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Bank employees detained and cash seized in Hungary, Ukraine says

By
The Associated Press
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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Ukraine’s foreign minister accused Hungarian authorities of taking seven Ukrainian employees of a state-owned bank hostage and illegally seizing a cash shipment that was traveling in a convoy across Hungary.

In a post on X late Thursday, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote that the well-being of the seven Ukrainians — employees of the state-owned Oschadbank traveling in two armored cars between Austria and Ukraine — was unknown.

The armored cars were carrying cash as part of regular services between state banks, Sybiha wrote.

In a separate statement, Oschadbank wrote that $40 million in American currency, as well as 35 million euros and 9 kilograms (19.8 pounds) of gold had been apprehended by Hungary.

GPS data showed the vehicles were in the center of Budapest near one of Hungary’s law enforcement agencies, but that the location of the bank employees remained unknown, the bank wrote.

Hungary’s Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The incident further inflamed tensions between Hungary and Ukraine, which are embroiled in a bitter feud over Hungary’s access to Russian oil through a pipeline that crosses Ukrainian territory.

Oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline have been interrupted since Jan. 27. Ukraine says a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline’s infrastructure, and that repairing it carried risks to technicians and that even if restored, it would remain vulnerable to further Russian attacks.

Hungary’s government, however, has accused Ukraine of deliberately holding up supplies of Russian crude, and has vowed to take countermeasures against Kyiv until oil flows resume.

Hungary, along with neighboring Slovakia, have defied European Union efforts to wean off of Russian fossil fuels, and continued to purchase them despite Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Without mentioning them directly, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán alluded to the detention of the bank vehicles in statements to state radio Friday, saying: “We will stop things that are important to Ukraine passing through Hungary until we get the approval of the Ukrainians for oil shipments.”

Orbán, who has maintained close relations with the Kremlin while escalating an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign ahead of crucial elections next month, previously ceased diesel shipments to Ukraine, vetoed a new round of EU sanctions against Russia and blocked a major, 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loan for Kyiv in retaliation for the interruption in oil shipments.

He’s also deployed military forces to key energy infrastructure sites across Hungary, accusing Ukraine of plotting disruptions.

On Thursday, Orbán told an economic forum that Hungary would use “force,” including “political and financial tools,” to compel Ukraine to resume oil shipments.

On his post on X, the Ukrainian foreign minister took issue with Orbán’s comments, writing: “We are talking about Hungary taking hostages and stealing money.”

“If this is the ‘force’ announced earlier today by Mr. Orban, then this is a force of a criminal gang,” Sybiha wrote. “This is state terrorism and racketeering.”

Sybiha added that Ukraine would take the matter up with the EU to clarify Hungary’s actions.

London police say 4 men arrested on suspicion of aiding Iran by spying on Jewish community

By
The Associated Press
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LONDON (AP) — London police say four men have been arrested on suspicion of aiding Iran by spying on the Jewish community.

In a statement Friday, the Metropolitan Police said the suspects, one Iranian and three dual British-Iranian nationals, were taken into custody on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service.

The force said the men, aged 22, 40, 52 and 55, were arrested at addresses in and around north London shortly after 1 a.m.

The men are suspected on spying on locations and individuals.

Sri Lanka takes control of an Iranian vessel off its coast after US sank an Iranian warship

By
The Associated Press
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka began transferring more than 200 sailors from an Iranian vessel to shore Friday after the ship sought assistance while anchored outside the country’s waters, as tensions mounted in the Indian Ocean following the sinking of an Iranian warship by a U.S. submarine.

Sri Lanka navy spokesman Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said the sailors of the IRIS Bushehr were being brought first to the port of Colombo and the ship will later be moved to an eastern port on the island.

“The disembarkation is in progress,” he said, adding the sailors would be taken to the naval base at Welisara, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Colombo, after medical exams and immigration procedures.

The move by the Sri Lankan government to take over the vessel came after the U.S. sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka’s coast Wednesday. The strike marked one of the rare instances since World War II in which a submarine sank a surface warship, and highlighted the expanding scope of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran.

The Dena had participated in naval exercises hosted by India before heading into international waters on its way home. At least 74 countries had joined the events, according to India’s Defense Ministry, including the U.S. Navy, which conducted reconnaissance aircraft and maritime patrol drills.

The Indian navy said Thursday that it had initiated search and rescue operations after receiving a distress signal from the Dena, deploying two aircraft along with a sailing training vessel. By the time the response was launched, the Sri Lankan navy had already started its own rescue efforts, it said.

The Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 sailors and recovered 87 bodies after the attack.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Dena had been carrying “almost 130” crew. The normal crew size for a warship of that class is 140.

Araghchi called the sinking an “atrocity at sea” and said the US would “bitterly regret” the attack.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said late Thursday that authorities decided to take control of the Iranian vessel IRIS Bushehr after discussions with Iranian officials and the ship’s captain, after one of its engines failed.

“We have to understand that this is not an ordinary situation. It’s a request by a ship belonging to one party to enter into our port. We have to consider that according to the international treaties and conventions,” he told journalists Thursday night.

Separately on Friday, he wrote on X: “No civilian should die in wars. Our approach is that every single life is as precious as our own.”

The IRIS Bushehr had been described in previous Iranian media reports as a navy logistics ship that also had a helicopter pad on it.

The episode underscores how the conflict involving Iran is widening beyond the Middle East and spilling into the Indian Ocean, putting strategically located Sri Lanka in a delicate position as it tries to balance humanitarian obligations, international maritime law and its longstanding policy of non-alignment.

Dissanayake said some crew members would remain on board to help the Sri Lankan navy navigate the vessel to Trincomalee on the island’s northeast coast, about 265 kilometers (165 miles) from Colombo. The remaining sailors will be housed at a naval base, he said, adding that Sri Lanka was guided by neutrality while seeking to uphold humanitarian principles.

“We have followed a very clear stance. We will not be biased to any state not we will be submissive to any state,” he said.

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Saaliq reported from New Delhi.

Experts see a wide data gap in women’s sports science. This WNBA team owner wants to fix it

By
The Associated Press
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NEW YORK (AP) — New York Liberty owner Clara Wu Tsai has a vested interest in getting the most out of female athletes. What she found when she took over the team in 2019 was a major gap in data and training compared to what’s available for men.

She jump-started efforts to change that by funding the Human Performance Alliance five years ago, and halfway through the 10-year project, she sees a bright future.

“Most of the sport science research has been on male subjects and findings applied to women,” Wu Tsai said in a phone interview. “More girls are playing sports and those female athletes do deserve the same scientific understanding that has been available to men.”

Her goals for the remainder of the 10-year project are to be able to predict injuries before they happen, individualize training and recovery, and close the data gap in women’s physiology.

“This is the kind of work I always wanted to do,” Wu Tsai said. “Work that studies health has never been funded, so I saw this opportunity. You don’t do it if you don’t think it will help people.”

Women’s sports participation has surged over the past five decades. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, girls’ high school sports participation has grown from 294,000 in 1972 to 3.4 million today — an increase of more than 1,000%. Women made up 48% of athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the highest share in Olympic history.

At the collegiate level, women now represent 44% of all NCAA athletes, up from 15% before Title IX took effect. With all the increased participation of women in sports, only 6% of sports science studies focus exclusively on female athletes, according to the Alliance.

A tangible piece of the Alliance was the building of the Women’s Health Sports and Performance Institute (WHSP) in Boston. The full research institute was opened in January.

“In my mind, it’s absolutely valuable,” said doctor Kate Ackerman, who is the cofounder and president of WHSP. “Women are 50% of the population, so if we want to decrease injuries in half our population, we have to be studying them appropriately and I am really excited that we’re building this team of people where we’re having a really high standard.”

Ackerman and the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance is well aware of the greater number of girls and women who suffer ACL injuries.

Scott Delp, who is the director of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at Stanford has helped develop tools to assess female athletes for injury risks like ACLs.

“We can take videos of girls or women running and cutting and we can assess how well they control their torso, the limb alignment,” Delp said. “How will they absorb energy and see if they’re at risk? Provide personalized training. We can tell by the way your torso lags that you’re going to get hurt, like you’re an accident waiting to happen and you can train against that.”

Delp is one of more than 500 scientists across seven institutions involved in the Alliance.

Travel, sleep and performance

One of the Alliance’s studies is tracking how travel schedules, late games and circadian disruption impacts performance and recovery in WNBA and Australia’s WNBL players. Early findings have shown that teams perform worse with more travel mainly by allowing more points on defense. Eastward travel hurts home team performance likely because its harder to shift your body clock forward.

“This is how you can really scale the impact of this,” Wu Tsai said. “Ultimately you want to bring the academic sector with sports leagues and have them work in concert to get the broadest impact possible. It’s one of the dreams I’d like to realize somewhere in the next few years.”

Wu Tsai said that the Liberty do have an exercise physiologist, who is the chief innovation officer for the team.

“He can coordinate research outcomes from the Alliance with training protocols,” she said. “There have been some of the best practices we’ve developed related to travel, eating, sleeping and life cycles.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

LeBron James breaks the NBA career field goals record in the Lakers’ 120-113 loss to the Nuggets

By
The Associated Press
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DENVER (AP) — LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record for career field goals in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-113 loss to Denver on Thursday night, with the Nuggets getting 28 points each from All-Stars Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic.

James injured his left elbow on a layup that pulled Los Angeles to 110-106 with four minutes to go and left the game. He returned with 2:05 left and the Lakers trailing by a point. The Lakers, however, never were able to take the lead as the Nuggets finished off a crucial wire-to-wire win.

James finished with 16 points to go with Luca Doncic’s 27.

Jokic had his 23rd triple-double of the season with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists to offset nine turnovers and help the Nuggets (39-24) stay a step ahead of the streaking Lakers (37-25) in the logjammed Western Conference.

Aside from his record-breaking bucket in the first quarter — the 15,838th field goal of his 23-year career — James had a couple of sensational baskets: a corkscrew reverse fastbreak layup and an off-balance, 18-foot turnaround jumper that pulled the Lakers to 64-54 at halftime.

And he had three straight jaw-dropping assists as the Lakers staged a fourth-quarter comeback that fell just short.

The Nuggets jumped out to a 16-3 lead and led by 15 points, but turnovers kept the Lakers within striking distance all night.

Murray’s 20 first-half points helped the short-handed and undersized Nuggets stay in control. Forward Aaron Gordon worked out on the court before the game but was again in street clothes by game time. Sidelined since Jan. 23 by a pulled hamstring, Gordon is expected to return to action Friday night against the Knicks.

Denver’s other defensive stalwart, guard Peyton Watson, has also been out with a pulled hamstring and the Nuggets were also without forwards Cam Johnson (sprained right ankle) and Spencer Jones (strained right shoulder).

Lakers center Deandre Ayton left in the first half with a knee injury and didn’t return.

Doncic picked up his 15th technical foul of the season. He’ll face an automatic one-game suspension if he gets another.

Up next

Lakers: Host Indiana on Friday night.

Nuggets: Host New York on Friday night.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

City moves animal care project forward with initial approval for airport location

By
Andy East
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Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of a rendering by Force Construction of their design for the new Columbus Animal Care Services building during a capital campaign kick off event to raise money for the new building at Bespoke Events and Experiences in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

The Columbus City Council on Tuesday took a step toward approving an ordinance that would make way for a new animal shelter in the Columbus AirPark and allow commercial uses through more of the area.

The council voted unanimously to pass the ordinance on first reading. Ordinances must be passed on two readings to be fully approved.

The ordinance would amend the Columbus AirPark’s Planned Unit Development, or PUD, to add “animal shelter” as a permitted use in the AirPark Commerce Center and allow commercial uses throughout more of the AirPark, among other proposed changes.

A PUD is a special zoning designation that allows a property to be developed under a customized set of rules rather than strictly via the standard zoning ordinance. The AirPark PUD has been in place since 2008.

The city council vote comes as local officials plan to start building a new Columbus Animal Care Services facility in the AirPark later this year. The facility will be funded through a variety of city, state and private dollars, and the project is expected to break ground this spring.

Officials have described Columbus Animal Care Services’ current 4,900-square-foot building, 2730 Arnold St., as an “overall dilapidated facility with overwhelming maintenance issues” and “unhealthy and hazardous working conditions for employees.” Some of the issues include overcrowded kennels, maxed-out electrical capacity, consistently clogged drains, faulty exhaust, as well as inadequate ventilation and moisture reduction.

The proposed 21,113-square-foot facility is expected to be built in the Columbus Airpark across the street from the current facility. The new facility is expected to house up to 66 dogs and 86 cats. It is also expected to include a reception area, larger medical intake area, meet-and-greet rooms for all species, office space for employees and volunteer spaces.

The other proposed changes to the PUD are part of an ongoing visioning process called “Great By ‘38,” a new master plan focused on land use at the airport. Columbus Airport Director Brian Payne said previously that the master plan, with 25 goals and 128 action items, is informed by the aerotropolis concept, which essentially is an economic hub based around an airport.

The proposed changes to the PUD include expanding the use of Bakalar Green to include event, gather and play spaces; allowing commercial uses throughout more of the AirPark; expanding the Ray Boll Commerce Center along Middle Road; expanding the allowable area for the community garden and omitting the bicycle and pedestrian side path from the required buffer along the south and east sides of the AirPark.

The AirPark is currently made up of four sub-areas — The InfoTech Park, Education/Life Sciences Center, Ray Boll Commerce Center and AirPlex Commerce Center.

As of now, uses such as a child day care center, convenience market, restaurant, or retailer are only allowed on certain properties generally around the intersection of Central Avenue and Poshard Drive or along Ray Boll Boulevard, north of Poshard Drive.

These are select properties within the InfoTech Park and Ray Boll Commerce Center that are otherwise primarily devoted to office uses. The proposed PUD change would allow commercial uses throughout the InfoTech Park, Education/ Life Science Center and Ray Boll Commerce Center, where they would then be either permitted or conditional depending on the specific commercial use.

However, Payne said previously that the intent is for retail uses to remain primarily at the intersection of Poshard Drive and Central Avenue.

The redefined Bakalar Green, the open space near Middle Road, would include options for a “park facility, performance spaces for events and gatherings, interactive fountains and inclusive play areas tailored for youth, adults and families,” according to city records.

Other proposed changes include the expansion of the Ray Boll Commerce Center along Middle Road, south to the edge of the airport, occupying two additional lots currently assigned to the Education/Life Sciences Center.

The specific area designated for the community garden, along Cessna Drive in the southeast corner of the AirPlex Commerce Center, would also be expanded to the west and include an additional existing lot of about five acres.

The preliminary recommendation from Columbus planning staff was approval with a number of minor conditions related to submission materials.

“The expanded flexibility in locating commercial uses will provide opportunities to support the campus area, the established industries, and the surrounding residential neighborhoods with goods and services,” the staff report reads. “The addition of the animal shelter will further the AirPark as the location of a variety of government services, and the expanded use of Bakalar Green will complement its growth as a center of community gathering and activities.”

Columbus Municipal Airport is the fourth busiest in the state, reaching just under 60,000 operations in 2025, Payne said previously.

Payne said airport officials have been able to bring 14 new businesses onto the AirPark in the last 18 months, including Blue & Company, an accounting and advisory firm; Turnkey Home Solutions; and Walk-Off Warehouse, a 10,000-plus square foot baseball training facility.

Blue Jackets start NHL trade deadline day by acquiring Conor Garland from the Canucks

By
The Associated Press
-

The Columbus Blue Jackets started NHL trade deadline day with a bang by acquiring winger Conor Garland from Vancouver.

Just after midnight Friday, they sent a third-round pick in the draft this year and a 2028 second-rounder to the Canucks for the soon-to-be 30-year-old who drew interest from multiple Eastern Conference contenders.

“Conor is a versatile player who brings great energy to the lineup every night,” Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell said. “He has tremendous character, plays a reliable two-way game and will be an important part of our club now and in the future.”

Garland has seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points in 50 games this season. He’s signed through 2032 at a salary cap hit of $6 million, a contract that begins in 2026-27.

The Blue Jackets moved one point back of the second and final wild-card spot in the East by beating back-to-back champion Florida on the eve of the deadline.

Garland was one of the top available players left on the market after a flurry of activity Thursday, which including Western Stanley Cup contenders Colorado, Dallas, Vegas and Minnesota all making a move.

The New York Rangers still have center Vincent Trocheck to potentially move before the deadline at 3 p.m. EST. After playing and beating Toronto on Thursday night, they agreed to trade Sam Carrick to Buffalo and still could have more to sell.

The Panthers also remain a team to watch in the final hours, sitting 10 points out of a playoff position with 20 games to play. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is a pending free agent, though depth forward A.J. Greer appears more likely to get traded.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

Asia shares are mixed following Wall Street’s losses, as oil edges lower

By
The Associated Press
-

HONG KONG (AP) — Asia shares were mixed Friday following a mild retreat on Wall Street, while the price of oil fell more than $1 after reaching the highest level since the summer of 2024.

U.S. futures edged higher as the war with Iran entered its seventh day, with Israeli airstrikes pounding the capitals of Iran and Lebanon. The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.2% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%.

In Asian trading, South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.8% to 5,536.40, after a roller coaster week with a 12% loss on Wednesday followed by a nearly 10% rebound on Thursday. The index had shot above 6,000 in recent weeks before the war began to rattle financial markets.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.4% to 55,518.63.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.6% to 25,713.49, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher, to 4,113.70.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.1% to 8,845.30.

Taiwan’s Taiex traded 0.4% lower, while India’s Sensex lost 0.6%.

Oil prices fell Friday in a reprieve from this week’s surges as production and supply worries over the war with Iran intensified. Benchmark U.S. crude lost 1.2% early Friday to $80.07 per barrel, after hitting $81.01 a barrel on Thursday.

Brent crude, the international standard, lost 1% to $84.59 per barrel, after reaching $85.41 a day earlier.

If oil prices spike further, like to $100 per barrel, and stay there, some analysts and investors say it could be too much for the global economy to withstand. Uncertainty about what will happen has caused frenetic swings across financial markets this week, sometimes hour by hour.

Friday’s easing of crude prices followed a 30-day temporary waiver from the U.S. for Indian refiners to buy Russian oil, analysts at ING Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey said in a note. It’s not a “game-changer,” they said, but reflects U.S efforts to cap oil prices.

Oil prices will hinge on a steady resumption of oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz following disruptions of tanker activities there, ING analysts wrote. Roughly one fifth of the world’s seaborne oil is estimated to flow through the waterway located between Iran and Oman.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 fell 0.6% to 6,830.71. The Dow industrials lost 1.6% to 47,954.74, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.3% to 22,748.99.

Computer chip company Broadcom’s shares jumped 4.8% on stronger-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue, which helped contain the overall losses on Wall Street.

Airline stocks were among the U.S. market’s biggest losers, as higher oil prices pushed up fuel costs while hundreds of thousands of passengers have been stranded across the Middle East due to the war.

American Airlines fell 5.4%, United Airlines lost 5% and Delta Air Lines was down 3.9%.

In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar rose to 157.80 Japanese yen from 157.56 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1611.

The price of gold rose 1.1% and the price of silver climbed 2.7%.

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AP Business writer Stan Choe contributed.

The Latest: Israeli strikes pound Iran and Lebanon as US warns attacks will intensify

By
The Associated Press
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Israeli airstrikes pounded the capitals of Iran and Lebanon as the U.S. apparently struck an Iranian drone carrier at sea, intensifying its campaign targeting the Islamic Republic’s fleet of warships.

Iran launched new retaliatory attacks early Friday against neighboring countries that host U.S. forces. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The latest strikes mark a full week of attacks affecting countries across the Middle East.

The Israeli military said the fighting has destroyed most of Iran’s air defenses and missile launchers, while U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that strikes against Tehran were “about to surge dramatically.”

Tehran has warned of the destruction of the Middle East’s military and economic infrastructure, and the war has rattled financial markets.

Here is the latest:

Iranian semiofficial news agency says wave of missiles, drones fired at Israel

Iran launched a new wave of missiles and drones targeting Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday morning, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

South Korea’s foreign minister declines to comment on possible shift of US assets

South Korea’s foreign minister told a legislative hearing that the United States has not requested military or non-military assistance from Seoul over the war in the Middle East, but declined to comment on reports that Washington could relocate some of its assets in South Korea to support the fighting.

When asked by a lawmaker about a media report that U.S. forces were moving some of its Patriot anti-missile defense systems to a major air base near Seoul, Cho Hyun said he couldn’t confirm details related to U.S. military operations.

Cho said Seoul and Washington were maintaining close communication and that the allies’ combined defense posture would not be affected by developments in the Middle East.

U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement it does not “comment on the movement, relocation, or potential repositioning of specific military capabilities or assets” for operational security reasons.

The USFK statement came in response to questions from The Associated Press about a Yonhap News report, citing anonymous sources, that said U.S. forces moved multiple Patriot systems from other bases in South Korea to Osan Air Base, where transport aircraft were also spotted.

Yonhap said it wasn’t immediately clear whether the movements were linked to the war or joint U.S.-South Korea military drills beginning Monday.

“United States Forces Korea remains focused on maintaining a strong, ready, and combat-credible force posture on the Korean Peninsula,” the USFK said.

Etihad Airways to restart ‘limited flight schedule’ from Abu Dhabi

Etihad Airways said it is restarting a “limited flight schedule” from its hub in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi starting Friday.

The government-backed carrier has operated some flights in recent days, but its latest announcement suggests it is moving toward more regular operations.

Etihad said that previously booked passengers as well as new customers will be able to travel on the flights, assuming “all safety criteria are met.”

It listed more than 70 destinations it planned to fly to between Friday and March 19.

Saudi Arabia says it destroyed another drone near Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry reported the destruction of another drone near Riyadh, this one to its northeast.

Saudi Arabia says it intercepted drones east of Riyadh

The Saudi Defense Ministry said it destroyed three drones in the eastern areas of Riyadh.

The ministry said earlier Friday that it intercepted a cruise missile over the city of Kharj.

Iranian leadership council meets, state TV says

Iranian state television reported Friday that a leadership council in the country met and discussed how to hold a meeting of the country’s Assembly of Experts, which will select the nation’s new supreme leader.

The leadership council includes President Masoud Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi and cleric Ayatollah Ali Reza Arafi.

The statement provided no timeline on the selection of the supreme leader, nor information on whether the Assembly of Experts would meet in person or remotely for the vote.

Buildings associated with the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical panel, have been attacked during the Israeli-U.S. airstrike campaign.

Warnings on social media use sent to Dubai residents

Residents of Dubai have been receiving mass text messages warning them about their social media activity.

A message attributed to Dubai police said that “photographing or sharing security or critical sites, or reposting unreliable information, may result in legal action and compromise national security and stability.”

There was no elaboration in the message.

It comes as Bahrain issued a similar, but sterner warning as the Iran war rages on across the Mideast.

The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven autocratic sheikhdoms home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The UAE, while socially liberal in many regards compared with its Middle Eastern neighbors, has strict laws governing expression and bans political parties and labor unions.

Australia beats the Czech Republic 5-1 to stay undefeated in the World Baseball Classic

By
The Associated Press
-

Australia defeated the Czech Republic 5-1 on Friday behind a three-run homer from Chicago White Sox infielder Curtis Mead to remain unbeaten in Pool C in the World Baseball Classic.

Australia is lining up among the favorites from Tokyo to reach the quarterfinals along with home team Japan. Japan is the defending champion and many expect a final in Miami on March 17 against the United States.

Mead’s homer in the third put Australia up 3-1 after the Czechs failed to convert a double play early in the inning that eventually gave Mead a chance to bat. Australia added two runs in the ninth, including a solo home run by Alex Hall.

The Czechs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Vojtech Mensik.

Josh Hendrickson was the winning pitcher and Tomas Ondra got the loss.

Australia improved to 2-0 in Pool C and the Czechs fell to 0-2. Australia reached the quarterfinals three years ago in the last WBC but lost to Cuba 4-3.

The Australians have several players with MLB organizations including Mead. There’s also Travis Bazzana, the first pick in the 2024 MLB amateur draft taken by the Cleveland Guardians.

Japan and its superstar Shohei Ohtani play their first game in the WBC later Friday facing Taiwan. Taiwan lost to Australia 3-0 in its opener on Thursday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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