Lewis Hamilton was dejected after qualifying ninth, saying "it's definitely not a good feeling for sure."

by Heather Vogell ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. Workers at one of the nations largest baby formula plants say the Abbott Laboratories facility is engaging in unsanitary practices similar to those that led it to temporarily shut down just three years ago, sparking a nationwide formula shortage.Current and former employees told ProPublica that they have seen the plant in Sturgis, Michigan, take shortcuts when cleaning manufacturing equipment and testing for microbes. The employees said leaks in the factory are sometimes not fixed, a dangerous problem that can promote bacterial growth. They also said workers at the facility do not always take required swabs to check for pathogens while performing maintenance during production. Supervisors have urged workers to increase production and have retaliated against workers who complained about problems, the employees said.One worker complained to the Food and Drug Administration in February, saying the plant has experienced persistent leaks and unaddressed contamination issues, according to correspondence between the worker and the agency viewed by ProPublica. Water and chemicals have pooled on the floor, the worker said. In one spot, white sweetener oozed from a pipe and formed a pile like a stalagmite on top of a tank used for blending, the employee said.The complaints come as the Trump administration is dismantling wide swaths of the federal government including conducting mass layoffs at the FDA and filling some key regulatory positions with industry-friendly voices. The new head of the FDA division that oversees baby formula is a corporate lawyer who previously defended Abbott against a lawsuit. The workers ProPublica spoke to said they did not want to be named because they feared repercussions from Abbott management, but they felt compelled to speak up out of concern that a baby who drank formula made at the plant would fall ill.I cant have this on my conscience, one of the workers said. Abbott called workers assertions untrue or misleading, denied their claims about retaliation and said the company stands behind the quality and safety of all our products including those made at Sturgis. In a statement, a spokesperson said that since 2022, the company had increased plant staff by 300 people, spent $60 million on upgrades and stationed multiple food-safety consultants there on weekdays. The company said the plant often takes more than 10,000 environmental swabs across the facility in a month to check for microbes.We believe Sturgis is the most inspected, tested, and swabbed infant formula manufacturing facility in the U.S., and likely in the world, the statement said.That said, Abbott conceded that the plant acted outside of our quality process in one incident from last May.Workers told ProPublica that, instead of retrieving a portable pump, an employee used a piece of cardboard from a trash bin to funnel coconut oil, a formula ingredient, into a tank during production of the companys Pure Bliss by Similac Organic brand. Abbott said the cardboard was reactively used to prevent spilling onto the floor. The company denied that there was a trash receptacle in the area and said plant practice was for cardboard to be stacked on a pallet before being recycled.Food-safety laws require companies to use clean tools to transfer ingredients, not a makeshift implement like cardboard, said Patrick Stone, a former FDA inspector who works as a consultant. No one would think thats a proper use, he said. Its not something thats been cleaned and verified its clear of contamination.Abbott, however, downplayed the significance of the incident, saying it occurred early in the manufacturing process, before pasteurization, and the product underwent enhanced testing that came back negative for microbes.We acknowledge that this is outside of our quality process, and this has been addressed, Abbotts statement said. The company said the plant had a discussion with the employee reiterating the proper procedure.Employees complained about the incident at the time and some hoped the plant had destroyed the formula. But a few weeks later, they received an email, which ProPublica viewed, that said the plant had released all batches not just on time, but early. It congratulated workers for an amazing milestone and achievement for Sturgis. Abbott said there have been no medical complaints related to the lot. The brand is advertised as suitable for newborns. In another incident in February, an employee said that the company had signed off on the use of an amino acid that was 10 months past its manufacturers best by date. A photo of the label viewed by ProPublica showed a best by date of April 2024. The law requires that ingredients in formula not expire before the formula as a whole, Stone said.Abbott said that the powders expiration date had been extended, which it said regulations permit in some cases, after the company used third-party testing to confirm its nutrient levels.But the worker said the amino acid powder was chunky and employees refused to add it to a formula mixture. It had been manufactured in October 2023. Abbott told ProPublica that two containers of amino acid mix were, in fact, placed on hold due to crustiness and later destroyed. When we find products that dont meet all specifications, we dispose of them, the company said.Some of the workers said theyve felt pressure not to disrupt the manufacturing process. At one meeting in February, a worker said a senior manager told employees the plant needed to improve its profit margins by either increasing production or reducing the amount of formula it was discarding as unusable.Abbott disputed the idea that it is cutting corners to make more formula.Any assertion that quality is being sacrificed at the expense of volume and profit is patently untrue, it said. The company said that in 2024, Abbott made 41% less formula at Sturgis than it had in 2021, the year before the shutdown.For its part, the FDA did not respond to questions about whether an inspection or investigation is taking place at the Sturgis plant in response to the complaint it received. The agency said it generally does not comment on potential or ongoing inspections or investigations.In a statement, the FDA said that it takes reports related to infant formula seriously and follows up as appropriate. The case could prove to be a major test for President Donald Trumps second administration, which just last month announced an effort to ensure the ongoing quality, safety, nutritional adequacy, and resilience of the domestic infant formula supply. Dubbed Operation Stork Speed, it promised to increase ingredient testing and communicate regularly with consumers and the industry as significant developments occur to ensure transparency, including information regarding nutrients and health outcomes.Egregiously Unsanitary ConditionsThe Abbott employees concerns come three years after the company voluntarily recalled several formula brands, including Similac, Alimentum and EleCare, and temporarily halted production at Sturgis amid reports of unsanitary conditions and infant deaths. A former plant employee in 2021 had told the FDA that the plant was using lax cleaning practices, falsifying records and releasing untested infant formula to the public. FDA inspectors found leaking equipment valves, standing water and a type of bacteria at the plant called Cronobacter sakazakii, which is common but can be deadly for young babies. Company documents showed the manufacturer had even discovered the bacteria in its finished formula in 2019 and 2020, the report said. Food-safety laws require companies to test samples of their formula to check the nutrient content and look for harmful microorganisms.Those inspection findings were shocking, a former FDA chief said later. He called the plant egregiously unsanitary.Initial reports said several infants were hospitalized and two died from an illness caused by the Cronobacter bacteria after drinking formula made at the Sturgis plant, according to an inspector generals report. Between December 2021 and June 2022, it said the FDA received a total of 16 consumer complaints involving infant deaths and Sturgis facility products. The report said the FDA did not directly link drinking formula from the plant to any of the infants illnesses or deaths. Abbott said no unopened Abbott formula has ever tested positive for Cronobacter.Still, in May of 2022, Abbott signed a consent decree with the Department of Justice and the FDA and committed to following improved procedures at the facility. The decree is still in effect. It says the company can be fined up to $30,000 a day for violations, with a maximum of $5 million in a year.The plants nearly four-month-long shutdown in 2022 sparked a nationwide formula shortage, which was worsened by COVID-19-related supply-chain issues. Store shelves emptied of formula, leaving parents desperate. Some babies developed symptoms such as spitting up and diarrhea after being forced to switch brands, researchers found. Nearly half of parents in one survey of primarily low-income families said theyd resorted to at least one unsafe feeding practice, such as watering down formula.Abbott said it disagreed vehemently with the FDA chiefs comments on the Sturgis plant being unsanitary, and it said the former employee who filed the 2021 complaint with the agency was dismissed for serious violations of its food-safety policies. Abbott said the employees specific claims were not supported by the FDA. Its time to stop giving credence and fame to individuals with questionable agendas that have led to unnecessary formula shortages, Abbott said. New Complaints Arise as FDA Is CutIts unclear how the Trump administration, with its reduced federal workforce, will respond to the newest complaints. The administration recently eliminated 3,500 FDA jobs as part of extensive cuts in federal health workers ranks. While officials said the reductions will not impact inspectors, the agency did not answer a question about whether any of the employees being let go are involved in inspection or enforcement for the Sturgis facility. The White House also recently installed a corporate lawyer in a top FDA post, putting him in charge of the agencys regulation of formula. Kyle Diamantas, acting deputy commissioner for human foods, previously defended Abbott against a lawsuit in which families alleged the company failed to warn them about a deadly bowel condition that premature babies who are fed formula have a greater risk of developing. Abbott has appealed a verdict in which it was ordered to pay $495 million.Meanwhile, at the Department of Agriculture, officials disbanded an advisory committee that had been studying the threat of Cronobacter contamination in powdered formula. The USDA said at the time that it did so to comply with an executive order seeking to reduce bureaucracy but it remained committed to food safety. The Heritage Foundations Project 2025 blueprint for a Trump presidency had listed as one of its goals reevaluating excessive regulation of infant formula.Families using formula arent being protected if the FDA is acting like a partner to companies like Abbott instead of overseeing them, said Jennifer Pomeranz, a professor and expert in public health and food policy at New York University who has served as a witness for plaintiffs suing Abbott over the bowel condition. She called Diamantas appointment the perfect example of regulatory capture.In its statement to ProPublica, the FDA said it is committed to enhancing regulatory oversight of all infant formula manufacturers to help ensure that the industry is producing infant formula under the safest conditions possible. The Sturgis plant is a major supplier of formula in the United States and had been producing about 20% of the nations formula when it shut down in 2022. Abbott provides formula to more than half of babies in the government-backed nutrition-assistance program, called WIC, that subsidizes families formula purchases. The company has contracts to be the sole source of formula for WIC recipients in 36 states and Washington, D.C., as of August of last year.If You Have Leaks, Forget About ItSince the 2022 consent decree, FDA records show it has completed 10 inspections, including a multiweek review that was underway when employees said the cardboard incident took place. (The company says that according to its records, it has been inspected by FDA 12 times in that period.) No action was required in response to most of those visits, according to a database that tracks FDA inspections. But for one inspection that ended in December 2022, the FDA issued a citation that noted concerns related to contamination prevention, worker hygiene and the handling of consumer complaints, documents say.A report from that inspection completed just seven months after Abbott signed the consent decree said the agency found problems similar to those that had shut down the plant. The report noted, among other things, six instances of employees failing to collect required swabs to test for bacterial contamination after cleaning up a leak. It also said inspectors found apparent insects and dust like debris near formula-making equipment. You did not establish a system of process controls covering all stages of processing that was designed to ensure that infant formula does not become adulterated due to the presence of microorganisms in the formula or in the processing environment, the report said.Stone, the former FDA inspector who is now a consultant, said the citation is significant. FDA should have really hammered on them harder, he said, but theyre weak and theyre scared.Without taking those swabs and testing them, the company cannot know if the formula is contaminated, Stone said. Unless youre monitoring your environment, you dont know whats in your environment, he said. If you have leaks, forget about it. You dont know whats in there.Abbott said it has addressed all FDA observations from 2022. FDA inspectors have raised no major issues since then, the company said.In 2023, Abbott confirmed the Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into conduct at the plant. A spokesperson for the departments Western District of Michigan did not respond to a request for information about the investigations status. Abbott did not respond to a question about the probe but said at the time that it was cooperating fully. The Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission were also scrutinizing the company after the problems surfaced in Sturgis. Spokespeople for the SEC and FTC, which released a report on the formula supply disruptions, declined to comment. Abbott did not respond to questions about the investigations.More recently, some employees who spoke to ProPublica said plant leaders have urged them to speed up production even though the consent decree aimed to add more safety protocols. Imagine a 10-page rule book youre told you have to operate by no matter what, one said. No deviations. Youre doing that, and then your boss says, Youre not doing your job fast enough.The workers said some employees have pushed supervisors to follow sanitary procedures more closely and at times refused to run equipment until their concerns about sanitation were met, even as they feared losing their jobs. Abbott is one of the largest and highest-paying employers in the largely rural area near the Indiana border. The plants tall white tower, emblazoned with a large green a, looms over nearby homes.An employee said that since the consent decree, he had witnessed leaks of formula, oil, chemicals and water that were not cleaned up, fixed or documented properly. Sometimes, the worker said, supervisors resisted shutting down machinery always a money-losing proposition to address a leak. The worker reported seeing a leak that hadnt been handled correctly more than once a month. Its all over, the employee said.Photos taken in the plant show equipment whose outer surface was streaked with drips from formula ingredients that had leaked. In one instance, an absorbent mat had been placed on the floor to catch drips. Procedures require the plant to contain leaks, fix equipment and test the area for pathogens, workers say. Leaks can become breeding grounds for bacteria.Abbott said in a facility the size of Sturgis, with literally miles of pipes, leaks, drips, and condensation are inevitable. The plant has a team it deploys quickly to contain leaks, then swab, test and sanitize the area, the company said. The plant aims to limit standing water and sanitize regularly to prevent bacterial growth, Abbott said, and it runs six times the number of Cronobacter tests on finished product samples as required by federal regulations.Abbott has a quality policy that we make our products as if they were for our own families, the companys statement said. If quality were not our first priority Abbott would not still be here at 137 years. A contractor Abbott hired to improve its processes has raised concerns about the facility not following protocols or procedures in past audits but cited no such problems in the audit completed earlier this year, said Mansour Samadpour, co-founder of IEH Laboratories and Consulting Group. IEH, which began its work after the consent decree, reports back to Abbott and the FDA on what the plant needs to correct. Neither Abbott nor IEH provided a copy of the most recent audit.Samadpour declined to detail the earlier concerns. He said it was possible an employee could miss a swab, but said theres no systemic problem. He said he does not have concerns about sanitary practices in the plant.If I have any concerns, they will hear from me and FDA will hear from us, said Samadpour, who spoke with ProPublica at Abbotts request. That is our job. Debbie Cenziper contributed reporting.

by Jessica Schreifels, The Salt Lake Tribune This article was produced for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network in partnership with The Salt Lake Tribune. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published. The last time Sam met with his therapist, Scott Owen, the session was nothing more than an hour of Owen sexually abusing him, he told a Provo, Utah, courtroom this week. Sam remembers sitting in his car afterward, screaming as loud as he could.I could feel him all over my skin, he said. I could not believe this was happening.It was October 2017, and Sam had been seeing Owen for therapy for more than a year. A faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he was struggling with what he called unwanted same-sex attraction. Owen was a high-ranking leader in the LDS Church at that time, and Sam said Owen assured him that he had helped more than 200 men who felt similarly.Instead, he said, Owen meticulously leveraged his two roles as a therapist and a church leader to assure him that the sexual touching during their sessions was key to helping him heal, learn how to accept intimacy and grow closer to God.He exploited my trust, he weaponized my faith and dismantled my confidence, Sam told the courtroom. What he did was not just unethical. It was calculated, predatory and destructive.Police began investigating Owen in 2023 only after The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica reported on a range of sex abuse allegations against Owen, who had built a reputation over his 20-year therapy career as a specialist who could help gay men who were members of the LDS Church. Some of the men who spoke to The Tribune said their bishop in the faith referred them to Owen and used church funds to pay for sessions where Owen allegedly also touched them inappropriately. Austin Millet at his home in Oregon. Millet is one of several men who told The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica that Owen abused them during sessions paid for with funds from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Amanda Lucier for ProPublica) In February, Owen pleaded guilty to three charges, admitting he sexually abused Sam and a second patient who also said he sought Owens help because he was struggling with his sexuality and Latter-day Saints faith. Owen also pleaded no contest in another case, saying prosecutors likely had enough evidence to convict him at a trial on an allegation that he had groped a young girl during a therapy session.But the number of people who say that Owen harmed them is much larger and they filled a Provo courtroom on Monday as Owen was sentenced to spend at least 15 years in prison. One by one, they stood at a podium in court and told Owen how he had hurt them. Most were his patients, like Sam, a pseudonym to protect his identity from his community.One man told the court Owen had abused him when Owen was a leader of a young mens group organized by the LDS Church.He had sleepovers at his house, Mike Bahr said. I was there once, and I have lived in a nightmare since.Also speaking were family members of a man who had died by suicide, including his brother who said his sibling disclosed to him that Owen had abused him just days before he took his life.And there was one of Owens own family members, his cousin, who alleges that Owen molested him on a family trip when he was a kid. After becoming more public with his own abuse allegations several years ago, James Cooper has worked to gather others who say his cousin victimized them. James Cooper speaks during Owens sentencing hearing. Cooper is Owens cousin and alleges the man abused him when he was a child. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune) He spoke about the dynamics that allowed Owen to hurt others for so long without repercussions.Certainly, we know how charismatic he is, and what its like to be a victim of sexual assault. The shame you carry. The guilt you carry, he said. The fear of Scott. The fear of not being accepted by your family, your society, your church. All those things are enormous factors.One woman spoke about Owen touching her inappropriately during therapy when she was 13 years old, in 2007. During the hearing, the only woman to have publicly accused him said Owen had made her feel like something was wrong with her. Now, she added, He no longer holds power over me.When Owen, 66, was given a chance to speak, he said there was no excuse or rationale for what he had done.I am so sorry, he said. All I have to offer is whats left of my life. And I hope that in offering those years, justice will have been met in some small fashion, and those who I have hurt can disconnect from me and move forward with their healing.Defense attorney Earl Xaiz said Owen did not want leniency from the judge but mentioned in court that his client had been sexually abused himself as a child and had struggled with his sexuality.Fourth District Judge Kraig Powell sentenced Owen on Monday to 15 years to life in prison. Given Owens age and the nature of his crimes, both prosecutors and the defense agreed it is likely he will spend the rest of his life in prison.Powell became emotional as he handed down the sentence, telling Owen that he harmed not only those who spoke publicly on Monday, but all of those therapists and church leaders who are ethical and working to help people.Thousands and thousands of these people, I fear, will be affected by this terrible, abhorrent case, the judge said. Owen was sentenced to prison after he admitted he sexually abused patients during sessions. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune) While Owen gave up his therapy license in 2018 after several patients complained to state licensors that he had touched them inappropriately, the allegations were never investigated by the police and were not widely known.Under a negotiated settlement with Utahs licensing division, Owen was able to surrender his license without admitting to any inappropriate conduct, and the sexual nature of his patients allegations is not referenced in the documents he signed when he gave up his license. He continued to have an active role in his therapy business, Canyon Counseling, until The Tribune and ProPublica published their investigation.Police interviewed more than a dozen former patients of Owens, all of whom reported that he touched them in ways they felt were inappropriate during therapy sessions. But Owen faced charges in connection with only three patients, because the type of touching that the other men alleged fell under parts of the criminal code that had a shorter window of time for prosecutors to file a case, called the statute of limitations. The crimes that Owen was charged with are all felonies that have no statute of limitations.Both state licensors and local leaders in the LDS Church knew of inappropriate touching allegations against Owen as early as 2016, reporting by The Tribune and ProPublica showed, but neither would say whether they ever reported Owen to the police.The church said in response to that reporting that it takes all matters of sexual misconduct seriously, and that in 2019 it confidentially annotated internal records to alert bishops that Owens conduct had threatened the well-being of other people or the church.The church also said it has no process in place to vet the therapists its church leaders recommend and pay for using member donations. It is up to individual members, a church spokesperson has said, to make their own decisions about whether to see a specific therapist that their bishop recommends. Michael, a former patient of Owens who agreed to be photographed but asked to be identified by only his first name, looks at his wife while speaking in court about the inappropriate touching he said happened in therapy sessions. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune) For some who accused Owen of abuse, Mondays sentencing was the only chance they had to address Owen because charges could not be brought in their cases. That includes Michael, who asked to be identified by only his first name. He said he saw Owen for therapy on and off for about a decade, starting when he was 14. He read a letter to his younger self in court on Monday.I just learned on Thursday that we are beyond our legal opportunity to fix this problem, he said. And it broke my heart to learn that I cant pursue a court case for you. Youll have to be strong. Its going to be so hard, but youre going to make it through. Editors note: Sam is identified only by a pseudonym because he requested anonymity. We have granted this request because of the risk to his standing in his community. The Salt Lake Tribune and ProPublica typically use sources full names in stories. But sometimes that isnt possible, and we consider other approaches. That often takes the form of initials or middle names. In this case, we felt that we couldnt fully protect our source by those means. We know his full name and have corroborated his accounts in documents and through interviews with others.

Pope Francis arrives at the end of the mass on Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)2025-04-13T10:36:49Z VATICAN CITY (AP) A convalescing Pope Francis greeted the crowd in St. Peters Square on Palm Sunday, wishing more than 20,000 faithful a Good Palm Sunday, a good Holy Week, in yet another reassuring public sign of his recovery from a life-threatening battle with double pneumonia.Many in the crowd reached out to touch Francis hand or garments as he was brought in a wheelchair down a ramp to the main altar, where he issued his brief greeting into a microphone. Francis was not wearing nasal tubes for supplemental oxygen, as he had during a similar appearance last Sunday.On his way back to St. Peters Basilica from where he had emerged, Francis stopped to bless a rosary, and offered candy to a boy who greeted him.The 88-year-old Francis is entering his fourth week of convalescence, which is expected to last at least two months. In the traditional Sunday blessing, the pontiff thanked the faithful for their prayers. At this time of physical weakness, they help me to feel Gods closeness, compassion and tenderness even more. For the ninth week, including his five-week hospitalization starting Feb. 14, the blessing was delivered as a text. The pope offered prayers for those suffering in the conflict in Sudan, which marks its second anniversary on Tuesday, and for Lebanon, where civil war began 50 years ago, as well as for peace in Ukraine, the Middle East, Congo, Myanmar and South Sudan. In a prepared homily read by a top Vatican cardinal, Francis urged the faithful to carry the cross of those who suffer around us to mark the start of the solemn Holy Week.Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, vice dean of the College of Cardinals, led the celebrations, leading a procession of cardinals around the piazzas central obelisk carrying an ornately braided palm that recalls Jesus triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, when crowds waved palm branches to honor him.The initial welcome contrasts with the suffering that follows, leading up to his crucifixion, which Christians observe on Good Friday, followed by his resurrection, celebrated on Easter Sunday. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

People dance at the Chapultepec Scenic Garden during a cost-free, harassment-free, judgment-free event by the New Network of Dancers collective or NRB, in Mexico City, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)2025-04-13T05:05:11Z MEXICO CITY (AP) Its 4 p.m. on a recent Sunday afternoon, and a pavilion of towering windows in a Mexico City urban park is nearly packed. The public is diverse, but everyone here wants the same thing: to dance freely, at no cost, without harassment or prejudice.Twenty-somethings, children with their mothers, teenagers and elderly couples gather around the disc jockeys console. A murmur fills the air as roughly 300 people await the start. The first notes then pierce the air and a shiver runs through the crowd.This is an open invitation for everyone to move as they wish in a safe space! said Axel Martnez, one of the collectives founders, as he grabs a microphone and cheers the revelers on. At their own pace, each person is carried away by the music and no one seems surprised by the moves of others.From experimental jazz pieces and smooth Egyptian hip-hop to the more familiar pulse of cumbias grooved with an electronic touch, people dance to it all.The party was organized by the Nueva Red de Bailadores or NRB (New Network of Dancers), a collective that aims to create spaces where people can gather to dance freely. Theres no cover charge, no booze, and no pressure to do the right moves. Dancing with peace of mindThe collective began nine years ago as a simple gathering of friends dancing freely in an apartment. As word spread, their numbers swelled from 20 to 50, then more than 100 so they had to move to a park.The New Network of Dancers is (a community) of philosophy and action, said Martnez. Dancing alone is very fulfilling, but dancing with a lot of people is also very enriching.As their numbers grew, the NRB approached the authorities and established a relationship with the agency responsible for preserving Mexico Citys historic center and with museum directors, who agreed to provide sound equipment and other resources for the events. Building on its network of contacts, it has organized some 300 dancing sessions in ever more striking and unexpected spaces, such as old factories and gardens.The latest NRB party featured two dance floors one inside and one outside the pavilion both areas filled with joy and lightness. As organizers pointed out, their parties forgo police and security, fostering a sense of collective care where attendees look out for one another.Being able to come to a space where you feel happiness and respect ... it gives you peace of mind, said Ana Celia Agustn, 29, a regular at NRB dances.A key to the collectives success comes from having become a real social network, and what NRB member Elas Herrera describes as a virtuous circle between online and in-person interaction that the collective has unleashed.While social media videos and posts have played a role in promoting the dance parties, word-of-mouth has been key to make them so popular.I knew a lot about dancing and my body always mixed it with alcohol, said Mateo Cruz, 27. Here I found a new place. Its been an eye-opening experience for me to discover that I have all this stuff inside me that I can let go of. I can completely free myself from what others think, from what I think myself. Fun without any troubleThe Mexican capital is a city that dances, especially in its most popular neighborhoods, where public space is often turned into a dance floor for market anniversaries, patron saint celebrations or simply the joy of weekend cumbias.Generally, however, these parties feature a more homogenous crowd and musical selection. In contrast, the NRB dances have opened the dance floor to a more diverse audience and invites everyone on a shape-shifting musical journey.Isabel Miraflores, a 73-year-old retired high school assistant principal, came with her husband and said she enjoyed both the dancing and the presence of people of different ages. I think its wonderful because its a free event, she said. We get together with people from all parts of society and we have fun without any trouble.The sun has set, its almost 7 p.m., and there is just over one hour left before the dance ends, but dozens are still waiting in line to enter the pavilion in the famed Bosque de Chapultepec, an urban park that stretches across more than 2,000 acres in the heart of Mexico City. In a capitalist reality like ours, its very difficult to find an alternative, especially one that is free, said Martnez. Accessibility is everything for us.____Follow APs coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Tigers pitching prospect Jackson Jobe, the son of former pro golfer Brandt Jobe, earned his first major league win on Masters weekend.

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Two old African elephants Bully, left, and Susi, stand inside the Barcelona Zoo in Spain, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Hernan Muoz)2025-04-13T05:02:47Z BARCELONA, Spain (AP) At the Barcelona Zoo, a 40-year-old African elephant places her foot through the metal barrier where a zookeeper gently scrubs its sole the beloved pachyderm gets her pedicure, along with apple slices every day.The treatment is part of the zoos specialized geriatric care for aging animals that cannot be reintroduced into the wild as zoos world over increasingly emphasize lifelong care.Sending them back into nature would be an error, said Pilar Padilla, head of the zoos mammal care. It is very likely they wouldnt survive.Zoos have undergone a rethink in recent decades with the emphasis on the conservation of species and education, moving away from the past paradigm that often displayed exotic animals as a spectacle. The new approach includes knowing how to adapt to the needs of aging animals, which has led zoos to create bigger, more nature-like enclosures, such as the Sahel-Savannah area at the zoo in the Spanish city of Barcelona. Along with breeding programs to reintroduce fit animals into nature, zoos today want to ensure that animals living longer due to advancements in veterinary care can age gracefully, said Martn Zordan, the CEO of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, or WAZA. Specialized geriatric care is becoming increasingly essential, Zordan told The Associated Press at the organizations Barcelona offices. Zordan said that just like older people, elderly animals require more care: regular health checks, arthritis treatment, softer foods or nutritional supplements, adapted living spaces and monitoring of mental and behavioral health.Along with caring for a pair of aging elephants, the Barcelona Zoo is also the home for a 15-year-old wolf, a leopard and a tiger who are both 17, as well as some older birds including a flock of senior flamencos. Its not alone several zoos in the United States, for example, highlight their treatment of older animals, such as the zoos in Baltimore and Baton Rouge. A study of griefZookeepers at the Barcelona Zoo, not far from the citys Mediterranean coastline, are closely monitoring its two aging female pachyderms, Susi and Bully (pronounced BUH'-yi), as they cope with the recent death of Yoyo, their former pen-mate and long-time companion.Yoyo died in December at age 54. Susi, at 52, is now among the oldest known African elephants in captivity, even though WAZA said the age of animals born in the wild is approximate. Bully, who is 40, is also considered old for an African elephant. All three were captured in the wild and spent time in circuses an other zoos before coming to Barcelona. The zoo is now working with the University of Barcelona to study the impact of Yoyos death on Susi and Bully. Its the first study of its kind, focused on elephants not from the same family after the death of a long-time companion, Padilla told The Associated Press during a recent visit to the zoos elephant enclosure. At first, Susi and Bully showed their shock by not eating, but are now adapting well and turning to one another, including even sharing food, Padilla said, adding that Susi has taken on the dominant role that Yoyo had. The proof is in the teethFor elephants, their teeth are the real age test. What marks the decline of the animal is the wear on their teeth, Barcelona zookeeper Jos Mara Santamara said after finishing the Bullys pedicure. They go through six sets of molars during their life, and when they reach around 40 years old they lose the last set.Susi and Bully require daily checkups, food suited for their now molar-less mouths and extra attention to their legs hence the daily pedicures and the enclosures soft sandy floor to cushion aching feet.Those are the sort of considerations taken because we care about these animals living comfortably and leading lives with dignity, Zordan said.

From clinching scenarios to first-round matchups and draft lottery order, here's what to monitor.

Kyle Williams and Darien Porter are among the 2025 prospects who have improved their draft status this year.

President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order during an event in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)2025-04-13T12:34:24Z WASHINGTON (AP) After President Donald Trump reversed course on his tariffs and announced he would pursue trade negotiations, he had a simple explanation for how he would make decisions in the coming weeks.Instinctively, more than anything else, he told reporters this past week. You almost cant take a pencil to paper, its really more of an instinct than anything else.It was the latest example of how Trump loves to keep everyone on edge for his next move. Trump has not only expansively flexed the powers of the presidency by declaring emergencies and shredding political norms, he has eschewed traditional deliberative procedures for making decisions. The result is that more of life around the country and the world is subject to the presidents desires, moods and grievances than ever before.We have a democratic leader who seems to have the authority to act as whimsically as a 19th century European autocrat, said Tim Naftali, a historian and senior research scholar at Columbia University. He sneezes and everyone catches a cold. The White House rejects criticism that Trump is overstepping his authority or improperly consolidating power. Administration officials frequently emphasize that the Republican president won a clear election victory and is now pursuing the agenda that he campaigned on. In this view, resisting his will, such as when courts block his executive orders, is the real threat to democracy. Trust in President Trump, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday while answering questions about economic policy. He knows what hes doing. The presidency has been accumulating power for years, long before Trump ran for office, and it is not unusual for administrations to veer in various directions based on political and policy priorities. But Trumps new term has been different in the early months, and he seems to recognize it. The second term is just more powerful, Trump marveled recently. When I say do it, they do it.Although international trade offers the most extensive example of Trumps inclination to act unilaterally since he returned to office in January the same approach has been evident elsewhere. He installed himself as chair of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to overhaul programming at Washingtons premier cultural institution. He issued an order to purge improper ideology from the Smithsonian Institutions network of museums. He punished law firms associated with his opponents. He directed the Justice Department to investigate former officials who crossed him during his first term. When Trump decided to remove regulations on household water efficiency he wants more water flowing in showers his executive order said the normal public comment period is unnecessary because I am ordering the repeal.What the president ends up having is what he wants, which is everyones attention all of the time, Naftali said.Trumps ambitions stretch beyond the United States, such as his goal of annexing Greenland. Vice President JD Vance visited the island last month to talk about its strategic location in the Arctic, where Russia and China want to expand their influence, but also its importance to Trump himself. We cant just ignore the presidents desires, Vance said. Trump has spent decades trying to turn his impulses into reality, whether its skyscrapers in Manhattan or casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He once sued a journalist for allegedly underestimating his net worth. During a deposition, Trump said it goes up and down with the markets and with attitudes and with feelings, even my own feelings.A lawyer for the journalist appeared puzzled. You said your net worth goes up and down based upon your own feelings?Trump said yes. I would say its my general attitude at the time that the question may be asked.He took a similar approach into the White House for his first term. While talking about the economy with The Washington Post, Trump said my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody elses brain can ever tell me. Leon Panetta, who was White House chief of staff under Democratic President Bill Clinton and later served in national security roles for Democratic President Barack Obama, said there normally is a more deliberative process for critical issues.If you throw all of that out of the window and operate based on gut instincts, what youre doing is making every decision a huge gamble, Panetta said. Because you just havent done the homework to really understand all of the implications.When you roll dice, he added, sometimes its going to come up snake eyes.Because Trump does not have a clear process for making decisions, Panetta said that means everybody has to kowtow to him because thats the only way youre going to have any impact. Trump has seemed to enjoy that aspect of the ongoing controversy over tariffs. During a Republican dinner this past week, he said foreign leaders were kissing my ass to talk him out of his trade agenda. The saga began on April 2 when Trump declared that trade deficits when the U.S. buys more products from some countries than it sells represented a national emergency, enabling him to enact tariffs without congressional approval. The stock market collapsed and then the bond market began to slide. On Wednesday, Trump backed off his plans.Although high taxes have been left in place on imports from China, many of the other targeted tariffs have been paused for 90 days to allow time for negotiations with individual countries. Americans should trust in that process, said Leavitt, the press secretary.Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the conservative Cato Institute, expressed concern that the course of international trade was becoming dependent on the whims of a single dude in the Oval Office.Lincicome said the White House timeline to reach trade deals was not credible given the complexity of the issues. A more likely scenario, he said, is that the resulting agreements will be nothing more than superficial nothingburgers and Trump will declare a great victory and all this stuff settles down.Peter Navarro, Trumps trade adviser, said in an interview with Fox Business Network that theres a whole portion of our White House working day and night on negotiations. Were going to run 90 deals in 90 days, he said. Its possible. CHRIS MEGERIAN Megerian covers the White House for The Associated Press. He previously wrote about the Russia investigation, climate change, law enforcement and politics in California and New Jersey. twitter mailto

FILES - This combo shows Luisa Gonzalez, presidential candidate from the Citizen Revolution party, left, and Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, speaking at separate events in Quito, Ecuador on Jan. 19, 2025 and Jan. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, Files)2025-04-13T05:01:17Z Sigue la cobertura en vivo de AP en espaol de las elecciones presidenciales en Ecuador. QUITO, Ecuador (AP) Ecuadorians are voting Sunday in the countrys presidential election runoff, facing the choice between incumbent President Daniel Noboa and leftist lawyer Luisa Gonzlez. Its the second presidential runoff election in less than two years in the South American country, where voting is mandatory. Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. local time, with more than 13 million people eligible to vote.Noboa, a conservative young millionaire, and Gonzlez have both promised voters solutions to the extortions, killings, kidnappings and other crimes that became part of everyday life as the country emerged from the pandemic. Analysts expect the result in Sundays vote to have a very tight margin.Voters chose Noboa over Gonzlez in the runoff of a snap election in October 2023. The candidates advanced to Sundays contest after polling most votes in Februarys first-round election. Noboa won 44.17% of the votes while Gonzlez garnered 44%. Analysts expect Sundays results to have a very tight margin. Polls opened at 7 a.m. local time (1200 GMT; 8 a.m. EST) and close at 5 p.m. (2200 GMT; 6 p.m. EST) Initial results are expected two hours after polls close. Voters are primarily worried about the violence that transformed the country, starting in 2021 a spike in crime tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru.Both candidates have promised tough-on-crime policies, better equipment for law enforcement and international help to fight drug cartels and local criminal groups. More than 13 million people are eligible to vote, which is mandatory for adults up to the age of 65. It is optional for people aged 16 and 17 and over 65. Failure to vote results in a $46 fine.In 2023, Noboa and Gonzlez were largely unknown to most voters as they sought the presidency for the first time. They were first-term lawmakers in May 2023, when then-President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly, shortening his own mandate as a result and triggering that years snap election. Noboas first foray into politics was his stint as lawmaker. An heir to a fortune built on the banana trade, Noboa opened an event-organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his fathers Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas.Gonzlez, 47, held various government jobs during the presidency of Rafael Correa, who led Ecuador from 2007 through 2017 with free-spending socially conservative policies and grew increasingly authoritarian in his last years as president.Noboa, 37, declared Ecuador to be in a state of internal armed conflict in January 2024, allowing him to deploy thousands of soldiers to the streets to combat gangs and to charge people with terrorism counts for alleged ties to organized crime groups.Under his watch, the homicide rate dropped from 46.18 per 100,000 people in 2023, to 38.76 per 100,000 people in 2024. But despite the decrease, the rate remained far higher than the 6.85 homicides per 100,000 people seen in 2019. Some of Noboas heavy-handed crime-fighting tactics have come under scrutiny for testing the limits of laws and norms of governing. He has also been criticized for allegations of electoral anomalies he made after Februarys vote.Following the first-round election, Noboa said there had been many irregularities and that in certain provinces there were things that didnt add up. He provided no further details or evidence. Electoral observers from the Organization of American States and the European Union ruled out fraud.___Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.

Carlos Alcaraz won his first Monte Carlo title as he played in his third straight clay-court final and gained momentum ahead of next month's French Open.

Milos Uzan, a breakout star of the NCAA tournament with Houston, will declare for the 2025 NBA draft.

Demonstrators rally against President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in San Jose, Calif., as part of a national day of action on Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Emily Steinberger)2025-04-13T12:38:49Z SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Like many in the tech industry, Jeremy Lyons used to think of himself as a relatively apolitical guy.The only time he had participated in a demonstration before now was in the opening days of Donald Trumps first presidential term, when he joined fellow Google workers walking out of the companys Silicon Valley campus to protest immigration restrictions. Googles co-founder and its chief executive officer joined them.Last weekend was Lyons second, also against Trump, but it had a very different feel.The man directing thousands of marchers with a bullhorn in downtown San Jose on April 5 was another tech worker who would not give his full name for fear of being identified by Trump backers. Marchers were urged not to harass drivers of Tesla vehicles, which have gone from a symbol of Silicon Valleys environmental futurism to a pro-Trump icon. And no tech executives were anywhere to be seen, only months after several had joined Trump at his January inauguration. To Lyons, 54, the change says as much about whats happened to Silicon Valley over the past quarter-century as it does about the atmosphere of fear surrounding many Trump critics nowadays.One of the things Ive seen over that time is a shift from a nerdy utopia to a money first, move fast and break things, Lyons said. Political gap seen between tech leaders and their workforceThe tech industrys political allegiances remain divided. But as some in the upper echelons of Silicon Valley began shifting to the right politically, many of the tech industrys everyday workers have remained liberal but also increasingly nervous and disillusioned. Their mood is in stark contrast to the prominent tech leaders who have embraced a conservative populist ideology.I think youre seeing a real gap between the leadership elite here in Silicon Valley and their workforce, said Ann Skeet, who helps run a center at Santa Clara University studying the ethics of the tech industry.The shift hasnt been for a lot of people, said Lenny Siegel, a former mayor of Mountain View and longtime liberal activist in the valley. Its a handful of people whove gotten the attention.The biggest example of that is Elon Musk, the worlds richest person and CEO of the worlds best-known electric car company who has taken on a prominent role slashing federal agencies in Trumps administration. Musk has been joined by several tech billionaires, including investor David Sacks, who helped fundraise for Trumps campaign and became the White Houses artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar, and venture capitalist Marc Andreesen. Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also attended Trumps inauguration in Washington.Zuckerberg began praising Trump after the then-candidate, angered over money Zuckerberg steered toward local election offices in some states in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, threatened last summer to imprison him. Zuckerberg also donated $1 million to the presidents inauguration fund and co-hosted an inauguration reception for billionaire Republican donors. Trump has filled a number of his administrations posts with billionaires and his support from wealthy tech leaders led Democratic President Joe Biden to warn that the United States risked becoming an oligarchy ruled by elites. During Trumps first term, the valley and its leaders were a bulwark of resistance to the Republican, especially over immigration, given that the industry draws its workforce from around the globe. Its against that backdrop that thousands of people attended the recent rally at a downtown San Jose park to protest the actions of Trump and Musk.Even as tech industry has changed, Silicon Valley has leaned DemocraticSanta Clara County, which comprises most of Silicon Valley, swung 8 percentage points toward Trump in November election against Democrat Kamala Harris, matching the shift across California. Even with that swing, the county voted 68% to 28% for the then-vice president and remains a Democratic stronghold.Were still in the belly of the beast, said Dave Johnson, the new executive director of the Santa Clara GOP, who said the party has gained some new members in the county but few from the tech industry. If the lake was frozen, theres a little glimmer on top. I would not say there are cracks in the ice. The valley has long leaned Democratic, but with an unusual political mix: a general dislike of getting too involved in Washingtons business coupled with an at-times contradictory mix of libertarian individualism, Bay Area activism and belief in the ability of science to solve the worlds problems.That has persisted even as the tech industry has changed.The tech boom was fueled by scrappy startups that catered to their workers dreams of changing the world for the better. Googles motto was dont be evil, a phrase it removed from its code of conduct by 2018, when it and other companies such as Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, had grown into multinational behemoths. The companies have had layoffs in recent years, a shock to an industry that not long ago seemed poised for unlimited growth. Entrepreneurs once dreamed of building startups that would change the world, said Jan English-Lueck, a San Jose State University professor who has been studying Silicon Valley culture for more than 20 years.Now, she said, if youre part of a startup, youre hoping youll be absorbed in a way thats profitable.Discontent among some in the tech industry about where its headed Even before some prominent tech leaders shifted toward Trump, there was mounting discontent among some in the industry over its direction. IdaRose Sylvester runs a business promoting a Silicon Valley-style approach to entrepreneurs in other countries.I feel sick to my stomach now, she said.Sylvester was already disenchanted with the growing inequality in the valley and the environmental cost of all the energy needed to power crypto, AI and data centers. She took part in protests against Trump in 2017, but felt that energy fade once he lost the 2020 election to Biden.I saw a lot of people get out of politics once Biden won. There was a feeling it was all OK, Sylvester said. It was not all OK.It is worse now, she said. She helped organize one of several demonstrations across the valley last weekend during a national day of protests against the new administration.At first glance, the one in downtown San Jose could have been a typical anti-Trump protest anywhere. A large crowd of largely middle-age and older people carried signs against the president and Musk while chanting against oligarchs.But it was clearly a Silicon Valley crowd, one still reeling not only from Trumps challenges to the countrys system of checks and balances but also from the actions of the valleys top executives.The money is all shifting to the wealthiest, and that terrifies me, said Dianne Wood, who works at a startup. Unfortunately, youve got the Zuckerbergs and Elon Musks of the world who are taking that over.Just coming here, everyones saying turn off the facial recognition on your phone, Wood added. Were all scared.Kamal Ali, who works in AI, said he felt betrayed by that shift.The trust is broken. A lot of employees are very upset by whats going on, he said. Its going to be different forever.___Associated Press writer Sarah Parvini in Los Angeles and video journalist Haven Daley contributed to this report.

Participants sing Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" on the opening day of Osaka Expo 2025 in Osaka, western Japan, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)2025-04-13T10:52:09Z OSAKA, Japan (AP) The Expo 2025 opened in Osaka on Sunday with more than 10,000 people singing Beethovens Ninth Symphony to celebrate the start of the six-month event that Japan hopes will unite the world divided by tensions and wars. Here is what to know about the Expo 2025 Osaka:What is Expo 2025 Osaka about?The Osaka Expo is held at Yumeshima, which means dream island, a reclaimed industrial waste burial site in the Osaka Bay, where participants from more than 160 countries, regions and organizations showcase their futuristic exhibits inside about 80 pavillons of unique architecture.Creating a future society for our lives is the main theme. It is Osakas second Expo after the hugely successful 1970 event that attracted 64 million visitors, a record until Shanghai in 2010. Organizers expect 28 million visitors through mid-October, though ticket sales have been slow, with about 9 million sold in advance, short of an initial target of 14 million. Its been 55 years since the last Expo in Osaka. Ive been looking forward to it, said Daiki Chiba, who traveled from from Sendai, about 900 kilometers (560 miles) northeast of Osaka. Many visitors carried Myaku-Myaku mascots or wore clothes matching its colors red, blue and white to get in the mood. What does it mean to hold Expo amid global tensions The Expo comes only four years after Japan struggled to host the no-audience Tokyo Olympics during the coronavirus pandemic.It opens in the wake of trade wars and fears of a global economic downturn sparked by U.S. President Donald Trumps tariffs, the three-year Russian invasion of Ukraine and Middle East conflicts.Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba compared the global tensions to a national crisis and said that Trumps tariffs, especially the 25% duty on automobiles, would be a blow to all industries and Japans economy. Still, Japan wants to turn the pinch into a chance.I think the timing is actually quite fitting, said Sachiko Yoshimura, head of Expo 2025 global communications. Holding the Expo now could eventually help to address the divisions in the world. ... I believe this Expo in Japan might actually lead to stronger international relationships and improvements. What is the Grand Ring?The iconic ring, designed by architect Sou Fujimoto, is a lattice-like structure encircling the venue and recognized by the Guinness World Records as the largest wooden architecture. It is 20 meters (65 feet) high and has a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) circumference.The costly ring takes up more than 14% of the Expos total spending of 235 billion yen ($1.64 billion) and has triggered public criticism. The total cost nearly doubled from the initial estimate largely due to the weaker yen, causing construction delays. Several pavilions, including those of Nepal, India, Vietnam and Chile, were not ready for the opening. The ring is supposed to be partially reusable, reflecting the theme of creating a sustainable future.What are other highlights?Exhibits of cutting-edge technology, such as robots and flying cars, as well as pop culture like Hello Kitty and Gundam, are among the highlights. Pavilions all look amazing, said Laurel Sylvester from New Zealand, visiting with her husband and two children. Her family is interested in ocean sustainability and planned to visit the Blue Ocean Dome. She said the boys are super excited to have their photo with the (big Gundam) robot and some of the interesting tech things that are going on. A small artificial heart made from induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS, demonstrated a heartbeat at a Japanese health care pavilion. At the Future of Life pavilion, visitors can interact with robots. A human washing machine that was a sensation at the 1970 expo returned with a high-tech makeover.The U.S. pavilion focuses on space travel. Its lunar stone from the Apollo 12 mission, a sensation at the 1970 expo, was back on display.China, also highlighting space technology, exhibits soil samples from its lunar missions.Carrying a Not for sale sign and decorated with its blue-and-yellow national flags, Ukraine attracted many visitors with a globe and other items carrying barcodes. By scanning them, visitors can see videos showing peoples lives at war and their reconstruction effort. Dymtro Liuyi, Ukrainian creative director, said his countrys participation was undecided until December due to the war. The preparation was finished Sunday morning, he said, showing blue paint on his fingers. What is Myaku-Myaku?With its blue face encircled by red balls, some of them eyeballs, the mysterious, smiley creature Myaku-Myaku welcomes visitors. The imaginary creature was born from the fusion of cells and water in a small spring in the Kansai region, organizers say. The friendly but clumsy character can transform into various shapes and is good at finding a rainbow after the rain.___Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.

There are 18 holes between Rory McIlroy and a career Grand Slam. But Bryson DeChambeau is in the way.

Before Bryson DeChambeau shot a Saturday 69 to get himself into contention, he was putting in work on a stranger's putting green.

President Donald Trump arrives at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, April 11, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)2025-04-13T14:29:31Z WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) Donald Trumps doctor says the oldest man to be elected president is fully fit to serve as commander in chief as the White House released the results of Trumps physical exam from Friday.Trump is 78, and his physician, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, cited what he said is Trumps active lifestyle and said it continues to contribute significantly to the Republican presidents well-being. Trump turns 79 on June 14.In a report released Sunday, the doctor said in a summary that Trump is fully fit to execute the duties of Commander-in-Chief and Head of State. The results showed Trump has dropped 20 pounds since his last physical as president in 2020. He weighed 244 pounds back then and is now down to 224 pounds. The exam summary noted that Trump previously had cataract surgery. A common procedure among aging people, the surgery typically involves removing a cloudy eye lens and replacing it with an artificial lens to help clear up vision. Barbabella said Trumps days include participating in multiple meetings, public appearances, media availabilities and frequent victories in golf events. Trump is an avid golfer and said he recently won tournaments played at clubs he owns in Florida Trumps cholesterol levels have improved over time, helped by the medications rosuvastatin and ezetimibe. At his physical in January 2018, his total cholesterol was 223. In early 2019, the reading came in at 196 and it stood at 167 in 2020. Today it is 140. Ideally, total cholesterol should be less than 200. His blood pressure was 128 over 74. That is considered elevated, and people in that situation are likely to develop high blood pressure unless steps are taken to control the condition.Trump has a resting heart rate of 62 beats per minute, in line with previous tests. A normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60 beats to 100 beats per minute, and generally, a lower rate implies better cardiovascular fitness.Trump also takes aspirin, which can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.___Associated Press writer Jonathan Poet in Philadelphia contributed to this report. DARLENE SUPERVILLE Superville covers the White House for The Associated Press, with a special emphasis on first ladies and first families.

President Donald Trump, right, attends a mixed martial arts fight at UFC 314, Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)2025-04-13T02:59:24Z MIAMI (AP) President Donald Trump said the standing ovation and cheers he drew when he took his seat at a UFC event in his home state of Florida were signs were doing a good job.Trump shook hands with some supporters as he walked to his cageside seat Saturday night at Miamis Kaseya Center while others waved his trademark red campaign cap. The Republican president, who stayed for several hours before flying back to his home in Palm Beach, said it was a great honor to receive that recognition from the crowd.It says were doing a good job. If we werent doing a good job, wed get the opposite, he told reporters accompanying him aboard Air Force One. In the nearly three months since he has been back in office, Trump has launched a broad effort led by billionaire Elon Musk to shrink government by firing thousands of workers and cutting spending, tried unsuccessfully thus far to end Russias war against Ukraine and impose tariffs against many countries, including close allies of the United States. Democrats, and even some Trump supporters, have criticized his early actions. But at UFC, it was a night focused on the fighters in the cage. Every one of them came up at the end, and they were great, Trump said. I mean, theyre all warriors, modern day warriors.At one point, fighter Dominick Reyes walked over to the side of the Octagon after winning his bout and acknowledged Trump. Reyes went to take a photo with the president after the post-fight interview. Trumps granddaughter, Kai Trump, who attended UFC 314 with him, said it was awesome.The president watched as Australian Alexander Volkanovski won his 10th championship fight in a row, defeating Diego Lopes of Brazil early Sunday morning by unanimous decision in the featherweight contest.Trump is a longtime UFC fan and sports enthusiast who has frequently attended major fights and has had a longtime friendship with Dana White, the UFC president and CEO. It was Trumps first UFC visit since returning to the White House in January and came weeks after he attended the Saudi-sponsored LIV golf tournament at his golf club in Miami. Trump attended the Super Bowl and Daytona 500, both in February. He was cageside at a UFC championship fight in New York in November, shortly after winning the election. Trumps close affiliation with UFC had helped boost his campaign among young male voters.As Trump entered the Miami arena accompanied by White, the president shared an embrace with podcast host Joe Rogan. Musk and Rogan sat by Trumps side.Also at the event were several members of his administration, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.___Superville reported from West Palm Beach, Florida. STEPHANY MATAT Matat is an Associated Press general assignment reporter with a focus on politics and South Florida issues. twitter instagram mailto DARLENE SUPERVILLE Superville covers the White House for The Associated Press, with a special emphasis on first ladies and first families. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Chelsea have spent billions in the transfer market, but they almost lost to an Ipswich Town side whose entire squad cost less than Enzo Fernandez.

Former LSU receiver Kyren Lacy was found dead Saturday night in Houston, an LSU official confirmed to ESPN.

Kylian Mbappe was shown a straight red card for a dangerous challenge during the first half of Real Madrid's crucial La Liga clash with Alaves.

The Trail Blazers have signed coach Chauncey Billups to a multiyear contract extension after he led Portland to a 22-18 record since Jan. 19.

Cesar Acevedo, left, holds his infant son, Adriel Acevedo, as as nurse Tracey McElroy, right, prepares to give him a vaccination that included a polio dose at the Dallas County Health and Human Services immunization clinic in Dallas, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)2025-04-13T13:27:07Z The measles outbreak in West Texas didnt happen just by chance.The easily preventable disease, declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, ripped through communities sprawling across more than 20 Texas counties in part because health departments were starved of the funding needed to run vaccine programs, officials say.We havent had a strong immunization program that can really do a lot of boots-on-the-ground work for years, said Katherine Wells, the health director in Lubbock, a 90-minute drive from the outbreaks epicenter.Immunization programs nationwide have been left brittle by years of stagnant funding by federal, state and local governments. In Texas and elsewhere, this helped set the stage for the measles outbreak and fueled its spread. Now cuts to federal funding threaten efforts to prevent more cases and outbreaks.Health departments got an influx of cash to deal with COVID-19, but it wasnt enough to make up for years of neglect. On top of that, trust in vaccines has eroded. Health officials warn the situation is primed to get worse. Recent cuts by the Trump administration have pulled billions of dollars in COVID-19 related funding $2 billion of it slated for immunization programs for various diseases. Overseeing the cuts is Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who rose to prominence leading an anti-vaccine movement. While Kennedy has said he wants his agency to prevent future outbreaks, hes also declined to deliver a consistent and forceful message that would help do so encouraging people to vaccinate their children against measles while reminding them it is safe. At the same time, lawmakers in Texas and about two-thirds of states have introduced legislation this year that would make it easier to opt out of vaccines or otherwise put up barriers to ensuring more people get shots, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. That further undercuts efforts to keep infectious diseases at bay, health officials said. The more than 700 measles cases reported this year in the U.S. have already surpassed last years total. The vast majority more than 540 are in Texas, but cases have popped up in 23 other states. Two Texas children have died. A 6-year-old girl from Gaines County, the center of the outbreak, died in February, the first measles death in the U.S. in a decade. An 8-year-old girl from the same town, Seminole, died earlier this month. Children in the U.S. are generally required to be vaccinated to go to school, which in the past ensured vaccination rates stayed high enough to prevent infectious diseases like measles from spreading. But a growing number of parents have been skipping the shots for their kids. The share of children exempted from vaccine requirements has reached an all-time high, and just 92.7% of kindergartners got their required shots in 2023. Thats well below the 95% coverage level that keeps diseases at bay.Keeping vaccination rates high requires vigilance, commitment and money.Though the outbreak in Texas started in Mennonite communities that have been resistant to vaccines and distrustful of government intervention, it quickly jumped to other places with low vaccination rates. There are similar under-vaccinated pockets across the country that could provide the tinder that sparks another outbreak.Its like a hurricane over warm water in the Caribbean, said Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Childrens Hospital Center for Vaccine Development in Houston. As long as theres warm water, the hurricane will continue to accelerate. In this case, the warm water is the unvaccinated kids. Flatlined vaccine funding in TexasLubbock receives a $254,000 immunization grant from the state annually that can be used for staff, outreach, advertising, education and other elements of a vaccine program. That hasnt increased in at least 15 years as the population grew.It used to be enough for three nurses, an administrative assistant, advertising and even goodies to give out at health fairs, Wells said. Now it covers a nurse, a quarter of a nurse, a little bit of an admin assistant, and basically nothing else. Texas has among the lowest per capita state funding for public health in the nation, just $17 per person in 2023, according to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center.Vaccines are among the most successful tools in public healths arsenal, preventing debilitating illnesses and lowering the need for expensive medical care. Childhood vaccines prevent 4 million deaths worldwide each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says the measles vaccine will save some 19 million lives by 2030.U.S. immunization programs are funded by a variable mix of federal, state and local money. Federal money is sent to every state, which then decides how much to send to local health departments. The stagnant immunization grant funding in Texas has made it harder for local health departments to keep their programs going. Lubbocks health department, for example, doesnt have the money to pay for targeted Facebook ads to encourage vaccinations or do robust community outreach to build trust.In Andrews County, which borders Gaines County, the biggest cost of its immunization program is personnel. But while everything has gotten more expensive, the grant hasnt changed, Health Director Gordon Mattimoe said. That shifts the burden to county governments. Some kick in more money, some dont. His did.The problem: keeping people safe from outbreaks requires high vaccination rates across a broad region, and germs dont stop at county borders.Andrews County, population 18,000, offers a walk-in vaccine clinic Monday through Friday, but other West Texas communities dont. More than half the people who come to the clinic travel from other counties, Mattimoe said, including much larger places and Gaines County.Some had to drive an hour or more. They did so because they had trouble getting shots in their home county due to long waits, lack of providers and other issues, Mattimoe said.Theyre unable to obtain it in the place that they live. ... People are overflowing, over to here, Mattimoe said. Theres an access issue.That makes it more likely people wont get their shots. In Gaines County just 82% of kindergartners were vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella. Even in Andrews County, where, at 97%, the vaccination rate is above the 95% threshold for preventing outbreaks, it has slipped two percentage points since 2020.Vaccine funding crises arent only in TexasThe health departments millions of Americans depend on for their shots largely rely on two federal programs: Vaccines for Children and Section 317 of the Public Health Services Act. Vaccines for Children mostly provides the actual vaccines. Section 317 provides grants for vaccines but also to run programs and get shots into arms.About half of kids qualify for Vaccines for Children, a safety-net program created in response to a 1989-1991 measles epidemic that sickened 55,000 people and killed 123. Section 317 money sent to state and local health departments pays for vaccines as well as nurses, outreach and advertising. Health departments generally use the programs in tandem, and since the pandemic theyve often been allowed to supplement it with COVID-19 funds.The 317 funds have been flat for years, even as costs of everything from salaries to vaccines went up. A 2023 CDC report to Congress estimated $1.6 billion was needed to fully fund a comprehensive 317 vaccine program. Last year, Congress approved less than half that: $682 million.This, along with insufficient state and local funding, forces hard choices. Dr. Kelly Moore, a preventive medicine specialist, said she faced this dilemma when directing Tennessees immunization program from 2004 to 2018. What diseases can we afford to prevent and how many people can we afford to protect? Those decisions have to be made every year by every state, said Moore, who now runs the advocacy group Immunize.org.A rural clinic may have to be closed, or evening and weekend hours eliminated, she said. It becomes difficult for them to staff the clinics they have and difficult for the people in those communities to access them, especially if theyre the working poor.At the same time, health officials say more funding is needed to fight misinformation and mistrust about vaccines. In a 2023 survey by the National Association of County and City Health Officials, 80% of local health departments reported vaccine hesitancy among patients or their parents in the previous year, up from 56% in 2017.If we dont invest in education, it becomes even more difficult to get these diseases under control, Moore said. An unclear future given continuing cuts and hesitancyFacing these headwinds, things got much worse in March when Kennedys health department canceled billions of dollars in state and local funding. After 23 states sued, a judge put a hold on the cuts for now in those states but not in Texas or other states that didnt join the lawsuit.But local health departments are not taking chances and are moving to cut services.HHS said the money, allocated through COVID-19 initiatives, was cut because the pandemic was over. But CDC had allowed the money to be used to shore up public health infrastructure generally, including immunization programs.Before he was confirmed as health secretary, Kennedy vowed not to take vaccines away. But in Texas, his departments cuts mean state and local health departments are losing $125 million in immunization-related federal funding as they deal with the measles outbreak. A spokesperson for the federal health department did not respond to an AP request for comment.Dallas County, 350 miles from where the outbreak began, had to cancel more than 50 immunization clinics, including at schools with low measles vaccination rates, said Dr. Philip Huang, the countys health director.Near the center of the outbreak, Lubbocks health department said seven jobs are on the line because they were paid by those grants. Included in the affected work are immunizations.Across the border in New Mexico, where the outbreak has spread, the state lost grants that funded vaccine education.Kennedys cuts also hit vaccination programs in other states Its still unclear how the recently announced $2 billion in cuts will affect immunization programs across the country, but details are starting to trickle out from some states.Washington state, for example, would lose about $20 million in vaccination-related funding. Officials were forced to pause mobile vaccine efforts on their Care-A-Van, which has administered more than 6,800 COVID-19 vaccines, 3,900 flu vaccines and 5,700 childhood vaccines since July. The state also had to cancel more than 100 vaccine clinics scheduled through June, including more than 35 at schools.Connecticut health officials estimate if the cuts stand, they will lose $26 million for immunization. Among other reductions, this means canceling 43 contracts with local health departments to increase vaccination rates and raise confidence in vaccines, losing vaccination clinics and mobile outreach in underserved neighborhoods, and stopping the distribution of vaccine-related educational materials.Several of the 23 states suing the federal government, including Minnesota, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, cite losses to vaccine programs. As the cuts further cripple already struggling health departments, alongside increasingly prominent and powerful anti-vaccine voices, doctors worry that vaccine hesitancy will keep spreading. And measles and other viruses will too.My whole lifes purpose is to keep people from suffering. And vaccines are a tremendous way to do that, Moore said. But if we dont invest in them to get them in arms, then we dont see their benefits.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. LAURA UNGAR Ungar covers medicine and science on the APs Global Health and Science team. She has been a health journalist for more than two decades. twitter mailto MICHELLE R. SMITH Smith reports for APs global investigations team. She is based in Providence, Rhode Island. instagram mailto DEVI SHASTRI Shastri is a public health reporter for The Associated Press, based in Milwaukee. She covers housing access, the social safety net, medical misinformation and other topics that influence the health of communities broadly. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Liverpool labored against West Ham and looked like they might drop points -- until Virgil van Dijk stepped up.

The Celtics' Jaylen Brown will again sit out vs. the Hornets on Sunday after receiving pain management injections in his right knee during the week.

Voters queue up outside a polling station to cast their votes for the presidential elections in Liberville, Gabon, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Betines Makosso)2025-04-13T07:30:23Z LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, Gabons interim president who staged a 2023 coup that ended a decadeslong political dynasty, has been elected president, according to provisional results announced by the countrys interior ministry.Oligui Nguema, 50, recorded a landslide victory with 90.35% of votes cast, defeating seven other candidates, including immediate past Prime Minister Alain Claude Bilie-By-Nze. He came in a distant second with 3% of votes cast, Interior Minister Hermann Immongault said as he announced the provisional results.The Interior Ministry announced a turnout of 87.21% in the election in which some 920,000 voters, including over 28,000 overseas, were registered to participate across more than 3,000 polling stations. Its Gabons first election since the 2023 military coup that ended a political dynasty that lasted over 50 years. It was seen as a crucial election for the central African nations 2.3 million people, a third of whom live in poverty despite its vast oil wealth. Bilie-By-Nze recently told The Associated Press that Oligui Nguema took advantage of state resources to support his campaign. The government denies this. Local observers deemed the conduct of the election satisfactory in nearly all the polling stations monitored.At least 94.8% of the polling stations observed operated under satisfactory conditions, while the transparency of operations was deemed satisfactory in 98.6% of cases, the Gabonese Civil Society Organizations Observation Mission said late Saturday. Oligui Nguema, who has been serving as interim president, had his representatives present in 69.6% of the polling stations observed while Bilie-By-Nzes representation stood at just 8.2%, the observers said.Oligui Nguema, the former head of the countrys Republican Guard, toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba nearly two years ago. He hopes to consolidate his grip on power for a seven-year term in office. After casting his ballot on Saturday in the capital, Libreville, the interim president said he felt proud of the citizens seeking to turn the page to join the new Republic.In a video message shared after he voted in the north of the country, Bilie-By-Nze said he was concerned that unused voting cards could be used for potential electoral fraud.Voters who spoke to the AP were divided on how the military has performed since taking over power in 2023, with most saying they have failed in their promises.Im telling you that for me, the military has failed, said Antoine Nkili, a 27-year-old unemployed man with a masters degree in law. They promised to reform the institutions, but they havent. Instead, theyve enriched themselves.Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers his budget address for the 2025-26 fiscal year to a joint session of the state House and Senate at the Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)2025-04-13T15:13:40Z HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were evacuated overnight from the official governors residence after someone set fire to the building, police said Sunday.No one was injured and the fire was extinguished, according to authorities. The fire broke out overnight on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which Shapiro and his family had celebrated at the governors official residence in the state capital of Harrisburg. Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement that, while the investigation was ongoing, they were prepared to say at this time that this was an act of arson.State police gave no other details about the cause of the fire at the riverfront mansion but said it caused a significant amount of damage to a portion of the residence. Shapiro and his family had been in a different part of the residence, police said. In a statement, Shapiro, viewed as a potential White House contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, said he and his family woke up at about 2 a.m. to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after the fire broke out. The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was called to the residence and, while they worked to put out the fire, police evacuated Shapiro and his family from the residence safely, Shapiro said.Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished, Shapiro said in a statement. On Sunday, fire damage was visible on the residences south side, primarily to a large room often used for entertaining crowds and art displays. There was still a police presence early Sunday afternoon as yellow tape cordoned off an alleyway and an officer led a dog outside a iron security fence. Shapiro splits his time between the mansion that has housed governors since it was built in the 1960s and a home in Abington, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) east. He posted a picture on social media Saturday of the familys Passover Seder table at the residence. State police are leading the investigation. The agency offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. MARC LEVY Levy covers politics and state government in Pennsylvania for The Associated Press. He is based in Harrisburg. twitter

Oscar Pistri comfortably won an action-packed Bahrain Grand Prix to narrow teammate Lando Norris' championship lead to two points.

Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman, who was placed on the injured list Saturday, had a cortisone shot to treat swelling in his inflamed left knee.

A New York Police Department scuba team looks for debris, Friday, April 11, 2025, where a sightseeing helicopter crashed a day earlier into the Hudson River in Jersey City, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)2025-04-13T17:54:12Z NEW YORK (AP) New York Sen. Chuck Schumer is calling on federal authorities to revoke the operating permits of the helicopter tour company whose sightseeing chopper broke apart in midair and plunged into the Hudson River Thursday, killing a family of five visiting from Spain and the pilot, a Navy SEAL veteran.At a press conference Sunday, Schumer said the company, New York Helicopter Tours, should be required to halt all flights as the National Transportation Safety Board investigates the deadly crash. The Senate Democrat minority leader also called on the Federal Aviation Administration to ramp up safety inspections for other helicopter tour companies, accusing them of cutting corners and putting profits over people.The victims included passengers Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife, Merc Camprub Montal, 39, and their three children, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a U.S. Navy veteran who received his commercial pilots license in 2023. One of the things we can do to honor those lives and try to save others is to make sure it doesnt happen again, Schumer said. We know there is one thing for sure about New York Citys helicopter tour companies: they have a deadly track record. Thursdays crash has renewed safety concerns about New Yorks sightseeing excursions, a popular tourist draw that whisks passengers high above the city, offering soaring views of the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center and other landmarks. In the last two decades, five helicopters on commercial sightseeing flights have fallen into the Hudson and East rivers as a result of mechanical failures, pilot errors or collisions, killing 20 people.The president of New York Helicopter Tours, Michael Roth, did not respond to phone and email inquiries. The company said in a statement published on its website that it was cooperating with authorities in the investigation. In response to Schumers calls for more oversight, an industry group, Eastern Region Helicopter Council, said Manhattans sightseeing choppers already operate under the most stringent of regulations.We stand ready to work with leaders on finding ways to ensure the safety and preservation of our businesses and aviation community, the group said. Critics of the industry have long sought to limit or entirely ban nonessential helicopter flights from taking off above the city, though they have had limited success. After New York City capped the number of flights that could take off from Manhattan heliports at 30,000 annually in 2016, many companies moved operations to New Jersey. Two years later, in 2018, five people died when a helicopter offering open door flights crashed in the East River after a passengers restraint tether snagged on a fuel switch, stopping the engine.The cause of Thursdays crash is not yet determined. According to Schumer, rescue divers were continuing to search for the helicopters main rotor and assembly gear box, which would give clues about what happened. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

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Donovan Mitchell is expected to be ready for the Cavaliers' playoff run despite missing the last four games of the regular season with a sprained left ankle.

by Hannah Allam ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. With a line of cars waiting behind them at the train station, the two women hugged tightly as they said goodbye at the end of a spring break that hadnt turned out to be the relaxing vacation theyd imagined.Their girls trip had transformed into endless conversations about security precautions as one of the friends, 30-year-old Turkish national Rmeysa ztrk, grew increasingly worried she would become a target of the Trump administrations deportation campaign.ztrk, a former Fulbright scholar in a doctoral program at Tufts University, was stunned to find out in early March that she had been targeted by a pro-Israel group that highlighted an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticizing the schools response to the war in Gaza.Her concern deepened days later with the detention of former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent resident the government is trying to deport over his role in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus. By the time of ztrks spring break trip on March 15, she was consumed with anxiety, said her friend E., an Arab American academic on the East Coast who asked to withhold her name and other identifying details for security reasons.During their reunion in E.s hometown, the first time theyd been together since the summer, the friends looked up know-your-rights tutorials and discussed whether ztrk should cut short her doctoral program. They spent their last day together filling out intake forms for legal aid groups just in case.Right up until their last minutes together at the train station, they wrestled with how cautious ztrk should be when she returned to Massachusetts. ztrk wondered if she should avoid communal dinners, a feature of Muslim social life during the holy month of Ramadan.I told her to keep going out, to be with her community. I wanted her to live her life, E. recalled, her voice breaking.And then she got abducted in broad daylight.By now, much of the country has seen the footage of Oztrks capture.Surveillance video from March 25 shows her walking to dinner in Somerville, Massachusetts, near the Tufts campus, chatting on the phone with her mother when she is swarmed by six masked plainclothes officers. ztrk screams.Within three minutes, shes bundled into an unmarked car and whisked away, a jarring scene that showed the nation what President Donald Trumps deportation campaign looks like on the street level: federal agents ambushing a Muslim woman who co-wrote an op-ed in a college newspaper.The footage drew worldwide outrage and turned ztrk into a powerful symbol of the Department of Homeland Security dragnet. Surveillance Video of Rmeysa ztrks Capture (Obtained by ProPublica) Watch video To piece together whats happened since then, ProPublica examined court filings and interviewed attorneys and ztrks close friend, who regularly speaks to her in detention. What emerges is a more intimate picture of ztrk and how a child development researcher charged with no crime ended up in a crowded cell in Louisiana. The interviews and court records also provide a glimpse into a sprawling, opaque apparatus designed to deport the maximum number of people with minimum accountability.Her lawyers describe it as the story of a Trump-era rendition, a callback to the post-9/11 practice of federal agents grabbing Muslim suspects off the street and taking them to locations known for harsh conditions and shoddy oversight.ztrk is among nearly 1,000 students whose visas have been revoked, according to a tally by the Association of International Educators. And she is among several students and professors who have been detained.Her detention was exceptional, immigration attorneys said, because it was caught on camera. Whats scariest, they say, is how fast the removals happen and how little is known about them.Homeland Security spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.The video of ztrks arrest surfaced because Boston-area activists had set up a hotline for locals to report interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The call that came in about ztrk reported a kidnapping, said Fatema Ahmad of the Muslim Justice League, part of the advocacy network that obtained the footage.What broke me was her screaming. And knowing that the same thing had just happened to almost 400 people in the Boston area the week before, she said, referring to a recent six-day ICE operation.After her arrest, ztrk was held by ICE incommunicado for nearly 24 hours, her attorneys said, during which time she suffered the first of four asthma attacks. Only later, through court filings and conversations with ztrk, her attorneys learned that in the course of a single night she was taken from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and then Vermont, where the next morning, she was loaded onto a plane and flown to an ICE outpost in Alexandria, Louisiana.Her last stop was a detention center in Basile about an hour away, where she remains, one of two dozen women in a damp, mouse-infested cell built to hold 14, according to court filings.ICE officials say in court documents they couldnt find a bed for ztrk in New England, adding that out-of-state transfers are routinely conducted after arrest, due to operational necessity.Immigration attorneys say the late-night hopscotch was an ICE tactic to complicate jurisdiction and thwart legal attempts to stop ztrks removal. Louisiana and Texas, they say, are favored destinations because the courts there are viewed as friendlier to the Trump administrations MAGA agenda, issuing decisions limiting migrant rights.It was like a relay race, and she was the baton, ztrks attorney Mahsa Khanbabai said.Whole Other Level of TerrorOn March 4, two weeks before their spring break reunion, ztrk texted her friend E. to say shed been doxxed by Canary Mission, part of an array of shadowy, right-wing Jewish groups that are criticized for using cherry-picked statements and distorted context to portray even mild criticism of Israel as antisemitism or support for terrorism.For more than a decade, hard-line pro-Israel groups have publicized the names of pro-Palestinian activists, academics and students, often with scant or dubious evidence to back allegations of anti-Jewish bigotry. The goal, civil liberties advocates say, is to silence protesters through campaigns that have cost targets jobs and led to death threats. On its website, Canary Mission said it is motivated by a desire to combat antisemitism on college campuses. It says it investigates individuals and groups across the North American political spectrum, including the far-right, far-left and anti-Israel activists.The effort was stepped up during the wave of student protests that erupted in opposition to the war in Gaza.ztrks entry on the Canary Mission site, posted in February, claims she engaged in anti-Israel activism in 2024, citing the op-ed she co-wrote more than a year ago that accused Tufts of ignoring students calls to divest from companies with ties to Israel over human rights concerns.I can not believe how much time people have, ztrk texted her friend when she saw the post.E. responded with an open-mouthed shocked emoji. The Canary Mission entry, she said, had unlocked a whole other level of terror for ztrk.It was that feeling of having your privacy be so violated for people to spend all this time and energy on one op-ed, E. said.The op-ed published in The Tufts Daily was signed by four authors, including ztrk, and endorsed by more than 30 other unnamed students. The language echoed the statements of United Nations officials and international war crimes investigators about the death toll in Gaza, which according to health officials there has passed 50,000, with about a third of the casualties under 18.ztrk, an advocate for children in communities plagued by violence, was personally heartsick over images of burned and mangled Palestinian children. But she was not a prominent activist or a fixture at campus protests, her friends and attorneys say.ztrks attorneys, who are scheduled to appear Monday before a federal judge in Vermont, say the sole basis for revoking her visa appears to be the op-ed highlighted by Canary Mission.Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer representing ztrk, said pro-Israel groups are providing the administration with lists of targets for its deportation campaign against noncitizen student protesters. The sequence of events, he said, is op-ed, doxxing, detention.Pro-Israel groups, including Canary Mission, have boasted about their influence on the Trump administrations targeting of student protesters. Immigration officials insist that they make their own removal decisions based on a number of factors, including a hard line on criticism of Israel.Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he has revoked more than 300 student visas, including for Khalil and ztrk, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which permits the deportation of noncitizens who are deemed adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States.We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist who tears up our university campuses, Rubio told a news conference last month in response to a question about ztrks detention. Every day I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa.A spokesperson said the State Department does not comment on ongoing litigation.In a call with reporters on Thursday, attorney Marc Van Der Hout of Khalils legal team said the authority Rubio cites was intended for rare occasions involving high-level diplomatic matters, not to be used to go after people for First Amendment-protected activity.Overnight OdysseySurrounded by masked officers on March 25, ztrk had no idea who was seizing her or where she was being taken, according to a statement filed on Thursday in federal court. The operatives were dressed in civilian clothes, she wrote, so at first she worried they were vigilantes spurred by Canary Mission.I had never seen police approach and take someone away like this, she wrote. I thought they were people who had doxxed me and I was afraid for my safety.ztrks statement details her harrowing night being shuttled across New England with little food after a day of fasting for Ramadan. She describes being shackled by her feet and stomach and then driven to different sites for meetings with unidentified men, some in uniform and some not. One group so unsettled her, ztrk wrote, that she was sure they were going to kill me.At another stop, described in the statement as an isolated parking lot, ztrk repeatedly asked an officer if she was in physical danger.He seemed to feel guilty and said we are not monsters, ztrk wrote.At the last stop in Vermont, ztrk wrote, she arrived famished and with a lot of motion sickness from all the driving. Officers took her biometric data and a DNA sample.She would stay there for the night, in a cell with just a hard bench and a toilet. Officers gained access to her cellphone, she wrote, including personal photos of her without her religious headscarf.During the night they came to my cell multiple times and asked me questions about wanting to apply for asylum and if I was a member of a terrorist organization, ztrk wrote. I tried to be helpful and answer their questions but I was so tired and didnt understand what was happening to me.Around 4 the next morning, she wrote, she was shackled again in preparation for a trip to the airport. She was told the destination was Louisiana. Her statement to the court recounts the parting words of one of her jailers: I hope we treated you with respect.At nearly every stage of her detention, ztrk, who takes daily preventative medication for asthma, experienced asthma attacks, which she says are triggered by fumes, mold or stress, court files say.During one in Louisiana, ztrk wrote, a nurse took her temperature and said, You need to take that thing off your head, before removing her hijab without asking. When ztrk protested, the nurse told her, This is for your health.By her fourth wheezing episode, ztrk wrote, she didnt bother to seek attention from her jailers in Louisiana: I didnt feel safe at the medical center.After the portrait ztrk paints of ICE detention, her statement turns back to her old life, a reminder of how abruptly her world has shifted. From her cell in Louisiana, she described the plans she had in the coming months. Completing her dissertation. A conference in Minnesota. Students to mentor. A summer class to teach.I want to return to Tufts to resume all of my cherished work, she concluded.Reunion Interruptedztrk and E. bonded in 2018 after meeting at a Muslim study group in New York, where they were both attending Columbia University.They were in their 20s then, two bookish cat lovers who were serious about their studies and their faith. They went on nature walks and liked afternoon naps.Old ladies, E. said with a laugh.They remained close and took turns visiting after ztrk left for Tufts and E. moved away from the city. Over the years, the pressures of grad school and distance had made their visits less frequent, E. said, so theyd been looking forward to their three-day spring break catch-up.During the visit, E. said, the women broke their fast together and visited a mosque for late-night Ramadan prayers. They stopped by a childrens library ztrk wanted to visit. They stayed up late talking, gaming out how to keep ztrk safe from the Trump administrations crackdown.She said, I think this is going to be the last time I get to visit you, E. recalled. I told her, No, no, youre going to be able to come again, dont worry, and Im going to come visit you. That all turned out to be wrong.The friends had kept in touch daily after parting at the train station. They exchanged mundane texts and voice notes about doing taxes and eating cookies. E. sent ztrk a photo of the park where they had walked during their visit. Rmeysa! The trees are starting to bloom again, she wrote.They last texted on March 25, a couple hours before ztrk was detained on the way to dinner in Somerville.E. didnt find out what happened until the next morning, when she stumbled out of bed before dawn for the early meal Muslims eat before the daily Ramadan fast. Sipping her tea, E. scrolled through her phone and spotted a message that said, Have you seen this? alongside an alert about ztrks arrest.It was like: Is this real? Am I still asleep? she recalled.E. said the idea of her gentle friend being swept into ICE custody still didnt seem real until later that morning, when the video was released and she saw a familiar figure, in the same white jacket shed worn on her visit.It was utterly nauseating to watch, E. said. So horrifying and so heartbreaking to see her have to be so violently taken that way. E. and ztrk (Courtesy of E.) Trying to Be a Good DetaineeTwo days after ztrks transfer to Louisiana, E. received a call from a strange number that came up on her phone as Prison/Jail. It was ztrk, in the first of what would become regular check-ins at random times of the day.In interviews, E. showed ProPublica corroborating photos, text messages and voice notes of her interactions with her friend.She always starts with, Is this a good time to talk? And Im, like, Ive been waiting for this, E. said.Some days, ztrk sounds upbeat. Turkish diplomats, she told E., had delivered her a new hijab. ztrk found a cookbook and noted a citrus salad recipe she might try someday. She cracked jokes about being too old to climb into a bunk bed every night.In one call, ztrk expressed relief that shed filed her taxes before getting detained a perfect example, E. said, of her overachieving friends wry sense of humor.She read the detainee handbook two times, E. said. She said, Im trying to be a good detainee.Other calls are not as easy, E. said, adding that she didnt want to divulge specifics out of respect for her friends privacy. In those harder talks, E. said, she wishes she could be there to tell her itll be OK, give her a hug.Their conversations are sprinkled with reminders that ztrks nightmare might not end soon. She asked for help canceling appointments and returning library books. Shes also in the process of requesting a single paperback, per detention regulations.If approved, she wants E. to find her a guide for writing childrens literature, preferably with exercises she could do from her cell. E. said her heart ached when ztrk asked her to make the book a long one.The calls and tasks ease feelings of helplessness, E. said, an antidote for the guilt that sneaks up on her when she walks outside on a sunny day.How is it that were moving forward, she said, while my closest friend is rotting in this place?

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is pictured before participating in an interview outside the White House, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-04-13T19:10:58Z ATLANTA (AP) Trump administration officials were out in force across the television networks Sunday defending President Donald Trumps economic policies after another week of reeling markets that saw the Republican administration reverse course on some of its steepest tariffs.White House advisers and Cabinet members tried to project confidence and calm amid Trumps on-again, off-again approach to tariffs on imported goods from around the world. But their explanations about the overall agenda also reflected shifting narratives from a president who, as a candidate in 2024, promised an immediate economic boost and lower prices but now asks American businesses and consumers for patience.A week ago, Trumps team stood by his promise to leave the impending tariffs in place without exceptions. They used their latest news show appearances to defend his move to ratchet back to a 10% universal tariff for most nations except China (145%), while granting exemptions for certain electronics smartphones, laptops, hard drives, flat-panel monitors and semiconductor chips.Here are the highlights of what Trump lieutenants said last week vs. Sunday: There are varying answers on the purpose of the tariffsLong before launching his first presidential campaign in 2015, Trump bemoaned the offshoring of U.S. manufacturing. His promise is to reindustrialize the United States and eliminate trade deficits with other countries. LAST WEEKCommerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, interviewed on CBS Face the Nation, played up national security. Youve got to realize this is a national security issue, he said, raising the worst-case scenarios of what could happen if the U.S. were involved in a war. We dont make medicine in this country anymore. We dont make ships. We dont have enough steel and aluminum to fight a battle, right? he said.SUNDAYLutnick stuck to that national security framing, but White House trade adviser Peter Navarro focused more on the import taxes being leverage in the bigger economic puzzle. The world cheats us. Theyve been cheating us for decades, Navarro said on NBCs Meet the Press. He cited practices such as dumping products at unfairly low prices, currency manipulation and barriers to U.S. auto and agricultural products entering foreign markets.Navarro insisted the tariffs would yield broader bilateral trade deals to address all those issues. But he also relied on a separate justification when discussing China: the illicit drug trade.China has killed over a million people with their fentanyl, he said.Meanwhile, Lutnick said the exemptions for certain electronics could be subject to new tariffs targeted by sector. Theyre going to have a special focus-type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored, he told ABCs This Week. The status of negotiations with other nations, including China, remains fuzzyLAST WEEKWith the higher rates set to be collected beginning April 9, administration officials argued that other countries would rush to the negotiating table. Ive heard that there are negotiations ongoing and that there are a number of offers, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House Economic Council, told ABC. He claimed that more than 50 countries (were) reaching out, though he did not name any. SUNDAYNavarro named the United Kingdom, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Israel as among the nations in active negotiations with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Lutnick and other officials.Greer said on CBS that his goal was to get meaningful deals before 90 days - the duration of Trumps pause - and I think were going to be there with several countries in the next few weeks.Talks with China have not begun, he said. We expect to have a conversation with them, he said, emphasizing it would be between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.Navarro was not as specific about Beijing. We have opened up our invitation to them, he said. Lutnick characterized the outreach as soft entrees through intermediaries.Pressed on whether there is any meaningful back and forth, Navarro said, The president has a very good relationship with President Xi. Then he proceeded to criticize several Chinas polices and trade practices. The pitches are different, but confidence is constantLAST WEEKNavarro was bullish even after U.S. and global trading markets suffered trillions of dollars in losses.The first rule, particularly for the smaller investors out there, you cant lose money unless you sell. And, right now, the smart strategy is not to panic, he said on Fox News Channels Sunday Morning Futures.SUNDAYNavarros optimism did not waver despite another net-loss week for securities markets and rocky bond markets. So, this is unfolding exactly like we thought it would in a dominant scenario, he said.Others confronted some of the more complex realities of trying to achieve Trumps goal of restoring a bygone era of U.S. manufacturing.Lutnick suggested the focus is on returning high-tech jobs, while sidestepping questions about lower-skilled manufacturing of goods such as shoes that could mean higher prices because of higher wages for U.S. workers. But some of that high-tech production is what Trump has, for now, exempted from the tariffs that he and his advisers frame as leverage for forcing companies to open U.S. facilities. Hassett did acknowledge widespread angst.The survey data has been showing that people are anxious about the changes a little bit, he said, before steering his answer to employment rates. The hard data, he said, has been really, really strong. BILL BARROW Bill Barrow covers U.S. politics. He is based in Atlanta. twitter mailto

The Newcastle loss doesn't alter Man United's Premier League outlook, but their eggs are now entirely in Europe.

After a season to forget, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George say they believe the 76ers have the personnel to be in a position to compete next season.

2025-04-13T16:27:50Z MILWAUKEE (AP) A Wisconsin teenager charged in the deaths of his parents faces wider allegations that he killed them to obtain the financial means to assassinate President Donald Trump and overthrow the government, according to a recently unsealed federal warrant.Nikita Casap, 17, was charged last month by Waukesha County authorities with first-degree murder, theft and other crimes in the deaths of his mother, Tatiana Casap, and his stepfather, Donald Mayer. Authorities allege the teenager fatally shot them at their home outside Milwaukee in February and lived with the decomposing bodies for weeks before fleeing with $14,000 cash, passports and the family dog. He was arrested last month in Kansas.Casap, in custody at the Waukesha County jail on a $1 million bond, is due in court next month to enter a plea. County prosecutors have offered a glimpse of the federal allegations, which were outlined in an FBI warrant unsealed Friday. Federal authorities accuse Casap of planning his parents murders, buying a drone and explosives, and sharing his plans with others, including a Russian speaker. His intentions are detailed in a three-page antisemitic manifesto praising Adolf Hitler. The warrant filed at the federal court in Milwaukee also contains excerpts of communications on TikTok and the Telegram messenger app. Casap appears to have written a manifest calling for the assassination of the President of the United States. He was in touch with other parties about his plan to kill the President and overthrow the government of the United States, the search warrant says. The killing of his parents appeared to be an effort to obtain the financial means and autonomy necessary to carrying out his plan. In court, prosecutors alleged Casap was in touch with a person who speaks Russian and shared a plan to flee to Ukraine. Authorities found him in Kansas with money, passports, a car and the familys dog. Federal prosecutors alleged Casaps manifesto outlined his reasons for wanting to kill Trump and included ideas about how he would live in Ukraine.Citing Casaps writings, the federal warrant said the teenager wanted to spur governmental collapse by by getting rid of the president and perhaps the vice president.Phone and online messages seeking comment were left Sunday for Casaps public defender, Nicole Ostrowski. In court last month, she moved to dismiss some of the charges against her client, including theft, arguing that prosecutors had not laid out their case. Shes also noted her clients age during court proceedings. He is young, he is still in high school, she said on March 12.County authorities also charged Casap with hiding a corpse, theft and misappropriating identification to obtain money.Officers found the bodies of Tatiana Casap, 35; and Mayer, 51, on Feb. 28. Family members requested a well-being check after Mayer didnt report for work and Nikita Casap skipped school for about two weeks. Authorities believe the parents were killed weeks earlier. Prosecutors said in court that the couples bodies were so badly decomposed that they had to be identified through dental records. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

After yet another loss, is Ange Postecoglou's time at Spurs up? That and more in ESPN's Weekend Review.

Chris Paul was in the Spurs' starting lineup for their season finale Sunday, making him the first player to ever make 82 starts in his 20th season.

In a matchup of the game's global powers, Megan Keller scored a goal, and the United States downed defending champion Canada 2-1 at the women's hockey world championship on Sunday in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.

Cubs pitcher Justin Steele, who went on the IL last week after feeling discomfort in his left elbow, will undergo season-ending surgery, manager Craig Counsell said.

76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey said Sunday that he and coach Nick Nurse will be back next season.

The Clippers locked up the No. 5 seed with the win and will play the Nuggets. The Warriors fell into the play-in with the loss and will play Memphis in the 7-8 game.

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts after winning in a playoff against Justin Rose after the final round at the Masters golf tournament, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)2025-04-13T23:25:44Z AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Rory McIlroy turned another major collapse into his grandest moment of all, hitting a wedge into 3 feet for birdie in a sudden-death playoff Sunday to finally win the Masters and take his place in golf history as the sixth player to claim the career Grand Slam.What should have been a coronation for McIlroy along the back nine at Augusta National turned into a heart-racing, lead-changing jaw-dropping finish at golfs greatest theater that ended with McIlroy on his knees sobbing with joy and disbelief.I started to wonder if it would ever be my time, McIlroy said in Butler Cabin before Scottie Scheffler helped him into the green jacket.It ended with more heartache for Justin Rose, who lost to Sergio Garcia in a playoff in 2017 and forced this one with a clutch 20-foot birdie on the 18th hole for a 6-under 66. He wound up joining Ben Hogan as the only players to lose twice in playoffs at Augusta National. McIlroy lost a two-shot lead in two holes at the start. He lost a four-shot lead on the back nine in a matter of three holes with shocking misses, one of them a wedge into the tributary of Raes Creek on the par-5 13th. And right when it looked as though he would blow another major, McIlroy delivered two majestic shots when nothing less would do, two birdies that sent him to the 18th hole with a one-shot lead. That still wasnt enough. He missed a 5-foot par putt for a 1-over 73 and the first Masters playoff in eight years. McIlroys wedge bounced onto the slope of the top shelf with enough spin to trickle down to 3 feet. And when Rose missed from 15 feet, McIlroy finally sealed it. McIlroy went 11 long years without a major, knowing the Masters green jacket was all that kept him from joining Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen as the only winners of golfs four professional majors. He raised both arms and let the putter fall behind him, and before long he was on his knees, then his forehead on the 18th green as his chest heaved with emotion.So ended one of the wildest Sundays at a major that is known for them. U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who beat McIlroy at Pinehurst No. 2 last June, had the lead after two holes when McIlroy opened with a double bogey.He crashed out with a pair of three-putts and two shots into the water on the back nine, closing with a 75.Ludvig Aberg, a runner-up in his Masters debut a year ago, suddenly had a share of the lead when McIlroy fell apart on the middle of the back nine. He missed a birdie putt from the fringe to take the lead, then finished bogey-triple bogey.Rose had every reason to believe he threw away his chances on Saturday with a 75 that put him seven shots behind, and then two bogeys on the front nine. Even as he steadied himself, he was four shots back and running out of time. He did his part in a 10-birdie round and that dynamic birdie putt to cap it off.McIlroy helped in a big way.Nothing was more shocking than the 13th. McIlroy played it safe, leaving himself a big target and a lob wedge. He missed his mark by some 20 yards, the ball disappearing into the tributary of Raes Creek and leading to double bogey. Then came a tee shot into the pine straw that led to another bogey, and the lead was gone again. But he was resilient as ever hes been like that his entire career. Seemingly in trouble left of the 15th fairway, McIlroy hit 7-iron around the trees and onto the green to 6 feet.He missed the eagle putt the birdie still helped him regain a share of the lead. Two holes later, facing a semi-blind shot, he drilled 8-iron and chased after it, urging it to Go! Go! Go! Go! And it did, barely clearing the bunker and rolling out to 2 feet for birdie and a one-shot lead.Turns out that wasnt enough either. He hit into a bunker from the fairway. He missed the 5-foot putt for the win. There was more work to do. But the 35-year-old from Northern Ireland never wavered in what he came to Augusta National to do.He leaves with a green jacket.___AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf DOUG FERGUSON Doug Ferguson has been the APs golf writer since 1998. He is a recipient of the PGA Lifetime Achievement in Journalism award. twitter mailto

This 2024 photo provided by John Santoro shows, from left, Dr. Michael Groff, Karenna Groff, Dr. Joy Saini, and James Santoro. (Courtesy John Santoro via AP)2025-04-13T00:24:53Z A private plane that crashed in upstate New York over the weekend was carrying a close-knit family of physicians and distinguished recent student-athletes, bound for a trip to the Catskills for a birthday celebration and the Passover holiday.The twin-engine Mitsubishi MU-2B went down shortly after noon Saturday in a muddy field in Copake, New York, near the Massachusetts line, killing all six people aboard, according to authorities and a family member who spoke to The Associated Press. Among the victims were Karenna Groff, a former MIT soccer player named the 2022 NCAA woman of the year; her father, a neuroscientist, Dr. Michael Groff; her mother, Dr. Joy Saini, a urogynecologist and Karenna Groffs boyfriend, James Santoro, another recent MIT graduate, according to James father, John Santoro. They were a wonderful family, Santoro told AP. The world lost a lot of very good people who were going to do a lot of good for the world if they had the opportunity. Were all personally devastated. Santoro said his son first met Groff as a freshman studying at MIT. Groff, who grew up in Weston, Massachusetts, was an All-American soccer player studying biomedical engineering. Santoro, a math major from New Jersey, played lacrosse for the school. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Groff co-founded openPPE, helping to create a new design of masks for essential workers. In 2023, she received the prestigious NCAA woman of the year award for the previous year for her on- and off-field accomplishments. Really, this recognition is a testament to my MIT womens soccer family and all of the guidance, support, and friendship they have provided for me over the years, she said in an interview at the time. After graduating, Santoro and Groff moved to Manhattan, where Groff enrolled in medical school at New York University and Santoro worked as an investment associate for Silver Point, a hedge fund based in Greenwich, Connecticut. On Saturday morning, they traveled to an airport in White Plains, a suburb of New York City, where they boarded Michael Groffs private plane, according to John Santoro.They were set to land at the Columbia County Airport, but crashed roughly 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the south. Its in the middle of a field and its pretty muddy, so accessibility is difficult, Columbia County Undersheriff Jacqueline Salvatore said at a news conference Saturday. The National Transportation Safety Board has begun an investigation and is expected to provide an update Sunday evening. Funeral arrangements were underway, Santoro said. The 25 years we had with James were the best years of our lives, he added, and the joy and love he brought us will be enough to last a lifetime. JAKE OFFENHARTZ Offenhartz is a general assignment reporter in the New York City bureau of The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon agreed to a three-year, $40 million extension with $31.25 million guaranteed, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Sunday.

Rory McIlroy gave up a big lead on the back nine and bogeyed the 72nd hole to create a tie, but he recovered to edge Justin Rose in a playoff to win the Masters.

Facebook was once the digital town square—a place to connect with friends, share life updates, and post dog photos. But over the years, that vision has unraveled. What’s left is a platform increasingly dominated by outrage, conspiracies, and hate speech. How did we get here? More importantly, why has Meta, the tech giant behind Facebook, allowed this to happen? Engagement Over...