Month: April 2026

The Rams’ bone-colored uniforms have been sent to the graveyard.

In a release on Thursday, the team unveiled updated Royal Blue and white uniforms and announced subtle changes to logos as part of what the Rams described as “a refined brand and uniform refresh.”

Matthew Stafford shows off the Rams’ new white uniforms released on Thursday.

(Brevin Townsell / Rams)

Later this year, according to the release, the Rams will announce two alternate uniforms to go along with the revamped Royal Blue and white ensembles and the black “Midnite Mode” rivalry uniform they debuted last season in a game against the Seattle Seahawks at SoFi Stadium.

But the team “removed the ‘Bone’ uniform from the rotation,” the release said.

The Rams also made other subtle changes. The “LA” monogram no longer includes gradient coloring. The Rams head logo has been “enhanced to appear bolder and tougher for a fiercer expression, and the horn features a sharper, more defined point,” the release said.

The Rams, with reigning NFL most valuable player Matthew Stafford at quarterback, are expected to be a favorite to play in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.

The team begins voluntary offseason workouts on Monday in Woodland Hills, and has the No. 13 pick in the NFL draft, which begins Thursday in Pittsburgh.

A detailed look at the Rams’ new white uniform sleeve with blue and gold accents.

(Ryan Hadji / Rams)

A detailed look at the Rams’ new blue uniform sleeve with yellow accents.

(Ryan Hadji / Rams)

SEOUL, April 16 (UPI) — South Korea’s Penetrium Bioscience unveiled a novel approach to cancer treatment that targets the environments surrounding tumors. That announcement came during a press conference in Seoul on Thursday.

The company said that its drug candidate, Penetrium, developed by its major shareholder CNPharm, is designed to overcome a key problem of traditional cancer treatments — drug resistance caused by “sublethal” dosing.

Thus far, such resistance has been attributed to genetic mutations within cancer cells. However, Penetrium Bioscience shifted its focus to the tumor microenvironment, which it identified as a critical factor behind inadequate dosing.

Its rationale is that cancer cells can undergo adaptive changes, which reinforce the physical and metabolic barriers of the tumor microenvironment, enabling them to withstand further treatment.

Based on this concept, the company said that it has targeted the “soil,” which means the environment surrounding cancerous cells, rather than the “seed,” or the tumors themselves.

Penetrium aims to disrupt this process, and the company noted that its mechanism has been checked by three independent institutes, including Seoul National University Hospital and KAIST, one of Korea’s leading science and engineering universities.

“Penetrium is the ideal strategic partner capable of restoring drug efficacy by overcoming the sub-lethal dose limitations faced by targeted anticancer therapies from global big pharmaceutical firms,” Penetrium Bioscience CEO Cho Won-dong told the press meeting.

“This research will usher in a new era for targeted cancer treatments,” he added.

Penetrium Bioscience plans to present its research findings at the upcoming AACR Annual Meeting 2026, one of the world’s most prominent scientific conferences on cancer research.

Hosted by the American Association for Cancer Research, the yearly event is scheduled to begin Friday and run through Wednesday in San Diego.

The share price of Penetrium Bioscience dipped 9.55% on the Seoul bourse on Thursday.

Miguel Diaz-Canel marks anniversary of socialist revolutionary declaration under threat of US attacks.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said that his country does not seek conflict with the United States but is prepared to fight if necessary, as Cuba marks the anniversary of its socialist revolutionary character amid the threat of US attacks.

Diaz-Canel struck a defiant tone on Thursday in remarks before a crowd marking the 65th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s declaration of the socialist nature of the Cuban Revolution and the failed invasion at the Bay of Pigs by forces aligned with the US the day after.

“The moment is extremely challenging and calls upon us once again, as on April 16, 1961, to be ready to confront serious threats, including military aggression,” Diaz-Canel said. “We do not want it, but it is our duty to prepare to avoid it and, if it becomes inevitable, to defeat it.”

President Donald Trump has threatened that the US could overthrow the Cuban government, a longtime source of ire for Washington, and has ratcheted up energy restrictions meant to squeeze the island’s economy.

“We may stop by Cuba after we finish with this,” Trump said earlier this week, stating that his attention could turn to Cuba after the end of the US-Israel war on Iran.

A US energy blockade and an end to oil shipments from Venezuela after the US abducted former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January have caused deteriorating conditions on the island. Fuel shortages and energy blackouts have roiled the island for weeks, heaping strain on workers and businesses.

Even before those increased restrictions, Cuba’s economy had suffered from decades of economic embargo from the US, along with economic mismanagement and political repression that prompted many Cubans to leave the country.

A vote at the United Nations in 2025 demanding an end to the US embargo passed with 165 votes in favour and seven against, including the US, Israel, Argentina, and Hungary. The resolution has been passed annually for more than 30 years.

“Cuba is not a failed state. Cuba is a besieged state,” Diaz-Canel said on Thursday. “Cuba is a state facing multidimensional aggression: economic warfare, an intensified blockade and an energy blockade.”

Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison made his case directly to theater owners Thursday, pledging to release a minimum of 30 films a year from the combined Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery company during a speech at the CinemaCon trade convention in Las Vegas.

“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison said in a brief on-stage speech, adding that Paramount has already nearly doubled its film lineup for this year with 15 planned releases, up from 8 in 2025.

He also said all films will remain in theaters exclusively for 45 days, starting Thursday. Films will then go to streaming platforms in 90 days. The amount of time that films stay in theaters — known as windowing — has been a controversial topic for theater owners, as some studios reduced that period during the pandemic. Theater operators have said the shortened window has trained audiences to wait to watch films at home and cuts into theater revenues.

“I have dedicated the last 20 years of my life to elevating and preserving film,” said Ellison, clad in a dark jacket and shirt with blue jeans. “And at Paramount, we want to tell even more great stories on the big screen — stories that make people think, laugh, dream, wonder and feel — and we want to share them with as broad an audience as possible.”

Ellison’s CinemaCon appearance comes as more than 1,000 Hollywood actors and creatives have signed a letter opposing Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner. Supporters of the letter have said the deal would reduce competition in the industry and “further consolidate an already concentrated media landscape.”

Some theater operators have also questioned whether the combined company could achieve its goal of releasing 30 films a year, particularly after the cost cuts that are expected after the merger closes.

“People can speculate all they want — but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment,” Ellison said. “And we’ll show you we mean it.”

The speech came after a star-studded video directed by “Wicked: For Good” director Jon M. Chu that was shot on the Paramount lot on Melrose Avenue and showcased directors and actors including Issa Rae, Will Smith, Chris Pratt, James Cameron and Timothée Chalamet that are working with the company.

The video closed with “Top Gun” actor Tom Cruise perched atop the Paramount water tower.

“As you saw, the Paramount lot is alive again,” Ellison said after the video. “And we could not be more excited.”

MINNEAPOLIS — An ICE agent is charged with assault for allegedly pointing his gun at people in a car while driving on a Minneapolis highway, prosecutors in Minnesota said Thursday.

An arrest warrant in Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis, says Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr. is charged with two counts of second-degree aggravated assault. The warrant says Morgan was working as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in the Minneapolis area on Feb. 5 when he pointed a gun at the occupants of a vehicle on Minnesota State Highway 62.

Hennepin County Atty. Mary Moriarty said she believes it is the first criminal case brought against a federal immigration officer involved in the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration enforcement that surged federal authorities into cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland and New Orleans.

Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department officials didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment. The Associated Press called a number associated with Morgan and sent a message to his possible email address but did not receive any immediate response.

Moriarty said during a news conference that Morgan was driving a rented, unmarked SUV on the shoulder of the highway when a car on the road moved into the shoulder to try to slow Morgan down, not knowing he was a federal officer. After the car returned into the legal lane, Morgan pulled up alongside and pointed his service weapon at the people in the car.

Morgan, 35, and his partner, who was not charged, were on their way to the federal building to end their shift when they were caught in traffic. Charging documents note Morgan did not say the incident occurred during an enforcement action.

According to the charging documents, Morgan told a Minnesota State Patrol officer that he pulled up alongside the victim’s vehicle, drew his firearm and yelled “Police Stop.” The warrant says the victims couldn’t hear him because their windows were up.

Morgan is charged with two counts of assault because he threatened both people in the vehicle, and there is a warrant out for his arrest, Moriarty said.

The charges could intensify a clash between the Trump administration and Minnesota officials over the crackdown. Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, has warned that the Justice Department could investigate and prosecute state or local officials who arrest federal agents for performing their official duties.

Moriarty said she is not concerned about blowback from the Trump administration and that her office’s goal is to “hold people accountable if they violate the laws of the state,” she said.

She said Morgan’s actions were beyond the scope of a federal officers’ authority.

“There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal agents who violate the law in the state of Minnesota,” she said.

In Minnesota, felony second-degree assault is punishable by up to seven years in prison, or up to 10 years imprisonment if the assault inflicted “substantial bodily harm.”

The Department of Homeland Security deployed about 3,000 federal officers to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area from December through February in what the agency called its “largest immigration enforcement operation ever.” The Minnesota operation led to thousands of arrests, angry mass protests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens.

Backlash over the aggressive tactics mounted, and two of the crackdown’s most high-profile leaders were soon gone. Trump fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March shortly after the Minnesota surge ended. That same month, Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol sector chief who led immigration operations in several large cities, announced his retirement.

In a letter to California officials last year, then-Deputy Atty. Gen. Blanche wrote that “the Justice Department views any arrests of federal agents and officers in the performance of their official duties as both illegal and futile.”

“Numerous federal laws prohibit interfering with and impeding immigration or other law-enforcement operations,” Blanche wrote. “The Department of Justice will investigate and prosecute any state or local official who violates these federal statutes (or directs or conspires with others to violate them).”

Sullivan and Bynum write for the Associated Press. Bynum reported from Savannah, Ga. AP reporter Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, contributed to this report.

Scotland fly-half Helen Nelson, who ranks fourth highest for the number of kicks out of hand in the English top-flight, may well look to exploit space around Kildunne, while Rhona Lloyd, who will line up opposite Kildunne, has scored 11 league tries for Sale so far this season.

Elsewhere prop Maud Muir wins her 50th cap for England as she starts at tighthead in place of Sarah Bern, who is part of a set of replacements which includes 112-cap Marlie Packer and Gloucester-Hartpury’s Mia Venner.

England are hunting their eighth successive Women’s Six Nations title, but are attempting to maintain their streak without a host of names who helped them to the World Cup last year.

Number eight Alex Matthews will miss the meeting with Scotland with a shoulder injury, while earlier on Thursday it was announced that prop Hannah Botterman had joined those sidelined for the tournament with an ankle injury.

Head coach John Mitchell will hope that the enforced changes will prove the making of a next generation of players, while maintaining the Red Roses’ grip on the tournament.

However Scotland, who will play in front of a 25,000-plus crowd at Scottish Gas Murrayfield in the biggest stand-alone women’s sporting fixture in their country’s history, will be primed to exploit any wobbles.

England: Sing; Breach, Jones (capt), Rowland, Kildunne; Harrison, L Packer; Clifford, Cokayne, Muir, Burton, Ives Campion, Short, Kabeya, Feaunati,

Replacements: Powell, Carson, Bern, Lutui, M Packer, Robinson, Aitchison, Venner

European football’s governing body has already rejected one appeal by Barca about their quarterfinals against Atletico.

Barcelona have lodged another complaint with UEFA, after their protest about a handball incident in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal defeat to Atletico Madrid was rejected this week.

The Spanish club said in a statement on Thursday that several refereeing decisions across both legs of the tie, which Atletico won 3-2 on aggregate, “did not comply with the Laws of the Game, resulting from an incorrect application of the regulations and a lack of appropriate intervention by the VAR system in incidents of clear significance”.

The Catalan club, which finished both matches with 10 men after the dismissals of Pau Cubarsi and then Eric Garcia, believe they were on the wrong end of several contentious decisions, including two potential penalty situations that did not trigger VAR intervention.

“The accumulation of these errors had a direct impact on the course of the matches and on the final outcome of the tie, causing significant sporting and financial harm to the club,” the reigning Spanish champions added.

Barcelona said the club “reiterates the requests previously made to UEFA” and offer to “collaborate with the organisation with the aim of improving the refereeing system to ensure a more rigorous, fair and transparent application” of the regulations.

On Tuesday, UEFA had rejected as “inadmissible” the five-time Champions League winners’ initial complaint regarding a handball on a goal kick by Atletico defender Marc Pubill in the first leg, which his side won 2-0.

Alex Manninger played for Arsenal, Liverpool and Juventus at peak of his career while winning 33 Austria caps.

Former Austria goalkeeper Alex Manninger, who played for Arsenal and a string of Italian clubs, has died at ⁠the age of 48 when the car he was driving was hit by a train at a crossing near Salzburg.

The Austrian Football Association (OEFB) and clubs associated with ⁠the player, who retired as a professional in 2017, mourned his passing on Thursday.

Manninger made 33 appearances for Austria and played for Arsenal from 1997 to 2001 with the club winning the league title and FA Cup in the 1997-1998 season. He ‌ended his career at Liverpool in 2017.

In Italy, the Austrian played for Fiorentina, Torino, Bologna, Siena, Udinese and Juventus.

“Alexander Manninger was an outstanding ambassador of Austrian football on and off the pitch,” OEFB Sporting Director Peter Schoettel said in a statement.

“With his international career, he has set standards and inspired and shaped many young goalkeepers. His professionalism, his calmness and his reliability made him an ⁠important part of his teams and also of the national ⁠team.”

Salzburg police said in a statement that the accident happened about 8:20am (06:20 GMT). First responders freed the driver from the vehicle, but resuscitation was unsuccessful.

“According to initial investigations, the car was ⁠hit by a railcar of the Salzburger Lokalbahn while crossing the railway crossing and dragged along. The driver was alone ⁠in the vehicle. The train driver was uninjured,” ⁠the police said.

Fiorentina said they will observe a minute’s silence and wear black armbands for Thursday’s home Conference League game with Crystal Palace while league leaders Arsenal conveyed their shock on social media.

Other clubs, including ‌Liverpool, issued statements of condolence.

“Today is a very sad day. We have lost not only a great athlete, but a man of rare values: humility, dedication, and ‌an ‌exceptional sense of professionalism,” Juventus said

“Alex Manninger will be remembered for the example he set, on and off the pitch.”

It turns out the “Spaceballs” sequel won’t be called “Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money” after all.

Mel Brooks beamed into Amazon MGM Studios’ CinemaCon presentation to set the record straight via a pre-taped video Wednesday. The follow-up to his 1987 film set in a galaxy very, very, very, very far away is actually titled “Spaceballs: The New One.”

“After all these years, I found the money,” the comedy icon explains as he waves toward a duffel bag overflowing with “Spaceballs” money. “But everywhere I go people say, ‘Mel, Mel, where’s the new “Spaceballs”? When are you going to make the new “Spaceballs”? When are you going to make the new one?’”

“Well, we did it, and the title is ‘Spaceballs: The New One,’” Brooks continues. “It’s just like the old one, but it’s newer.”

While details about “The New One’s” story remain under wraps, the studio did offer attendees a glimpse of the film with a new trailer that pokes fun at the current state of the industry. A voice-over declares Hollywood studios are “merging willy-nilly” as images of the Paramount and Warner Bros. signs appeared on screen — before noting that the merger between Amazon and MGM Studios is what led to “Spaceballs 2.”

Dark Helmet’s look appears to be updated for the times, as his mask resembles that worn by the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy’s Dark Side warrior Kylo Ren. The trailer also included footage of lightsaber (or Schwartz ring) fights as well a nod to the “Avatar” franchise, with Dark Helmet crossing paths with a Na’vi in the restroom.

“Spaceballs: The New One” is slated to hit theaters April 23, 2027. Here’s everything we know about the sequel so far.

What is “Spaceballs: The New One” about?

According to Amazon MGM’s press release, the film’s story details “are being kept under lock, key and an industrial-strength Schwartz shield.”

Who is in the movie?

Original “Spaceballs” cast members Rick Moranis (Lord Dark Helmet), George Wyner (Colonel Sandurz), Daphne Zuniga (formerly Princess, now Queen Vespa), Bill Pullman (Lone Starr) and Mel Brooks (Yogurt) are confirmed to return for “The New One.” This marks Moranis’ first onscreen film role since taking a hiatus in 1997.

Newcomers include Josh Gad, Keke Palmer, Lewis Pullman and Anthony Carrigan playing new characters who’ve yet to be revealed.

Who are the filmmakers?

“The New One” is directed by Josh Greenbaum (“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” “Will & Harper”) from a script written by Josh Gad, Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit (based on characters created by Brooks, Thomas Meehan and Ronny Graham).

Brooks is among the producers of “The New One,” which also includes Brian Grazer and Jeb Brody as well as Gad, Greenbaum and Kevin Salter. Executive producers include Adam Merims, Samit and Hernandez.

Time staff writer Samantha Masunaga contributed to this report.

KeyCorp plans to repurchase at least $1.3 billion in shares in 2026, raised from prior guidance of $1.2 billion, and indicated that Basel III revisions could add over 100 basis points to CET1, potentially enabling even more buybacks if market conditions allow.

Regen Central Ltd has entered liquidation after losing its Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing, leaving customers without refunds after their holidays were cancelled

All bookings made with a popular British travel company have been cancelled after it entered liquidation.

Regen Central Ltd, a Hertfordshire-based travel company, sold holiday packages to Europe and Southeast Asia. It entered liquidation on January 13 after losing its Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (ATOL).

ATOL, a scheme administered by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), provides financial protection for package holidays or flights booked through registered travel firms, covering refunds or repatriation if a firm collapses.

However, certain bookings fall outside ATOL protection, including accommodation-only and non-flight packages, leaving affected customers without the same safeguards.

The CAA said: “We understand the company had no outstanding ATOL-protected bookings. Bookings sold as accommodation only, non-flight packages, and flight only bookings for which tickets were issued are not protected by the ATOL scheme. As there are no outstanding ATOL-protected bookings, no refunds will be issued.

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“If you believe you are owed a refund for an ATOL-protected booking, under Regen Central Ltd’s ATOL, please contact us via email at claims@caa.co.uk.”

Regen Central Ltd was established in 2011 and offered packages to Italy, Bali and Thailand, as well as destinations in the Middle East including Dubai and Saudi Arabia. It previously traded under the names One Haji and Umrah, Regen Travels and Oneworld Travels.

It comes after holiday packages booked through Simply Florida Travel Ltd were cancelled after the company ceased trading earlier this year.

The Glasgow-based agency offered holiday packages to destinations including Disneyland, Disney World, Universal Studios, New York City, Toronto, Niagara Falls, Miami and various cruises.

Companies House records show the independent operator applied to be struck off the register on October 13, 2025. It was formally dissolved on January 6 and stopped trading as an Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing scheme-protected provider on January 20.

Several other British travel companies have collapsed in recent months, including Gold Crest Holidays, Great Little Escapes, Jetline Travel and Asiara UK Ltd.

Arriving at his training session, Cole was all business, talking mostly in English while throwing in Italian phrases.

One local staff member was impressed by his willingness to tidy up the equipment, which he said was uncommon for a player who had enjoyed such a successful playing career.

To Cole, a former schoolboy from east London, that behaviour is normal. Even his new title – ‘Mister’, bestowed on all managers in Italy – is something he is still getting used to.

“I don’t see myself above anyone at this club,” he said. “Of course I have to be the leader of the group, but I’ll pick up a cone.”

Cole had some awareness of what he was arriving into in Emilia‑Romagna – nicknamed Italy’s ‘food valley’ and famous for parmigiano reggiano, balsamic vinegar from Modena and prosciutto di parma – with his wife Sharon Canu an important sounding board.

“I certainly didn’t go looking for an Italian wife [when he joined Roma in 2014], but I came back with one,” he joked.

“Sharon has been great for me. She’s from Rome, but she understands that people in smaller cities really love the club where they live. I have to embrace that.”

One example is Cole’s routine of buying a five euro ‘piadina’ – an Italian flatbread sandwich – from a stall outside Cesena’s stadium before his media conferences. The food stand also regularly feeds the squad after home matches.

In this working‑class town of fewer than 100,000 people, Cole’s side are underdogs in Serie B – something he identifies with.

“I liked that the owners have a similar background to me – hard work, graft, underdogs nobody believed in – but they created a really successful business,” he said.

“They also wanted someone to believe in them and give them a chance.”

Cesena, like most Italian clubs, rent their stadium and training facilities from the local authority, but Cole has innovated where he can.

He created a video analysis room and uses a high-angle tactical camera to film his sessions, which he watches back in full every day.

“I came here thinking something had to change,” Cole said. “We hadn’t won away from home for a long time, so that had to change – it wasn’t working.

“We’d gone a number of games without a win, so that had to change too. We needed higher intensity in training and matches. The style of football had to change.

“We had to be more adaptable to the different styles we come up against, and we needed more control in games through possession.”

In his first media conference, Cole also called out Italy’s failure to qualify for three consecutive World Cups as a sign they needed to be open to new styles of football, which he is implementing before a trip to face Palermo on Saturday.

April 16 (UPI) — Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez has hired U.S. attorney and lobbyist Jihad M. Smaili to represent her interests in Washington and support groundwork for a possible presidential campaign, according to filings with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Records filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act show Smaili will act as a foreign agent for Rodríguez, including assisting with her “future political campaign” ahead of Venezuela’s next presidential election, though no date has been set for the vote.

According to the filing, Smaili will represent Rodríguez in pending and future litigation involving Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., Citgo and creditor claims. He will also provide daily advice on matters involving the U.S. State Department and the White House, independent news organization Efecto Cocuyo reported.

The contract said Smaili will “provide daily advice and counsel to the foreign principal on matters involving the Department of State and the president of the United States, including advice on how to strengthen and advance the current relationship for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”

The agreement also describes Rodríguez as a candidate in Venezuela’s upcoming presidential elections and includes support for her “future political campaign.”

The move comes shortly after the United States lifted personal sanctions on Rodríguez and recognized her as a legitimate authority in Venezuela’s political transition.

According to Infobae, Smaili also will advise on retaining law firms involved in litigation tied to oil companies, as well as creditor claims related to cases involving the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Citgo, PDVSA’s U.S.-based refining and marketing subsidiary, is at the center of multiple creditor disputes as international claimants seek to seize the asset to satisfy unpaid Venezuelan debts. A federal court in Delaware has authorized the sale of shares in the company to help cover claims totaling about $20 billion.

U.S. victims of FARC-related violence are also seeking to participate in the auction and recover about $318 million in damages.

Death toll rises to 10 after shooting by 14-year-old student at the Ayser Calik School in Kahramanmaras.

Mourners have gathered in Turkiye’s southern province of Kahramanmaras for the funerals of victims killed in the second of two school shootings that rocked the nation this week.

Funerals were held on Thursday for eight students and maths teacher Ayla Kara, 55, who were killed in Wednesday’s shooting, The Associated Press news agency reported.

A 10th victim died while being treated in hospital on Thursday, authorities said. Six of those wounded in the attack were in critical condition, officials said.

Isa Aras Mersinli, 14, opened fire on two classrooms in the Ayser Calik School in Kahramanmaras city on Wednesday. The attacker was later found dead.

Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said the attacker is believed to have used guns that belonged to his father, a former police officer.

At a funeral for four of the victims held near Kahramanmaras city’s main mosque on Thursday, one father sat motionless beside the coffin of his daughter, 10‑year‑old Zeynep, the AFP news agency reported.

“Our grief is endless. These children were like our own. They were all innocent,” said Vezir Yucel, father of a student named Yusuf, who lost his close friend, 10-year-old Bayram, in the shooting.

Nilgun Ruci, a 55‑year‑old homemaker, told AFP that she rushed to Ayser Calik School after hearing gunshots. When she arrived, she saw the daughter of a neighbour lying gravely wounded.

“She had been shot in the leg and the shoulder,” Ruci said. “At first, I thought she had fainted. Today I learned that she died.”

Second attack in two days

The attack was the country’s second school shooting in two days, coming after Tuesday’s attack at a high school in Sanliurfa province in the southeast, which was carried out by a former student who wounded 16 people.

As of Thursday, 20 people had been detained in connection with Tuesday’s shooting in Sanliurfa.

The interior and education ministries held a joint school security meeting in the capital, Ankara, on Thursday, which was attended by both ministers and all 81 of Turkiye’s provincial governors, as well as police chiefs and provincial education directors.

Until this week, school shootings were rare in Turkiye. But dozens of students were arrested Thursday over alleged social media posts implying they might stage similar attacks.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced that 67 social media users were detained over posts targeting 54 different schools.

In the weeks before Justin Bieber’s headlining performance at this month’s Coachella festival — the 32-year-old teen-pop survivor’s first major concert after a lengthy stretch in the celebrity wilderness — speculation began to mount that he planned to play only songs from his recent “Swag” and “Swag II” albums.

And indeed, for 45 minutes or so last Saturday, it seemed like that was what he’d come to do as he sang new song after new song on Coachella’s giant main stage. But then he pulled out a laptop, fired up YouTube and started singing along with some of his old hits — a thrilling subversion of our expectations for a big festival set and a poignant act of self-examination by an artist who’s lived more than half of his life on our screens.

For the singer, Bieberchella was clearly a trip down memory lane. But it also offered the audience a chance to look back on a career that’s encompassed virtually every major shift in pop music over the last two decades.

Ahead of Coachella’s second weekend, then, here’s a list, ranked from worst to best, of every hit that Bieber has put inside the Top 10 of Billboard’s flagship singles chart, the Hot 100. Pop, of course, is an art as much as a science, meaning statistics get you only so far: Some important Bieber songs aren’t here, not least among them “Lonely,” which may be his finest vocal performance but stalled out at No. 12 on the chart. Other throwaways made it on the list thanks to Bieber’s gamesmanship or Billboard’s methodological quirks.

Yet these 27 songs tell a fascinating story about a boy, about a man, about a talent possibly more vital today than ever before.

27. ‘Never Say Never’ (peaked at No. 8 in March 2011)

Co-written and co-produced by the guy who would later top the Hot 100 with “Rude” by the band Magic, this booming kiddie-rap track was introduced as the theme song for Jaden Smith’s 2010 remake of “The Karate Kid” before Bieber used it in a 2011 concert film of the same title. The voice is high; the beat is blah.

26. ‘Monster’ (peaked at No. 8 in Dec. 2020)

Just a month after he dropped “Lonely,” Bieber returned to his teen-idol woes — far less movingly, alas — in this dreary duet with Shawn Mendes.

25. ‘Stuck With U’ (peaked at No. 1 in May 2020)

The nicest thing you can say about the doo-woppy “Stuck With U” is that Bieber and Ariana Grande donated the song’s proceeds to first responders navigating the early months of the COVID pandemic. Do not rewatch the video unless you want to be reminded of the smiley horrors of Zoom life.

24. ‘No Brainer’ (peaked at No. 5 in Aug. 2018)

We’ll get to Bieber’s convivial 2017 hook-up with DJ Khaled and friends. As for this shameless sequel, Khaled’s “another one” tag has never been less necessary.

23. ‘Cold Water’ (peaked at No. 2 in Aug. 2016)

Sleek. Pretty. Forgettable.

22. ‘As Long as You Love Me’ (peaked at No. 6 in Sept. 2012)

How high was Bieber riding as he prepared to release 2012’s “Believe” LP? High enough to swipe the title of the Backstreet Boys’ classic teen-pop ballad for this junior-dubstep jam. Stick around (or don’t) for Big Sean’s guest verse about needing “you” to spell both “us” and “trust.”

21. ‘Holy’ (peaked at No. 3 in Oct. 2020)

In which Bieber and Chance the Rapper preach about marriage like two horny youth pastors.

20. ‘Anyone’ (peaked at No. 6 in Jan. 2021)

What if Phil Collins had recorded “In Your Eyes” instead of Peter Gabriel?

19. ‘10,000 Hours’ (peaked at No. 4 in Oct. 2019)

Timed to commemorate his and Hailey Baldwin’s wedding among the salt marshes of South Carolina, Bieber’s crack at high-gloss country music was warmly welcomed by the Nashville establishment; it even spent two weeks atop Billboard’s Country Airplay chart. No surprise, really: To listen to earlier stuff by Dan + Shay, Bieber’s collaborators on “10,000 Hours,” is to hear how extensively white-soul singing had reshaped country by the early 2010s.

18. ‘I Don’t Care’ (peaked at No. 2 in May 2019)

Has any would-be song of the summer ever song-of-the-summered harder? Bieber and Ed Sheeran’s breezy dancehall bro-down was clearly modeled on the sound — and the success — of Sheeran’s “Shape of You.” (Call it “Shape of II.”) Yet the duo’s chemistry feels real enough to believe that all of these hooks — hey, they just happened.

17. ‘I’m the One’ (peaked at No. 1 in May 2017)

Bieber’s first Khaled collab has a merry bounce that softens the braggadocio from him, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne, whose verse opens pricelessly like so: “Looking for the one?/ Well, b—, you looking at the one.” Fun chart fact per Billboard: The week after “I’m the One” bowed atop the Hot 100, Bieber became the first artist ever to score new No. 1s back to back when his remix of “Despacito” replaced “I’m the One.”

16. ‘Boyfriend’ (peaked at No. 2 in April 2012)

A decade after Justin Timberlake stepped out from NSYNC, JB blatantly ripped JT’s “Like I Love You” for this heavy-breathing flirtation. “Baby, take a chance or you’ll never, ever know/ I got money in my hands that I’d really like to blow,” Bieber pants over a spacey, Neptunes-style beat. (Later, he suggests fondue.) In an ironic twist, given the song’s all-grown-up-at-18 energy, “Boyfriend” was blocked from No. 1 by “We Are Young” from Jack Antonoff’s old band, Fun.

15. ‘Ghost’ (peaked at No. 5 in April 2022)

A hurtling lost-love lament that doubles as a farewell to a departed grandparent (as in the song’s music video, which stars the late Diane Keaton).

14. ‘Let Me Love You’ (peaked at No. 4 in Oct. 2016)

In the final Top 10 hit of Bieber’s EDM era, a pleading tenderness in the singer’s vocals cuts appealingly against DJ Snake’s strobing Sahara Tent beat.

13. ‘Baby’ (peaked at No. 5 in Feb. 2010)

New puppy, old love.

12. ‘Yummy’ (peaked at No. 2 in Jan. 2020)

“Hop in the Lambo, I’m on my way/ Drew House slippers on with a smile on my face,” Bieber sings — not the last time he’d plug one of his or his wife’s brands in a lyric. A country remix with Florida Georgia Line adds shout-outs to Waffle House and Chick-fil-A.

11. ‘What Do You Mean?’ (peaked at No. 1 in Sept. 2015)

The path to Bieber’s first No. 1 on the Hot 100 was cleared by a better, more interesting song that reframed him as a dreamboat experimentalist. (More on that one in a minute.) But if “What Do You Mean?” deploys a more conventional tropical-house production, it’s still built around one of the singer’s loveliest vocals. And the fake pan flute still hits.

10. ‘Despacito’ (peaked at No. 1 in May 2017)

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s pop-reggaeton seduction had already found an enormous audience among Latin music fans when Bieber jumped on a remix after hearing the song in a Colombian nightclub. Yet the star’s presence — in a Spanish-language chorus whose lyrics Bieber learned phonetically over the course of a four-hour recording session — turned “Despacito” into a global juggernaut. In the U.S., the song became the first Spanish-language chart-topper since “Macarena” two decades earlier; it also became something of a protest tune amid the anti-immigrant rhetoric of President Trump’s first term in office. Said Scooter Braun, Bieber’s then-manager, in a 2017 interview with The Times: “A song in Spanish is all over pop radio in an America where young Latino Americans should feel proud of themselves and their families’ native tongue.”

9. ‘Essence’ (peaked at No. 9 in Oct. 2021)

Like “Despacito,” this slinky Afrobeats track was a hit before Bieber got involved. (Among its fans: President Obama, who put it on his best of 2020 list.) What distinguishes the version with Bieber is how gently he slides between the Nigerian singers Wizkid and Tems, who both joined him for a rendition of “Essence” at Coachella.

8. ‘Stay’ (peaked at No. 1 in August 2021)

At a mere 2 minutes and 22 seconds, this breakneck electro-pop duet with Australia’s the Kid Laroi (who also put in a cameo at Coachella) is the shortest of Bieber’s 27 Top 10 singles. Yet with 63 weeks on the Hot 100, it’s also his longest-lived chart hit — and his most-streamed song on Spotify.

7. ‘Intentions’ (peaked at No. 5 in June 2020)

“Stay in the kitchen cooking up, got your own bread/ Heart full of equity, you’re an asset.”

6. ‘Beauty and a Beat’ (peaked at No. 5 in Jan. 2013)

The most fondly remembered of Bieber’s teen-idol hits anticipates the EDM makeover to come even as it stays rooted in his squeaky-clean persona: “We’re gonna party like it’s 3012 tonight” is truly something only a kid would say. Seven months after “Beauty and a Beat” peaked on the Hot 100, Bieber was infamously caught on video urinating in a mop bucket in a New York City restaurant kitchen; this song would be his last Top 10 single for more than two years.

5. ‘Peaches’ (peaked at No. 1 in April 2021)

A sumptuous R&B jam about procuring one’s peaches from Georgia and one’s weed from California, this three-way joint with Daniel Caesar and Giveon was nominated for record and song of the year at the 2022 Grammys. (It lost both prizes to another sumptuous R&B jam in Silk Sonic’s “Leave the Door Open.”) Extra props here for the vivid contrast among the singers’ voices and for the Kool & the Gang-ish synth solo at the end.

4. ‘Love Yourself’ (peaked at No. 1 in Feb. 2016)

A sick burn delivered oh so sweetly.

3. ‘Where Are Ü Now’ (peaked at No. 8 in July 2015)

Behold the dreamboat experimentalist. In search of a fresh sound after Bucketgate, Bieber found it with Skrillex and Diplo, veteran dance-music producers who took a morose piano ballad that Bieber and his frequent accomplice Poo Bear had demoed and turned it into a glimmering boudoir-rave fantasia. “I was like, ‘Diplo, Skrillex — I don’t really know if that’s, like, where I wanna go,’” Bieber later told the New York Times. “They did it, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is blowing my mind.’”

2. ‘Daisies’ (peaked at No. 2 in July 2025)

Is putting a nine-month-old song at No. 2 on this list an act of recency bias? Maybe. But what a song! Against a bracingly lo-fi guitar lick played by his pal Mk.gee, Bieber sings with beautifully understated soul about coming into an emotional maturity he admits he avoided for too long.

1. ‘Sorry’ (peaked at No. 1 in Jan. 2016)

A plea, a flex, a come-on — this delirious pop masterpiece contains multitudes. “Is it too late now to say sorry?” Bieber asks, and the trick of a song born from a branding problem is that it summons the sensation of endless ascent.

I’ve come to resent the frenzy around superblooms.

Not because I don’t love seeing our hillsides blanketed with nature’s bounty, but because it misses the point that every wildflower that bursts out of the ground is its own sort of miracle. Have you ever slowed down on the trail just to stare at an individual California poppy and considered how in the world a seed that’s a fraction of an inch (1/20 to be exact-ish) became this bright orange delicate thing before you?

For me, each wildflower I spot on the trail is an opportunity to practice gratitude. I hope I can persuade you to consider the same.

With that same energy, I’d like to teach you how I find wildflowers and other plants I love, both as a hiker and outdoors journalist. Here is what I consider as I’m searching for the best spring hikes.

A large oak tree provides shade over a trail in Franklin Canyon Park.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

1. Learn the landscapes

L.A. County is home to a multitude of diverse plant habitats, with each offering its own range of wildflowers, shrubs, trees and more. And often, these landscapes can be interspersed among each other.

Hikers around L.A. commonly encounter plant habitats and ecosystems that include:

• Coastal sage scrub: Found at lower elevations (generally below 3,000 feet), this fire-adapted plant community often includes bright yellow bush sunflower, sticky monkey flower (orange blooms), deerweed (orange and yellow blooms) and fragrant California sagebrush and black sage, which features white and bluish blooms; this is a great plant habitat to hike when you want to really stop and smell things.
• Chaparral: Often said to be the most extensive vegetation type in California, chaparral is found throughout Southern California’s mountain ranges up to about 5,000 feet, although it does grow higher; chaparral is a “continuous cover of low-growing shrubs creating a mosaic in shades of green,” according to research by the U.S. Forest Service; common flowering plants found in chaparral include woolly bluecurls, chamise (white flowers), ceanothus (shrubs with fragrant purple, white and sometimes pink blooms) and manzanitas.
• Oak woodlands: A plant habitat often found in low- to mid-elevations (generally below 5,000 feet) in foothills and valleys, this ecosystem is “officially defined as an oak stand in which at least 10% of the land is covered by oaks and other species, mostly hardwoods,” writes author Kate Marianchild in “Secrets of the Oak Woodlands”; wildflowers that often grow here include California buttercup (yellow blooms), Collinsia heterophylla (purple and white blooms), hummingbird sage (super cool plant with magenta flowers) and more.

Several coast live oaks, including this one with a swing, live along the Gabrielino Trail, left. Top right, there are several native plants and wildflowers along the Gabrielino Trail, including golden yarrow. Bottom right, Bush monkey flower, sometimes called sticky monkey flower, is a native shrub found along the Gabrielino Trail.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

• Riparian habitats: This is the term used to describe the lush landscape found around rivers, creeks and in moisture-rich canyons and includes riparian woodlands; it is less defined by elevation and more so is used to describe the life found around water. Wildflowers and plants that bloom include western columbine, scarlet monkey flower and miner’s lettuce (white and pale pink blooms). You can often also find California bay laurels, which have a zesty pungent smell (that not everyone loves).
  • Where to see it: Essentially anywhere along the 28.8-mile Gabrielino Trail, which runs parallel in several sections to the San Gabriel River and Arroyo Seco.

The snow plant (sarcodes sanguinea Torr.) is starting to come up around pine trees at the Chilao Picnic Area in the Angeles National Forest. It grows in the spring, after snow has melted, has no chlorophyll and gets its nutrition from fungi growing on conifer roots in the soil.

(Raul Roa / Los Angeles Times)

2. Go higher for late-season blooms

Thanks to our proximity to the San Gabriel Mountains, the wildflower season often extends into late spring and early summer.

In Angeles National Forest, you can easily hike above 5,000 feet and even farther into the sub-alpine regions where you’ll find mixed conifer forests and a range of wildflowers and other interesting plants. One of my favorites to spot is the snow plant, a funky red parasitic plant that “derives sustenance and nutrients from mycorrhizal fungi that attach to roots of trees,” according to the California Native Plant Society. Other blooms you might spot include various types of lupine, pumice alpine gold and some types of paintbrushes.

Grape soda lupine grows in Angeles National Forest, including here along the Cooper Canyon trail.

(Jaclyn Cosgrove / Los Angeles Times)

3. Determine whether an area has burned in recent years

Many of the most beloved areas of the Santa Monica and San Gabriel mountains have burned in recent years. The immediate aftermath is devastating to witness: blackened hillsides with shrubs and trees burned down to nubs and stumps.

But, as the ecosystem starts to heal, several wildflowers known as “fire followers” will start popping up.

“Often boasting beautiful blooms, some germinate only when their seeds are exposed to heat, while others take advantage of the charred, mineral-rich soil left behind, helping to secure the land and reduce erosion,” according to TreePeople.

I’ve found this to be true in areas that burned in the 2020 Bobcat fire, where trails burst with blooms from several types of lupine (including grape-soda lupine, my personal favorite), phacelias, including large flowered phacelia and caterpillar phacelia, and withered snapdragon.

California poppies bloom next to the California State Route 138 near the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve State Natural Reserve on March 12. The state’s wildflowers typically bloom from mid-March through April.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

4. Check the data and help others do the same

Before heading out, I often head to iNaturalist, a citizen science app where users submit photos of animals, plants and other living organisms they observe. I will usually look at what other users have submitted in recent weeks. And on every hike, I typically submit at least 20 observations of wildflowers, lizards and trees I noticed. (As of today, I’ve submitted 675 observations of 341 species, including eight California poppy observations and seven black bear observations, which are really just photos of scat.)

To use iNaturalist, you can either visit its desktop site or use the app, which is available for iPhone and Android. You can easily search specific plants — although rare and endangered specimens will have their locations hidden — to discern whether any have been spotted along the trail you’re headed to. This is one of the ways I discovered an abundant showing of wildflowers in Towsley Canyon and in the Santa Monica Mountains, which hopefully is still there thanks to the recent rainfall.

As you can tell, there is much to learn about the diverse landscapes covering Southern California. I hope this newsletter prompts you to learn even more as you venture out there.

May your adventures lead you to a day full of springtime color and a deep sense of gratitude for whatever you find!

3 things to do

Violet Tiul, 12, removes invasive mustard weed at Friends of the Los Angeles River’s Habitat Restoration & Earth Month Celebration at the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Preserve in Los Angeles on May 24, 2025.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

1. Celebrate Earth Month at the L.A. River
Friends of the L.A. River needs volunteers from 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the Sepulveda Basin for its Earth Month habitat restoration day. Other local groups at the event will include the California Native Plant Society and the L.A. and San Fernando Valley chapters of the Audubon Society. Volunteers will yank weeds and install native plants and be rewarded with guided nature walks around the native reserve. Binoculars will be provided. Learn more at support.folar.org.

2. Explore the night sky in Joshua Tree
The Mojave Desert Land Trust will host an interactive evening exploring the night skies from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday at its headquarters in Joshua Tree. Interns from the trust’s Women In Science Discovering Our Mojave (or WISDOM) will share their research findings, and afterward, guests will be treated to s’mores and a night sky viewing with a National Park Service ranger. Learn more and register at mdlt.org.

3. Hike with bats and more in Calabasas
Malibu Creek State Park will host a guided night hike from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in Calabasas. Guests will learn about nocturnal animals as they hike about three miles round trip. Register at eventbrite.com.

The must-read

Carrizo Plain National Monument in San Luis Obispo County.

(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

If you’re feeling up for a road trip, may I suggest heading to the Carrizo Plain National Monument? Times staff writer Christopher Reynolds outlined how, even though we are past its peak wildflower season, the monument is still a gorgeous display of springtime blooms. “By the time my wife and I arrived in the first days of April, the flowers were past their peak, but the hills were still green and many meadows popped with yellow, purple and blue,” Reynolds wrote. “If I’m reading my wildflowers handbook right, these were tidy tips, Goldfields, Owl’s Clover, thistle sage, Valley Larkspur, coreopsis, phacelia and hillside daisies.”

We are so lucky to live among such rich biodiversity!

Happy adventuring,

P.S.

Would you like to meet me IRL? I am hosting “L.A. Hiking 101” at 1:45 p.m. Sunday at Mudd Hall 203 during the L.A. Times’ Festival of Books at USC. The festival is free to attend, as are several of the panels, mine included. I will share how to find some of the best hikes around L.A., what I’ve learned writing about our local wildlands and, as a fun show-and-tell, what I carry in my pack when I’m out on a day hike. Space is limited, so grab your ticket now for my talk. I am eager to hear what questions you have. See you there!

For more insider tips on Southern California’s beaches, trails and parks, check out past editions of The Wild. And to view this newsletter in your browser, click here.

RISING fuel costs linked to the war in Iran have forced a major airline to slash more than 100 flights – including services to and from London.

Dutch company KLM is axing 160 flights across Europe over the next month as soaring fuel prices pile pressure on the industry ahead of the busy summer period.

The cuts will hit routes in and out of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, with departures and arrivals split evenly .

Despite the disruption, the airline insists there is no shortage of jet fuel, saying the move is purely down to spiralling costs.

A KLM spokesperson said: “Passengers affected by these changes will be rebooked onto the next available flight.

“As these are destinations KLM serves multiple times a day, such as London and Düsseldorf, travellers can usually be accommodated quickly.

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“KLM expects a busy May holiday period and is making sure passengers can travel to their holiday destinations as planned.”

KLM’s flight cancellations comes after the head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol said mass flight cancellations will begin “soon” if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

“In the past there was a group called ‘Dire Straits.’ It’s a dire strait now, and it is going to have major implications for the global economy”, Birol told AP.

Adding: “And the longer it goes, the worse it will be for the economic growth and inflation around the world.”

Birol’s deadline means airports could face critical fuel shortages by May, causing travel chaos for Brits heading abroad during the school May half-term holidays.

Oil prices have soared since the start of March after Iran closed off the Strait in response to US-Israeli forces bombing.

The Persian Gulf chokehold sees around 40 per cent of the world’s jet fuel supply pass through.

It comes after ACI Europe, which represents European airports, said the key trade route must open within three weeks or fuel reserves will run drastically low on Friday.

A number of airports in Italy have already warned that they were running out of fuel.

According to local reports earlier this week, Brindisi-Casale Airport confirmed that Jet A1 fuel was not available for a short period of time.

And British Airways has announced it will permanently axe its service from London Heathrow to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from April 24.

The airline had been operating a four flights a week service since November 2024.

But a shift in demand, due to the conflict in the Middle East, has led to the airline terminating the service.

KLM stressed the cancellations make up just one per cent of its European schedule.

But the move will still spark concern for Brits planning trips abroad as airlines battle rising operating costs.

It comes as carriers across Europe scramble to balance the books amid the fuel crisis.

Earlier this month, UK airline Skybus pulled the plug on all future flights between London Gatwick and Newquay.

The route, which launched in November 2025, had been backed by Cornwall Council and the Department for Transport under a public service scheme due to run until the end of May.

However, a slump in passenger numbers combined with higher fuel costs forced the airline to ground the service early, with its final flights taking off on April 2.

The latest cuts raise fresh fears of further disruption for holidaymakers as the peak summer season approaches.

Meanwhile other vital UK services could also face shortages if a deal to end the Middle East war is not struck soon.

Medicines UK, which represents companies making 85 per cent of NHS prescriptions, said NHS patients could face prescription shortages within weeks.

This could place “significant pressure for the NHS as early as June”, the organisation warned.

And Brits could even face shortages of supermarket staples such as beer and meat as officials fear the blockade of the Strait could cut vital carbon dioxide supplies.

CO2 is used in food packaging to improve the shelf life of salad, packaged meats and baked goods – and also slaughtering nearly all pigs and most chickens.

Tim Lang, professor of food policy at the University of London, who has been a member of several government bodies including the UK Council of Food Policy Advisors, told The Sun that the UK has “next to no food storage”.

WASHINGTON — If the U.S. and Iran aren’t able to soon come to a deal to end the war or extend the ceasefire that expires next week, the Trump administration is setting the stage to shift its war campaign toward a more economic-focused effort aimed at choking Tehran into submission rather than relying on bombs alone.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters at a White House briefing Wednesday that the U.S. plans to ramp up economic pain on Iran, and said the new moves will be the “financial equivalent” of a bombing campaign.

The threat of secondary economic sanctions on countries doing business with people, firms, and ships under Iranian control — including allies like the United Arab Emirates and competitors like China — represents an escalation of sanctions that the U.S. is already employing.

Bessent said the administration has “told companies, we have told countries that if you are buying Iranian oil, that if Iranian money is sitting in your banks, we are now willing to apply secondary sanctions, which is a very stern measure. And the Iranians should know that this is going to be the financial equivalent of what we saw in the kinetic activities.”

Treasury Department warns China, Hong Kong, the UAE and Oman

The warning comes the day after the Treasury Department sent a letter to financial institutions in China, Hong Kong, the UAE, and Oman, threatening to levy secondary sanctions for doing business with Iran, and accusing those countries of allowing Iranian illicit activities to flow through their financial institutions.

It’s part of an economic playbook that President Trump still can use to pressure Iran to accept U.S. proposals to limit its nuclear ambitions, a person familiar with the administration’s thinking told the Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private discussions on the record.

Privately, the argument being made to Trump is that the Iranians think they can weather the storm — but if they cannot pay their loyalists, that could pressure Iran to the table.

And some in the administration believe there are still more economic targets that can be hit that would put the economic hurt on Iran, including bonyads, the charitable trusts that account for a significant percentage of the Iranian economy.

Bessent told reporters that two Chinese banks have received warnings about handling Iranian money. Trump is preparing to visit Beijing next month for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Bessent also said that Iran’s Gulf neighbors are now willing to look at freezing Iranian money in their banks because of Iran’s aggression during the war.

Daniel Pickard, a sanctions attorney, said imposing secondary sanctions could result in “diplomatic and economic blowback” from allies that could hurt efforts to build coalitions against Tehran.

“A lot of our trading partners have been outspoken in regard to their opposition to the conflict in Iran,” Pickard said. “Most economic sanctions professionals would agree that when you get more people on the team, the chances of your economic sanctions being effective are greater.”

On Wednesday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on an oil smuggling network connected to the deceased senior Iranian security official Ali Shamkhani, who was a close advisor to the former Supreme Leader of Iran. Sanctions include dozens of individuals, companies, and vessels involved in secretly transporting and selling Iranian and Russian oil through front companies, many of which are in the UAE.

“Treasury will continue to cut off Iran’s illicit smuggling and terror proxy networks,” Bessent said in a statement. “Financial institutions should be on notice that Treasury will leverage all tools and authorities, including secondary sanctions, against those that continue to support Tehran’s terrorist activities.

The administration believes the momentum has shifted

Trump administration officials have also signaled growing confidence that the ceasefire and a blockade of shipments from Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz have shifted momentum in Trump’s favor.

Iran has endured tens of billions of dollars in damage during the bombardment to the country’s infrastructure — including setbacks to its oil industry, the heart of its fragile and long-isolated economy — that could take years to repair.

Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday said Trump “doesn’t want to make, like, a small deal. He wants to make the grand bargain.”

“That’s the trade that he’s offering,” Vance said. “If you guys commit to not having a nuclear weapon, we are going to make Iran thrive.”

The president’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, offered a more caustic assessment of the moment, suggesting that Trump had “played the checkmate move” on Iran by implementing the blockage in the strait.

“If Iran chooses the path of a deal that’s great for the world, that’s great for everybody. If Iran chooses the path of economic strangulation by blockade, then the world will pass Iran by,” Miller said in a Fox News appearance Tuesday evening. “New energy routes will be established. New supply chains will be established. Other nations throughout the region — throughout the world, and especially America — will power the world and Iran will become a footnote.”

Some Republicans are skeptical that more sanctions will work

Some Republicans believe that any tactic to exert more pressure on Tehran is worth trying.

“I would support anything,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). “If the administration came up with the ideas, I would support all of the above. More pressure, the better.”

Others were skeptical, noting that Tehran was already facing a litany of economic penalties that had little impact on its behavior.

“I’m not sure if it’s sanctions that’ll do it. I think we’re putting some pretty heavy sanctions on right now,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), a member of the Banking and Armed Services Committees. “I personally am just not optimistic that we actually can fix this thing without a regime change.”

Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, a think tank that has been critical of Trump’s decision to launch the war, says that Trump had been “politically cornered and strategically constrained” before he announced the ceasefire. But now, Parsi argues, Trump may have altered the difficult dynamic and created a situation where “Iran now appears to need an agreement more than the United States does.”

“The window now open offers Tehran a chance to convert battlefield leverage into lasting strategic gain,” Parsi wrote in a new analysis. “To let it close would mean forfeiting not just incremental progress, but the possibility of reshaping its economic and geopolitical position. By contrast, the United States, having already secured a tenuous exit ramp through the ceasefire, has less at stake in the short term.”

Hussein, Madhani, Weissert and Kim write for the Associated Press.

April 16 (UPI) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has delayed a special session he called for the state legislature to work on redrawing the state’s U.S. congressional districts.

The session was scheduled to take place next week, but DeSantis said Wednesday it would now happen on April 28 to give the governor’s office more time to work on its proposal, The New York Times reported.

He also called legislators back to work to vote on a bill to give parents more freedom to opt out of giving their children school-mandated vaccines and one to protect minors from artificial intelligence, Politico reported. DeSantis called on lawmakers to return to Tallahassee from April 28 to May 1.

DeSantis issued a proclamation in January calling for the special session to reconsider the state’s congressional map.

“Every Florida resident deserves to be represented fairly and constitutionally,” he said at the time.

DeSantis said the redistricting would better ensure that race was not a predominant factor in determining congressional districts. He referenced a Supreme Court case in which Louisiana lawmakers were accused of creating a congressional district comprising mostly racial minorities.

Florida has 28 seats in the U.S. House, gaining one in 2022 after the 2020 census. Republicans hold 20 seats and Democrats have 8.

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday confirmed that the United States and Iran were in discussions – through Islamabad – to hold a second meeting between their negotiators to end their now nearly seven-week war, with a fragile ceasefire announced on April 8 days away from expiring.

But it added that no date had been set for that next round of negotiations, even as Islamabad stepped up a parallel diplomatic push to keep the process alive.

“Who will come, how big the delegation will be, who will stay, and who will go is for the parties to decide,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters in Islamabad, referring to what upcoming talks might look like. “As a mediator, it’s important for us to keep the talks confidential. We had the details and information of the talks entrusted to us by the negotiating parties.” 

Speaking of the first round of talks on April 12 in Islamabad, which concluded without a deal, Andrabi said: “There was neither a breakthrough nor a breakdown.”

The spokesperson confirmed that nuclear issues remained among the key subjects under discussion, but declined to elaborate.

His comments came as Pakistan’s civil and military leadership is travelling across the region in what some observers have begun calling the “Islamabad Process”, reflecting the government’s attempt to frame negotiations as an ongoing diplomatic effort rather than a one-off engagement.

Parallel diplomatic tracks

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in Doha on Thursday, the second stop of a four-day regional tour that began with Jeddah on Wednesday, and will see him visiting Antalya next.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Asim Munir arrived in Tehran on Wednesday with a delegation that included Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

Munir was received at the airport with a warm hug from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said he was “delighted” to welcome the field marshal and expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s “gracious hosting of dialogue”.

On Thursday, Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Tehran’s delegation at the Islamabad talks, also met Munir.

Reza Amiri Moghadam, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, said at an event in Islamabad that Tehran would not consider any venue other than Pakistan for talks with Washington.

“We will do talks in Pakistan and nowhere else, because we trust Pakistan,” he said.

Muhammad Faisal, a Pakistani security analyst and scholar at the University of Technology Sydney, said the parallel outreach reflected a deliberate division of labour.

“Pakistan’s strategy appears to be dual-tracked: PM Sharif is reassuring Gulf allies and attempting to build a broader support coalition, while CDF Munir is engaged in hard negotiations between the two sides to narrow gaps between Iran and the US, with an eye on extending the ceasefire and reaching a broader understanding,” he told Al Jazeera.

Reports that Munir might travel to Washington, DC after Tehran were denied by security officials, who called them “speculative”. Andrabi said he was not aware of any such development.

In Jeddah on Wednesday, Sharif met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and expressed “full solidarity and support” for the kingdom following regional escalation, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry. The crown prince praised what Riyadh described as the “constructive role” played by both Sharif and Munir.

In Doha, Sharif met Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and discussed “the regional situation, particularly in the Gulf region”, underscoring “the importance of de-escalation, dialogue and close international coordination to ensure peace and stability”, the prime minister’s office said.

From Doha, Sharif heads to Antalya with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. They are expected to meet counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and potentially Egypt on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on April 17.

Regional security push

The Antalya meeting is part of a broader diplomatic effort. Turkiye is preparing to host talks on a regional security platform involving Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and possibly Egypt, according to officials familiar with the discussions.

It would be the third such meeting in a month, following earlier rounds of talks in Riyadh and Islamabad.

The goal is to establish a platform for regular, structured cooperation on regional security issues, the officials said, stressing the discussions are distinct from current efforts to end the Iran war.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirmed that discussions were under way, but said no agreement had been finalised.

“This pact is necessary so that countries can be assured of one another,” he told the state-run Anadolu Agency on Monday.

Turkiye also reaffirmed support for the US-Iran peace process on Thursday.

“We will continue to provide the necessary support for the ongoing ceasefire to turn into a permanent truce and eventually lasting peace, without becoming more complex and difficult to manage,” the Defence Ministry said, adding that it expected “the parties will be constructive in the ongoing negotiation process”.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said senior officials from the four countries had also met in Islamabad earlier this week to prepare recommendations for Antalya.

Ceasefire under strain

The two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan on April 8, which halted attacks in Iran and the Gulf, is due to expire on April 22. While still holding, it is under increasing strain.

A US naval blockade on Iranian ports remains in place, with the US Central Command saying its forces had turned away nine ships as of Wednesday.

Kamran Yousuf, an Islamabad-based journalist and expert on diplomatic affairs, said he expected the ceasefire to be extended.

“I would be really surprised if the current ceasefire is not extended. There is little appetite on both sides to go back to war. There are enough signs on the ground that if there is no deal before the truce expires, the ceasefire will be extended,” he told Al Jazeera.

Faisal offered a more cautious assessment, warning that failure to secure a second round would shift Pakistan’s role.

“Pakistan’s mediation will not collapse immediately, but Islamabad’s role will change from mediator to crisis manager. If hostilities resume, Pakistan will focus again on brokering a ceasefire,” he said.

Despite uncertainty, signals from both Washington and Tehran have remained cautiously optimistic.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said further talks would “very likely” take place in Islamabad, adding, “We feel good about the prospects of a deal.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said multiple messages had been exchanged with Washington through Pakistan since April 12.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that talks could resume within two days and that Washington was “more inclined to go” to Pakistan.

Sticking points remain

The path to a second round remains complicated by unresolved disputes.

Iran has insisted that Lebanon be included in any agreement, arguing that ongoing Israeli strikes there, which have killed more than 2,000 people and displaced 1.2 million, cannot be separated from the wider conflict.

On April 14, the United States convened a trilateral meeting in Washington with the ambassadors of Israel and Lebanon, the first direct engagement between the two sides since 1993.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio mediated the talks, which both sides described as “productive”, but no ceasefire or follow-up meeting was agreed.

Washington has maintained that any Lebanon deal must remain separate from US-Iran negotiations, rejecting Tehran’s position. On Thursday, Israel said its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would speak on the phone with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun — but Beirut had not confirmed any plans for a telephone conversation. The two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations.

At Thursday’s briefing, Andrabi aligned Pakistan with Iran on this issue.

“Peace in Lebanon is essential for US-Iran peace talks,” he said, adding that “signs of improvement on the Israel-Lebanon front over the past two days are encouraging.”

Yousuf said a Lebanon ceasefire would send an important signal to Iran.

“Extending the ceasefire to Lebanon will be an important confidence-building measure, a signal from the US that it is serious about a second round. It will also give Tehran good reason to return to the table,” he said.

But he added that the deeper challenge remained Iran’s nuclear programme.

“The nuclear issue is at the heart of the real problem. The flurry of shuttle diplomacy initiated by Pakistan is aimed at bridging the gap between the two sides,” he said.

Grace Wermenbol, a former US national security official and senior visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said Washington’s approach to Lebanon would hinge on Trump’s willingness to pressure Israel.

“A clear pathway to a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon exists,” she told Al Jazeera. “The question is whether Trump will be willing to apply the pressure necessary on Israel to halt its military offensive and allow the Lebanese government to continue its military disarmament efforts. So far, and this is also true for the months preceding the latest escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, we have not seen this pressure materialise.”

The Strait of Hormuz remains another major obstacle.

The waterway, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil passes during peacetime, has effectively been blocked by Iran since early in the war, except for ships belonging to countries that have struck individual deals with Tehran.

Starting Monday, the US imposed its own naval blockade on the strait, to prevent any Iran-linked vessel from passing through.

“Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has emerged as the primary issue in US-Iranian negotiations. Opening it is crucial to easing upward pressure on oil prices and instilling confidence in global markets,” Wermenbol said.

She added that Tehran appeared to be betting Washington would eventually back down.

“There is no easy military option here,” she said. “The only way to resolve this issue and remove the threat to maritime traffic will need to involve a diplomatic deal.”

Jeremy Clarkson’s choir has reportedly landed a starring role on his new series after wowing with their Britain’s Got Talent audition that sent them straight to the semi-finals

Jeremy Clarkson’s choir has landed a starring role on his new series after wowing with their Britain’s Got Talent audition. The former Top Gear presenter, 66, has documented the ups and downs of Diddly Squat in the Cotswolds on his Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm since 2021, with a fifth batch of episodes expected to be released later this year.

Just weeks ago, Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir auditioned for the ITV reality competition and managed to win Amanda Holden’s Golden Buzzer, sending them straight through to the semi-finals after wowing with a rendition of Elbow classic One Day Like This. Just prior to belting out the famous track, member Katrina explained to the judges that Jeremy himself had set the choir up, having been sponsored by the Hawkstone Brewery that the TV star co-owns in the Cotswolds.

With the live semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent just weeks away, insiders have revealed that the group of more than 30 farmers, will also enjoy another television stint with a role on the next series of Clarkson’s Farm.

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A source said: “Filming for series five is well and truly under way and the finished show is likely to air next year. Fans will, however, be able to see series four in a matter of weeks, though according to Jeremy it’s a rather darker season than we’ve been used to.”

Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “Hawkstone Farmers’ ChoirBut the appearance of the Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir in the following outing is going to make it more uplifting. They’re going to have to get used to being even more famous though.”

Just after their success on BGT was aired in March, Jeremy took to social media to congratulate them. He said: “I watched Britain’s Got Talent tonight for the first time because the Hawkstone Choir were on and they were just fantastic.

“These guys are all farmers and they work incredibly hard for really incredibly small rewards, and to see them all on that stage with all that love in the room made my heart sing – I actually welled up.”

While visibly holding back tears he went on to thank Amanda Holden for pressing the Golden Buzzer. He added: “It shows that people quite like farmers. They were very very good, well done all of you. I’m a very happy man tonight.”

The short video attracted comments from fellow BGT viewers, one wrote: “I was crying like a baby, the sentiment, the emotion, they’re sensational. They Will Win.” Another wrote: “Truly awesome really heartfelt.”

Speaking about getting the Golden Buzzer, Katryna Shell from Northumberland said: “The choir has turned into something so much more than singing…

“We have come together as a community, something I didn’t even anticipate. The choir is filled with all sorts of people with varying ages, singing experience, parts of the country, but we all have farming linking us together – it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

Hugh Thomas, from Pembrokeshire said: “I had to pinch myself – this was really happening to an old boy from Pembrokeshire! Performing on National TV wasn’t something I ever envisaged… More importantly it will shine a light on agriculture, farming and the rural economy.”

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