to what may be Irans most effective weapon and the United States biggest vulnerability in continuing the campaign: Damaging the world economy. A sharp rise in gas prices has rattled consumers and financial markets, and international travel and shipping have been severely disrupted. U.S. President Donald Trump appears aware of the danger. As oil jumped to nearly $120 a barrel on Monday, the highest since 2022, he suggested the war would be short-term. That helped reassure markets and the price eased to around $90 even as Trump, nearly in the same breath, vowed to keep up the war and the punishment on Iran.On the other side, Iran has to endure a near-constant stream of American and Israeli airstrikes it cant defend against. So far, the Islamic Republic has been able to keep its leadership and military cohesive and in control. The Iranian public, which already rose up against its theocracy in nationwide protests in January, still boils in anger but have stayed home as they try to survive the heavy bombardment. Security forces have been on the street every day to ensure no anti-government demonstrations form. The pressure is on U.S. allies as well. Gulf Arab states, while still not combatants in the war, face seemingly unending and occasionally fatal Iranian fire targeting oil fields, cities and critical water works. And Israel, while boasting of inflicting heavy damage on Irans missile program and other military targets, continues to be targeted by increasingly sophisticated Iranian missiles that send a buckshot-like bouquet of high explosives raining down on its cities. Frequent air-raid sirens have disrupted daily life, closed schools and workplaces and created a tense atmosphere across the region. No off-ramps seen in fightingTheres no immediate end to the war in sight nor in the rhetoric coming from both America and Iran, whose bad blood extends back decades to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis. Weve already won in many ways, but we havent won enough, Trump said in a speech Monday in Doral, Florida. We go forward, more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long running danger once and for all.Iranian Foreign Ministry official Kazem Gharibabadi offered a mirror image comment from Tehran, boasting that the Islamic Republic had rejected contacts about a ceasefire that he said had come from China, France, Russia and others. At the moment, we hold the upper hand, Gharibabadi told Iranian state television late Monday night. Just look at the state of the global economy and energy markets it has been very painful for them.He asserted that it was Iran that will determine the end of the war. Iranian strategy remains havocFor years before Israel and the U.S. launched the war on Feb. 28, Iran warned that, if attacked, it would retaliate on the entire Middle East, targeting the oil infrastructure that made its Gulf Arab neighbors fantastically wealthy. By contrast, Tehrans economy has been crippled by international sanctions. Iran has now backed up its threat with barrages of missiles and drones. Qatar was forced to halt its production of natural gas, and Bahrain declared its oil operations couldnt meet their contractual obligations. Other producers like Saudi Aramco are affected, disrupting a key source of energy for Asia particularly China, which has sent a top envoy to the region. Shipping broadly has stopped in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil and natural gas traded passes, and up to 30% of world fertilizer exports. Iran didnt need to mine the waterway its attacks on several ships prompted companies stop sending their vessels through the strait. Trump has suggested U.S. warships providing escorts to tankers, but that has yet to materialize in a way to restart the traffic. Early Tuesday morning, he threatened that if Iran stops the oil through the strait, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far.Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen! he wrote on his Truth Social platform.Iran, however, only doubled down. The Revolutionary Guard warned on Tuesday that it wont allow a single liter of oil to leave the Persian Gulf. What is victory?For Irans theocratic rulers, victory means surviving the campaign still in power, no matter the costs to the country and the region.Trump has been vague and contradictory about his aims in the war. At times, he seems to push for overthrowing Irans theocracy; other times, he seems to be willing to stop short of that, saying broadly that he wants to ensure Iran is no longer a threat to Israel, the region and the U.S. That could give him flexibility in declaring that victory has been achieved, especially if real damage starts to show to the U.S. economy.But if the war stopped right now, both the U.S and Israel would be left with major challenges.One is Irans leadership. After an Israeli airstrike killed 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the start of the war, Iranian clerics named his 56-year-old son Mojtaba to the position, elevating him to the rank of an ayatollah. Now Irans ultimate ruler, the younger Khamenei has long been viewed by analysts as being even more hard-line than his father, with close ties to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Israel already described him as a target in its campaign, while Trump has said he wanted someone else in the role. Also, Iran still has its stockpile of highly enriched uranium one reason for the war that Israel and the U.S. have both pointed to. Iran had been enriching up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.The U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear sites in June during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, likely burying much of the stockpile in the debris. Those sites to this day remain out of the reach of international inspectors. Mojtaba Khamenei could issue a religious ruling, or fatwa, reversing his fathers earlier statements and ordering it to be used to make a weapon. Thats something both America and Israel, long believed to be the Mideasts only nuclear-armed state, dont want to see. __EDITORS NOTE Jon Gambrell, news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press, has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the Mideast and the wider world since joining AP in 2006. 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

Peter Mandelson, the former U.K. ambassador to the United States, leaves his house in London, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)2026-03-11T09:00:37Z LONDON (AP) The British government said it would publish files related to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S. on Wednesday, as police investigate potential misconduct stemming from the ex-diplomats ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein.Lawmakers have forced Prime Minister Keir Starmers government to disclose thousands of files about the decision to name Mandelson to the key diplomatic post at the start of U.S. President Donald Trumps second term, despite a past friendship with the convicted sex offender.The government has said the files will show that Mandelson misled officials about the extent of the relationship.Mandelson, 72, a former Cabinet minister, ambassador and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, was arrested Feb. 23 at his London home on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues. He has previously denied wrongdoing and hasnt been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.Cabinet minister Darren Jones said the first tranche of documents will be published Wednesday afternoon. The documents are being published in batches after review by Parliaments Intelligence and Security Committee. Police have asked the government not to release files that could compromise their criminal investigation into Mandelson.The documents that will be published today later to Parliament will provide full transparency about the appointments process, bar one document that has been held back by the Metropolitan Police because of an ongoing criminal investigation, Jones told broadcaster ITV. Starmer fired Mandelson in September after earlier revelations about his Epstein ties, but is facing a political storm over his decision to give him the Washington job in the first place.Documents in a huge trove of Epstein files published by the U.S. Department of Justice in late January suggested that Mandelson sent market-sensitive information to the convicted sex offender when he was the U.K. governments business secretary after the 2008 financial crisis. That includes an internal government report discussing ways the U.K. could raise money, including by selling off government assets. Mandelson also appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers bonuses.Mandelson is also facing a separate probe by the European Unions anti-fraud office for the time he spent as the blocs trade representative. JILL LAWLESS Lawless is based in London, covering British politics, diplomacy and culture and top stories from the UK and beyond. She has reported for the AP from two dozen countries on four continents. twitter mailto

President Donald Trump waves on the South Lawn as he returns to the White House following a trip to Florida, Monday, March 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)2026-03-10T16:32:50Z MIAMI (AP) Voting technology firm Smartmatic is seeking to dismiss a criminal indictment for money laundering, blaming President Donald Trump and his allies for seeking its prosecution as part of a campaign of retribution against those they blame for his 2020 election loss.Smartmatics parent company, UK-based SGO Corporation, was added to a criminal indictment last fall previously charging several executives with paying $1 million in bribes to election officials in the Philippines.In a motion to dismiss the indictment filed Tuesday, attorneys for Smartmatic said the company had been cooperating with the Justice Department since it first learned of its investigation in 2021, including by producing millions of pages of documents and making presentations to federal agents. A trial date for the executives, including co-founder Roger Pinate, had been set and the company believed that it was in the clear. But when Trump returned to the White House, the Justice Department reversed course and decided to press charges against Smartmatic. Attorneys for the company said the decision was prompted by Trumps demands to prosecute his perceived enemies and his mantra that Smartmatic helped rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election won by Joe Biden allegations that are at the heart of a $2.7 billion lawsuit filed by Smartmatic against the presidents allies in the media. The prosecution of SGO furthers their collective false narrative that President Trump did not actually lose the 2020 election, Smartmatic said in the filing in Miami federal court. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Attorneys likened the prosecution to the Justice Departments targeting of Kilmar Armando brego Garca, a Salvadoran migrant who was criminally charged for conduct years earlier after he successfully sued the Trump administration over its decision to deport him. In the years since the election, the filing states, Smartmatic USA has exercised its right to hold those individuals and entities legally accountable for their deluge of defamatory statements and the attendant damage inflicts on its business, putting it squarely in the crosshairs for retribution.The criminal case against Smartmatic and its employees stem from payments, between 2015 and 2018, that were allegedly made to obtain a contract with the Philippines government to help run that countrys 2016 presidential election. Pinate, who no longer works for Smartmatic but remains a shareholder, has pleaded not guilty.As part of the criminal case, prosecutors in August sought the courts permission to introduce evidence they argue shows that revenue from a $300 million contract with Los Angeles County to help modernize its voting systems was diverted to a slush fund controlled by Pinate through the use of overseas shell companies, fake invoices and other means. They also accused Pinate of secretly bribing Venezuelas longtime election chief by giving her a luxury home with a pool in Caracas. Prosecutors say the home was transferred to the election chief in an attempt to repair relations following Smartmatics abrupt exit from Venezuela in 2017 when it accused then-President Nicolas Maduro s government of manipulating tallied results in elections for a rubber-stamping constituent assembly. Smartmatic was founded more than two decades ago by a group of Venezuelans who found early success running elections while the late Hugo Chavez, a devotee of electronic voting, was in power. The company later expanded globally, providing voting machines and other technology to help carry out elections in 25 countries, from Argentina to Zambia.But Smartmatic has said its business tanked after Fox News gave Trumps lawyers a platform to paint the company as part of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election.Fox said it was legitimately reporting on newsworthy events but eventually aired a piece refuting the allegations after Smartmatics lawyers complained. Nonetheless, it has aggressively defended itself against the defamation lawsuit in New York arguing that the company was facing imminent collapse over its own internal misconduct, not due to any negative coverage. JOSHUA GOODMAN Goodman is a Miami-based investigative reporter who writes about the intersection of crime, corruption, drug trafficking and politics in Latin America. He previously spent two decades reporting from South America. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Nature, Published online: 11 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00770-yFunding for national laboratories and important research projects would increase under the governments plans.

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President Donald Trump speaks at the Republican Members Issues Conference, Monday, March 9, 2026, at Trump National Doral Miami in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)2026-03-11T11:02:04Z WASHINGTON (AP) Facing jittery global markets and drooping poll numbers since launching a war on Iran, President Donald Trump has cycled from calls for unconditional surrender to sounding amenable to an end state in which Iran trades one hard-line ayatollah for another.Shifting comments from the Republican president and his top aides are adding to the precariousness of the 12-day-old conflict, which is impacting nearly every corner of the Middle East and causing economic tremors around the globe. With neither side budging, the war is now on an unpredictable path one in which a credible endgame is still unclear.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday told reporters its up to Trump whether its the beginning, the middle or the end of the war. Trump, during the course of one speech at a House Republican gathering on Monday, went from calling the war a short-term excursion that could end soon to proclaiming we havent won enough. The vacillation has fueled criticism from those who say Trump lacks a clear goal. They didnt have a plan, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., told reporters. They have no timeline. And because of that, they have no exit strategy. A constantly shifting goal lineSince ordering the Iran bombardment, Trump has continually shifted his timelines and goals for his war against Iran, a crosscurrent of rhetoric that has delivered more questions than answers.Over the last few days, Trump has called for the unconditional surrender of Irans leaders, while suggesting hes already succeeded in achieving his objective of decimating Irans military. At the same time, Trumps team has sought to soothe anxious Americans that this wont be a long, drawn-out conflict, even as the president has insisted he hasnt ruled out the option of putting U.S. boots on the ground. The U.S. military says that it has effectively destroyed the Iranian navy and made huge strides in defanging Irans ability to launch missiles and drones at its neighbors throughout the region. And yet, the critical Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the worlds oil passes on a typical day, remains effectively closed to business, and Iranian leaders remain unbowed. The Revolutionary Guard vowed Iran would not allow a single liter of oil through the vital waterway until the United States stops its bombing campaign. And Ali Larijani, Irans top national security official, offered a menacing message on Tuesday after Trump had threatened to attack Iran TWENTY TIMES HARDER if Tehran stopped oil flowing through the strait.The sacrificial nation of Iran doesnt fear your empty threats, Larijani wrote on X. Even those bigger than you couldnt eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself. Making the case to AmericansTrump has struggled to make his case to Americans about why preemptive action against Iran was necessary and how it squares with his pledge to keep America out of the forever wars of the last two decades that hes bemoaned for costing too much money and too many American lives. Thus far, eight U.S. troops have been killed and about 140 injured in the retaliatory salvos from Iran throughout the region.One of several reasons Trump has offered to justify launching the war is that he had a feeling that Iran was getting set to attack the United States.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slightly amended that position, telling reporters that the president had a feeling that was based on fact. However, Pentagon officials in private briefings have told congressional staffers that the U.S. does not have intelligence indicating that Iran was planning to preemptively attack the U.S.Recent polling shows Trumps decision to attack Iran hasnt come with the rallying-around-the-flag effect that has typically accompanied the start of recent U.S. wars. About half of voters in Quinnipiac and Fox News polls said the U.S. military action in Iran makes the U.S. less safe, while only about 3 in 10 in each poll said it made the country safer. A CNN poll found about half of U.S. adults thought the military action would make Iran more of a threat to the U.S., while only about 3 in 10 thought it would lessen the danger. In that CNN poll, about 6 in 10 U.S. adults said they trusted Trump not much or not at all to make the right decisions about the U.S. use of force in Iran.European allies are treading carefully after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Spains Prime Minister Pedro Snchez faced the wrath of Trump, who deemed them not sufficiently supportive in backing his war of choice.But even German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has been broadly supportive of the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, said on Tuesday that more questions arise with every day of war.Above all, were concerned that there is apparently no joint plan for how this war can be brought quickly to a convincing end, Merz said.Merz stressed that Germany and Europe have no interest in an endless war or in Irans territorial integrity disintegrating. Deflecting responsibility for school bombingThe president has chosen to deflect responsibility for the bombing of a girls school in southern Iran on the first day of the conflict, a strike that killed at least 165 people.Trump on Saturday blamed the attack on Iran, saying its security forces are very inaccurate with munitions. On Monday, after the investigative group Bellingcat posted verified video that showed a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile hitting a Revolutionary Guard facility near the school, causing the explosion, Trump again insisted it could have been Irans fault but said that he would accept whatever an ongoing U.S. investigation into the matter might find.The president erroneously claimed that Tehran had access to Tomahawks, a U.S.-manufactured weapon system that is only available to the U.S. and a few close allies.Asked by a reporter, Leavitt didnt directly answer why Trump falsely asserted that Iran has access to the U.S.-made missile.Instead, she responded in part that the president has a right to share his opinions with the American public while noting he has said hell accept the conclusion of that investigation.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters that Trumps claim is beyond asinine. Again, he says whatever pops into his head no matter what the truth is, Schumer said. And we all know he lies, but on something as formidable as this, its appalling.Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, was among Trump allies gently making the case that it was important for the Trump administration to clarify what happened to the school.Cramer said the military must do everything you can to eliminate those mistakes going forward.But you also cant undo it, he added.___Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti, Ben Finley and Linley Sanders in Washington and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed reporting. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

CORRECTS STATE TO INDIANA - Debris covers vehicles after a severe storm passed the area in in Kankakee County, Illinois., late Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (WLS-TV via AP)2026-03-11T11:57:15Z Major storms whipped up tornadoes in parts of Illinois and Indiana that leveled homes, killing at least two people and injuring others, and another round of rain, hail and strong winds made its way through the region Wednesday, authorities said.Please do not come here. Do not try to help right now, Newton County Sheriff Shannon Cothran said in a video update in front of what looked to be a destroyed home in the small northwestern Indiana community of Lake Village.The deaths in Lake Village were confirmed by Laurie Postma, a spokeswoman for the Lake Township Fire Department, at a news conference held by the sheriff, state police and local authorities Wednesday. Their names were not released. She said fewer than 10 people were hurt in Tuesdays storms, which also knocked down trees and power lines.Multiple homes in the community were destroyed in an apparent tornado, and Indiana State Police Cpl. Eric Rot said people had been injured. He wasnt able to provide an exact number or their conditions. David Ferris, a paramedic in a neighboring county who lives in Lake Village, just south of the area that was hit, said he, his wife, and their dogs rode it out in our downstairs bathtub. They were unscathed, except for losing power. He went out to help with rescue efforts and helped people who suffered cuts, scrapes and bumps to the head. We had another house where a guy crawled out, Ferris told The Associated Press in an interview. He was having some trouble breathing because he was covered in house insulation. Ferris said the local Family Dollar store was destroyed, as well as a gas station across the street. He said multiple large trees were uprooted. Severe storms dumping rain and hail in parts of the Midwest were threatened to bring intense tornadoes, damaging winds and very large hail from the southern Plains to the southern Great Lakes, according to the National Weather Service. Parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio were under a tornado watch Wednesday morning. Several tornadoes formed across northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, but the exact number wont be available until officials conduct damage surveys, said Andrew Lyons, a meteorologist with the weather service Storm Prediction Center.Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a post on the social platform X that hed been briefed on the storm and tornado damage.Keeping in our thoughts all Illinoisans impacted by the severe weather well be here to help them recover, he said.A tornado struck down near the Kankakee fairgrounds, about 57 miles (92 kilometers) south of Chicago, before traveling northeast into Aroma Park, where it caused extensive damage, according to the Kankakee County Sheriffs Office. No injuries have been reported.I want to remind area residents to check on their neighbors and loved ones but to avoid unnecessary travel, if at all possible, Kankakee County Sheriff Mike Downey said in a statement.In video shared on social media, the twister is seen ripping across a field of farmland near an airport while vehicles lined the road. More than 2 million Americans were at a moderate risk of severe weather in Illinois and Indiana. Nearly 22 million were at a slightly lesser risk in a zone that includes Chicago, Fort Worth, Texas, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. ___Associated Press journalist Hannah Schoenbaum contributed from Salt Lake City.

Miami Heat teammates celebrate center Bam Adebayo (13) after he scored 83 points, the second-highest single game total in NBA history, in an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)2026-03-11T00:37:16Z MIAMI (AP) Its Wilt, then Bam.Bam Adebayo had a night for all time on Tuesday, with a point total second to only Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA record books. Adebayo scored 83 points, setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards.An absolutely surreal night, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. Obviously, weve been blessed to have been part of a lot of big moments in this arena. This one, it just happened. Moments happen and Im grateful that were all able to be a part of it and witness it.Chamberlains record of 100 points has stood since 1962. Kobe Bryant one of Adebayos basketball heroes was No. 2 on the list with 81. Adebayo never thought hed be in that club.And then came a night hell never forget.Wilt, me, then Kobe, Adebayo said. It sounds crazy. Adebayos final numbers: 20 of 43 from the field, 36 of 43 from the foul line, 7 for 22 from 3-point range. He was in tears as he hugged his mother, Marilyn Blount, before leaving the floor after the game. Emotions were kept in check, until then. For me, it was just remaining calm, remaining locked in and understanding that I can go for something special, Adebayo said. I didnt think it was going to be 83. But to have this moment is surreal, because like I said, man, to be able to do it at home, in front of my mom, in front of my people, in front of the home fans, this is a mark in history that will forever be remembered. Adebayos career high, before Monday, was 41.That was passed by halftime.I looked at the stat sheet. It was pretty crazy: 40 shots, 40 free throws, 20 3s, that takes a lot of stamina, man, Houston star and Adebayos USA Basketball teammate Kevin Durant said. It takes a lot of energy to go out there and put those shots up and also make them, set a record, surpass Kobe as the second highest-scoring player in the history of the game. I mean, damn. Congrats to him. Huge, huge accomplishment, something were going to be talking about forever. Adebayo started with a 31-point first quarter and never stopped rolling. He was up to 43 at halftime, 62 by the end of the third quarter. And then came the fourth, when the milestones kept falling despite facing double-, triple- and what once appeared to be a quadruple-team from a Wizards defense that kept sending him to the foul line.BAM BAM BAM, former Heat forward LeBron James posted on social media. James had the Heat single-game record of 61 points, set on March 3, 2014. Hes now No. 2 on the team list by a wide margin.The NBAs previous best this season was 56, by Nikola Jokic for Denver against Minnesota on Christmas night. The last player to have 62 points through three quarters was Bryant, who had exactly that many going into the fourth for the Los Angeles Lakers against Dallas on Dec. 20, 2005. Adebayo got to the line 16 times in the fourth, and the game had some comical moments. The Heat made clear they kept wanting Adebayo to get the ball and get to the line, even in a blowout. The Wizards tried to foul others but couldnt stop the scoring onslaught. Youve got to give him credit, Wizards coach Brian Keefe said. In the first half he shot the ball terrific, he scored the ball really well. Obviously, he came out and had a little bit in the third, too. They obviously kept him in the game, and there was a lot of fouls called 16 free throws in the fourth quarter. I was trying to take the ball out of his hands, he still got some free throws 40 feet from the rim. I cant explain some of those calls. Thats all I got to say on that.And Adebayo only needed the first half to set a career high, too.Adebayos 31 points in the opening quarter broke the Heat record for points in any quarter and tied the team record for points in a first half before the second quarter even started.He finished the first half with 43 points, a team record for any half and two points better than his previous career high for a full game, that is set Jan. 23, 2021, against Brooklyn. Adebayos season high entering Tuesday was 32. He matched that with a free throw with 5:53 left in the second quarter, breaking the Heat first-half scoring record.He was just getting started.I would say once he got to 50, then were thinking, all right, maybe he can get to 60, Spoelstra said.He got to 60, late in the third.And when he got to 60, it just kept on going, Spoelstra said. We might as well go for 70.He got to 70, And then, I didnt dare even think about taking him out at that point, Spoelstra said. We just kept on going.When Spoelstra finally declared Adebayos night over, he was waiting to greet the center with a big hug. Teammates did the same, as did some of the Wizards after the final buzzer. Adebayo made his way over to Heat managing general partner Micky Arison for congratulations, before eventually getting to the locker room. Everyone wanted his jersey, which he kept. The game ball was secured. The nets were cut down as souvenirs. Aja Wilson, Adebayos longtime girlfriend and the four-time WNBA MVP, could barely keep from crying.I know he says that Im his inspiration, Wilson said. But I dont think he has a clue how much he inspires me to continue to be the person that I am.Finally, Adebayo made his way to the parking garage, exhausted. He never had an opportunity to meet Bryant, who died in 2020, and often wonders what it would be like to have him as a confidant. He had those same thoughts Tuesday, after topping Bryants 81.Just a surreal moment, Adebayo said, being in the company with somebody I idolized growing up.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA TIM REYNOLDS Reynolds is an Associated Press sports writer, based in South Florida. twitter mailto

Nature, Published online: 11 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00756-wCryosleep remains the preserve of science fiction, but researchers are getting closer to restoring brain function after deep freezing.

The Ravens have agreed to sign Trey Hendrickson, sources told ESPN, in a high-priced pivot after their canceled blockbuster trade for Maxx Crosby.

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The couples Maldives destination wedding was largely a litmus test to find out which of their friends and family they can hit up for money in the future.The post Jason Schaible and Erica Finch appeared first on The Onion.