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Formula 1 calls off April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to Iran war

By
The Associated Press
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SHANGHAI (AP) — Formula 1 and its governing body FIA canceled upcoming Grand Prix races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on safety grounds related to the Iran war.

Both countries have been struck during Iran’s response after the United States and Israel launched a wave of attacks on Iran.

The announcement was made early Sunday morning in Shanghai ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.

F1 was due to race in Bahrain on April 12 and in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on April 19.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Another 3 members of Iran’s women’s soccer team decide against staying in Australia as refugees

By
The Associated Press
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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Another three members of the Iran’s women’s soccer team who accepted refugee visas to stay in Australia have decided to return to their homeland, an Australian government minister said on Sunday.

The departure leaves three of an initial seven squad members in Australia.

“Overnight, three members of the Iranian Women’s Football Team made the decision to join the rest of the team on their journey back to Iran,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.

“After telling Australian officials they had made this decision, the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options,” Burke added.

Iran’s team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup last month, before the war in the Middle East began on Feb. 28.

Initially, six players and a support staff member from a squad list of 26 players accepted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia before the rest of the Iranian contingent flew from Sydney to Malaysia on March 9.

Another later changed her mind and left Australia. Three left Sydney for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday night, a government official said. The rest of the team has remained in Kuala Lumpur since they left Australia.

Concerns about the team’s safety in Iran heightened when the players didn’t sing the Iranian national anthem before their first match.

The Australian government was urged to help the woman by Iranian groups in Australia and by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Anti-war protests in Italy and Spain as high-stakes referendum on Italian judges looms

By
The Associated Press
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ROME (AP) — Thousands of people protested Saturday against wars in the Middle East and judicial reforms proposed by Italy’s conservative government — linking international tensions with a growing domestic political battle before a national referendum.

The March 22–23 referendum on changes to the judicial system has become a major political test for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, which faces an election next year. The debate over legal reforms has escalated into a broader confrontation between the prime minister and her political opponents.

In central Rome, protesters waving red trade union banners and Palestinian and Cuban flags chanted “Meloni government, resign” before the rally ended peacefully.

“The United States and Israel are destroying any form of coexistence dictated by international law,” demonstrator Sandra Paganini said.

“They are dragging us towards a world war in which they are targeting completely innocent people who have done nothing wrong, intervening and destroying nations,” she said.

Meloni said that the reforms are needed to tackle chronic delays in Italy’s courts and restore public confidence in the legal system. But opponents argue that the changes could weaken judicial independence and make judges subject to political influence.

The referendum has increasingly taken on the character of a political test for the prime minister. Meloni joined the campaign directly this week.

“If justice doesn’t work, if it’s slow, if it’s inefficient, if it’s unfair, then the whole machine gets stuck and everyone pays the consequences,” Meloni said at a campaign speech in Milan on Thursday.

Anti-war protests have surged since the launch on Feb. 28 of large-scale U.S. and Israeli air attacks on Iran targeting military sites and senior leaders, and triggering retaliatory strikes that have shaken global markets.

Demonstrations also took place across Spain on Saturday, where rallies were organized in dozens of cities by a coalition of civic groups calling for an end to the conflict in the Middle East. In Madrid, thousands chanted slogans against the war and expressed solidarity with civilians affected by the conflict.

Additional protests took place earlier this week in Athens and other cities across Greece.

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Derek Gatopoulos reported from Athens, Greece.

Rwanda threatens to withdraw its counterinsurgency troops from Mozambique

By
The Associated Press
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KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Rwanda will withdraw its counterinsurgency troops from Mozambique if the mission’s foreign backers don’t maintain “sustainable funding,” the foreign minister said on Saturday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said in a post on X that Rwandan troops were “being constantly questioned, vilified, criticized, blamed or sanctioned by the very countries that benefit from our intervention in Mozambique.”

Nduhungirehe said: “It’s not that “Rwanda could withdraw.”

“It’s that “Rwanda WILL withdraw” its troops from Mozambique, if sustainable funding is not secured for its counter-terrorism operations in Cabo Delgado,” he said, referring to a northern province of Mozambique.

Last week, the U.S. State Department imposed visa restrictions on “several senior Rwandan officials for fueling instability” in eastern Congo, intensifying pressure on the East African country after sanctions that targeted Rwanda’s military.

The unnamed Rwandan officials allegedly support Congo’s M23 rebel group, which the U.S. government says persists despite a U.S.-mediated peace agreement signed in December between the governments of Rwanda and Congo.

Eastern Congo’s M23 rebellion has caused the death or displacement of thousands of people. Congo, the U.S. and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which has grown from hundreds of members in 2021 to around 6,500 fighters, according to the U.N.

M23 emerged in 2012 as a Tutsi-led rebel group whose members said that a 2009 agreement signed to look after their interests — including integration into the army and the return of refugees from elsewhere in East Africa — had been violated by Congo’s government.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has described M23’s struggle as justified in defense of the rights of Congolese Tutsis, who have sought shelter in neighboring countries over the years.

Rwandan authorities have criticized what they feel is injustice over U.S. sanctions. They say Congo hasn’t been targeted for its own alleged violations of the agreement.

The sanctions marked an ongoing change in U.S. government policy toward Rwanda, which for years had avoided international censure for its alleged military involvement in the territory of its much larger neighbor.

In Mozambique, however, Rwandan troops are helping to deter a jihadi insurgency launched in 2017 in Cabo Delgado.

The insurgent group, known as Islamic State-Mozambique, gained notoriety when it launched a 12-day attack on the coastal town of Palma in 2021, killing dozens of security officers, local civilians and foreign workers — and forcing French energy company TotalEnergies to halt a $20 billion offshore liquified natural gas project nearby.

That project is key to Mozambique’s development — one reason authorities there welcomed the deployment of Rwandan peacekeepers in July 2021.

Nduhungirehe complained that Rwandan troops were being condemned, despite their “ultimate sacrifice to stabilize this region” and allow internally displaced people to go back home.

In a separate post on X, government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said the cost of deploying to Mozambique is at least 10 times more than the roughly 20 million euros (nearly $23 million) disbursed by the European Peace Facility. Makolo was responding to a Bloomberg report that European Union funding for Rwandan deployment in Mozambique will expire in May.

If Rwanda’s military authorities “assess that the work being done by Rwandan Security Forces in Cabo Delgado is not appreciated, they would be right to urge the government to end this bilateral counter-terrorism arrangement and pull out,” Makolo said.

US Energy secretary directs oil company to restore operations off California

By
The Associated Press
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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed a Texas-based oil and gas company Friday to restore operations in waters off southern California that were damaged by a 2015 oil spill, invoking the Defense Production Act.

Restoring Sable Offshore Corp.’s Santa Ynez unit and pipeline off Santa Barbara aims to address supply disruption risks, according to a department news release. The unit includes three rigs in federal waters, offshore and onshore pipelines, and the Las Flores Canyon Processing Facility. The facility can produce about 50,000 barrels of oil per day and would replace nearly 1.5 million barrels of foreign crude each month, officials said.

“The Trump Administration remains committed to putting all Americans and their energy security first,” Wright said in a statement. “Unfortunately, some state leaders have not adhered to those same principles, with potentially disastrous consequences not just for their residents, but also our national security. Today’s order will strengthen America’s oil supply and restore a pipeline system vital to our national security and defense, ensuring that West Coast military installations have the reliable energy critical to military readiness.”

On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to reverse former President Joe Biden’s ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts. A federal court later struck down Biden’s order to withdraw 625 million acres of federal waters from oil development.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the move.

“This is an attempt to illegally restart a pipeline whose operators are facing criminal charges and prohibited by multiple court orders from restarting,” Newsom said in a statement. “California will not stand by while the Trump administration attempts to sacrifice our coastal communities, our environment, and our $51 billion coastal economy. The Trump administration and Sable are defying multiple court orders, and we will see them back in court.”

In January, California sued the federal government for approving Houston-based Sable’s plans to restart pipelines along the coast. Democratic state Attorney General Rob Bonta said at the time that the state oversees the pipelines through Santa Barbara and Kern counties and the federal government “has no right to usurp California’s regulatory authority.”

NCAA announces 16 opening-weekend hosts for women’s tournament before the bracket reveal

By
The Associated Press
-

Anticipated No. 1 seeds UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas were chosen as hosts for the first two rounds of the NCAA Women’s Tournament on Saturday.

For the first time, the NCAA revealed the 16 teams that will be hosting on opening weekend a day before the bracket is revealed. The list of schools was in alphabetical order.

Other hosts were Duke, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, TCU, Vanderbilt and West Virginia.

By announcing it a day early it gives schools an extra day to sell tickets, broadcast partner ESPN to start to move its equipment to the locations and the NCAA to get its marketing materials to sites. The NCAA has done this before in other sports such as baseball.

“There’s such a quick turnaround so if schools know that they’re going to be hosting, that allows them to start that process earlier,” NCAA vice president of women’s basketball Lynn Holzman said in an interview with The Associated Press a few weeks ago. “It helps us operate nationally as we have to get things moved throughout the country within about a 24, not even a 24-hour period.”

Holzman also feels that it can generate more excitement around the bracket reveal Sunday night.

The regional rounds will be played at two neutral sites for the fourth straight year. Fort Worth, Texas, will host half of the Sweet 16, and Sacramento, California, will host the other eight teams.

The Final Four will be played in Phoenix on April 3 and the NCAA championship game is two days later.

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Max Dowman, 16, becomes youngest Premier League scorer with remarkable goal for Arsenal

By
The Associated Press
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Max Dowman, a 16-year-old Arsenal winger, became the Premier League’s youngest ever scorer with a remarkable stoppage-time goal in his team’s 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday.

Dowman collected the ball midway in his own half, dribbled around two Everton players and raced clear unchallenged from the halfway line to tap into an empty net, with Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford stranded upfield having gone forward for a corner.

An English soccer prodigy, Dowman — at 16 years, 73 days — was playing just his third Premier League match after two previous substitute appearances at the start of the season.

He broke the record of former Everton player James Vaughan, who was 16 years, 270 days when he scored against Crystal Palace in 2005.

In November, Dowman became the youngest player in Champions League history at 15 years, 308 days when he entered as a second-half substitute against Slavia Prague.

Dowman is still in school. He was 14 when he was asked by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to train with the senior team in December last year and he starred on the club’s preseason tour of Asia in matches against AC Milan and Newcastle.

To abide by Premier League regulations for players under 18, Dowman has to change into his Arsenal kit for training sessions and matches in a separate locker room than his senior teammates.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

No. 22 Vanderbilt stops No. 4 Florida’s winning streak to reach SEC Tournament final

By
The Associated Press
-

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyler Tanner scored 20 points as No. 22 Vanderbilt beat fourth-ranked Florida 91-74 on Saturday, ending the defending national champion’s bid to win a second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament title and possibly hurt the Gators’ bid for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The fourth-seeded Commodores won their fourth straight game. Vanderbilt (26-7) will play either Mississippi or No. 17 Arkansas on Sunday as it goes for its first tournament title since 2012.

Four other Vanderbilt players scored in double figures, with Jalen Washington adding 17, Duke Miles 15, Devin McGlockton 12 and AK Okereke 11. Six different Commodores made at least one 3-pointer, and everyone who played scored at least a bucket.

The Gators (26-7) saw their 12-game winning streak end. Thomas Haugh led them with 19 points, Boogie Fland had 15, Alex Condon 13 and Rueben Chinyelu 12.

Florida had been dominant during its streak, winning by an average of 21.7 points to end the regular season. On Saturday, it never led by more than 2 early on. The nation’s top rebounding team dominated the boards (38-23) again, but the Gators struggled to find the basket, missing 12 of 13 shots in the first half.

Miles hit a 3-pointer putting Vanderbilt ahead to stay, and he finished off a spurt of 11 straight points with a layup. Vanderbilt led 47-34 at halftime.

Florida never got closer than 13 in the second half. Vanderbilt pushed its lead to as much as 76-51 with 8:11 to go on seven straight points, capped by a pair of Miles’ free throws for a technical called on Florida coach Todd Golden.

Up next

Vanderbilt has a chance to win its third SEC Tournament title. The Commodores first won this event in 1951.

Florida waits to see if winning the SEC regular-season title was enough for a No. 1 seed.

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Crew of fatal US military crash included Georgia father and several from Ohio

By
The Associated Press
-

A pilot from Alabama had just been promoted to major in January and had been deployed less than a week when the refueling aircraft he was aboard crashed in Iraq this week, killing him and five others, his brother-in-law said Saturday.

Also aboard was an Ohio man whose loved ones remembered for his smile, his parents said.

The Pentagon hasn’t yet revealed the identities of the six, but families began revealing who had died Saturday.

The aircraft was in “friendly” airspace, supporting operations against Iran, when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft occurred, according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safety, U.S. military officials said.

The Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing said in a Facebook post late Friday that three of the dead were airmen who served in the Columbus-based unit.

“We share in the sorrow of their loved ones, and we must not forget the valuable contributions these Airmen made to their country and the impact they have left on our organization,” according to the 121st Air Refueling Wing’s post.

A new father and a new major

Alex Klinner, a pilot from Birmingham, Alabama, had just been promoted to major in January and had been deployed less than a week when the fatal crash occurred, his brother-in-law, James Harrill, said Saturday while confirming his death.

Klinner was the father of twin seven-month-old children and also had a 2 year old son, said Harrill, of Atlanta, who helped set up a GoFundMe site for Klinner’s family.

“It’s kind of heartbreaking to say: He was just a really good dad and really loved his family a lot — like a lot,” Harrill said.

An outdoorsman who enjoyed hiking, Klinner was also ready to help others. When Harrill last saw him in January, Klinner had shoveled Harrill’s vehicle out of the snow during a family wedding.

“Alex was one of those guys that had this steady command about him,” Harrill said. “He was literally one of the most kindest, giving people.”

A man with a ready smile

Sgt. Tyler Simmons of Columbus, Ohio, also was among six service members who died Thursday in the crash of a KC-135 Stratotanker, his mother, Cheryl Simmons, confirmed on Saturday. Cheryl Simmons said she was making funeral plans for her son.

In a statement obtained by WCMH-TV in Columbus, Tyler Simmons’ family said it was saddened beyond measure to hear of the fatal crash.

“Tyler’s smile could light up any room, his strong presence would fill it. His parents, grandparents, family and friends are grief stricken for the loss of life,” they said.

The refueling aircraft is a mainstay in the US military

U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, has said the crash occurred on a combat mission but was over “friendly” territory in western Iraq. Military officials said it is being investigated and was “not due to hostile or friendly fire.”

The KC-135 aircraft refuels other planes in midair, allowing them to fly longer distances and sustain operations without landing. The plane can also be used to transport wounded personnel and conduct surveillance missions, according to military experts.

The Congressional Research Service says the Air Force last year had 376 KC-135s, including 151 on active duty, 163 in the Air National Guard and 62 in the Air Force Reserve. It has been in service for more than 60 years.

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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri; Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Walker from New York.

Lendeborg makes a tiebreaking 3 as No. 3 Michigan tops No. 23 Wisconsin 68-65 in Big Ten semis

By
The Associated Press
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CHICAGO (AP) — Yaxel Lendeborg made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining, and No. 3 Michigan beat Nick Boyd and No. 23 Wisconsin 68-65 on Saturday to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship.

Aday Mara scored 16 points and Elliot Cadeau had 15 as top-seeded Michigan (31-2) avenged its only conference loss from the regular season, a 91-88 setback against Wisconsin on Jan. 10. Mara also grabbed eight rebounds and blocked five shots.

Lendeborg got off to another slow start after he had just six points in Friday’s quarterfinal victory over Ohio State. But the Big Ten player of the year began to assert himself right before halftime, and he connected on the biggest shot of the game.

Lendeborg grabbed an offensive rebound and passed to Cadeau for a 3 with 45 seconds left, giving Michigan a 65-62 lead. But Boyd responded with a tying 3 for Wisconsin.

With the United Center crowd standing in anticipation, Michigan tried to find Lendeborg inside on its last possession. But Lendeborg ended up coming back outside before getting a pass from Cadeau and drilling the winning 3.

Wisconsin’s Austin Rapp made six 3-pointers while scoring each of his 18 points in the second half.

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