EU unblocks funds as Ukraine presses for membership progress

Cooper Flagg, a 19-year-old American forward for the Dallas Mavericks, was voted the 2026 NBA Rookie of the Year, the league announced on Monday.

Flagg, selected by Dallas with the first overall pick in last year's NBA Draft, averaged an NBA rookie-best 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals a game this season for the Mavericks, who went 26-56 and missed the playoffs.

Flagg was the first rookie to lead his team in points, steals, rebounds and assists since 1985 NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Jordan with Chicago.

By scoring a season-high 51 points earlier this month in a loss to Orlando, Flagg became the youngest player in NBA history with a 50-point performance.

Flagg had four 40-point games in the season, the most by a rookie since Allen Iverson in 1996-97, and broke the record set by LeBron James for most 40-point NBA games by a teenager.

Flagg became the third Dallas player to win the Rookie of the Year award, joining Jason Kidd in 1995 and 2019 winner Luka Doncic, whose trade to the Los Angeles Lakers last season set the stage for Dallas to tumble into the NBA Draft Lottery and win the top pick used on Flagg.

Philadelphia's V.J. Edgecombe, a 20-year-old Bahamian guard, and Charlotte's Kon Knueppel, a 20-year-old American forward who was a college teammate of Flagg at Duke University, were the other finalists for the award.

Voting by a global media panel saw Flagg receive 56 first-place votes and 412 points overall to 44 first-place votes and 386 points for Knueppel.

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The failure to properly implement a historic peace deal in Colombia has emboldened armed groups who have destroyed large areas of forest, ex-president Juan Manuel Santos told AFP in an interview Monday.

The 2016 Nobel Peace Prize laureate was speaking at a climate conference in the northern Colombian city of Santa Marta, two days after the country's worst attack on civilians in decades.

Saturday's highway bombing in the southwestern Cauca department -- which the government blamed on guerrillas opposed to a decade-old peace process -- killed 21 people in the run-up to next month's presidential elections.

Santos, who received a Nobel for negotiating a landmark peace with the Marxist rebel army FARC, held his successors' "lack of a coherent security policy" responsible for the current uptick in violence.

"Violence is returning in many regions due to the lack of implementation of the peace agreement, the lack of a coherent security policy," he told AFP.

"Criminal gangs are taking advantage of this situation, including fighting among themselves. That has generated much of the violence."

- Environment pays the price -

The 74-year-old, who wore shoes emblazoned with a peace symbol and a marijuana leaf in a nod to both peace and nature, said that "Without a doubt...tackling deforestation should be one of the main priorities" of any future peace agreement.

In the decade since the 2016 deal, deforestation across Colombia has shot up, with areas under guerrilla control heavily affected.

Santos blamed organized crime groups and their use of cattle ranching and illegal mining -- which both result in deforestation -- to finance their exploits.

He emphasized that peace and environmental preservation were "closely linked" causes, referring to conversations he had with Indigenous peoples living in and around Santa Marta.

"When I went to tell them, 'We have already made peace with the oldest and most powerful guerrilla in the Western Hemisphere (FARC), and now we are going to make peace with nature,' they told me, 'Yes, but make real peace, because peace with nature is necessary for peace among human beings."

He voiced hope that the conference, attended by some 60 countries looking to pivot away from fossil fuels, would lead to a "fairer, faster transition towards renewable energy."

The 2016 peace agreement ended a half-century of war between the government and FARC, but remaining armed groups continue to control large swaths of territory in remote parts of the northeast and south.

Concerns that violence is on the rise once again have dominated campaigning ahead of the May 31 presidential election.

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Former Irish President Mary Robinson has had a front-row seat to historic change -- and senses another turning point coming at a fossil fuel phaseout meeting in Colombia.

She casts the Santa Marta conference as a rare opportunity to break the "fossil fuel mindset" -- and as the Iran war roils energy markets, it spotlights the risks of coal, oil and gas dependence, particularly for the poor she has long championed.

Speaking to AFP on Monday in Santa Marta ahead of the high-level talks on April 28-29, Robinson also described how listening to a calving glacier brought her to tears -- and crystallized the urgency of the climate fight.

This interview with Robinson, a member of The Elders group of former heads of state founded by Nelson Mandela, has been edited for length and clarity. 

Q: You were UN special climate envoy when the Paris Agreement was signed. The Santa Marta conference grew out of frustration with that UN-led process. Do those talks still serve a purpose?

A: "I do believe the COP (UN Conference of the Parties) is still very important and I hope that Santa Marta will be a complement to it and feed into the process.

"There are many other ways in which we need the COP. But we failed in Belem (at COP30) to get reference to phasing out fossil fuel because of the penetration of the fossil fuel lobbies. So that's a reality. 

"But when we planned Santa Marta we didn't know we'd be in the worst crisis of oil and gas. The timing is important. Now is the time to change the mindset -- get out of a fossil fuel mindset into a future-oriented clean energy, renewable energy. 

"It's the way we have to go, it's the way we are going, but we need to go far much faster."

Q: Can this conference make a difference?

A: "There are real possibilities. We really have never had the time and space before to do it. It's not a negotiated conference -- you don't have to worry about negotiation.

"Countries have come thinking of what they are prepared do: governments, sub-national organizations, business generally, civil society, and the energy of the people summit. The dynamic is real.

"We're on the brink of a new dynamic way forward of doers, coalitions of doers and it has to be the outcome of Santa Marta."

Q: Hundreds of millions of people rely on fossil fuels for energy. How difficult is phasing them out?

"They are the very citizens who are suffering now from this conflict, which has choked off 20 percent of oil and gas. And it's the poorest that suffer most from the rise in prices, the farmers can't get the fertilizer, etc. This is not a reliable future. I think that's a really important moment for Santa Marta."

Q: Some governments are under pressure to produce more fossil fuels to address the energy crisis. How do leaders balance energy security and climate priorities?

A: "We are coming close to real tipping points, and the scientists have been warning us for years. But they are worried that things are accelerating.

"Not enough of the planning of governments is grounded in the science. One of the things we're calling for -- and I'm very keen on this -- is that governments should have chief planetary scientists. During COVID, lots of countries had chief medical officers, and we listened because we were scared. They had a lot of authority.

"We're in the same position. We haven't thought it through yet, but we are."

Q: The science of climate change is flashing red -- yet you seem optimistic about the future?

A: "When you hear the science, it is scary. And we should be more scared.

"Part of it is aligning ourselves with nature. I had an experience of doing that. I was lucky enough to be on a scientific expedition in Greenland where we were told to just be on your own and listen to the glacier. 

"I was listening to the sound of thunder -- which was a major calving -- and then sharp, smaller calving like rifle shots, I found myself crying. I was on my own, listening to nature and I was crying because I knew it wasn't right, I knew what we were doing, we shouldn't be doing.

"I was so grateful to that moment of really understanding that nature was talking to us and saying, stop this. 

"And so it's the urgency of the science, the opportunity at the moment, and the space that is provided by Santa Marta. We must avail of it, and we must build momentum."

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Louisiana Tech and Conference USA announced Monday that they have reached a settlement allowing the Bulldogs and Lady Techsters to leave the league and join the Sun Belt Conference in July.

“We've reached a fair and equitable agreement with Conference USA, our partner for 13 years,” Louisiana Tech said in a statement. “The move to the Sun Belt Conference in July is one that will benefit the health and well‑being of our student athletes, the fiscal stability of our athletics department, and the economic vitality of our entire region. Our Bulldogs and Lady Techsters look forward to renewing rivalries with the Ragin Cajuns, Warhawks, Golden Eagles, and all of the Sun Belt members. Go Dogs!”

Conference USA said the resolution “fully acknowledges our governing documents” and expressed optimism about the league’s future. “Conference USA is pleased to have reached a positive resolution with Louisiana Tech that fully acknowledges our governing documents. We look forward to continued success and impact in the national landscape, driven by the collective strength and shared vision of our 10 member institutions,” the conference said.

The settlement ends a dispute over Louisiana Tech’s departure that had been expected to include negotiations over exit terms and timelines. The university has been a CUSA member for 13 years.

The move will shift Louisiana Tech’s conference competition and scheduling to the Sun Belt beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.

Former US actress Jessica Mann told Harvey Weinstein's retrial Monday how the disgraced movie mogul flooded her with praise in the weeks before allegedly raping her in 2013 in a New York hotel room. 

Weinstein, a central figure of abuse allegations that spurred the MeToo movement, is already in prison for other sex offenses, so he will remain behind bars regardless of the verdict. 

It is the third time that Mann has taken the stand against Weinstein after a 2020 guilty verdict was overturned due to mishandling of witnesses, and a 2025 case ended in mistrial after a jury-room feud. 

"I felt like he was a really nice person and he was offering to mentor me," Mann, wearing a beige jacket over a white top, told a New York courthouse. 

She recalled how he showered her with compliments after the pair met at a party in early 2013, when Mann was an aspiring 27-year-old actress and Weinstein a Hollywood powerbroker.

"He told me that I was prettier than Natalie Portman," she said.

She added that Weinstein's apparent interest in boosting her career, including buying her books on acting, initially seemed like a "miracle."

The 40-year-old's testimony -- much of which echoed the 2020 and 2025 cases -- was emotional and she took occasional pauses as her voice broke. 

Mann's testimony will continue Tuesday. 

- Avalanche of allegations -

Weinstein, wearing a suit and seated in a wheelchair he is bound to due to ill health, occasionally shook his head as Mann spoke.

Prosecutor Candace White told last week's opening hearing how Weinstein "preyed upon a fragile and sheltered young woman."

The defense is seeking to dismiss Mann's rape allegation by painting her relationship with Weinstein as consensual.

The Oscar-winning Weinstein, 74, is already serving a 16-year prison term in a California case for the rape of a European actress more than a decade ago. He is appealing that conviction.

He is also appealing a conviction last June of sexual assault against movie producer Miriam Haley.

Weinstein was known for his fiery temper, and the industry had long been rife with suggestions that he took advantage of his power to sexually exploit women.

In 2017, blockbuster investigations by the New Yorker and the New York Times laid bare a series of claims by young women that triggered an avalanche of allegations from more than 80 complainants and prompted the global MeToo movement.

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(The Center Square) – The Colorado House on Monday approved a bill allowing for the access of abortion medication on college campuses.

House Bill 1335 is sponsored by Reps. Lorena Garcia and Kenny Nguyen, both Democrats. Garcia represents Adams and Jefferson counties. Nguyen represents parts of Adams, Broomfield and Weld counties.

Forty-one Democrats in the House voted for HB 1335 on its third and final reading in the chamber. Twenty-one Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Bob Marshall of Douglas County, opposed it.

The bill requires institutions of higher education that operate a student health center to provide on-site abortion medication services through the student health center. The bill also requires an institution that has an on-site pharmacy to maintain a stock of abortion medication to dispense to students enrolled at the institution.

Campuses that do not have an on-site pharmacy must either submit a prescription for abortion medication to an off-campus pharmacy or dispense abortion medication through the campus student health center with permission from the student health center’s licensure.

An institution is not required to provide access to or stock abortion medication if doing so would conflict with the institution's sincerely held religious beliefs or practices.

Several House Republicans spoke out against the bill, saying that abortion medication could harm students who take the pills.

Pointing to an April 2025 study from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, state Rep. Stephanie Luck said researchers found one in 10 patients experience a serious adverse health event after taking the abortion pill.

“We ran an amendment to say, ‘Hey, at the very least, let’s make sure that the college health center, the group that knows that this girl has taken these, that they follow up at least twice’ because it’s important that somebody check in,” said Luck, who represents Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, Pueblo and Teller counties. “We didn’t adopt that standard.”

Rep. Ken DeGraaf, R-El Paso County, also urged a “no” vote. 

Like Luck, DeGraaf mentioned the health concerns for women taking the abortion pill, and he questioned whether campuses are “equipped for the psychological and physical fallout of this” bill.

“I kind of envision that someday we're going to meet these pre-born persons, either as a defender or an attacker,” said DeGraaf. 

Meanwhile, Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Douglas County, said this bill is not about access. It is about a mandate.

“It forces colleges to provide abortion drugs, shift costs onto students, and expands medical services without ensuring medical safety,” said Bradley. “We should be strengthening healthcare, not politicizing campuses and burdening institutions.”

Bradley later recommended that people running campus health centers close their operations.

“Force these students to find a doctor somewhere else because we’re mandating unsafe practices onto you,” said Bradley. “You will be sued, you will pay the consequences, and I just wouldn’t do it.”

Garcia, the legislation's sponsor, said the bill came directly from students.

“This bill exists because a group that organizes and works with young people on campuses,” said Garcia. “They heard directly from their students on campus that this was a need, to be able to access the abortion pill on campus.”

Garcia added that she worked with “every single level of higher institution in this state,” from community college to the big flagship schools. According to Garcia, there is not a single higher education entity opposed to this bill.

“This bill is nothing more than making sure that the constitutional rights that our voters put in place are made accessible,” said Garcia, referring to a 2024 voter initiative that enshrined the right to abortion in the Colorado constitution. 

The American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists has said abortion medication is safe and effective.

For a brief moment, US President Donald Trump spoke of "love and coming together" after a shooting at a media gala. It didn't take long for his administration's tone to change.

Less than 48 hours after Saturday's incident, at which thousands of journalists were present, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was blaming the alleged assassination attempt on "systemic demonization" by Trump's opponents.

"The left-wing cult of hatred against the president and all of those who support him and work for him has gotten multiple people hurt and killed, and it almost did so again this weekend," Leavitt told a briefing.

"Those who constantly, falsely label and slander the president as a fascist, as a threat to democracy, and compare him to Hitler to score political points, are fueling this kind of violence," she added.

At the same time, Trump and his wife Melania were lashing out at television comedian Jimmy Kimmel, a long-term target of right-wing ire, calling for him to be sacked over a joke about the first lady.

"I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel's despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

"Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC," he said, referring to ABC's parent company Disney.

It was a perhaps predictable end to any hopes that Trump might halt his own vitriolic and often incendiary language against opponents, immigrants and journalists.

During more than a decade in politics Trump has pushed all the barriers of presidential language.

The media are a favorite target for the former reality TV star, who has repeatedly branded reporters "the enemy of the people." Trump has often responded aggressively to female journalists in particular, calling one "piggy."

- 'Disgrace' -

Trump has also pardoned those accused of violence, including hundreds of rioters who raided the US Capitol in a bid to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

And in recent months alone, Trump has said he was "glad" that Robert Mueller, the former FBI chief who led the "Russiagate" probe, was dead -- and threatened Iran that a "whole civilization will die tonight."

After Leavitt's comments -- delivered as she took a brief break from maternity leave -- Trump's Democratic opponents hit back.

"This so-called White House press secretary wants to lecture America and lecture us about civility? Get lost," Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, told reporters.

"Clean up your own house before you have anything to say to us about the language that we use."

Just days earlier, it seemed things could be about to change.

Trump had taken an unusually reflective tone in the immediate aftermath of the shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, which Leavitt said was the third attempt on his life in two years.

Still dressed in his tuxedo as he addressed journalists after the incident, Trump admitted he had been about to "rip" the press in his speech -- but instead he spoke almost philosophically about America's polarized politics.

"I saw a room that was just totally unified," Trump said, saying there was a "a tremendous amount of love and coming together" and even thanking the head of the White House Correspondents Association, which hosts the annual dinner.

The next day, he was back to his old self.

"You're a disgrace," he told CBS journalist Norah O'Donnell on the 60 Minutes program when she read extracts of a purported statement from the shooting suspect that mentioned a "pedophile" and a "rapist", without naming Trump.

"I'm not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person... You shouldn't be reading that on 60 Minutes."

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(The Center Square) – Consumer protection organization Consumers’ Research launched a campaign to warn Congress about nonprofit hospitals that prioritize "woke" politics such as diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender ideology for minors, and climate extremism over their patients.

Executive director of Consumers’ Research Will Hild told The Center Square that “it is appalling to see hospitals indulge in woke politics while their patients struggle with long waits, surprise bills, and a continuous lack of price transparency.”

“Consumers are right to be fed up, especially when their tax dollars are underwriting activism,” Hild said.

“They see how nonprofit hospitals are abusing their privileges to prioritize everything from DEI to trans ideology for kids to climate extremism, and beyond,” Hild said.

Hild noted that “nonprofit status is not an automatic right; it is a public subsidy granted in exchange for a public benefit.”

“Every cent and second spent on left-wing activism is money and time taken away from patients,” Hild said.

“New York-Presbyterian and CommonSpirit Health…are just two of many examples of nonprofit hospitals using taxpayer dollars to push an ideological agenda,” Hild said of the two hospitals included in his organization’s campaign. “As this new campaign shows, Consumers' Research will continue exposing woke hospitals and hold them accountable.”

Neither New York-Presbyterian nor CommonSpirit Health have yet to respond to The Center Square’s individual requests for comment.

Consumers’ Research’s campaign against woke hospitals includes a mobile billboard on Capitol Hill and a website, according to media relations.

On the website, Consumers’ Research stated that both New York-Presbyterian and CommonSpirit Health prioritize “woke politics over patients.”

For instance, Consumers’ Research revealed that New-York Presbyterian’s 2025 Health Equity Report stated that “advancing health justice is essential to our organization’s mission and key part of our strategic framework.”

New York-Presbyterian also runs the Dalio Center For Health Justice which, according to its website, aims “to understand and address the root causes of health inequities with the goal of setting a new standard of health for the communities we serve.”

According to Consumers’ Research’s campaign website, New York-Presbyterian promotes “‘health equity for all’ through community partnerships.” 

The website also revealed that New York-Presbyterian operates “The Compass Program,” which is “a program that supports transgenderism in children.”

According to Consumers’ Research, New York-Presbyterian Pediatrician-In-Chief Sallie Permar “advocated for transgender intervention on kids and pledged to continue ‘providing gender-affirming care to our transgender youth.’” 

“She also committed to ‘fight against legislation’ limiting access to ‘gender-affirming care’ and to advocate for transgender youth as a ‘vulnerable population,’” the website said.

CommonSpirit Health also has a hand in “woke politics,” Hild said, as it runs an Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging.

According to the office’s website, it “leads” the “health equity strategy for CommonSpirit” by “promoting a workforce that represents the diversity of…patients, families, and communities,” “ensuring health equity is embedded across [its] sites of care,” as well as “removing barriers through economic empowerment while addressing systemic racism.”

CommonSpirit also has a “five-pillars approach to create equity for all and lists ‘advocating for social justice’ as a key pillar ‘especially when it comes to healthcare access,’” Consumers’ Research wrote.

Consumers’ Research stated that “CommonSpirit collaborated with Morehouse School of Medicine to push DEI through a $100 million initiative ‘focused on increasing the number of clinicians who are Black or from other underrepresented populations.’”

Beyond DEI, CommonSpirit Health promotes transgender ideology, according to Consumers’ Research, “through a systemwide steering committee to ‘ensure standardized training and policies related to best practices for preferred pronouns, gender-neutral restrooms, and family visitation.’”

Additionally, “in 2023, a report was released that exposed how CommonSpirit was offering transgender surgeries and hormone treatments, including providing these transgender interventions to kids,” Consumers’ Research said.

Consumers’ Research also revealed that “CommonSpirit integrated radical climate goals through its “Race To Zero” campaign targeting net-zero emissions by 2040.”

Consumers’ Research’s campaign comes ahead of the House Committee on Ways & Means’ Tuesday hearing “on the impact of rising health care costs on patients and families.”

(The Center Square) – A majority of U.S. adults say children born in the country should automatically get citizenship, according to a new poll published as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on President Donald Trump's effort to end the practice.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted April 15-20, found that 64% of Americans support maintaining birthright citizenship, while 32% said citizenship should not automatically be granted at birth. The survey collected responses from 4,557 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The results come weeks after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara, a challenge to Trump's January 2025 executive order that would deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. unless at least one parent is a citizen or permanent legal resident. A ruling is expected before the end of the court's term in late June.

Public opinion on the issue breaks sharply along party lines. Nine percent of Democrats say birthright citizenship should be scrapped, compared with 62% of Republicans. Independents are divided, with 66% saying the policy should stand and 26% saying it should not.

Support for birthright citizenship crosses racial lines. Among Black and Hispanic adults polled separately, 74% said they believe the policy should be upheld. Fifty-eight percent of white adults agreed. Opposition was highest among white respondents, at 39%, compared with 22% of Hispanic respondents and 19% of Black respondents.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments April 1. Several justices expressed skepticism of the administration's position during the hearing. Chief Justice John Roberts questioned how the government could move from narrow historical exceptions to the citizenship rule, such as children of diplomats or invading armies, to exclude the entire class of children born to parents in the country illegally.

Trump attended the oral arguments in person, a first for a sitting president. He has since said publicly that he expects the court to rule against him.

"If they rule against our Country on Birthright Citizenship, which they probably will, it will cost America massive amounts of money but, more importantly, it will cost America its DIGNITY!" Trump wrote on social media earlier this month.

Trump's executive order was blocked by four federal judges before the Supreme Court stepped in last June, ruling 6-3 to limit the scope of nationwide injunctions against the policy. The court did not rule on the merits of the order at that time.

The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof." Trump's administration has argued the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" excludes children of those in the country illegally or on temporary visas.

Allyson Felix, the most decorated woman in Olympic athletics history with 11 medals, says she is planning a comeback at age 40 with her eyes on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Felix told Time magazine in a story published online on Monday that she is preparing for what she hopes will be a sixth Olympics in her hometown when she will be 42.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime homecoming," Felix said of her Olympic dream. "And it is the only thing powerful enough to pull me back."

Felix is the most decorated American Olympian in athletics.

She captured her only solo gold in the 200 meters at London in 2012, added gold in the 4x400 relay in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2021 in Tokyo and won 4x100 titles in 2012 and 2016.

She took 200m silver in 2004 and 2008, 400 silver in 2016 and 400 bronze at Tokyo.

Felix has championed women returning to competition after having children. She gave birth to a daughter in 2018 and a son in 2024.

Felix attended the 2024 Paris Olympics as a spectator and found she yearned for her competitive days.

"It was definitely mixed emotions," Felix told the magazine. "There were moments where I was like, 'Oh, this is so great. It's so exciting to be in the stands and on the other side.'

"And then there were moments where I was, 'You know, I miss this feeling.'"

Felix also won a record 20 medals at the World Championships, the most for any woman or man, including 14 titles.

She won the 200 crown in 2005, 2007 and 2009 and the 400 in 2015 as well as three 4x100 relay titles, a 4x400 mixed relay crown in 2019 and six women's 4x400 relay golds, including at what was her farewell meet, the 2022 worlds in Eugene, Oregon.

Felix, a member of the athletes commission for the 2028 LA Olympic organizing committee, said she is realistic about her quest.

"I know, at 40, I am not at my peak. I have no illusions about that," Felix said. "I'm very clear in what it is and what I want to see. And so I hope it's seen that way."

Getting support from a home crowd is part of her goal.

"When I was competing, you just heard this roar for host-country athletes at the Olympics," Felix said. "I would love to experience that."

Simply making the attempt to compete at the LA Games is a victory of its own for Felix.

"I would probably be upset at myself if I just didn't give it a try," Felix said. "However it turns out, I'll still be there with my kids, hanging out and cheering everybody on."

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