monday

The NBA gave Luka Doncic one mulligan. The league wouldn’t grant the Lakers superstar a second.

Doncic will serve a one-game suspension because of technical foul accumulation, the NBA announced Saturday, sidelining him for Monday’s game against the Washington Wizards after he picked up his 16th technical foul of the season in the Lakers’ win over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.

Doncic said he was trying to get away from Brooklyn’s Ziaire Williams when he pushed the Nets forward aside with 5:12 remaining in the third quarter. Doncic had just been called for an offensive foul while the Lakers were attempting to inbound the ball. Williams was shouting in Doncic’s direction. Doncic attempted to move past Williams and the 24-year-old from Lancaster then waved his arm behind him and slapped Doncic in the throat. Both were given technical fouls.

Doncic said referees told him his push was “exaggerated.”

“Which was obviously [not the case],” said Doncic, who scored 41 points with eight rebounds and three assists in the win.

This is the second time in a week that Doncic has faced the mandatory suspension after getting his 16th technical foul, but he avoided the fate after the NBA rescinded a technical he picked up against Orlando on March 21. The reversal kept Doncic available for the Lakers’ matchup with Eastern Conference-leading Detroit on March 23 in which Doncic scored 32 points, but missed the potential game-tying three at the buzzer of a tense 113-110 Lakers loss that ended a nine-game winning streak.

Monday’s game will likely not have the same drama.

The Wizards (17-56) have lost 17 of their last 18 games. The only win came against the Utah Jazz, another team that’s attempting to position itself for the lottery more than the playoffs. Washington will be without Trae Young (quad) and Anthony Davis (finger), the team’s two major midseason acquisitions.

With another bottom-feeding team coming to Crypto.com Arena, Doncic and the Lakers might actually benefit from resting the superstar. He played through left hamstring soreness Friday, and the Lakers (48-26) host the playoff-bound Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. The days between Friday’s win and Monday’s game will be the Lakers’ first two-day break since the All-Star Game.

Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer, has charged into the most valuable player conversation by helping lift the Lakers into third place in the Western Conference. He has scored 30 or more points in 12 consecutive games, the longest such streak for his career.

The Lakers have won 15 of their last 20 games with Doncic averaging 35.5 points per game during the span. With 102 steals on the season, including three against the Nets, Doncic also became the first Laker since Kobe Bryant in 2012-13 averaging 30 or more points per game with 100 or more total steals.

The Lakers could also be without guard Marcus Smart, who has missed the last three games because of a right ankle contusion. He also suffered a hip injury in a separate fall against Orlando, but he is showing improvement and remains day-to-day, Lakers coach JJ Redick said Friday.

Democratic legislative leaders on Monday called on voters to boycott USC’s upcoming gubernatorial debate if the university does not invite candidates who were excluded from participating.

The unsparing letter adds another layer of controversy to Tuesday’s forum, which as a result of the university’s selection criteria would not include any of the leading candidates of color.

“We are writing to demand you open the March 24 gubernatorial debate to all leading candidates,” said the letter sent Monday evening to USC President Beong-Soo Kim by Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón (D-Goleta) and the leaders of the legislative Latino, Black, Asian and Pacific Islander, Native American, LGBTQ, Jewish and women’s caucuses. “The outcry over this debate is deafening and includes legal demands from the excluded candidates’ attorneys, public calls by elected leaders across the state, concerns from the included candidates’ own campaigns, and growing alarm from California voters. Instead of responding to these valid concerns by expanding the debate, USC has doubled down.”

USC officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Tuesday’s debate is scheduled less than two months before ballots begin arriving in voters’ mailboxes.

The university has been embroiled in controversy over the criteria it used to select the candidates it invited to participate in Tuesday’s debate, which is co-sponsored by KABC-TV Los Angeles and Univision.

Specifically, critics have pointed out the methodology allowed San José Mayor Matt Mahan — a white candidate who recently entered the race and is polling poorly — to vault above former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former state Controller Betty Yee.

“The university’s selection process — built on a formula never before used for a debate of this scale, has delivered a result that is biased,” the letter says. “When a methodology produces this outcome — one that elevates a candidate with notable ties to USC’s donor community and the co-director of the Dornsife Center for the Political Future — the burden falls on USC to explain itself, not on everyone else to accept it. If USC does not do the right thing, we call on California voters to boycott this debate.”

Mike Murphy, a co-director of the USC center hosting the debate, has been voluntarily advising an independent expenditure committee backing Mahan. The veteran GOP strategist previously said he had nothing to do with organizing the debate and that he has asked for unpaid leave at the university through the June 2 primary if he takes a paid role in the campaign.

USC has also received tens of millions of dollars in donations from billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso and his wife. Caruso, a USC alumnus who served as a trustee for years, is also a Mahan supporter.

“I had no conversations with the debate hosts or organizers,” Caruso said in a statement to The Times on Monday. “This is the most important election for California in a generation, and I encourage everyone to be engaged, learn as much as possible about each candidate, then form an opinion who can move California forward in the most positive of ways. Watching debates is a part of that process. That is why I believe debates should include all the credible candidates.”

The debate sponsors released a joint statement on Friday defending their decision.

“We want to be clear that we categorically, unequivocally deny any allegations that the debate criteria was in any way biased in favor or against any candidate and want to clarify the facts,” said the statement by the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future and its broadcast partners. “The methodology was based on well-established metrics consistent with formulas widely used to set debate participation nationwide — a combination of polling and fundraising — and developed without regard to any particular candidate.”

Hours later, the four prominent Democrats who were excluded from the debate called on their rivals to boycott the event, reiterating their concerns that the criteria used to determine who was invited to participate resulted in every prominent candidate of color being excluded from the forum.

The four Democrats who are participating in the debate — Rep. Eric Swalwell of Dublin, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer and Mahan — all issued statements criticizing USC’s selection criteria, but did not pull out of the debate.

“It is a shame that USC has decided to elevate one candidate at the expense of others,” Swalwell wrote on X on Sunday. “USC, and every host of a gubernatorial debate, should employ fair, objective, and honest criteria for all candidates. I remain hopeful they will do so Tuesday night.”

Porter expressed similar thoughts.

“Criteria used to determine which candidates qualify to participate in a debate must be transparent, fair, and objective,” she wrote on X. “I’m disappointed by how USC handled the process for Tuesday’s debate. Candidates and Californians deserve answers.”

Bill Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted a former waitress in 1972 after escorting her to one of his shows, a civil jury in California concluded Monday, awarding the woman $19.25 million in damages.

The verdict was the latest turn in a series of legal battles the disgraced entertainer, now 88, has faced since allegations that he repeatedly drugged and raped women exploded publicly about a decade ago. Since then, he served about three years in a Pennsylvania prison on sexual assault charges before the case was overturned in 2021.

Donna Motsinger, now 84, said in her lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court that Cosby had given her wine and a pill that left her unable to move, and that she woke up in her house wearing nothing but her underwear, according to court records, and that “she knew she had been drugged and raped by Bill Cosby.”

Cosby has denied the allegations, as well as those brought by dozens of other women who claimed they had been drugged and raped. Coming in the early years of the #MeToo movement, a broad social media-inspired campaign to name and prosecute men accused of sexual misconduct, Cosby’s attorneys painted him as an unfair target of mass vigilantism gone awry.

Motsinger sued Cosby in 2023, alleging that, at the time, she was working at a Sausalito restaurant called The Trident that was popular with celebrities, including Cosby, according to the complaint her attorneys filed Sept. 27 of that year. One night, Motsinger accepted Cosby’s invitation to go with him to his show at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos. Cosby picked her up at her home in a limousine, according to her complaint, and, on the way to the venue, gave her the wine and a pill that she thought was aspirin.

“Next thing she knew, she was going in and out of consciousness while two men attending to Mr. Cosby were putting her in the limousine,” the complaint said. “The last thing Ms. Motsinger recalls were flashes of light,” before waking up in her house in nothing but underwear.

Motsinger didn’t consent to Cosby’s sexual contact and, having been rendered unconscious by drugging, she couldn’t consent to it to begin with, according to the complaint. As a consequence of her ordeal, her complaint says she suffered lost wages, medical bills, pain and suffering and emotional distress.

March 23 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s border czar Tom Homan has confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will be deployed to U.S. airports starting Monday, despite strong opposition from unions and Democrats.

Homan told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that he was working on the plan’s execution with acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and Transportation Security Administration Administrator Ha Nguyen McNeill.

“So, we’ll put together a plan today and we’ll execute it tomorrow,” he said.

On Sunday, Trump threatened to send ICE agents to U.S. airports over a protracted fight with Democrats over Department of Homeland Security funding.

Funding for DHS lapsed Jan. 31 after Congress failed to pass legislation to keep the department open, with Democrats are demanding reforms in response to federal immigration agents deploying aggressive tactics during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

The partial shutdown is affecting the TSA, which is under the DHS. Airports are reporting long lines and congestion due to a shortage in TSA staff, who haven’t been paid since DHS funding ran out.

Trump threatened on his Truth Social platform that ICE will perform security at airports where they will arrest undocumented migrants, raising questions about whether the agents are being sent only to relieve pressure on TSA or to carry out immigration enforcement at major travel hubs.

Homan on Sunday sought to frame the move as a way to alleviate congestion and move long lines of travelers though security.

Asked if ICE had the specialized training to inspect bags and passengers, Homan said he doesn’t expect the immigration agents to be ‘looking at an X-ray machine, because we’re not trained in that.”

“But there are certain parts of security that TSA is doing that we can move them from those jobs, and put them in the specialized jobs to help those lines,” he said, adding that discussions with the TSA concerning what security roles ICE agents would perform were ongoing.

“We will have a plan by the end of today … what airports we’re staring with and where we’re sending them,” he said, suggesting that the worst affected airport will be given priority.

“So it’s a work in progress, but we will be at airports tomorrow helping TSA move those lines along.”

He also confirmed that ICE agents will perform immigration enforcement at the airport, underscoring that their deployment is mainly to aid TSA.

Republicans have attempted to characterize the shutdown as Democrats prioritizing undocumented immigrants over airport security, while the Democrats have blamed Republicans for blocking more than half a dozen attempts to pass legislation to fund the TSA, including on Saturday. The GOP lawmakers say they want to fund the entirety of the DHS.

“Instead of sending ICE agents to harass travelers at airports, why don’t Republicans get their act together and agree to pay TSA workers like we’ve asked them to SEVEN TIMES now?” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement on X on Sunday.

Vice President JD Vance accused Schumer of continuing “to hold TSA funding hostage.”

“Thankfully, ICE will bring sanity to our airports starting tomorrow, but it’s far past time for Democrats to fund DHS,” he said.

Following Homan’s interview, Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., accused the Trump administration of using ICE “to strike fear and terror on our airports.”

“Mr. President, it’s pretty simple: if you want TSA agents to get paid (as they should), then pass the Democrats’ bill to fund TSA,” he said on X. “No need for your out-of-control paramilitary to do yet another thing they aren’t trained to do.”

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been informed it is among those where ICE agents will be deployed Monday, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement.

The agents will report to the TSA and will be assigned to line management and crowd control within domestic terminals, he said, adding that federal officials have indicated that they are not intended to conduct immigration enforcement activities.

“Our administration remains hopeful the Federal Government can soon find a way to fully fund TSA and pay their employees to resume standard operations at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport — and all airpots we connect to,” he said.

The deployment of ICE agents is also being lambasted by the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest government worker union in the United States.

It accused the Trump administration of sending ICE agents to do the jobs of the more than 50,000 TSA employees who have worked without pay for more than five weeks.

It also expressed worry that the ICE agents will be undertrained for what they may be required to do, arguing that stationing them at security checkpoints will create security risks.

“Our members at TSA have been showing up every day, without a paycheck, because they believe in the mission of keeping the flying public safe,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement.

“They deserve to be paid, not replaced by untrained, armed agents who have shown how dangerous they can be.”

The leaders of several flight attendant unions also criticized the Trump administration on Sunday for using the TSA and frontline security officers “as pawns in this dangerous game,” stating that the DHS can use its billions of dollars in discretionary funding to pay them.

“This latest threat of ICE invasion at the airports is another distraction from solutions that protect Americans,” the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 135 and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said in a joint statement.

DETROIT — He’s the hottest player in the NBA. Not even the NBA’s technical foul rule can slow Luka Doncic down.

The NBA rescinded Doncic’s 16th technical foul, the league announced Sunday, allowing Doncic to avoid a mandatory one-game suspension that would have kept him out of Monday’s game against the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.

Doncic and the Lakers appealed the call after he was given a technical for taunting against Orlando Magic forward Goga Bitadze in Saturday’s Lakers win. Bitadze’s technical foul was also rescinded after the European players were arguing while Doncic was shooting free throws. Doncic claimed Bitadze made a vulgar comment toward Doncic’s family in Serbian while Bitadze said he first heard inappropriate comments from Doncic and only repeated what he heard the Lakers guard say.

Often criticized for arguing with officials, Doncic remains at 15 technical fouls this season, second in the NBA behind Phoenix’s Dillon Brooks. In 2023, Doncic also had his 16th technical foul rescinded, avoiding a one-game suspension.

Doncic’s historic scoring run has fueled the Lakers’ nine-game winning streak, their best since the 2019-20 season that ended with an NBA championship. Doncic, the NBA’s leading scorer, is averaging 40 points per game during the winning streak while shooting 40.3% from three-point range. His 60-point outburst against the Miami Heat last Thursday was the first 60-point game in Lakers history since Kobe Bryant’s last game in 2016. He was just the seventh Lakers player to record a 60-point game, joining legends Bryant, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, George Mikan, Jerry West and Shaquille O’Neal.

The winning streak has vaulted the Lakers from sixth in the West to third. They have navigated the most difficult stretch of their schedule with seven wins over playoff-bound teams.

The Pistons, poised to earn the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2007, are without their own star player as guard Cade Cunningham is sidelined for at least two weeks with a collapsed lung. Detroit is 2-0 without him with wins over Washington and Golden State.

Note: Rui Hachimura (right calf soreness), Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain) and Marcus Smart (right ankle soreness) are questionable for Monday’s game.

What began as a social media post from President Trump on Saturday has grown quickly into a full-scale plan to deploy ICE agents to U.S. airports.

Amid a partial government shutdown, TSA lines have grown to be hours long at some U.S. airports, creating problems for travelers across the country. Call-out rates have started to increase at some airports, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said at least 376 TSA agents have quit since the partial shutdown began Feb. 14.

White House border advisor Tom Homan said that ICE plans to dispatch agents to airports as soon as Monday, and that he was working with other officials to determine where to send agents.

“It’s a work in progress,” Homan said during a Sunday appearance on CNN. “But we will be at the airports tomorrow helping TSA move those lines along.”

Homan stressed that ICE agents would provide support where possible, so that TSA staffers could better fulfill specialized positions.

“I don’t see an ICE agent looking at an X-ray machine, because they are not trained in that,” Homan said.

On Saturday, President Trump posted to social media, “If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before.”

The pushback to the White House plans was immediate.

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security, released a statement that read, “Masked, armed police at travel checkpoints is a hallmark of dystopian movies. Now, Donald Trump is threatening to bring this tool of fascism to America. He is manufacturing chaos at airports for political leverage and trying to force Democrats to accept unaccountable secret police at security checkpoints around the country.”

Also speaking to CNN on Sunday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “The last thing that the American people need are for untrained ICE agents to be deployed at airports all across the country, potentially to brutalize or, in some instances, kill them. We’ve already seen how ICE conducts itself.”

Representatives from Los Angeles International Airport did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Orange County’s John Wayne Airport said she was not currently aware of any communication or Homeland Security guidance on the proposed plan.

A spokesperson for San Francisco International Airport said airport officials have not yet received anything specific from Homeland Security about a deployment of ICE agents. He said SFO security personnel are not part of TSA, and as a result, the airport has not had any checkpoint backups.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett listen as President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on February 24. Photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI | License Photo

March 22 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Watson vs. Republican Nation Committee, a legal case that could have ramifications on mail-in balloting deadlines in the upcoming mid-term elections, on Monday.

About 30 percent of voters cast their ballots by mail in 2024.

CBS noted that 14 states and the District of Columbia have extended deadlines for counting mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day.

Illinois, for instance, counts ballots received up to two weeks after Election Day, while California has a grace period of seven days.

This week’s case will look at whether extended deadlines violate federal statutes recognizing Election Day as a specific date.

“The longer the period over which the election is conducted, the greater the opportunity for and risk of fraud,” USA Today quoted conservative groups, backing the RNC’s attempt to count only ballots received by Election Day, as saying in the court filing.

Marc Elias, a Democratic elections attorney representing Vet Voices and the Alliance for Retired Americans, told the newspaper eliminating grace periods could disproportionately impact Democrats because they are more likely to vote by mail than Republicans.

“People are being stripped of their voting rights through no fault of their own,” Elias said, noting delays in the U.S. Postal Service might be one reason ballots don’t arrive at their local polling places until after Election Day.

The case will be heard as U.S. President Trump continues to pressure the Senate to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require those registering to vote to show proof of citizenship with passports or birth certificates.

“THE SAVE AMERICA ACT MUST BE PASSED BY THE SENATE. THERE IS NOTHING THAT IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR THE U.S.A. Voter I.D., Proof of Citizenship, etc. Get it done and watch all of the good things that will happen!!!” Trump wrote on X Friday.

A recent Harvard CAPS/Harris poll showed that 71 percent of voters support the SAVE Act.

PARIS — We’ve long had your back, now it’s our turn. That is how the famously transactional President Trump is framing his demands that allies help him with the Iran war. He wants to call in IOUs for decades of U.S. security guarantees.

The string of refusals indicates his stock of European goodwill is low. He has put allies through the wringer since returning to the White House, bullying them over tariffs, Greenland and other issues, and disparaging the sacrifices their soldiers made alongside U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Now he’s demanding — not just requesting — that they send warships to help the U.S. unblock the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes — essentially mop up behind the conflagration that he and Israel ignited in the Middle East.

The reply has been a “global raspberry.”

That’s how a veteran French defense analyst, François Heisbourg, described allied responses.

No close ally has come forward with immediate help. Britain is flat-out refusing to be drawn into the war. France says the fighting would have to die down first. Others are non-committal. China, which is not an ally but was also asked to help, is ignoring Trump’s call.

“This is not Europe’s war. We didn’t start the war. We were not consulted,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Tuesday.

Trump’s frustration with the ‘Rolls-Royce of allies’

Trump has singled out the refusal from the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Keir Starmer cultivated ties with Trump and reached an early trade deal with the administration, but is now among allies who refuse to join a regional war with no clear endgame.

The U.K. “was sort of considered the Rolls-Royce of allies,” Trump said Monday, adding that he’d asked for British minesweeping ships.

“I was not happy with the U.K,” Trump said. “They should be involved enthusiastically. We’ve been protecting these countries for years.”

Starmer said Britain “will not be drawn into the wider war” and that British troops require the backing of international law and “a proper thought-through plan” — suggesting those were not in place.

He initially refused to let U.S. bombers attack Iran from British bases before accepting their use for strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commanding general of the U.S. Army in Europe, said allies are “looking at the United States in a way that they never have before. And this is bad for the United States.”

Having previously appeased Trump, some European leaders are “starting to realize that there’s no benefit or value in using flattery,” he said.

European leaders say it’s not their war

Going to war without consulting allies was in keeping with Trump’s America-first outlook.

“My attitude is: We don’t need anybody. We’re the strongest nation in the world,” he said Monday.

But failing to get an international mandate, as the U.S. did before intervening in the 1990 Gulf War, is boomeranging.

“It is not our war; we did not start it,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said. “We want diplomatic solutions and a swift end to the conflict. Sending more warships to the region will certainly not contribute to that.”

French President Emmanuel Macron envisions possible naval escorts in the Strait of Hormuz — but only once fighting has died down.

“France didn’t choose this war. We’re not taking part,” he said.

After bruising tariff battles with Trump last year, the first months of 2026 have further strained alliances. Trump’s renewed pressure for U.S. control of Greenland, including a tariff threat against eight European nations, and his false assertion that allied troops avoided front-line fighting in the Afghanistan War, upset partners in the NATO military alliance.

“Allies, or at least the Europeans, aren’t willing to be at the beck and call of a demand from Donald Trump,” said Sylvie Bermann, a French former ambassador to China, the U.K. and Russia.

“And even in asking for a helping hand, he is doing so in a brutal manner, saying: ‘You’re useless, we’re the strongest, we don’t need you, but come,’” she said.

A dangerous mission

Retired naval officers say that unblocking the Strait of Hormuz with military escorts while the war rages and without Iran’s consent would be dangerous.

France, which has rushed its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Mediterranean, is working with other countries to prepare such a mission once the air war has subsided. French military spokesman Col. Guillaume Vernet said any escorting would be conditional on talks with Iran, and Macron has publicized two calls in eight days with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

That has won points with Trump.

“On a scale of zero to 10, I’d say he’s been an eight,” Trump said Monday. “Not perfect, but it’s France. We don’t expect perfect.”

But he’s fuming at other allies.

“We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said Tuesday.

Trump has leverage, including in Ukraine

Allies in Europe and Asia need oil, gas and other products from the Middle East to flow again. That gives Trump some leverage.

Allies also know from experience that resisting Trump carries risks of retaliation.

“It really could be anything. Are the Europeans prepared for that?” asked Ed Arnold, a former British army officer and now a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank.

European allies need Trump’s continued blessing for U.S. weaponry, intelligence, and other support for Ukraine, as well as financial pressure on Russia. The U.S. has started to chip away at some sanctions on Moscow by temporarily allowing shipments of Russian oil to ease shortages stemming from the Iran war. Allies also want him to reengage in talks to end the war.

“That was what kept European leaders quiet for a lot of last year in the face of the rhetoric and actions,” said Amanda Sloat, a former U.S. national security adviser who now teaches at Spain’s IE University.

“It is also the thing that is making them a little bit nervous now.”

Leicester and Burrows write for the Associated Press. Burrows reported from London. AP journalists Jill Lawless in London, Lorne Cook in Brussels, Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Simina Mistreanu in Taipei, Taiwan, and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Aden Holloway, the second-leading scorer for the Alabama men’s basketball team, was arrested Monday on a felony drug charge and may not be available for the Crimson Tide during March Madness, pending the university’s investigation into the matter.

Alabama coach Nate Oats said that after he told his players about the situation, the team went out and had “a really good practice” four days ahead of its first-round NCAA tournament game against Hofstra.

“Aden’s one of our guys, and everybody wants to wrap their arms around [him],” Oats said Monday during an appearance on the Crimson Tide Sports Network. “Everybody makes some mistakes in life, but [the players] also understand we’ve got to move on … and the team’s got to go play Friday.

“So I thought we did a good job of that this morning, kind of addressing the situation, what we currently knew at the time, and got our guys focused on practice.”

Holloway’s arrest came after the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force searched a residence near campus and “recovered more than a pound of marijuana, paraphernalia and cash,” the Tuscaloosa Police Department said.

The 21-year-old player is facing a first-degree charge of marijuana possession, not for personal use, which is a Class C felony and carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $15,000.

Police said Holloway also will be charged with failure to affix a tax stamp, another felony. Holloway was taken to jail shortly before 10 a.m. and was released less than an hour later on a $5,000 bond.

Alabama said in a statement Monday: “The University is aware of the allegations and is working to gather more information. The student has been removed from campus pending further investigation by the UA Office of Student Conduct.”

Oats said players need to be held accountable if they fail to meet the standards set by the program.

“So, you know, we had to suspend [Holloway] pending the investigation by the UA office of student conduct,” Oats said. “And we’re certainly disappointed in his behavior. But that being said, we still love him. He’s still our guy. We’re helping him get the help he needs, and we’re going to continue to help him whatever way we can.”

Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide, the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region, continues to prepare to face 13th-seeded Hofstra on Friday without a player who averages 16.8 points a game. Sophomore guard Labaron Philon Jr. leads the team with 21.7 points a game, and sixth-year senior Latrell Wrightsell Jr. is averaging 12.8 points.

“I did tell our team, this team more than any team I’ve ever coached is better equipped to handle a situation like this,” Oats said. “I don’t know how many games we went into where we had a game time decision. Guy goes, warms up, and we got to decide whether he’s going to play or not an hour before the game. … We’ve won plenty of games with guys not available, so our guys will be ready to go against Hofstra.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Monday’s Results

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

Alliance Ouchi 13, Rise Kohyang 5

Carson 5, Narbonne 3

Fremont 8, Marquez 4

Garfield 9, LA Roosevelt 4

Huntington Park 15, Maywood Academy 4

San Fernando 6, Granada Hills Kennedy 4

Sotomayor 3, Rancho Dominguez 1

Sun Valley Poly 1, North Hollywood 0

Sylmar 6, Verdugo Hills 2

Torres 8, Gardena 4

Vaughn 8, Eagle Rock 7

SOUTHERN SECTION

Ambassador 9, Whitney 7

Aquinas 10, Arrowhead Christian 1

Baldwin Park 23, Pioneer 5

Beaumont 12, Jurupa Hills 9

Beckman 4, Woodbridge 1

Bloomington Christian 12, Joshua Springs Christian 7

Calvary Baptist 25. Packinghouse Christian 0

Calvin Christian 14, California Lutheran 3

Capistrano Valley 12, Northwood 1

Chino Hills 5, Colony 3

Corona 3, Riverside King 0

Corona Santiago 11, Eastvale Roosevelt 3

Crean Lutheran 7, Sunny Hills 5

de Toledo 8, Hoover 7

Desert Christian 15, Valley Torah 0

El Toro 4, Esperanza 3

Granite Hills 8, Eastside 0

Great Oak 4, La Palma Kennedy 1

La Quinta 13, Palm Springs 5

La Serna 4, Monrovia 4

Loma Linda Academy 16, Desert Chapel 4

Meadows School 8, Bellflower 7

Milken 9, Malibu 6

Mission Viejo 8, Irvine University 0

Norco 8, Corona Centennial 4

North Torrance 12, St. Monica 1

Oak Park 7, Windward 4

Palm Desert 18, Rancho Mirage 0

Paramount 6, Cerritos 5

Redlands East Valley 16, Indio 3

Riverside Prep 4, Sonora 1

Rolling Hills Prep 6, HMSA 4

San Clemente 3, Sonora 0

San Juan Hills 7, El Dorado 2

San Marino 6, California 5

Serrano 10, Adelanto 7

Shadow Hills 12, Xavier Prep 1

South Hills 10, Los Altos 1

St. Bernard 8, La Salle 3

Twentynine Palms 21, CIMSA 3

Valley Christian 13, Bishop Montgomery 0

Whittier 11, Gabrielino 1

Woodcrest Christian 6, Chaparral 5

Yucca Valley 4, Desert Hot Springs 3

YULA 5, Shalhevet 3

INTERSECTIONAL

Berkeley Prep 4, Gahr 1

Calabasas 12, Taft 1

Compton 5, King/Drew 1

Garden Grove Pacifica 6, Parker (CO) Legend 2

Lakeview Charter 14, Community Charter 4

Redlands Adventist Academy 16, Public Safety Academy

Santa Margarita 13, Mountain Vista (CO) 2

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

Animo Venice 25, Animo Robinson 5

Bell 18, Huntington Park 4

Bernstein 23, Belmont 2

Contreras 24, Roybal 14

Discovery 20, Locke 6

Fremont 21, Dymally 0

Garfield 10, LA Roosevelt 0

Harbor Teacher 11, Narbonne 8

Hollywood 15, RFK Community 1

LA Marshall 18, USC-MAE 1

Middle College 29, LAAAE 8

Northridge Academy 17, Grant 0

Rancho Dominguez 8, Orthopaedic 6

South Gate 5, South East 1

VAAS 21, Panorama 5

SOUTHERN SECTION

AAE 14, ACE 3

Aquinas 10, Riverside Notre Dame 3

Arlington 15, Vista del Lago 2

Arrowhead Christian 4, Hesperia Christian 1

Chino 7, Diamond Bar 6

Corona 15, Walnut 1

Covina 17, Muir 13

Crean Lutheran 11, Tustin 1

Elsinore 10, Irvine University 4

Garey 8, Sierra Vista 5

Grace 12, Del Sol 0

Godinez 14, Estancia 3

Lakewood 12, Valley Christian 5

Los Osos 6, Canyon Springs 1

Maranatha 11, Heritage Christian 1

Newport Harbor 13, Portola 11

Northwood 3, Trabuco Hills 1

Oaks Christian 11, Crescenta Valley 6

Orange 2, Santa Ana 0

Oxford Academy 15, Loara 14

Palm Desert 13, Rancho Mirage 12

Palos Verdes 12, South Torrance 7

Pasadena Marshall 21, Bassett 8

Redlands 9, Fontana 7

RSCSM 21, Mesa Grande Academy 7

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 23, Glendale 4

Twentynine Palms 13, Moreno Valley 10

Yucca Valley 1, Desert Hot Springs 0

INTERSECTIONAL

Animo Watts 22, Stella 13

Burbank Providence 14, Van Nuys 0

Dorsey 1, Inglewood 1

El Segundo 7, Wilmington Banning 4

Port of LA 9, Peninsula 8

Redondo Union 10, LA Hamilton 0

Sierra Canyon 16, El Camino Real 0

Hulu the “Buffy” reboot slayer?

The Disney-owned streaming platform has pulled the plug on its much-anticipated “Buffy the Vampire” revival, a year after star Sarah Michelle Gellar confirmed the series was officially in the works. A “really sad” Gellar delivered news of the pre-debut cancellation to fans in a brief Instagram video shared Saturday. She was set to executive produce the series, tentatively titled “Buffy: New Sunnydale,” with Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao set to direct.

“I never thought I would find myself back in Buffy’s stylish yet affordable boots and thanks to Chloé I was reminded [of] how much I love her and how much she means not only to me but to all of you,” Gellar said. “This doesn’t change any of that.”

She added: “I promise if the apocalypse actually comes you can still beep me.”

Gellar’s bittersweet announcement prompted Los Angeles resident Bren O’Brien to organize a rally on Monday outside Hulu’s headquarters in Santa Monica. O’Brien, a lifelong “Buffy” fan, displayed several posters urging the streamer to reconsider its decision along the sidewalk. One bright red poster read “Bring Buffy Back!!” scrawled in black ink. Another, bearing Gellar’s likeness, asserted, “Canceling Buffy Isn’t smart, the world needs a hero!”

“I’m really sad. This was a moment that I’ve been waiting decades for,” O’Brien said.

Hulu officially began production on the “Buffy” sequel series after years of careful consideration by Gellar. Last year, the cast for the pilot was assembled while Gellar vowed , “We will only make this show if we can do it right.”

The “Buffy” star did not share additional details about the cancellation in her weekend post, but Zhao said at the 2026 Academy Awards red carpet that she was “not surprised” by Hulu’s decision.

“I had an incredible, incredible time with Sarah, with all the cast and crew doing this. We, first and foremost, see ourselves as the guardians of the original show,” the “Hamnet” filmmaker told Variety on Sunday. “Our priority for Sarah and for us has always been to be truthful to the show, to be truthful to our fans. So, things happen for a reason, and we keep our hearts open and we welcome the mystery.”

Actor Ryan Kiera Armstrong, who was set to lead the show as a supernatural slayer opposite Gellar, lamented the cancellation on Instagram. “Your slayer,” she captioned a photo of herself in costume.

“Buffy” premiered in 1997 and aired on the WB until 2001 when it moved to UPN. Though the series ended in 2003 , it spawned the spinoff series “Angel” which aired from 1999 to 2004 on the WB. Other prospective “Buffy” revivals, however, reportedly struggled to make it past development. Additionally, several actors in recent years have accused “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon of misconduct.

After Gellar broke the cancellation news, “Buffy” fans reacted online, with many of them slamming Hulu for its “terrible decision.” A representative for Hulu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

O’Brien, among the disappointed fans, said he began posting about the cancellation online, creating posters and promoting his rally. He said he was surprised by Hulu’s decision because “Buffy” is “such a valuable IP to have,” considering its generations of fans.

“It’s just a no-brainer,” he added.

Erin McClory, a fellow “Buffy” fan, joined O’Brien outside of Hulu’s headquarters and held a poster depicting a wooden stake through a broken heart. She said she hopes rallying around the slain “Buffy” series can help persuade Hulu to reconsider its decision or prompt another network to pick up the show.

“It seems crazy for them to not even give it a chance,” she said.

Though both O’Brien and McClory say they’re eager for new “Buffy” material down the line, their support for the show remains steadfast.

“We’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing and keep sharing Buffy edits [on social media],” O’Brien said, then sighed. “I want new content.”