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The comment from Brendan Carr came on the heels of a social media message from President Trump criticizing the news medias coverage of the war with Iran.

Two women from the Iranian Red Crescent Society stand as a thick plume of smoke from a U.S.-Israeli strike on an oil storage facility late Saturday rises in the sky in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)2026-03-15T06:15:34Z Clouds of toxic smoke unleashed into the atmosphere by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Iranian oil facilities made a dangerous return to Earth in the form of black rain, prompting international health officials to warn of serious risks to the public.Residents in Tehran complained last week of burning eyes and difficulty breathing when the dark and oily precipitation fell near the Iranian capital after several fuel oil depots and a refinery were struck. Plumes of dark smoke have also been seen across other parts of the region over two weeks of war, as Iran retaliates against U.S.-Israeli airstrikes by firing drones and missiles at the oil and natural gas facilities of its Persian Gulf neighbors.Rain washes hazardous chemicals out of the atmosphere in a relatively short period of time, experts said, but people exposed to black rain should take precautions to avoid short- and long-term health risks.Heres what to know: What is black rain?It occurs when soot, ash and toxic chemicals combine with water droplets in the atmosphere, then fall back to Earth when it rains. Its common after oil refineries or oil fields catch fire, and also can be caused by wildfires, volcanic eruptions and industrial pollution.In Iran, microscopic soot formed when hydrocarbons in the fuel oil burned incompletely, experts said. Burning oil also forms compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, as well as toxic gases such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which cause acid rain, said Peter Adams, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University. What are the health risks of exposure?Microscopic soot, whose particles are about 40 times smaller than the width of a human hair, can lodge deep in the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing breathing and heart problems that can lead to premature death, experts said. Exposure to PAHs can increase cancer risk.In Iran, the World Health Organization and the countrys health and environmental officials advised people to stay indoors and wear masks. They warned that the rainfall was highly acidic and could burn the skin and cause lung damage. We can definitely expect acute health effects from an event like this, said V. Faye McNeill, a chemical engineering professor at Columbia University who specializes in atmospheric chemistry. Even regular air pollution events can trigger health problems and lead to more hospitalizations, especially among the elderly, children and people who already had health problems, she said. But this is a higher level, so there likely are health problems going on right now because of it.Some Iranians fear the polluted rain, which also contains heavy metals, could contaminate drinking-water reservoirs and waterways. How long do the chemicals last in the atmosphere?It usually takes only hours for fuel tanks to burn out. But as happened in Kuwait during the Gulf War 25 years ago oil fields can burn for months, said Adams.For fires that burn out more quickly, most of the soot and chemicals will disperse on the wind and wash out of the atmosphere in about three to seven days, Adams said.So if we dont create more problems, at least whats in the atmosphere is going to go away, even if long-term health risks havent, Adams said. But we dont know whats going to happen with future strikes and whether other tanks will be struck or whether oil fields will be struck, he added. Im less concerned about longer-term or regional stuff, but its a real mess for the people in the immediate vicinity.___The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Firefighters put out the fire in a residential neighborhood following a Russian missile and drone attack, in Brovary, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)2026-03-15T10:47:08Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in comments released Sunday that he was ready for the next round of trilateral peace talks to end Russias more than 4-year-old invasion of Ukraine, but that it was up to Washington and Moscow to agree on where and when to meet. Zelenskyy said the U.S. had proposed hosting the next meeting between American, Ukrainian and Russian negotiating teams, which include U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, but Moscow had refused to send a delegation. We are waiting for a response from the Americans. Either they will change the country where we meet, or the Russians must confirm the U.S, Zelenskyy said in a media briefing Saturday. We are not blocking any of these initiatives. We want a trilateral meeting to take place.The U.S. has postponed its sponsored talks between the two sides due to the war in the Middle East. The Iran war, which erupted on Feb. 28 following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and spread across the region, has drawn the international spotlight away from Ukraines plight as it strives to hold back Russias bigger army. Speaking to journalists, Zelenskyy also warned of a very high risk that the Iran war could drain the air defense stockpiles Ukraine depends on to counter Russian missile strikes. Zelenskyy said he lacked a clear picture of available stockpiles and had discussed with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday whether SAMP/T systems could serve as an alternative to U.S.-made Patriot batteries for intercepting ballistic missiles. He said Ukraine would be first in line to test any viable alternative. He also appeared to push back against U.S. President Donald Trumps recent assertion that Washington has no need for Ukrainian drone technology. No, we dont need their help on drone defense, Trump said in a Fox News Radio interview that aired Friday. Zelenskyy said Washington had reached out to Ukraine several times to request assistance for a particular country or for support for Americans, without giving specifics. He said the requests had come from various U.S. military institutions to Ukraines Ministry of Defense and other military leaders.All our institutions received these requests, and we responded to them, Zelenskyy said.He said he had offered Washington a defense cooperation deal last year worth $35 billion$50 billion that would have given the U.S. administration access to technology from roughly 200 Ukrainian drone, AI and electronic warfare firms, with half of all production earmarked for partners, primarily the U.S. According to the Ukrainian leader, American military officials had expressed strong interest in the proposal, and Trump himself had indicated he was receptive.We received a message from them, and directly from the president as well, that they are interested, Zelenskyy told reporters. We did not sign the document with President Trump. I do not have an answer as to why. Perhaps it will happen later, but I am not sure.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A boy pushes a bicycle carrying jerrycans of water through a sandstorm in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2026-03-15T08:02:28Z CAIRO (AP) At least four Palestinians, including two boys and a woman pregnant with twins, were killed Sunday by an Israeli airstrike in the war-torn Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said.The strike hit a house in Nuseirat, an urban refugee camp in central Gaza, killing a couple in their 30s and their 10-year son, according to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.The fourth fatality, a 15-year-old neighbor, was taken to the Awda hospital in Nuseirat. The boys young brother was wounded in the strike, the hospital said.We were sleeping and got up to the strike of a missile. The strike was strong, said Mahmoud al-Muhtaseb, a neighbor. There was no prior warning.There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.The deaths were the latest fatalities among Palestinians in the coastal enclave since an October ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than 2-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, the ceasefire has still seen almost daily Israeli fire. Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing more than 650 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. Israel says it has responded to violations of the ceasefire or targeted wanted militants. But about half of those killed have been women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. They were among more than 72,200 Palestinians killed in the war which was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The militant attack killed over 1,200 people and took over 250 others hostage.The health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire. SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

In this undated photo provided by The White House, John Woodson Ficklin poses for a photos with President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter at the White House in Washington. (The White House via AP)2026-03-15T11:39:52Z WASHINGTON (AP) John Wrory Ficklin was 7 when he learned that his father, the son of a slave, was important. It was 1963, and the nation was mourning President John F. Kennedy. Wrory Ficklin was sitting with his mother and brother, watching funeral coverage on TV in the familys Washington apartment, when she gasped.His father, James Woodson Ficklin, was wearing a morning suit and standing beside Kennedys casket with other White House ushers. He was a White House butler at the time, but Kennedys widow, Jacqueline, asked that he join the ushers that day. Woodson Ficklin worked a remarkable 44 years on the White House residence staff. His son, Wrory Ficklin, had a lengthy White House career, too 40 years on the staff of the National Security Council. Presidents come and go from the White House every four years or eight years, but the Ficklin family Woodson Ficklin, his wife, some of his brothers and sisters, and son Wrory Ficklin was a constant presence there for nearly eight decades, serving 13 presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Barack Obama. One family by the presidents side for one-third of Americas 250-year existence.With his 2015 retirement, Wrory became the last Ficklin employed there full time, capping a record of family service documented in his book, An Unusual Path: Three Generations from Slavery to the White House.The book is my familys history, its African American history and its our countrys history, he told The Associated Press in an interview. My dad and I both stand on my grandfathers shoulders, and I like to think that we both contributed a lot to our country. Family story starts with grandfather born enslavedThe first chapter in what Wrory Ficklin described as a truly American story opens with his grandfather, James Strother Ficklin, who was born a slave around 1854 in Rappahannock County, Virginia. Strother was a water boy for the Confederate army during the Civil War. After emancipation, he did odd jobs for the family that used to own him.He remarried in 1894 after his first wife died during childbirth, and moved to Youngstown, Ohio, to escape racism in Virginia and earn a living in the booming coal and steel industries. Records showed they returned to Rappahannock some years later, though it was unclear why. Strother and his second wife, Helen, had saved enough money to buy 37 acres (0.15 square kilometers) of land in Amissville, Virginia, in 1901. He built a house and farmed the land to help feed the family. After Helen died while giving birth, Strother married his third wife, Vallie Lee Davenport, in 1907. They had 10 children five girls and five boys. One of those boys was John Woodson Ficklin. The Ficklin brothers worked together at the White House Woodson Ficklin was 15 when he moved to Washington in 1934 to live with an older sister and her husband. He worked odd jobs and went to high school at night, graduating in 1939 the year an older brother, Charles, began work as a White House butler. Charles Ficklin helped him land a part-time position washing dishes and doing whatever the butlers did not have time to do themselves.Military service during World War II briefly interrupted their White House careers, but they received promotions after they came home, with Charles Ficklin and Woodson Ficklin becoming head butler and butler, respectively. Woodson Ficklin met President Harry Truman and first lady Bess Truman on his second day as a butler when he served the couple breakfast. New promotions followed under Dwight Eisenhower, with Charles Ficklin becoming matre d the most senior butler and Woodson Ficklin taking over as head butler, putting him in charge of six full-time butlers.Woodson Ficklin succeeded his brother again in March 1967, when Charles Ficklin retired. Woodson Ficklin worked closely with the first ladiesWoodson Ficklin was now responsible for the planning and execution of White House social events, ranging from luncheons and state dinners to birthday parties and South Lawn barbecues.There were visits by British royals and the annual round of Christmas parties, the White House wedding of Richard Nixons daughter Tricia in 1971, and Gerald Fords daughter Susans decision to host her senior class prom at the White House. Along the way, Woodson Ficklin earned the trust and confidence of the presidents and first ladies who relied on his expertise. Some sent thank-you notes after flawlessly executed events.First lady Patricia Nixon wrote in October 1969 about the great number of complimentary remarks we receive following each White House social event, according to a copy of the letter reprinted in the book. Our family is most grateful to you for the time and interest you devote to make each occasion so enjoyable and memorable for our guests and for us. President Jimmy Carter expressed appreciation in a March 1979 letter for the work Woodson Ficklin and his team did surrounding the signing of an Egypt-Israel peace treaty. Everything was perfect and we are grateful, Carter wrote. Woodson Ficklin retired in May 1983. In perhaps the biggest show of appreciation for his 44-year career, the Reagans invited him and his wife, Nancy, to a state dinner that year for the emir of Bahrain.He is believed to be the first member of the White House residence staff to be a guest at a state dinner, and he became the subject of a media blitz as a result. Woodson Ficklin sat at the first ladys table and told an interviewer that she put me at ease and made me feel like a guest. Asked about the service, he replied, Those are my boys. I trained them.Woodson Ficklin died in December 1984 at 65.Wrory Ficklin spent most of his career in national securitySeeing my Dad on television was a big deal, and to see him participating in our presidents funeral service was beyond my youthful comprehension, Wrory Ficklin wrote. He said years passed before he understood the severity and the importance of his fathers work.Yet Wrory Ficklin ended up doing important work at the White House, too, after a summer job during high school delivering sealed envelopes between the White House and the special prosecutor on the Watergate investigation. He also worked for his father in the pantry during state dinners and other big events.Wrory Ficklin joined the NSC staff in 1975, beginning a 40-year tenure that overlapped with his father and other family members. He started by working evenings as a clerk while attending college during the day and by 1987 was training new staff. Under Obama, Wrory Ficklin was promoted to special assistant to the president for national security affairs. He retired in 2015 with a special request for his boss, national security adviser Susan Rice: Could he attend a state dinner, like his dad? Wrory Ficklin and his wife, Patrice, were invited to the 2015 state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping. With some minor alterations, he wore the tuxedo jacket and cummerbund his father wore in 1983. The dinner was the highlight of his career, he said. Just to experience firsthand the quality of the service, the precision of the butlers, the type of service that they provided, was a legacy to my dad, actually, Wrory Ficklin said in the interview. DARLENE SUPERVILLE Superville covers the White House for The Associated Press, with a special emphasis on first ladies and first families.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is seen at the White House, Friday, March 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2026-03-15T09:55:41Z BEIJING (AP) Representatives from Beijing and Washington began their economic and trade talks in Paris on Sunday, Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported. The meetings, led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, are expected to pave the way for U.S. President Donald Trumps state visit to Beijing to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in about two weeks. The White House has said that Trump will travel to China from March 31 to April 2, though Beijing has not officially confirmed it. Bessent said on Thursday that his team will continue to deliver results that put Americas farmers, workers and businesses first. Chinas commerce ministry said Friday the two sides are set to discuss trade and economic issues of mutual concern.Trumps visit to China will be the first for a U.S. president since he went in his first term in 2017. It will come five months after the two leaders met in the South Korean city of Busan and agreed to a one-year truce in a trade war that temporarily saw tit-for-tat tariffs soar to triple digits before the two sides climbed down. Still, trade remains a source of tensions. The commerce ministry on Friday hit back against the Trump administrations new trade investigation into 16 trading partners, including China. The investigation which came after a Supreme Court ruling struck down Trumps sweeping global tariffs that were imposed last year could pave the way for new tariffs. Another issue that could be discussed is the Iran war, especially when global anxiety is soaring over oil prices and supplies. Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and others will send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and safe. Before Sundays talks, Gary Ng, a senior economist at French bank Natixis and a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies, said the Paris meeting is likely the most important bilateral one before the Xi-Trump summit. The key issue is whether China and the U.S. can agree on what is agreed and manage disagreement. Iran is a new factor, but Beijing is more concerned about the flip-flopping of U.S. policies, he said. Last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it would be a big year for China-U.S. relations. While he did not confirm the state visit, Wang said that the agenda of high-level exchange is already on the table.Bessent and He have led trade negotiations between the countries since last year, having met in Geneva, London, Stockholm, Madrid and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detain a person, Jan. 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)2026-03-15T12:02:40Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Trump administration likes to promote its immigration enforcement agenda through numbers, with ambitious goals to deport 1 million people, report zero releases at the U.S.-Mexico border and arrest thousands of alleged gang members.For all the boasting, the administration has been releasing less reliable, carefully vetted data than its predecessors on a signature policy that has become one of the most contentious of Trumps second term.The gap in information and a loss of figures from an office that has tracked immigration data back to the 1800s have left researchers, advocates, lawyers and journalists without important statistics to hold the Republican administration to account.They arent publishing the data, said Mike Howell, who heads the conservative Oversight Project, an advocacy group pushing for more deportations. Instead, Howell said, the Department of Homeland Security has put out numbers in news releases that purport to be statistics with no statistical backup and the numbers have jumped all over the place. With mass deportations a priority, new restrictions and increased enforcement have led to a surge in immigration arrests, detentions and deportations.But finding the metrics that once measured those changes can be hard. It is an extension of earlier administration moves to limit the flow of government information by scrubbing or removing federal datasets or by the firing last year of the top official overseeing jobs data. Important data is no longer publicly availableThe Office of Homeland Security Statistics is responsible for publishing figures from Homeland Security agencies, including removals and the nationalities of those deported, to provide a comprehensive picture of immigration trends at the border and inside the United States.Originally known as the Office of Immigration Statistics, it tracked such data since 1872. In its current form, created under the Biden administration, it also started publishing monthly reports that allowed researchers to track developments almost in real time. But key enforcement metrics on its website have not been updated since early last year. A note on the page where the monthly reports were says it is delayed while it is under review. Its the most timely data. Its the most reliable data, Austin Kocher, research professor at Syracuse University who closely follows immigration data trends, said about the monthly reports. It has the most omniscient view of immigration enforcement across the entire agency. An interactive dashboard launched by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in December 2023 once let users examine whom the agency was arresting, their nationalities, criminal histories and removal numbers. ICE called it a new era in transparency. Though intended for quarterly updates, the latest data is from January 2025. The agencys annual report, typically released in December, had not been published as of mid-March.Other agencies also publish data that touches on immigration, and parts of it do continue to roll out, such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics detailing border encounters or data from the Department of Justices immigration courts. But experts say other data has slowed. The State Departments most recent visa issuance data is from August. Key statistics from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have not been updated since October.The now-missing data had helped researchers study the effects of different policies. Lawyers could cite the figures to support their litigation. Journalists saw in them a powerful tool to hold the government to account on public claims or to report on important trends. Were all a little bit in the dark about exactly how immigration enforcement is operating at a time when its taking new and unprecedented forms, said Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute.DHS did not respond to detailed questions about why it was no longer releasing specific data. This is the most transparent Administration in history, we release new data multiple times a week and upon reporter request, the department said in a statement. Researchers contend with a patchwork of numbersFigures the administration has released are inconsistent and unverifiable.In a Jan. 20 news release, DHS said it had deported more than 675,000 people since Trump returned to the White House. A day later, in a second release, the department put the figure at 622,000. In congressional testimony March 4, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the figure was 700,000.But ICE, an agency within DHS, also releases figures on how many people it has removed from the country, part of a large data release mandated by Congress. An Associated Press analysis of the figures put that number at roughly 400,000 over Trumps first year.DHS has said 2.2 million people who were in the U.S. illegally have gone home on their own, but the department has given no explanation for the count. Experts have questioned the source of that figure, saying this was not something that DHS historically has tracked. The department did not respond to questions about where that data came from.With key sources of data halted, researchers, advocates and others have had to rely on information the administration is obliged to report or that has come to light through legal action.The publication of ICE detention figures how many people are detained, for how long and whether they have committed a crime is required by Congress and is generally released every two weeks. But the figures release has faced some delays and its data gets overwritten with every new publication, complicating the work of people who need access to it. The University of California, Berkeleys Deportation Data Project, a research initiative, successfully sued through the Freedom of Information Act to access data about ICE arrests including nationalities, conviction status and whether arrests occurred at jails or in the community.Graeme Blair, co-director of the project, said every administration has struggled with transparency in immigration enforcement, and given the Trump administrations ambitious enforcement goals, the team wanted to secure and verify information that the government might not publicly release.Given the scale of what they were talking about doing, it seemed really important to be able to understand, to be able to double check those numbers, he said.But there are limitations, he said. The data obtained through the lawsuit only runs through Oct. 15. It does not cover recent operations such as the Minneapolis enforcement surge, when federal immigration officers fatally shot two protesters, leading to widespread demonstrations and scrutiny of enforcement tactics.The absence of data is one of the few issues that has drawn bipartisan criticism. We deserve to know the numbers, just like we deserve to know whos in our country and who needs to leave, Howell said. REBECCA SANTANA Santana covers the Department of Homeland Security for The Associated Press. She has extensive experience reporting in such places as Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Teyana Taylor arrives at Chanel's 17th Annual Pre-Oscar Awards Dinner on Saturday, March 14, 2026, at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)2026-03-15T06:40:42Z BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) Teyana Taylor, Mick Jagger, Kristen Stewart and Wagner Moura were just a few of the stars mingling on the patio of the storied Polo Lounge on the Saturday night before the Oscars. They gathered at the iconic spot at The Beverly Hills Hotel for the 17th annual pre-Oscar dinner co-hosted by Chanel and film producer Charles Finch.On the red carpet, Jessie Buckley, who is the favorite to win best actress on Sunday, noted how intimate it felt with only a handful of photographers and reporters looking on.Its like a prelude to tomorrow, right? Buckley quipped. Her Matthieu Blazy-designed dress was embellished with dragonflies on the straps. She said it felt like a fairy tale.The co-director of the animated musical KPop Demon Hunters, Maggie Kang, was excited to be in the mix, but also thinking about Sunday, when her film is expected to win best animated feature and best original song. Theres also the big performance of its hit song Golden, which producers have said will celebrate the bigger cultural phenomenon of the movie.Its epic. Its a lot of drama, Kang said. I had tears just watching the rehearsal. It was really amazing. Its going to be a big cultural moment. A very starry gatheringThe patio was packed with Oscar nominees, winners, filmmakers and celebrities mingling and sipping drinks. Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Snchez Bezos chatted with Sigourney Weaver and Jessica Alba, while Stellan Skarsgrd found himself deep in conversation with Nick Cave. Elsewhere, Stewart posed for a photo with Taylor, and Nicole Kidman caught up with Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne, who also found her way back to her Bridesmaids co-star Maya Rudolph. Hours earlier, Byrne and Rudolph rehearsed a bit for the show at the Dolby Theatre. On another part of the patio, Jagger made his way to Sentimental Value filmmaker Joachim Trier, Molly Sims and her film producer husband Scott Stuber spoke with Love Story star Sarah Pidgeon, who was sipping champagne, while Marty Supreme director Josh Safdie and his cowriter and co-editor Ronald Bronstein tried to make their way toward one another. A glass might have been a casualty of the meeting. Chanels long history with the moviesChanel has been tied to cinema for nearly a century. Samuel Goldwyn famously invited house founder Gabrielle Chanel to Hollywood in 1931 to design dresses for the likes of Gloria Swanson. Decades later, she was working with French New Wave luminaries both on screen and off, including Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Alain Resnais and Louis Malle. And the collaborations continue to this day. As a nod to the era for Richard Linklaters Nouvelle Vague, they recreated a haute couture bustier dress from a 1956 collection. Chanel has also helped support independent filmmaking, including Stewarts directorial debut The Chronology of Water, film restorations like Wim Wenders Paris, Texas, film festivals and burgeoning talent behind the camera. I felt, like, mutually seen and supported by these people since I was a very young person, Stewart said. Functioning in like, you know, this sort of industry, business, Hollywood slash fashion world as a kiddo is a bizarro, and with them its always felt incredibly authentic and sort of from a storytellers perspective, and so it doesnt surprise me that they want to support storytellers. Finch started throwing parties around the Oscars about 30 years ago, mostly for international filmmakers who didnt have anywhere to go, he said. The partnership with Chanel has helped make it one of the hottest tickets in town. Being on a film set reminds you that cinema is a universal language. On the film Im working on now, the crew includes British, American, French, and Portuguese artisans all united by one goal: to bring a story to life, Finch said. That spirit is what tonight is about and how this dinner originated: celebrating cinema, storytelling, and the storytellers who make the magic happen.___For more on this years Oscars, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards. LINDSEY BAHR Bahr has been a film writer and critic for The Associated Press since 2014. twitter instagram mailto

Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Italy celebrates after he clocked the fastest time in the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix race at the Shanghai International Circuit, in Shanghai, China, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)2026-03-15T06:36:46Z SHANGHAI (AP) Hes been defined by being Lewis Hamiltons successor and George Russells teammate. Now Kimi Antonelli is a Formula 1 race-winner in his own right, and the second-youngest in history.The 19-year-old Italian pulled clear of an entertaining battle between Russell and the two Ferraris to take a commanding win at the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday and share the podium with his teammate and Hamilton, the seven-time champion he replaced last year.Im speechless. Im about to cry, to be honest, Antonelli said, holding back tears. Thank you so much to my team because they helped me to achieve this dream. Wolffs gamble pays offIts a vindication of the gamble Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff took in picking the youngster, whod joined Mercedes junior program aged just 11, to replace an all-time great when Hamilton moved to Ferrari for 2025. There were plenty of doubters when Antonelli crashed 10 minutes into his practice debut in 2024.Many said it was just too early last year, and obviously we asked ourselves that question, whether it was too much to throw him into this pressure cooker, Wolff told Sky Sport Germany.One year with ups and downs and hes young. We have to forgive him these mistakes, and now hes in the second Grand Prix (of 2026) and brings it home ruthlessly. Its good. The 19-year-old Italian was the youngest pole-position starter and briefly lost the lead to Hamilton at the start but retook it soon after and was in control the rest of the way. Locking up a tire near the end caused him a little bit of a heart attack, but he made it to the end to celebrate with his father, who once sneaked his then seven-year-old son into the F1 paddock hidden in a stack of tires to get closer to the action.It was another 1-2 finish for Mercedes to start the season as Russell came through a battle with both Ferraris to finish second. Hamilton was third for his long-awaited first Grand Prix podium finish for Ferrari.The only driver younger than Antonelli to win a Grand Prix was Max Verstappen, who was 18 when he took his first victory in 2016. Hes the first Italian to win since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2006, five months before Antonelli was born. Russell bests Ferraris in thrillerThe new regulations again produced a dramatic fight for position between Mercedes and the fast-starting Ferraris as Russell fought his way past Charles Leclerc and Hamilton in a multi-lap battle with numerous changes of position. That allowed Antonelli to build his lead at the front.Even after Russell had pulled away to secure second place, teammates Leclerc and Hamilton kept up their own fight for third. This is quite a fun battle, Leclerc exclaimed over the radio.Leclerc was fourth with Oliver Bearman fifth for Haas, Pierre Gasly sixth for Alpine and Liam Lawson seventh for Racing Bulls. Isack Hadjar recovered from an early spin to place eighth for Red Bull, ahead of Carlos Sainz, Jr. in ninth for Williams, while Franco Colapinto was 10th for Alpine to score his first point since 2024.Max Verstappen was running sixth when his car lost power and he had to limp back to the pits in another blow for the four-time champion, who has been a leading critic of F1s new cars. Double disaster for McLarenFormula 1 champion Lando Norris and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri were both unable to start after encountering technical problems minutes before the race began.Piastri was due to start fifth and Norris sixth for Sundays race. Norris was in his car in the pits but didnt leave for the grid, before Piastri was then withdrawn from the grid.McLaren said it found two different electrical problems on the power unit side after an investigation. Its the second time Piastri has failed to start in 2026 after he crashed before the start of last weeks race in Australia. Only 18 of 22 cars took the start, with Audis Gabriel Bortoleto and Williams Alex Albon also unable to make it, before both Aston Martin cars and Verstappen hit trouble in the race too.F1 is racing hours after it announced next months races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will not go ahead because of the war in the Middle East. ___AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban take part in a march in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)2026-03-15T10:27:21Z BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn and his main political opponent, Pter Magyar, each called their supporters to the streets of Hungarys capital on Sunday for a show of strength before the two men face off in pivotal elections just four weeks away. The rival rallies in Budapest, expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people in support of Orbns nationalist Fidesz party and Magyars center-right Tisza, are being viewed as a barometer for which side commands more support as the campaign enters its final month. In power since 2010 and looking for his fifth consecutive election victory, Orbn, 62, faces a more competitive race than at any time in the past two decades as Magyar has shot to prominence and challenged what once seemed to be an unshakeable grip on power by the pro-Russian populist.As crowds gathered on a bridge over the Danube ahead of the pro-government march that would end with a speech by the prime minister, Orbn supporter Anik Menyhrt said his appeal could be summed up in three words: God, homeland, family. Only this government is able to secure these three things for the future, she said. In the days ahead of Sundays events, held on the March 15 national holiday commemorating Hungarys 1848 revolution against the Habsburg Empire, both Orbn and Magyar stressed to their followers the importance of attending. Many observers were watching for which party was able to mobilize more people to its rally, a possible glimpse into how they might perform on April 12. Magyars supporters planned their own march through central Budapest later in the day. Tisza has predicted it will be Hungarys biggest ever political event.Hungarys stagnating economy, deteriorating public services and a cost of living crisis compounded by increasingly salient allegations of government corruption have helped fuel growing dissatisfaction with Orbn and his autocratic style. While the long-serving leader has centered his campaign around what he says are the dangers to Hungary posed by the European Union and neighboring Ukraine, Magyar, a 44-year-old lawyer and one-time Fidesz insider who broke with the party in 2024, has focused his message on improving conditions for ordinary Hungarians. Through relentless campaigning across Hungarys rural countryside, traditionally an Orbn stronghold, Magyar has spread the message that he will restore Hungarys democratic institutions that have eroded under Orbn, and steer the country back toward its Western partners and off its drift toward Moscow. In a video posted to social media early Sunday, Magyar said his party would like to give back to every Hungarian what the outgoing government has taken away: our belief in our freedom, and the feeling that our homeland truly belongs to every Hungarian.Tisza holds a lead over Fidesz in most independent polling, and in a February survey by pollster Medin published by the news site HVG, Magyars party was at a 20 percentage point advantage among decided voters. But the outcome of the election remains far from certain as Fidesz has sought to engage its broad support in many rural areas and leverage its control over public broadcasters and a vast web of loyal media outlets to deliver its message.Magyar, responding to numerous media reports that Russian intelligence services were seeking to use a disinformation campaign to tilt the election in Orbns favor, has warned his supporters that manipulated recordings could be used to discredit him or his movement. Orbn has relied increasingly on an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign that alleges Kyiv, the EU and Tisza are part of a conspiracy to oust his government and install one that makes decisions more favorable to Ukraine. The central message of Orbns pitch is that a new government would bankrupt Hungary by supporting Ukraine against Russias invasion something he has refused to do and send Hungarys youth to their deaths on the front lines. The campaign has been replete with disinformation, and relied heavily on pictures and videos generated by artificial intelligence. Further fueling the tension, Hungarys government this week said it will declassify a national security report that Orbn claims will prove Tisza received illegal financing from Ukraine a claim Magyar has strongly denied. JUSTIN SPIKE Spike is an Associated Press reporter based in Budapest, Hungary. twitter mailto

In this photo released by Kazakhstan's President Press Office, a woman casts her ballot at a polling station during a referendum on a new constitution, in Astana, Kazakhstan, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (Kazakhstan's President Press Office via AP)2026-03-15T07:20:20Z Voters in Kazakhstan headed to the polls Sunday for a referendum on a new constitution that would strengthen President Kassym-Jomart Tokayevs grip on power in Central Asias largest country.The proposal merges the Kazakhstani parliaments two chambers into one and gives the president the right to appoint all government officials, including the restoration of the post of vice-president. The transition to a single-chamber parliament will not necessarily strengthen democracy, especially as the proposed amendments broadly expand presidential powers, Mario Bikarski, Senior Eastern Europe and Central Asia Analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft, told The Associated Press. There is growing public demand for greater political accountability and justice, which these reforms are unlikely to address.If the constitutional changes pass, a new body, the Peoples Council, will be created alongside parliament, empowered to initiate legislation and initiate referendums. Its members will be appointed entirely by the president. This second constitutional change in four years was initiated by Tokayev. Analysts say they could pave the way for him to retain power after his term expires. The 72-year-old Tokayev, a former Soviet official and Kazakhstani diplomat who previously served at the U.N., is currently limited to one seven-year term until 2029. Analysts believe Tokayev could use the referendum to reset presidential term limits. If the transition of power doesnt go as Tokayev would like ... then he will be able to say that with the adoption of the new Constitution, we have reset presidential term limits, analyst Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, told The Associated Press. The new constitution could provide Tokayev with a loophole for reelection to another term.Leaders of several former Soviet republics, including Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, have previously used new or amended constitutions to revise statutory term limits. The proposed new constitution also stipulates that marriage will no longer be a union of two people, but rather a union of a man and a woman. Analysts say this provision was introduced in the new constitution as a follow-up to a law banning what authorities view as propaganda of LGBTQ+ relations.What we previously saw in the Russian Constitution has migrated to the Kazakhstani one. This trend toward visible and ostentatious traditionalism demonstrates a certain bias toward which the Kazakhstani political regime will likely drift in the future, Umarov said.Tokayev, who has maintained a delicate balance between Moscow and the West since the imposition of sanctions against Russia, explains the constitutional changes as a response to the need to make quick decisions in a rapidly changing world.This step is of exceptional importance, especially in the current period, when the geopolitical situation is unstable and challenges and threats to national security are becoming increasingly tangible, Tokayev said at a forum in Astana on Thursday. The opposition in Kazakhstan is not represented in government structures and, in the month since the referendum was announced, has failed, or simply hasnt had time, to significantly influence public sentiment, analysts say.Theres no formally formed opposition in Kazakhstan, said analyst Umarov. There are opposition-minded politicians and civil society activists. Theyre trying to demonstrate their discontent in some way, trying to hold various protests, calling for voting in a certain way.The vote is taking place at a difficult time for Kazakhstan, where inflation reached 11.7% in February and tax increases have fueled public discontent. Analysts say economic problems could trigger a new wave of protests akin to nationwide unrest in 2022, triggered by hikes in fuel prices, in which dozens of protesters and police were killed something Tokayev is trying to contain by consolidating power in his own hands.Preventing a repeat of the 2022 unrest remains a key priority for Tokayev, said Bikarski. Kazakhstan is the highest-risk Central Asian country on our predictive Civil Unrest Index, reflecting the increased incidence of industrial action, particularly in oil-producing regions.___Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia, and Morton reported from Thessaloniki, Greece. YURAS KARMANAU Karmanau is an Associated Press journalist covering Belarus and the CIS countries. He has worked in Belarus and Ukraine, as well as other countries in the region, for more than 20 years. He is part of the team that covers the Russia-Ukraine war. mailto

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Pope Leo XIV appears at the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican where Catholic faithful and pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing at the end of the noon Angelus prayer, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)2026-03-15T12:23:53Z ROME (AP) Pope Leo XIV demanded a ceasefire in the Middle East on Sunday in his strongest comments to date, directly addressing the leaders who launched the war in Iran. On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict, Leo said. Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for.Leo didnt cite the United States or Israel by name in his comments at the end of his Sunday noon blessing. But historys first U.S. pope mentioned the attacks that targeted a school, an apparent reference to the missile strike on an elementary school in Iran in the opening days of the war that killed over 165 people, many of them children.U.S. officials have said outdated intelligence likely led to the United States launching the strike, and that an investigation is ongoing. The Vatican has highlighted the carnage of the Minab strike, running an aerial photo of the mass grave being dug for the young victims on the March 6 front page of its official newspaper, LOsservatore Romano, under the headline The Face of War. Leo said he was close to the families of those who had been killed in the attacks which have hit schools, hospitals and residential centers. He expressed particular concern about the impact of the war in Lebanon, where aid groups are warning of a humanitarian crisis. The plight of Christian communities in southern Lebanon is of particular concern to the Vatican, since they have long represented a bulwark for Christians throughout the majority Muslim region.For the two weeks since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war, the pope has limited his comments to muted appeals for diplomacy and dialogue in an apparent attempt to avoid pitting himself as an American political counterweight to President Donald Trump. He hasnt named the U.S. or Israel publicly, but that is also in keeping with the Vaticans tradition of diplomatic neutrality. On Friday, for example, in a speech to priests attending a Vatican class on the sacrament of confession, Leo said the sacrament was a workshop that restores unity and peace.One might well ask: do those Christians who bear grave responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to make a serious examination of conscience and to go to confession? he said.But while Leo has sought to keep his messaging indirect and apolitical to avoid inflaming tensions, some of his U.S. cardinals and the Vatican secretary of state have not. Cardinal Robert McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, said the war was morally unjustifiable. Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said it was sickening how the White House was splicing video game imagery into its social media messaging about the war.The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, rejected Washingtons claim of a preventive war. But he said this week that the Holy See was regardless keeping dialogue open. The Holy See speaks with everyone, and when necessary we speak also with the Americans, with the Israelis and show them what to us are the solutions, he said.___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. NICOLE WINFIELD Winfield has been on the Vatican beat since 2001, covering the papacies of St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and the Francis pontificate and traveling the world with them.

Palestinians who traveled to South Africa via a charter flight organized by an Israeli group whose founder supported U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza stand in their temporary flat in Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)2026-03-15T12:09:08Z TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) The plane carrying about 150 Palestinians from Gaza came as a surprise to everyone on the ground when it landed in South Africa in November.It wasnt the only one. Since May, at least three flights filled with Gaza residents whod signed up to leave the war-torn enclave have landed in Indonesia and South Africa.An Israeli group whose founder adamantly supported U.S. President Donald Trumps proposal to resettle Palestinians from Gaza is behind the flights, an AP investigation has found, raising further questions about the motives behind the evacuation of hundreds of people from the strip. At the time, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola called the flights a clear agenda to cleanse out the Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank. Ad Kan, an Israeli organization founded by soldiers and former intelligence officers, worked via another company to distance links to Israel and organize the flights, according to a contract, passenger lists, text messages, financial statements, and interviews with more than two dozen Israelis, Palestinians and other people involved with the trips. Several of the passengers who fled after more than two years of a devastating war that has decimated Gaza said they didnt know who was behind the trip. But they largely didnt care, they said, as long as they could leave. There was famine, and we had no options. My children were almost killed, said a 37-year-old Palestinian who arrived in South Africa in November and, like the other passengers, spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing he could face punishment. Death and destruction was everywhere, all day, for two years, and nobody came to the rescue. Supporting Palestinian livesAd Kan kept a distance from the flights. The evacuations were organized through a company called Al-Majd, which describes itself on its website as a humanitarian organization supporting Palestinian lives and providing aid for Muslim communities in conflict.However, a look at the history of Ad Kan and its founder, Gilad Ach, suggests the Israeli group may have been driven, at least in part, by a different agenda.Ad Kan, Hebrew for enough is enough, has for years worked covertly to infiltrate groups and expose what they say are antisemitic or anti-Israel activities. Ach, an Israeli combat reservist, is a West Bank settler activist who was a staunch supporter of Trumps proposal last year to transfer 2 million Palestinians out of Gaza. After Trump floated his proposal, Ach published a report detailing how hed implement the voluntary exit. The document proposed that Israel complete the Palestinian emigration process from Gaza within six to eight months and coordinate with the U.S. to enlist receiving countries. It said the migration of all Palestinians was entirely feasible, that they wanted to leave, and that emptying the territory of its Palestinian population was an Israeli interest.Trump later abandoned his plan which drew widespread international condemnation and accusations from Palestinians, rights groups and even the U.N. secretary-general that such a proposal could amount to ethnic cleansing and said Palestinians could remain in Gaza. But far-right Israeli groups, including members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus governing coalition, continue to support the idea of removing Gazas Palestinians in hopes that Israel could one day resettle the area. With the knowledge of the U.S., Israels government has approached several governments Somaliland, South Sudan and Sudan in hopes of facilitating emigration from Gaza.Early last year, Israel created the Voluntary Emigration Bureau, run by Israels Defense Ministry. 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. Group founder says the flights were humanitarianAfter the war began in 2023, Ach founded a group called The Israeli Reservists Generation of Victory. In a November 2024 interview with Arutz Sheva, a religious nationalistic news site aligned with the West Bank settler movement, Ach said the groups message included the emigration of our enemies.His group also circulated ads on buses in Israel featuring a portrait of Trump beside the Hebrew words: Victory = Voluntary migration This bus could be full of Gazans. Listen to Trump, let them out! In an interview with right-wing outlet the Jewish News Syndicate shortly after the war erupted, Ach said victory in Gaza meant taking part of the land and opening the borders so people could leave. They lost their territory, they lost population, this is a clear victory, he said. Ach declined to be interviewed for this story and said in a text message to AP that he was proud to lead organizations voicing support for the rights of Palestinians in Gaza who want to leave for safer parts of the world, free from Hamas. He denied South Africas allegation that the flights were meant to cleanse Gaza and the West Bank of Palestinians. He said they were humanitarian flights and that those who left reached out for help, with some paying part of the costs. He noted profound hypocrisy, with countries unwilling to accept Palestinian refugees.Their continued presence in Gaza, under dire conditions, serves as a tool to pressure Israel internationally and allows Hamas to maintain its rule over this suffering population, he said.Ach did not respond to questions about using Al-Majd to distance links to Israel.Critics say such emigration from Gaza is not voluntary after the war left much of the strip uninhabitable. Rights groups also warn that people need to be allowed to return, and Israel has a decades-long track record of making it difficult for Palestinian to return to Gaza.How the flights worked AP spoke to six Palestinians who left Gaza via the flights.Some said they started hearing about a company transferring people out of Gaza in early 2025. Some saw ads online or on social media or were sent to Al-Majds website through friends.With fighting raging and much of Gaza reduced to rubble, some said they didnt know where they were going. They wanted only to get away.Months before the flight landed in Johannesburg last November, an earlier flight in May took nearly 60 Palestinians from Israel via Hungary to Indonesia and a handful of other locations. A second flight, in October, took some 170 people from Israel to South Africa via Kenya, according to people who helped organize the planes, flight-tracking information and Palestinians who used the service.The six Palestinians who spoke to AP said they paid up to $2,000 per person through bank and cryptocurrency transfers. They said the website indicated theyd be taken to South Africa, Indonesia, or Malaysia but did not give an option to choose. When the flight was ready, the Palestinians received messages telling them to meet at a location where they were transported by bus out of Gaza to Israel, searched and allowed to take a few belongings onto the plane.American-Israeli businessman Moti Kahana signed a contract in August, shared with AP, to organize a flight for Ad Kan. Kahana, who has experience evacuating people from conflict zones including Afghanistan, Ukraine and Syria, said he was approached to help arrange a flight for more than 300 Palestinians to Indonesia from Ramon airport, in southern Israel. The contract with Ad Kan stated that his company would provide a flight rescue service for a minimum payment of $750,000. But during planning, the route was changed to South Africa, he said, and his participation with the flights ended.After the second South Africa-bound flight landed in November, the government revoked its 90-day visa exemptions for Palestinian passport holders, citing deliberate and ongoing abuse by Israelis linked to emigration efforts. Kahana said Ach told him about Ad Kans connection to Al-Majd, describing it as run by both Arabs and Israelis in Israel but not wanting to promote its Israeli ties.Its the same people, the same company, different names, Kahana said. They have a group of Arab-speaking people that answer the phone, and they dont want to show Israel involvement; they have like an Arab face to it.Kahana said Achs team gave him a spreadsheet listing people who paid for the flights. The document seen by AP includes the names of at least 13 people whose families said they registered and paid through Al-Majd and flew to South Africa. Al-Majds website says it was founded in 2010 in Germany and has an office in east Jerusalem, without providing an address. The company doesnt appear in online databases for registered German charities or businesses. Its unclear if Ad Kan was working directly with Israels government, but Palestinians need Israeli permission to leave Gaza. Muayad Saidam, a Palestinian identified on the groups website as its Gaza humanitarian project manager, told AP in a phone call to the number listed on Al-Majds website that he didnt know of Ad Kan or Ach but acknowledged that travel arrangements for Palestinians must be made with Israeli authorities. He declined to elaborate.Getting out of GazaIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office and COGAT, the defense body that facilitates departures to Palestinians leaving Gaza, declined to comment on the flights. COGAT has previously said it allows departures for Palestinians from Gaza through Israel if they have visas to the destination countries.Netanyahus office, COGAT and Ach also wouldnt answer APs questions about whether Palestinians who fled would be allowed to return. Families who flew to South Africa told AP they werent aware that Israelis were behind the flights but that in the end, it didnt matter.I agreed to the flight, and I didnt know the destination, said a Palestinian who used Al-Majd to send his wife and son to South Africa. All I cared about was getting my family out of Gaza and saving them.______Frankel reported from Jerusalem, Ezzidin reported from Cairo, and Pollard reported from New York. Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain; Randy Herschaft in New York; Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel; Michelle Gumede in Johannesburg; and Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, contributed. ______Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy. SAM MEDNICK Mednick is an AP correspondent for Israel and the Palestinian Territories. She focuses on conflict, humanitarian crises and human rights abuses. Mednick formerly covered West & Central Africa and South Sudan. twitter JULIA FRANKEL Frankel, based in Jerusalem, has reported from across Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Her reporting focuses on war, human rights, displacement and criminal justice. twitter mailto JAMES POLLARD Pollard covers philanthropy for The Associated Press with a focus on Gen Zs giving habits and technologys uses in charitable work. He is based in New York. twitter mailto

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin reacts after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Are, Sweden, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)2026-03-15T10:02:13Z RE, Sweden (AP) Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin won her record-equaling eighth World Cup slalom of the season Sunday but her main rival in the overall standings was second to keep the pressure on the American star.Shiffrin dominated the last race before the World Cup Finals to beat Emma Aicher of Germany by 0.94 seconds, with Switzerlands Wendy Holdener a second off the pace in third.That was really amazing. I was like pretty nervous, pretty excited, but in the end it was challenging to ski, Shiffrin said. I pushed really hard. Quite happy to get to the finish, too.Second place marked the career-best result in slalom for Aicher, who in recent weeks has become a threat to Shiffrins quest for what would be the Americans record-equaling sixth overall title.With four events remaining one race in each discipline the German all-rounder trails leader Shiffrin by 140 points, with each race win worth 100 points. Shiffrin had lost five points of her advantage when she finished one spot behind Aicher in fifth in Saturdays GS, before gaining 20 on her rival following Sundays win. Focusing on slalom and GS this season, and two starts in super-G, Shiffrin has amassed 1,286 points in total, including 880 from the slalom discipline. She already locked up her record ninth slalom globe in January, weeks before the Olympics.Aicher has gathered nine podiums this season across slalom, super-G and downhill, with three wins from the speed events.Shiffrin also won eight slaloms in the 2018-19 season, a feat previously only achieved by Croatian great Janica Kostelic 25 years ago.Shiffrin raised her career tally to 72 wins in slalom and 109 overall both are World Cup records.___AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

Workers prepare the last edition of Guyana's Stabroek News newspaper as it closes after 39 years in Georgetown, Guyana, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Bert Wilkinson)2026-03-15T05:02:41Z SAN JOS, Costa Rica (AP) Growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, Carlon Augustus remembers reading the newspapers his grandparents bought daily. Now 32, he says he turns to social media for the latest news.For him, its about getting news in real time.Everything is on social media now. Whatever happens today, you dont have to wait to get the papers tomorrow, he said.Media owners point to shifting reading habits like Augustus as the primary reason two legacy newspapers have folded in the Caribbean so far this year: Guyanas Stabroek News and Trinidad and Tobagos Newsday. Newsdays closing is a loss to the country, democracyStabroek News printed its final edition on Sunday and halted its online publication. It was established in November 1986, a year after its founder asked Guyanas then-president if he would accept the creation of an independent newspaper. At the time, Guyana was six years away from its first free and fair elections in nearly 30 years.Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobagos Newsday stopped publishing its print and online editions in January.That is definitely a loss to the country, to our democracy, where particularly in this age of social media, credible professional media houses are needed more than ever, said Judy Raymond, Newsdays former editor-in-chief. Newspapers in the Caribbean, which have covered corruption, political upheaval, deadly natural disasters and the oddball story worthy of a short novel, have struggled to attract and retain readers like print media worldwide proving little competition to influencers and social media. The closures of these two papers hit especially hard because they were independently owned, so they offered a variety of voices and were less susceptible to being influenced by advertisers or power players, said Kiran Maharaj, president and cofounder of the Media Institute of the Caribbean.You have now a narrowing of that, she said. A platform for free speechStabroek News became known for solid, independent journalism and set high standards emulated across the region. It drew literary giants to write its op-eds, including Guyanese poets Martin Carter and Ian McDonald, and covered the groundbreaking general election in October 1992, which ushered in democracy.The paper also blossomed into a platform for free speech after years of authoritarian regime.Its letters page provided perhaps the most open and democratic public forum in Guyana, wrote lawyer Christopher Ram in a recent essay published by the paper. Over time that column became something of an informal national meeting place where academics, trade unionists, political figures, public servants, businesspeople and ordinary citizens debated, as equals, matters of public importance.Stabroek News was considered Guyanas top newspaper. The country still has three other papers: one is state-owned and another is closely linked to the ruling party. The third one recently began asking its web visitors how willing they would be to pay to read online content.Early Ward, a retired 76-year-old beverage company manager from Guyana, said he was depressed about the demise of Stabroek News. I have been reading newspapers since the 50s and prefer to have one in my hand to hold and to move around with and read anytime, he said.Ward now relies on TV and social media for news.Trinidad and Tobagos Newsday made its debut in 1993, promising to reach the most remote communities on the twin-island nation where two long-established rivals still operate: the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian and the Trinidad Express.The paper appealed to blue-collar workers and soon became a household name as journalists scooped other news outlets on stories and lawmakers referenced its articles in Parliament.Newsday was known for its coverage of Tobago, the smaller, less developed of the two islands, and for amplifying voices of those struggling, said Raymond, who served as editor-in-chief from 2017 to 2022.She said one of the most fulfilling roles at the paper was helping people because they are desperate and officialdom has not helped them and they dont have anybody else to turn to. A status symbolFrom the 1970s to the mid-1990s, newspapers in the Caribbean enjoyed solid financial backing and became a status symbol, said journalist Wesley Gibbings, vice president of the Jamaican-based Media Institute of the Caribbean.People would be seen walking with a physical copy of newspapers, he recalled. It was almost a prestigious thing to be the one with the newspaper.Then Big Tech platforms including Google began attracting advertising content and revenue while mining mainstream media content, Gibbings said.The danger signs have been up for a very long time, he noted. We are in a watershed period right now, and the crashes will continue.The windup of Daily News Limited, which published Newsday, was due to a perfect storm of challenges, said the companys managing director, Grant Taylor, noting that print advertising fell by 75% over the last decade. Raymond, who helped set up Newsdays digital desk in early 2018, said perhaps Newsday could have worked harder at broadening the revenue stream from online publications.In hindsight, she pondered whether transforming Newsday into a digital-only news outlet could have been a viable option. However, with Loop News, a regional online news source that closed last July, she said becoming a digital-only publication would not have guaranteed Newsdays survival.In the case of Stabroek News, its owners said the government paid a mere $7.5 million toward a debt of some $90 million owed for advertising services in the past year.But the newspaper noted that overdue bills and a drop in government advertising are not the main reasons for its demise: Readership patterns have changed dramatically, and fewer readers are willing to purchase printed editions or even pay for electronic versions.In a recently published letter to Stabroek News, Lurlene Nestor mourned its closure, especially during this period of Guyanas history, where allegations of massive public corruption are rife, coupled with a situation where the nations important resources, such as gold and oil, appear to be either corruptly exploited or used as personal political bargaining chips.Anand Persaud, Stabroek News editor-in-chief, echoed those concerns, adding that hes proud of the papers work. We leave at this stage, he said, because we want to make sure our independence is not on the line.___Gibbs reported from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and Wilkinson from Georgetown, Guyana. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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FILE -A view of the island of Qeshm, which oversees the strategic waterway of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran, on Dec. 24, 2011. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)2026-03-12T14:39:16Z JERUSALEM (AP) The islands off Irans coast have become the latest focus of the war after a U.S strike destroyed military sites last week on Kharg Island, which is vital to Irans oil network.The strike on Friday on the island in the Persian Gulf left its oil infrastructure intact and vessels were still seen arriving and loading up with fuel, according to satellite imagery posted on Saturday and Sunday by the platform TankerTrackers. Though U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States totally obliterated the islands military assets, he warned that if Iran or anyone else interferes with ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, he will reconsider his decision not to target oil infrastructure. Irans islands account for only a small share of its territory but have outsized importance because of their oil facilities and strategic location.Heres what to know about Irans islands in the Persian Gulf up to the Strait of Hormuz: Kharg IslandHe who controls Kharg Island, controls the destiny of this war, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trumps close Republican allies, posted on social media on Saturday.The small coral island about 33 kilometers (21 miles) off Irans coast is the primary terminal through which nearly all of Irans oil exports pass. Iran has exported 13.7 million barrels since the war started.Iran gets a significant share of its revenue from oil, with shipments flowing to countries like China. Expanded strikes on Kharg would not only further damage Irans current government but could also undermine the viability of whatever might eventually replace it. The island has storage tanks and housing for thousands of workers. Gazelles roam freely near the refineries and depots that make Kharg one of Irans most valuable and sensitive assets. It also is home to a medieval Portuguese fortress and the ruins of one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the Persian Gulf. Petras Katinas, an energy researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, said Kharg Island was critical to funding Irans government and military. If Iran were to lose control there, it would be difficult for the country to function, even though the island is not a military or nuclear target, he said.It doesnt matter which regime is in power new or old, Katinas said. A takeover would give the U.S. leverage over negotiations with Iran because the island is the main node of its economy.JPMorgans global commodity research team warned last week in an investment note that a strike on the island would have major economic implications or immediately halt the bulk of Irans crude exports, likely triggering severe retaliation in the Strait of Hormuz or against regional energy infrastructure.Fridays strikes hit more than 90 targets, including air defenses, a radar site, the airport and a hovercraft base according to satellite analysis by the Institute for the Study of War and American Enterprise Institutes Critical Threats Project. Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser TunbIran said the U.S. also struck Abu Musa one of three tiny islands that have long been a front line in tensions between Iran and Gulf states allied with the U.S.Iranian forces seized the islands in November 1971, days after the United Kingdom withdrew from the Gulf and just before the sheikhdoms joined to form the United Arab Emirates. Iran maintains military assets and garrisons on the islands.The territorial dispute over the islands remains one of the Gulfs most persistent flashpoints. U.S. Central Command did not immediately acknowledge Irans claim of strikes on Abu Musa.Qeshm IslandThe largest island in the Persian Gulf sits near the Strait of Hormuz and is home to about 150,000 residents. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the U.S. struck a desalination plant on the island on March 8 a claim not acknowledged by Washington.Attacking Irans infrastructure is a dangerous move with grave consequences, Araghchi warned in a March 7 post on X. The U.S. set this precedent, not Iran.The desalination plant supplied water to about 30 villages.___Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. SAM METZ Metz covers Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and points beyond for The Associated Press. mailto

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passageway for oil shipments, remained unsafe for tanker passage. Iran has been firing projectiles and laying mines.

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