UConn head coach Geno Auriemma, right, speaks as UConn guards Azzi Fudd, left, Blanca Quinonez, second from left, and associate head coach Chris Dailey, third from left, listen in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Providence, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)2026-03-16T15:25:12Z UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina were the top four teams in the final regular-season Associated Press womens basketball Top 25 released Monday, matching the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament that begins this week.The No. 1 Huskies were the overall top seed in the NCAA bracket announced Sunday night. The team that was No. 1 in the poll heading into March Madness has won the NCAA championship 17 times out of 43 early March polls dating to 1982, the first year of the womens tournament.The AP has done a final poll after the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons so there is one more poll this season on April 6.The No. 2 Bruins picked up one more first place vote this week, giving them three from the 31-member national media panel. UConn received the other 28. With so few games last week that involved ranked teams only UConn and Princeton played and both won the Top 25 didnt change much from the week before.LSU, Vanderbilt, Iowa and Duke followed No. 3 Texas and No. 4 South Carolina. Michigan and West Virginia rounded out the top 10 teams. All will host NCAA Tournament games this weekend. West Virginia flipped places with Ohio State, moving up to No. 11. Conference supremacyThe SEC has the most teams in the Top 25 with eight. The Big Ten is next with seven. The Big 12 and ACC each have four. The Ivy League and Big East each have one. Games of the weekThe NCAA Tournament opens with First Four games taking place on Wednesday and Thursday.___Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP womens college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-baseketball

U.S. Soccer and Nike have dropped the new home and away jerseys set to be worn at this summer's World Cup.

LAFC have already made history with their lockdown defense, but are they No. 1? Here's this week's edition of ESPN's MLS Power Rankings.

UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina were the top four teams in the final regular-season Associated Press women's basketball Top 25 released Monday, matching the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament that begins this week.

Ex-UFC star Nate Diaz, 40, will compete in an MMA fight for first time in four years when he takes on Mike Perry as part of Most Valuable Promotions' MMA debut on May 16.

Butler's Thad Matta, who had 502 wins and 13 NCAA tournament appearances in a career that also included stints at Xavier and Ohio State, is retiring from coaching.

President Trumps war in Iran has raised some costs just as many Americans are starting to see savings from last years tax cuts.

Before humanity sent satellites, telescopes, humans and weapons into space, Robert Goddard experimented with the first liquid-fueled rocket on his aunts farm.

What I thought was a burden was a tether across deaths divide.

Youll love this list if you love classic style.READ MORE...

Lonely young people are likely better off texting a random stranger than talking to a chatbot, according to a new study.Researchers from the University of British Columbia found that first-semester college students who texted a randomly selected fellow first-semester college student every day for two weeks experienced around a nine percent reduction in feelings of loneliness. The same two weeks of daily messaging with a Discord chatbot reduced loneliness by around two percent, which turned out to be the same amount as daily one-sentence journaling.The research included 300 first-semester college students who were either randomly paired with another student, given a daily solo writing task, or put into a Discord server with a chatbot running on ChatGPT-4o mini.The students were instructed to have at least one interaction per day in each of the groups. The human-human pairs were instructed to message each other however they wanted, while the researchers instructed the bot to listen actively and show empathy, and to be a friendly, positive, and supportive AI friend to help the student navigate their new college experience. The human participants ultimately acted pretty similarly in both types of chat, sending between eight and 10 messages a day in both their human text chains and their Discord conversations with the large language model (LLM).However, participants who were paired with a human partner reported significantly lower loneliness after the study, and those paired with the chatbot did not. This is just such a low tech, simple intervention, and can make people feel significantly less lonely, Ruo-Ning Li, PhD candidate at UCB and one of the authors of the paper, told 404 Media.The research looked at college students specifically, to try to understand whether LLMs could be a scalable tool to help with the isolation that people can feel when going through a big change. The transition to college can be overwhelming: new classmates, new places, new rules. Young people are often away from parents or familiar structure for the first time, building out their new social networks among others who are doing the same. This is a particularly vulnerable time: if chatbots could really cure loneliness for a group of people like this, then it would be great, said Li. But only human to human interaction, despite it being with a random person over text, had any significant effect.The research is part of a movement to understand the effects of LLM interactions over periods of time. Another paper from the same lab, published this week in Psychological Science, looks at the experiences of more than 2,000 people over twelve months, checking in with them once a quarter. The study found that higher reported chatbot use was linked with higher loneliness later on and vice versa. Changes in chatbot use have a small effect on emotional isolation in the future. And emotional isolation has a similarly sized effect on your likelihood to use chatbots in the future, Dr. Dunigan Folk, one of the studys authors, told 404 Media. He cautioned against calling it a spiral, since other things could be changing in peoples lives to make them use chatbots and be lonelier. But, he said its suggestive of a negative feedback loop because its a reciprocal relationship. Chatbots, he said, could be something like social junk food. They might make people feel good in the moment, but over time, they might not nourish us the same way that human relationships do.He said this finding would be consistent with people replacing human relationships with LLMs. I think its a trade-off thing where you talk to AI instead of a person, Folk said. the person would have been a lot more rewarding.And there is evidence to show that AI does have some short-term effects on mood. If you measure their feeling of loneliness or social connection right after the interaction, people do feel better, said Li. However, she added, making people feel momentarily happy is not that hard. It is not clear that a single positive experience is scalable or persistent longer term. We eat candy, we feel happy. But if we eat a lot of candy over a long time, it could be harmful for our health, Li said.That positive short term effect is often reflected in public reports of chatbot usage. For example, two weeks ago, the Guardian published a column where a reporter trialled using an LLM as a therapist, described their validating interaction with it, and concluded that the experience of being therapised by a chatbot has been wonderful. While this isnt necessarily a robust study design, there is empirical research that one-shot interactions with bots do make people feel better in the short term.However, human interactions also have positive effects that chatbot use could be distracting people from. Li considers it important to consider the side effects of chatbot interactions, including their potential for replacing the incentive to seek out the positive effects of human connection. AI can help mitigate negative feelings, but obviously, it cannot replace humans to build connections, she said. That shouldnt be the goal of the AI design.A four-week March 2025 study from the MIT Media Lab and OpenAI explored how different types of LLM interaction and conversation impacted users mental wellbeing. The paper found that while some instances of chatbot use initially appeared beneficial in mitigating loneliness, higher daily LLM usage was associated with higher loneliness, dependence, and problematic use, and lower socialization.

Nature, Published online: 16 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10179-2A machine-learning model that integrates data from wearable devices (such as smartwatches) with blood biomarkers and demographic data can predict whether someone has insulin resistance, enabling timely lifestyle interventions to prevent progression to type 2 diabetes.

Nature, Published online: 16 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00380-8Patterns in continuous data from wearable devices could reveal early metabolic dysfunction long before routine clinical tests detect it.

Nature, Published online: 16 March 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-00422-1Of roughly 1,200 scientists who responded to a Nature poll, 46% said they have or had a side hustle during their PhD.

Nature, Published online: 16 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10372-3Direct conversion from alkenes to alkynes

Major League Baseball's experiment of a robot umpire technology system allowing challenges to checked swing calls is moving up from Class A to Triple-A.

Aden Holloway, Alabama's second-leading scorer, was arrested Monday morning on a felony marijuana charge. The Crimson Tide are seeded fourth in the NCAA tournament's Midwest Region and will play Hofstra on Friday afternoon.

The Madness is here: Fill out your bracket for the men's NCAA tournament.

The NBA seems closer than ever to adding two franchises. Here's what we know, including how an expansion draft could work.

As Venezuela grapples with an uncertain future, the WBC has given fans something to rally around.

Originally a Catholic feast day for the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patricks Day has evolved into a global celebration of Irish heritage and culture. The Onion presents a historical timeline of the holiday.432 A.D.St. Patrick kicks all the snakes out of Ireland for failing to meet the three-drink minimum.521St. Brigid of Kildare invents the puke and rally.1721First known uttering of the phrase You think youre better than me?1845Millions of Irish immigrants come to America, where they were oppressed too, you know.1876Guy with a pinching fetish gets involved.1890Guinness begins bottling factory floor runoff to send to America.1963John F. Kennedy proves that the Irish arent all lucky.1970McDonalds debuts the original corned-beefflavored Shamrock Shake.1989Bagpipes decriminalized.1999Erin and Johnny break up and get back together four times in the same bar.2007The popular girls all wear matching green Abercrombie polos to school.2015Entire city of Boston arrested for public urination.The post History Of St. Patricks Day appeared first on The Onion.

There are two seating areas on the balcony. READ MORE...

A group of undocumented migrants is deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the McAllenHidalgoReynosa International Bridge in McAllen, Texas, Friday, March 13, 2026. Dozens of migrants from countries including Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, China, Guatemala and El Salvador were handed over to Mexican authorities. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)2026-03-16T11:03:11Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Department of Homeland Security will soon be under new management, an opportunity to reset President Donald Trumps immigration agenda or to double down on his signature campaign promise to conduct the largest deportation operation in American history.The White Houses political director recently encouraged party lawmakers during a retreat at the Republican presidents golf club in Florida to focus on immigration enforcement against criminals, a pivot from the mass deportation agenda he ran on. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the aggressive operations have created a hiccup for the party, which is now embarking on a course correction.Yet all indications are that Trumps mass deportation operation is not stalling out but intensifying, with billions of dollars being spent to hire Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, build warehouse detention sites and meet the administrations goal of rounding up and removing some 1 million immigrants from the U.S. this year. We are at an interesting moment where it has been an inflection point the public has finally seen what mass detention and mass deportation mean, said Sarah Mehta, who tracks the issue at the American Civil Liberties Union. This is not an agency thats slowing down, she said. Theyre really going forward with some of the cruelest policies.White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the presidents policies have sent immigrants out of the U.S., either through forced deportations or on their own, and sealed up the U.S.-Mexico border.Nobody is changing the administrations immigration enforcement agenda, she said. Senators ready to grill Trumps DHS nominee over deportationsThe questions put Homeland Security at a crossroads. Secretary Kristi Noem is on her way out, and Trumps nominee to replace her, Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, appears this week for Senate confirmation hearings.After the intense deportation sweeps in Minneapolis and other cities and the deaths of at least three U.S. citizens at the hands of officers Democratic lawmakers are refusing to provide routine funding unless the department changes its policies. At the same time, those who believe Trump won the White House with his mass deportation agenda are disappointed the administration did not achieve its goals last year and insist he must do better. There has been a lot of talk in Congress and now in the White House about kind of backing away from President Trumps, candidate Trumps, mass deportation promise, said Rosemary Jenks, co-founder of the Immigration Accountability Project, which argues for deportations.We believe that now is an opportunity, she said. Weve got to get the deportation numbers up. A nation of immigrants no longer?The debate is playing out as the United States, celebrating its 250th year, squares its founding as a nation of immigrants with images of masked federal agents breaking car windows and detaining people suspected of being in the U.S. without proper legal standing.The Congress, controlled by Republicans, provided some $170 billion in last years tax cuts bill to fuel the effort, more than tripling the budget of ICE.GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri, in a fiery speech, fought back against the Democrats proposed restraints. This question about deporting illegal immigrants was on the ballot. President Trump was not bashful, he said. And the American people supported the idea that we are going to deport people.Yet there are signs of cracks in the Trump coalition. Some Republicans prefer what one called a more humane approach and are sharing their views with Mullin.Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., considered a stalwart against illegal immigration, said in his state its immigrants who milk most of the dairy cows, and hes heard from restaurant groups that rely on immigrants to fill jobs.Can we just turn back the clock and have these all these people who came in here illegally, just be back home? he asked.In terms of actually implementing that, its a lot tougher particularly, in fact, when you realize a lot of these people, most of them, came here to seek opportunity, wanting freedom, he said. Theyre working, supporting their family, contributing to organizations and community. Mass deportation group wants moreThe Mass Deportation Coalition, a group of conservative organizations including the Heritage Foundation and Erik Prince, founder of the security firm Blackwater, was formed recently to keep the administration on track.It calls last years focus on removing violent criminal immigrants phase one and says phase two should focus this year on deporting immigrants beyond those with violent criminal histories.Mark Morgan, who served as acting head of ICE and Customs and Border Protection during Trumps first term and is part of the coalition, said that doesnt mean roving patrols through Home Depot parking lots. Its about strategic enforcement focused on immigrants at worksites, those who have overstayed visas and who a judge has already ordered removed, he said. But theyre facing opposition from within the Republican Party, Morgan said, particularly from those who want to narrow deportation to mainly criminals and from business groups that want to ease up on worksite enforcement.The Republicans that are saying that their definition of targeted enforcement is only criminal, theyre wrong. Theyre on the wrong side of this, he said.Thats why you see some of the base thats really becoming apoplectic because theyre like, Wait a minute. Youre talking about only removing criminals now? Thats not what you promised, Morgan said.Whats coming next The deportation advocates as well as those working to protect the rights of immigrants see that the Trump administrations best chance at reaching its goals is creating an environment so unwelcoming for immigrants that they just leave whats often called self-deportation.Mehta, at the ACLU, expects the administration will step up efforts to end temporary permissions that allow immigrants to remain in the U.S. particularly refugees and asylum-seekers while their cases are making their way through the system. She called it a deliberate attempt to make people undocumented to take away lawful status and then to be able to enforce against them. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said he fears more nonviolent immigrants will be rounded up to fill the new warehouses being equipped as the Trump administration tries to reach its deportation goals.Thats unacceptable, he said, and among the key questions that Senator Mullin will have to answer at his confirmation hearing. 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 JOEY CAPPELLETTI Cappelletti covers Congress for The Associated Press. He previously reported on Michigan politics for AP. twitter mailto

Cornerback Darius Slay announced his retirement from the NFL on Monday after 13 seasons.

Denny Hamlin overcame an early speeding penalty and drove through the field in a fairly dominating win for Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.

While some European countries said they were discussing ways to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, several rejected President Trumps calls to send warships.

What did Speaker Mike Johnson mean when he talked about a course correction in the Trump administrations deportation approach? Our White House correspondent Zolan Kanno-Youngs analyzes how the message around deportation is changing.

2026-03-16T18:13:10Z HAVANA (AP) Officials in Cuba report an island-wide blackout in the country of some 11 million people as its energy and economic crises deepen.The Ministry of Energy and Mines on X notes a complete disconnection of the countrys electrical system and says it is investigating.President Miguel Daz-Canel on Friday warned that the island had not received oil shipments in more than three months and that it was operating on solar power, natural gas and thermoelectric plants.A massive outage over a week ago affected the islands west, leaving millions without power.Cuba has blamed its woes on a U.S. energy blockade. President Donald Trump warned in January of tariffs on any country that would sell or provide oil to the island. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Duke celebrates winning the championship of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in an NCAA college basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)2026-03-16T18:13:54Z Duke is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 of the regular season.The Blue Devils received 50 first-place votes from a 57-person media panel in The Associated Press mens basketball poll released Monday, a day after they were named the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.No. 2 Arizona received seven first-place votes, with Michigan, Florida and Houston rounding out the top five. The Wolverines, the betting favorite to win the national championship, did not receive a first-place vote in the poll. The final rankings will be released April 7, a day after the national championship game.No. 8 Purdue jumped 10 spots back into the top 10 after beating Michigan 80-72 in the Big Ten tournament title game.No. 9 Virginia moved up a spots for its highest ranking since reaching No. 2 in 2022-23. No. 10 St. Johns also returned to the top 10 after blowing out UConn in the Big East title game. Duke maintained the top spot after adding a second straight Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title to its regular-season title. The Blue Devils were No. 1 over the final four weeks of the regular season, extending their all-time record to 151 weeks at No. 1.Miami (Ohio)'s run in the AP Top 25 came to an end after its 87-83 loss to to UMass in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The RedHawks still made the NCAA Tournament and will play SMU in the First Four Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio, about an hours drive from their Oxford campus. Rising and fallingAfter the Boilermakers big jump, No. 16 Vanderbilt climbed six places after reaching the SEC tournament title game. No. 13 Illinois, No. 15 Nebraska and No. 20 Texas Tech had the biggest drops, each losing four places. The Illini fell after blowing a 15-point lead in a 91-88 overtime loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament. The Red Raiders dropped after being blown out by Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament. The Cornhuskers lost by 16 to Purdue. In and outMiami (Ohio) was the only team to drop out of this weeks poll.The other Miami, the one in Florida, moved into the poll at No. 23 after reaching the ACC tournament semifinals. The Hurricanes are a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament West Region, but got a tough draw, facing No. 10 Missouri in St. Louis, about 90 minutes from the Tigers campus. Conference watchThe Big Ten has six ranked teams while the Big 12, SEC and ACC have five apiece. The Big 12 has three of the top six. The Big East and West Coast have two ranked teams each.___AP March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Racing around the homes of the Cowboys and Rangers made IndyCar's Grand Prix of Arlington the signature event that the sport has been desperate for.

Every week in fantasy basketball, there are available players who can help fill holes in your roster. Here are the ones to add for the week ahead.

United States forward Catarina Macario has joined the San Diego Wave FC ahead of the NWSL's transfer window on what is believed to be the biggest total contract value in women's soccer history, sources confirmed to ESPN.

The branding of the U.S. military operation against Iran is a quintessentially Trumpian choice for a leader whose tenure has been marked by anger.

He led the N.R.A. and, for 29 years, the American Conservative Union, which organizes the influential annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC. He was also a columnist.

A draft State Department memo outlines ways the Trump administration may ratchet up pressure on the African country by ending health support on a massive scale.

The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran have intensified and the conflict has widened, shaking global energy markets.

President Trump ordered officials to remove information deemed disparaging to the United States. A review of government documents shows little guidance and striking inconsistencies.

WASHINGTONAlarmed at the shocking lapse in protocol that nearly resulted in disaster, a shaken President Donald Trump ordered his security presence beefed up Monday following a frighteningly close brush with JD Vance. Hows a guy like that even allowed to enter the same building as me, let alone get within handshaking distance? said Trump, adding that there was no excuse for him being subjected to nearly half a minute of mind-numbing small talk before Secret Service finally tackled the vice president. From now on, were not only gonna have multiple agents at every door of every room I enter, but also position snipers on the roof, so they can take him out the second hes spotted on White House grounds. I got lucky this time, but a deranged person like that wont stop until were having a full-blown conversation. At press time, Trump reportedly decided hed never truly feel safe as long as Vance remained alive, and he immediately ordered Air Force Two shot out of the sky.The post Trump Beefs Up Security Presence After Frighteningly Close Brush With JD Vance appeared first on The Onion.

They're the ultimate two-in-one solutions. READ MORE...

The U.S. Supreme Court as seen during a snowy day on Capitol Hill Thursday, March 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)2026-03-16T19:29:34Z WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the Trump administrations push to end legal protections for people fleeing war and natural disaster from countries around the world, including Haiti and Syria.The justices refused to immediately lift the protections for hundreds of thousands of people Monday, allowing them to live and work in the U.S. legally for now. The court is expected to hear the case next month. The conservative-majority court previously allowed immigration authorities to end similar legal protections for 600,000 people from Venezuela as lawsuits continue to play out, exposing them to potential deportation.The Trump administration filed emergency appeals after lower courts stopped the immediate end of temporary protected status for 350,000 people from Haiti and 6,000 people from Syria. The Justice Department argued that the Department of Homeland Security has sole power to end the protections, which were originally designed to be temporary. But immigration attorneys argued that both countries are still largely in crisis and people cant return safely.A total of about 1.3 million people fleeing armed conflict and natural disasters around the world have been granted temporary protected status. The administration is asking the court for a broad ruling that would block courts from intervening when Homeland Security decides to end a designation. Temporary protected status allows people to legally live and work in the U.S., though it does not provide a path to citizenship. Homeland Security has moved to terminate the program for people from multiple countries since Republican Donald Trump returned to the White House. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court and legal affairs for The Associated Press. Shes won multiple journalism awards in a career thats spanned two decades. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Travelers wait in line at a security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilie Megnien)2026-03-16T18:45:07Z Thousands of flights across the U.S. were canceled or delayed Monday as powerful storms swept across the eastern half of the country and a partial government shutdown affecting airport security screeners dragged into a second month.The disruptions come at an already challenging time for air travel, in part because the shutdown that began Feb. 14 has strained staffing at some security checkpoints. At the same time, airports are crowded with spring break travelers and fans heading to March Madness games, the annual NCAA mens and womens college basketball tournaments.Flight delays and cancellations piled up Monday at some of the nations largest airports, including those in New York, Chicago and Atlanta. The storm system that dropped snow by the foot in the Midwest was barreling toward the East Coast with dangerously high winds and the potential for producing strong and long track tornadoes, the National Weather Service warned Monday. More than 3,600 flights scheduled to fly into, out of or within the U.S. on Monday have been called off, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Roughly 6,800 other U.S. flights were delayed. Kelly Price, who was trying to get home to Colorado after a family vacation in Orlando, Florida, said her Sunday night flight wasnt canceled until early Monday. AP AUDIO: Storms cancel more US flights as TSA remains under pressure from partial government shutdown At a news conference outside the Atlanta airport, Aaron Barker, president of AMG local 550, says TSA workers deserve to be paid like other government workers who are still getting paychecks during the partial shutdown. By that time the only place for us to sleep was the airport floor. So were all tired and frustrated, she said, adding that the soonest flight she and her family could book doesnt leave until Tuesday afternoon. The nationwide cancellations included nearly 500 in and out of Chicago OHare International, more than 300 at Atlantas Hartsfield-Jackson International and over 230 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to FlightAware.Earlier Monday, citing severe weather, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered ground stops at Hartsfield-Jackson and Charlotte Douglas International Airport, along with ground delays at JFK and Newark Liberty International Airport. Danielle Cash found herself stranded in St. Louis on Sunday while trying to get home to Tampa, Florida, after a weekend girls trip to Las Vegas. Now shes spending several hundred dollars more than planned on a hotel room in a snowy city she wasnt dressed for.It was 80 degrees in Tampa when I left and then going to Vegas, she said. And it was 90 degrees in the desert.Cash said shes now booked on a flight that will take her to Tennessee before finally returning to Tampa by Tuesday afternoon.The storms are also unfolding just as airport security screeners missed their first full paycheck over the weekend. The current partial government shutdown affects only the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Transportation Security Administration. It is the third shutdown in less than a year to leave TSA workers temporarily without pay. Once the government reopens, employees will have to wait for back pay.Democrats in Congress have said Homeland Security wont get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year. Some airports have reported longer security lines because of staffing shortages as more TSA workers take on second jobs, cant afford gas to get to work or leave the profession altogether. Homeland Security said on X last week that more than 300 TSA agents have quit since the start of the shutdown.Over the weekend, the CEOs of the nations top airlines including Delta, American, United and Southwest implored Congress to restore funding to Homeland Security and embrace a bipartisan solution that would ensure pay for federal aviation workers during future government shutdowns.Its difficult, if not impossible, to put food on the table, put gas in the car and pay rent when you are not getting paid, the executives wrote in an open letter to Congress. RIO YAMAT Yamat is a national business reporter for The Associated Press. Based in Las Vegas, she covers airlines, travel and tourism. twitter mailto

Aaron Nola will start Monday night's World Baseball Classic semifinal for Italy against Venezuela rather than Michael Lorenzen.

WNBPA executive director Terri Carmichael Jackson said that while progress is being made in CBA negotiations, a delay to the 2026 season could not be ruled out.

A Florida bill that would have regulated artificial intelligence, backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, failed to gain traction after President Trump made it clear he did not want states to rein in the technology.

Cubas deputy prime minister said his country would announce on Monday a move to allow Cubans abroad to own businesses on the island and to invest in infrastructure.

At the opening of the companys annual conference, Jensen Huang leaned on technology from a recent deal to show how artificial intelligence is changing.

A 339-mile buried transmission line is on schedule to bring clean electricity to New York City this spring.

WASHINGTONIn a bid to regain access to the sea passage through which ships enter the Persian Gulf, President Donald Trump ordered staff to get the King of Hormuz on the line, White House sources confirmed Monday. Put me on with the royal leader of Hormuz, ASAPI need to convince him to reopen his water, said the commander-in-chief, assuring aides they must have the royal familys contact information somewhere since hed spoken to the Crown Prince of Hormuz many times before. I plan to warn him that he doesnt want to take his chances on a war between Hormuz and America. After all, we are two of the worlds greatest superpowers and have long-standing diplomatic ties. I remember him being a very reasonable guy, so I am simply going to remind him what happened when Mr. Panama tried to test me. Trump added that if he did not hear back from the King of Hormuz within 24 hours, he would have no choice but to attack the capital, Hormuz City.The post Trump Demands Staff Get King Of Hormuz On Line appeared first on The Onion.

HIDDEN HILLS, CAExpressing her steadfast devotion to the Hollywood star, media personality Kylie Jenner was gushing to reporters Monday over her partner, Michael B. Jordan. Hes handsome, hes talented, and hes great with my kids, said the 28-year-old Jenner, who described the connection she had with theSinnersstar as unbreakable and unmatched. Celebrating his Oscar win was one of the proudest moments of my life and one of the highlights of our relationship. I cant even remember what my life was like before him. I love you, Michael! Jenner went on to tell the story of the way she and Jordan met, stating that it felt just like yesterday.The post Kylie Jenner Gushes Over Partner Michael B. Jordan appeared first on The Onion.

Defendant Kouri Richins, left, accused of poisoning her husband in March 2022, listens to closing arguments in Third District Court, Monday, March 16, 2026, in Park City, Utah. (David Jackson/Pool Photo via AP)2026-03-16T04:24:21Z PARK CITY, Utah (AP) Prosecutors on Monday aimed to drive home their argument that a Utah woman who published a childrens book about grief after the death of her husband killed him for his money, while her defense team argued the prosecutions case leaves much to speculation.Defendant Kouri Richins was $4.5 million in debt and falsely believed she would inherit her husband Eric Richins estate worth more than $4 million when he died, prosecutors said during closing arguments in her murder trial.She wanted to leave Eric Richins but did not want to leave his money, said Summit County prosecutor Brad Bloodworth.Prosecutors say Richins, 35, slipped five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into a cocktail that she made for her husband, causing his death in March 2022 at their home just outside the affluent ski town of Park City. She is also charged with fraudulently claiming insurance benefits after her husbands death, trying to kill him weeks earlier on Valentines Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich that made him black out, and other felonies, according to court documents. Richins has pleaded not guilty to all charges. The most serious charge aggravated murder carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.What was scheduled to be a five-week trial was cut short last week when Richins waived her right to testify, and her legal team abruptly rested its case without calling any witnesses. Richins attorneys said they were confident that prosecutors did not produce enough evidence over the past three weeks to convict her of murder. They havent done their job, and now they want you to make inferences based on paper-thin evidence. They want you to do their job for them. Tell them, No, defense attorney Wendy Lewis urged the jury on Monday.The judge denied the defenses motion for a mistrial after the prosecutions closing argument. Richins listened to the prosecutions presentation with a furrowed brow and whispered with her attorneys. A wife becoming a black widowProsecutors said Richins, a real estate agent focused on flipping houses, was deep in debt and planning a future with another man she was seeing on the side. She had opened numerous life insurance policies on her husband without his knowledge, with benefits totaling about $2 million, prosecutors alleged.They showed the jury text messages between Richins and Robert Josh Grossman, the man with whom she was allegedly having an affair, in which she fantasized about leaving her husband, gaining millions in a divorce and marrying Grossman.The internet search history from Richins phone included what is a lethal.dose.of.fetanayl (sic), luxury prisons for the rich America and if someone is poisned (sic) what does it go down on the death certificate as, a digital forensic analyst testified.Bloodworth replayed for the jury a clip of Richins 911 call from the night of her husbands death. Thats not the sound of a wife becoming a widow, he said, quoting the defenses opening statement. Its the sound of a wife becoming a black widow.Lewis responded that the prosecution looks at facts one way and sees a witch, but if you look at those facts another way, you see a widow. Give us the details that will ensure Kouri gets convictedThe defense focused on trying to discredit the prosecutions star witness, Carmen Lauber, a housekeeper for the family who claimed to have sold Richins fentanyl on multiple occasions. Lewis argued Lauber did not deal fentanyl and was motivated to lie for legal protection. Lauber said in early interviews that she never dealt the synthetic opioid, but later said she did after investigators informed her that Eric Richins died of a fentanyl overdose, the defense noted.Richins had asked Lauber for the Michael Jackson stuff, which Bloodworth said likely refers to the drug combination that killed the singer.She knows she wants it because it is lethal, he argued.The housekeeper was already in a drug court program as an alternative to incarceration on other charges when authorities arrested her in connection with the Richins case, investigators said. She had also violated some conditions of drug court. The defense showed a video of law enforcement warning Lauber that they could pull her drug court deal and that she could face a lengthy prison sentence.Give us the details that will ensure Kouri gets convicted of murder, a man in the video said.Lauber was granted immunity for her cooperation in the case. She testified that she felt a need to step up and take accountability of my part in this. Childrens book becomes a tool for prosecutorsShortly before her arrest in May 2023, Richins self-published a childrens book about grief to help her sons process the loss of their father. She promoted the book Are You with Me? on local TV and radio stations, which prosecutors have pointed to in arguing that Richins planned the killing and tried to cover it up.Summit County Sheriffs detective Jeff ODriscoll, the lead investigator on the case, testified that Richins paid a ghostwriting company to write the book for her.ODriscoll said the sheriffs office received an anonymous package shortly after Richins arrest that contained the book and a note: There are two sides to every story. This is a true Kouri, a devoted wife and adoring mother. Thought you should know.Investigators later learned from Amazon that Richins mother sent the package.Jury hears letter found in jail cell Prosecutors showed the jury excerpts of a letter found in Richins jail cell that they said appears to outline testimony for her mother and brother. In the six-page letter, Richins instructs her brother to tell her former attorney that Eric Richins confided in him about getting fentanyl from Mexico and gets high every night.Defense attorneys have said the letter contains a fictional story Richins had been working on. They have argued that Eric Richins was addicted to painkillers and asked his wife to procure opioids for him.However, Richins told police on the night of her husbands death that he had no history of illicit drug use, according to body camera footage shown in court. HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Schoenbaum is a national reporter for The Associated Press, based Salt Lake City, Utah. She covers politics, policy and breaking news in the Mountain West and beyond. twitter mailto