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Iranian state TV has read out a message from new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei which says Iran ‘does not want war’ but will ‘not renounce legitimate rights’ in the face of threats from the US and Israel.

Shortly after his attorney entered a plea of not guilty, Tiger Woods announced he will seek treatment “to prioritize my well-being and work toward lasting recovery.”

The golf legend was arrested Friday on suspicion of DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a urinalysis stemming from a rollover crash near his home on Jupiter Island, Fla. Hydrocodone pills were found in his pocket and a sheriff’s deputy noted in the arrest affidavit that Woods had bloodshot eyes and dilated pupils and was “sweating profusely” while performing field sobriety tests.

Attorney Douglas Duncan appeared in Martin County, Fla., court Tuesday, waived arraignment on Woods’ behalf, entered not guilty pleas on the two misdemeanor charges and requested a trial by jury.

Hours later, Woods posted a statement to his social media accounts:

“I know and understand the seriousness of the situation I find myself in today. I am stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health. This is necessary in order for me to prioritize my well-being and work toward lasting recovery.

“I’m committed to taking the time needed to return to a healthier, stronger, and more focused place, both personally and professionally. I appreciate your understanding and support, and ask for privacy for my family, loved ones and myself at this time.”

Although he hadn’t committed to playing, Woods had been toying with returning to competition for the first time since 2024 at next week’s Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, where he has won five championships.

Now he won’t even make an appearance, let alone play. Woods was scheduled to attend the opening of “The Patch,” a municipal golf course in Augusta that he helped redesign. He also was expected to attend the annual Champions Dinner on April 7.

“Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament fully support Tiger Woods as he focuses on his well-being,” Masters chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement. “Although Tiger will not be joining us in person next week, his presence will be felt here in Augusta.”

Woods, 50, last competed on the PGA Tour in July 2024 when he missed the cut at the Open Championship, posting an 8-over 79 and 6-over 77 at Royal Troon. It marked his third consecutive missed cut in a major that year.

Widely considered the greatest golfer of all time, Woods has amassed 82 PGA Tour wins, including 15 majors. He has competed sporadically the last four years because of injuries, but has become an increasingly important figure off the course, serving as chairman of the PGA Tour’s Future Competition Committee and serving on the tour’s Enterprises Board, Policy Board and Player Advisory Council.

When arrested Friday, Woods was asked if he had any medical conditions. He replied that he has had seven back surgeries and at least 20 leg operations.

He also has had several car accidents.

Around Thanksgiving 2009, a report that Woods had been in a car accident near his home erupted into a major scandal involving allegations of affairs. It resulted in Woods’ divorce from Elin Nordegren, the mother of his children.

In 2021, Woods was seriously injured in a rollover crash near Rancho Palos Verdes the morning after the Genesis Invitational, which he hosted at Riviera Country Club. He had to be extricated from the wreckage of the Genesis GV80 SUV that he was driving

Woods underwent “a long surgical procedure” on his lower right leg and ankle, according to a statement he released. Doctors inserted a rod into his leg and placed screws into his foot and ankle.

The PGA Tour also issued its first comment on Woods following the golfer’s statement.

“Tiger Woods is a legend of our sport whose impact extends far beyond his achievements on the course,” it said.

“But above all else, Tiger is a person, and our focus is on his health and well‑being. Tiger continues to have our full support as he takes this important step.”

The golf body’s CEO, Brian Rolapp, added: “Tiger Woods is one of the most influential figures the sports world has ever known.

“Over the last year, I have come to deeply appreciate Tiger not only for his impact on the game, but for his friendship and the perspective he has shared with me as I joined the golf industry.

“My thoughts are with him and his family as he takes this step, for which he has my full respect and support.”

Last week’s accident was the latest in a string of incidents that have littered Woods’ recent years.

His marriage ended – as did lucrative sponsorship deals – after he struck a fire hydrant, a tree and several hedges outside his home in a 2009 incident which sparked accusations of extramarital affairs.

Then in 2017 he was sentenced to a year’s probation after pleading guilty to reckless driving. That came after police officers found Woods slumped at the wheel of his car near his home. A toxicology report found he had several legal medications in his system and marijuana’s active ingredient.

In 2021, Woods survived a serious accident which left him with extensive injuries. He has had multiple surgeries since, and played only a limited schedule.

Last week, he competed in the TGL indoor golf league – his first competitive golf for more than a year – following more back surgery and an Achilles injury.

WASHINGTON  — The Trump administration urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to rule that it may block migrants from applying for asylum at ports of entry along the southern border.

The administration’s lawyers argued that the right to asylum, which arose in response to Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, does not extend to those who are stopped just short of a border post in California, Arizona or Texas.

They pointed to part of the immigration law that says a non-citizen who “arrives in the United States … may apply for asylum.”

“You can’t arrive in the United States while you’re still standing in Mexico. That should be the end of this case,” Vivek Suri, a Justice Department attorney, told the court.

Immigration rights advocates called this claim “perverse” and illogical. They said such a rule would encourage migrants to cross the border illegally rather than present themselves legally at a border post.

The justices sounded divided and a bit uncertain over how to proceed. But the conservative majority is nonetheless likely to uphold the administration’s broad power over immigration enforcement.

Several of the justices noted, however, the Trump administration is not currently enforcing a “remain in Mexico” policy.

Liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson questioned why the court would make a major decision on immigration and asylum with no immediate, practical impact.

The case posed a fundamental clash between the government’s need to manage surges at the border and the moral and historic right to offer asylum to those fleeing persecution.

In 1939, more than 900 Jewish refugees who were fleeing Nazi Germany aboard the MS St. Louis were turned away by Cuba and the United States. They were forced to return to Europe and more than 250 of them died in the Holocaust.

The worldwide moral reckoning spurred many nations, including the United States, to adopt new laws which offer protection to those fleeing persecution.

In the Refugee Act of 1980, Congress said that non-citizens either “physically present in the United States” or “at a land border or port of entry” may apply for asylum.

To be eligible for asylum, a non-citizen had to demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country due to their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.

Only a small percentage of applicants win their asylum claims, and only after years of litigation.

But faced with overwhelming surge of migrants, the Obama administration in 2016 adopted a “metering” policy that required people to wait on the Mexican side of the border.

The Trump and Biden administrations maintained such policies for a time.

Immigrant rights advocates sued, contending the metering policy was illegal. They won before a federal judge in San Diego who ruled the migrants had a right to claim asylum.

In a 2-1 decision, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed in 2024.

“To ‘arrive’ means ‘to reach a destination,’” Judge Michelle Friedland wrote for the appeals court. “A person who presents herself to an official at the border has ‘arrived.’”

The Trump administration appealed.

Solicitor Gen. D. John Sauer said the “ordinary meaning of ‘arrives in’ refers to entering a specific place, not just coming close to it. An alien who is stopped in Mexico does not arrive in the United States.”

On Tuesday, the Justice Department attorney said the court should reverse the 9th Circuit and uphold the government’s broad power to block migrants approaching the border.

“I can’t predict the next border surge,” Suri said.

“For more than 45 years, Congress has guaranteed people arriving at our borders the right to seek asylum, consistent with our international treaty obligations,” said Kelsi Corkran, Supreme Court director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, who argued the case. “Yet this administration believes that Congress gave it discretion to completely ignore those requirements, and turn back those who are seeking refuge from persecution at its whim.”

“The people turned away at our border are fleeing rape, torture, kidnapping, and death threats. You cannot tell families running for their lives to go back and wait in danger because their suffering is inconvenient,” said Nicole Elizabeth Ramos, border rights project directo at Al Otro Lado which was the plaintiff in the case. “We brought this case because the United States made a legal and moral commitment to protect people fleeing persecution.”

March 12 (UPI) — Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., announced Thursday that he will run for his 18th term in the House of Representatives.

Clyburn, 85, said he is going to run a “very vigorous campaign.”

“Today I’m going to answer a question that’s always asked: What is there unfinished or what more do you need to do? Well, it’s in the preamble of our Constitution: We exist in pursuit of a more perfect union,” he said. “And I’m here today to say I do believe that I am very well-equipped — and healthy enough — to move into the next term, trying to do the things that are necessary to continue that pursuit of perfection.”

About his age, Clyburn said, “If I were not up to it, I would not do it. But in response to some extensive surveys, some intense consultations with my three daughters, they finally got to a unanimous opinion that I should be here today and make this announcement.”

Clyburn, who has served in the House for more than 30 years, was the No. 3 Democrat in the chamber until he stepped down as Democratic whip in 2023. He then became assistant Democratic leader to House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

Reps. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Steny Hoyer, D-Md., recently announced their retirements from the House, leaving Clyburn as the only one left of that leadership trio from 2007-2023.

Clyburn joined the House in 1992 as the first Black congressman from South Carolina since Reconstruction.

Clyburn endorsed then-presidential candidate Joe Biden just before the South Carolina primary, which helped him win the state and boost his candidacy after struggling in other early primaries.

Antjuan Seawright, Clyburn’s longtime adviser, said he is still needed in Congress to “help shape the direction and future of our country.”

Seawright added that the party needs “a little hip-hop and R & B, Old Testament and the New Testament.”

South Carolina’s primary will be June 9.

March 11 (UPI) — A bipartisan group of senators penned a letter to the Government Accountability Office on Wednesday calling for an investigation into the Justice Department over its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files release.

The letter accuses the Justice Department of noncompliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the bipartisan law overwhelmingly passed by both chambers of Congress last year. The lawmakers shared concern that the department has still not released all of the files it is required to by the law, despite a December deadline.

Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, signed the letter. They also shared concerns about the files that have been released, including victims’ names not being redacted and alleged coconspirators’ names being redacted.

The Government Accountability Office is an independent and nonpartisan agency in the legislative branch. Its purpose is to operate as a watchdog over the federal government, with the authority to investigate and perform audits.

“Contrary to Congress’s explicit directive to protect victims, these records included email addresses and nude photos in which the names and faces of publicly-identified and non-public victims could be identified,” the letter said. “But when it came to information identifying powerful business and political figures who are alleged coconspirators or material witnesses, DOJ appears to have heavily redacted those.”

The senators are requesting that Comptroller General Orice Williams Brown reviews the department’s process it used to review, redact and release the files. They specify that they want the Government Accountability Office to investigate whether the release of the files “has serve to cover up child sexual abuse.”

The Epstein files have continued to be a source of contention between lawmakers and the Trump administration more than two months after the Justice Department was required by law to release the files.

Lawmakers have pushed for answers about the delayed and mistake-filled release from Attorney General Pam Bondi, leading to fiery exchanges in a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month.

The House Oversight Committee issued a subpoena for Bondi’s testimony last week. Five Republicans joined all of the Democrats in the committee in voting for the subpoena.

“This horrific scandal is one where powerful, wealthy men groomed, abused, and raped young women, men, and children,” the letter from the senators reads. “It is critical to understand what led to DOJ’s failure to redact the victims; information and re-victimize those individuals while violating the Epstein Files Transparency Act in its redactions of information related to their alleged abusers.”