'Gomorrah' author cleared of defaming far-right Italian minister

Defending champions John Korir and Sharon Lokedi completed a Kenyan double-double at the Boston Marathon on Monday, both delivering tactical masterpieces to clinch back-to-back victories in the 130th edition of the prestigious road race.

Korir took advantage of perfect racing conditions to claim the fourth marathon win of his career with a majestic performance to win the men's race in a new course record.  

The 29-year-old defending champion bided his time before pulling away from Ethiopia's Milkesa Mengesha after 20 miles to finish in a time of 2hr 1min 52sec.

Korir's winning time obliterated the previous course record of 2hr 03min 02sec set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011.

Tanzania's world champion Alphonce Simbu finished second in 2hr 02min 47sec, sprinting past Kenya's Benson Kipruto down the closing straight.

Korir's second Boston victory follows his wins at the Chicago Marathon in 2024 and the Valencia Marathon in December.

Korir's serene victory was in stark contrast to last year's Boston win, when the Kenyan fell during the early stages of the race before recovering to clinch a memorable win.

"This year was a breeze for me because I had no problems at the start or at the finish," Korir said afterwards. "It felt like a race back home with all the people cheering. It was in my mind to set the course record and I thank God that he fulfilled my wishes."

- 'Patient' Lokedi dominates -

Korir's emphatic win in the men's race was emulated by Lokedi in the women's elite event, who took the tape in 2hr 18min 51sec.

The 32-year-old collected the third major marathon victory of her career after emerging from a crowded pack of around a dozen runners over the final six miles.

Lokedi broke clear after 21.7 miles with compatriots Loice Chemnung and Irine Cheptai alongside her, and then kicked again to lead by eight seconds from Chemnung at the 23-mile mark.

Lokedi showed no sign of flagging over the final few miles and led by 33 seconds heading into the final mile before kicking for home to complete a third major marathon win after victories in New York in 2022 and Boston in 2025.

Chemnung finished 44 seconds behind in second place, with Mary Ngugi-Cooper third in 2hr 20min 07sec.

Lokedi said patience had been the key to her victory -- and revealed that encouragement from a young fan had helped spur her finish.

"It just felt so good -- I just kept telling myself 'Be patient, be humble, you can do this'," Lokedi said. 

"And then I saw a little girl who said 'You got this ladies!'. And it was so cute, and that was what I needed."

Lokedi also said her friend and compatriot Hellen Obiri -- a Boston winner in 2023 and 2024 and runner-up behind Lokedi in 2025 who missed Monday's race -- had also offered support.

"I really wish I had (Hellen) there, but she texted me yesterday and said 'I know you can do it, I believe in you -- just go out there and show them who you are'," Lokedi said.

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(The Center Square) – Minnesota prosecutors have filed criminal charges against a federal immigration agent for his actions during Operation Metro Surge.

This comes as the state is pursuing more than a dozen additional investigations as part of Minnesota’s effort to scrutinize federal law enforcement.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced last week that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, Gregory Donnell Morgan Jr., has been charged with two counts of second-degree assault stemming from a February highway incident.

A nationwide warrant has been issued for his arrest.

According to prosecutors, on Feb. 5 Morgan was driving illegally on the shoulder of eastbound Highway 62 near the Portland Avenue exit in an unmarked rental SUV.

After a nearby driver briefly moved onto the shoulder, apparently to slow him down, Morgan allegedly accelerated, pulled alongside the vehicle, and pointed his duty weapon directly at the two inside, while continuing to drive on the shoulder.

County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the case represents a “milestone” in broader efforts to review federal agent conduct tied to Operation Metro Surge.

“Today’s charges reflect an important milestone in our efforts to seek accountability for the harms inflicted on community,” Moriarty said.

She added that the investigation timeline was shorter than other cases because the Minnesota State Patrol was able to conduct its work “without obstruction or interference.”

The charges come as Moriarty’s office is investigating more than a dozen additional incidents involving federal agents during Operation Metro Surge.

In March, Moriarty announced the launch of a public portal seeking photos and videos to help identify potentially unlawful behavior. Her office is currently reviewing at least 17 cases, including an incident in which Border Patrol official Greg Bovino allegedly threw a smoke canister at protesters.

Bovino was later relieved of his role in the Twin Cities operation.

“There are many victims whose stories need to be told. We will investigate and pursue charges where appropriate,” Moriarty said in March. “If you saw or experienced unlawful conduct by federal agents, please submit any photo or video evidence.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security previously told The Center Square that such investigations are unwarranted and argued that federal agents are protected when acting within the scope of their duties.

“This does nothing to make Minnesota safer. Enforcing federal immigration laws is a clear federal responsibility under Article I, Article II and the Supremacy Clause,” the spokesperson said. “Federal officials acting in the course of their duties are immune from liability under state law.”

Moriarty has rejected that argument, saying her office will pursue charges where appropriate and is prepared for potential legal challenges.

“We will investigate and pursue charging where appropriate, and we’ll seek collaboration with local law enforcement wherever ⁠and whenever needed,” she said. “Make no mistake, we are not afraid of any legal fight.”

Tensions between state and federal officials are also playing out in court.

In late March, Minnesota filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Justice and DHS, accusing the agencies of refusing to turn over key evidence tied to three high-profile shootings during the operation—the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis.

The lawsuit, led by Attorney General Keith Ellison alongside Moriarty and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans, argued that the state has both the authority and responsibility to investigate violent incidents within its borders.

“At stake is not only Plaintiffs’ access to evidence central to these shootings but also a fundamental principle of our constitutional system,” the filing stated.

DHS has defended the actions of its agents, saying all use-of-force incidents are reviewed under strict protocols and, in some cases, by outside agencies such as the FBI.

Operation Metro Surge brought thousands of federal agents to the Twin Cities earlier this year and sparked sustained protests, particularly following the January shootings.

While the operation has officially ended, immigration enforcement activity continues across Minnesota.

Federal officials, including White House border czar Tom Homan, have defended the effort, saying agents apprehended more than 4,000 individuals, including violent offenders and gang members.

Moriarty doubled down on her efforts to prosecute federal agents in the announcement charges against Morgan last week.

“Our work continues on all fronts, from the killings of Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti, to the shooting of Mr. Sosa-Celis, to the incidents being investigated by our Transparency and Accountability Project,” Moriarty said. “We will not rest until we get the answers we seek about federal agent conduct across Hennepin County and accountability is delivered wherever appropriate.”

Efforts to rescue a humpback whale stranded for weeks on Germany's Baltic Sea coast were complicated Monday when the animal unexpectedly swam away but then appeared to have got stuck again.

The 13.5-metre (44-foot) whale and its struggle for survival have captured the hearts of the German public, with some of the press calling him "Timmy".

Rescuers had cleared sand away from the spot where the whale had been stuck for around three weeks off the island of Poel, near Wismar, and sent a tugboat to be used in the rescue effort.

The plan was to lift the whale from the seabed using inflatable cushions and transport it with pontoons back to the North Sea or possibly as far as the Atlantic Ocean.

However, the animal swam free on its own on Monday, before coming to a halt on a different sandbank nearby, said Till Backhaus, environment minister for the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Rescuers see the escape attempt as a sign that the whale is still relatively healthy and plan to try again, the Bild daily reported.

Backhaus, speaking at the scene, insisted the animal this time had not become fully stranded and was instead "resting".

The creature was first spotted stuck on a sandbank on March 23 near the city of Luebeck before freeing itself and then becoming stuck again several times.

On April 1, regional officials said they were convinced that the badly injured and distressed animal was going to die and could no longer be saved.

But local authorities last week approved a last-ditch rescue attempt proposed by two entrepreneurs, one of whom founded a major electronics retail chain.

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The Mizzou football support staff just got bigger with the addition of new director of player and recruiting engagement Deshon Lawrence Jr., a hiring first reported by CBSSports.com's Matt Zenitz on Monday.

Lawrence worked at UCF as the senior director of player development, pro liaison and internal operations for the past three years. His recruiting impact was particularly prevalent around Georgia. His familiarity with the state is particularly important as Mizzou has 11 rostered players who are either from Georgia or played high school football in the state.

Lawrence previously worked with Mizzou coach Eli Drinkwitz at Arkansas State in 2012. He was a defensive grad assistant with the program. Drinkwitz was the Red Wolves’ running-backs coach at the time.

Lawrence played football at Western Michigan from 2007-2009 as a cornerback, later working as the student assistant cornerbacks coach during the 2010-2011 school year.

Lawrence earned a master’s degree in sport and fitness administration/management at Western Georgia while serving as an academic ambassador for the university.

Outside of football, Lawrence spent nine years as an operations manager for the Cam Newton Foundation. In this role he primarily worked with “C1N7v7”, Newton’s 7-on-7 football league. Lawrence was part of a team that raised $5 million in partnerships and donations and worked with 10,000 children in lower-income areas of Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Lawrence will be working with a loaded support staff, likely engaging primarily with employees in similar roles: director of recruiting operations Olivia Ohlsen, director of player development and life skills Atiyyah Ellison and director of recruiting communications and strategy Maurey Bland.

The Tigers will continue to round out the support staff heading towards the 2026-27 season.

Iran is banking on the Strait of Hormuz as its main card in any peace negotiations with the United States, but using the waterway as leverage is not without risk for the Islamic republic.

Iran had for decades talked up the threat of blocking the strait, which is a critical chokepoint for global energy supplies.

With the US and Israel launching a surprise war on Iran on February 28 and killing supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran finally made good on those threats and brought the vital waterway to a standstill.

Since then, the United States has imposed its own blockade, bringing a halt to shipments of Iranian oil that had been spared from the closure. 

The situation has caused economic turmoil worldwide.

European politicians fear spiking inflation, food shortages and flight cancellations as jet fuel runs out.

In much of Asia, home to the biggest buyers of Middle East oil and gas, energy prices have spiked while poorer nations have been outbid for scarce supplies leading to shortages. In Sri Lanka, energy prices have increased 40 percent.

The loss of vital fertiliser supplies, of which the Gulf is a major producer, is also expected to send food prices soaring in the developing world 

- 'Not going to leave' -

While causing global economic pain gives Iran negotiating leverage, it can't escape the blowback entirely, with the US blockade halting oil exports worth tens of millions of dollars each day.

With the two-week ceasefire in the war due to run out this week, renewed conflict over the strait would also rattle a leadership trying to find its feet under new supreme leader, Khamenei's son Mojtaba, who has yet to appear in public.  

"The Strait is under the control of the Islamic republic," said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the veteran of the Revolutionary Guards now serving as Iranian parliament speaker and seen as the chief negotiator in talks with the US.

"When they wanted to send minesweepers to clear mines, we stood our ground, we confronted them. We said these are ceasefire violations," he said in remarks broadcast by Iranian television.

"We are here (in the Strait of Hormuz), we are not going to leave," he added.

- 'Who will blink first' -

The blockade of Hormuz represented a switch in strategy for the Islamic republic, which had long brandished the threat without following through. 

After decades seeking to prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon -- an ambition the Islamic republic insists it does not have -- as well as battling pro-Tehran proxies, the West now faces a new and potentially long-lasting problem.

"As long as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was in power, the Islamic Republic at times sent mixed signals about its nuclear program and threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, but stopped short of both," said Ali Alfoneh, senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute and author of "Political Succession in the Islamic Republic of Iran".

"With Khamenei gone and the regime in an existential struggle, that restraint no longer holds," he said, adding that "Iran's nuclear doctrine may also be under revision".

But he warned that the US counter-blockade on Iranian shipping in Gulf ports can also hurt the Islamic republic by cutting off its oil revenue at a time of intense economic vulnerability.

"The conflict is now a contest of endurance... Who will blink first?"

In his first major written statement since taking office, Mojtaba Khamenei on March 12 called for the use of "the lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz".

With possible new talks between Iran and the US in the coming days, Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said on Monday that "security of the Strait of Hormuz is not free".

"The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone."

Analysts at the International Crisis Group think tank said Iran's strategy for Hormuz was to signal it was open to diplomacy "but only on terms that show it has not suffered strategic defeat".

But with the US naval blockade seeking to "override Iranian control instead of negotiating over it" the strait has turned from a "bargaining chip into a flashpoint for potential military escalation". 

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(The Center Square) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case challenging compliance with nondiscrimination policies for preschools that received public funds. 

The case, St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, challenges a nondiscrimination agreement that Colorado requires schools sign to participate in the state's universal preschool program. 

The nondiscrimination agreement requires that preschool providers cannot enroll or deny families based on sexual orientation, religious affiliation, income, race, disability or gender identity. Since 2022, the preschool program has allowed children 15 hours per week of free education for the year before kindergarten 

The archdiocese of Denver and two of its parishes filed a lawsuit against the state in 2024. The parishes said the nondiscrimination agreement violated their faith to hire LGBT teachers or enroll LGBT families, violating Catholic religious teaching. 

Lawyers for the Catholic parish said the nondiscrimination agreement is not all-encompassing. The lawyers argued that schools are allowed admit students at other schools solely based on on disability status and income level, despite the nondiscrimination agreement forbidding activity. 

"Colorado doesn’t disagree it is interfering with the religious exercise of parents and schools," lawyers for the parishes wrote. "Instead, it says it is perfectly fine to exclude Catholic preschools while letting in preschools preferring those with disabilities, limited income, or LGBTQ identity."

Lawyers for Colorado argued that the state's preference for schools that target students with disabilities and from low-income families, does not represent a significant shift from the text of the nondiscrimination agreement. 

"Preschools that prioritize children with disabilities and children from low-income families do not deny equal opportunity based on disability or income level in violation of UPK's statutory equal-opportunity requirements," lawyers for the state wrote. 

Justices on the court will likely hear the case in the fall. The justices will be tasked with determining whether the state explicitly discriminated against Catholic schools while allowing other schools to violate its terms for universal preschool access. 

FBI Director Kash Patel filed a defamation lawsuit on Monday against a US magazine that reported he frequently drinks to excess and is in danger of losing his job.

Patel is seeking $250 million in damages from The Atlantic and the author of the article, Sarah Fitzpatrick, for what the suit described as a "sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece."

"Defendants are of course free to criticize the leadership of the FBI," the complaint filed in a federal district court in Washington says.

"But they crossed the legal line by publishing an article replete with false and obviously fabricated allegations designed to destroy Director Patel's reputation and drive him from office," it says.

According to The Atlantic, Patel's job as head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the top law enforcement agency, is in jeopardy in part because of what it said were "bouts of excessive drinking" and "unexplained absences."

In his defamation complaint, Patel took issue with the magazine's use of anonymous sources for the story.

"Fitzpatrick could not get a single person to go on the record in defense of these outrageous allegations, instead relying entirely on anonymous sources she knew to be both highly partisan with an ax to grind," the suit says.

"Defendants published the Article with actual malice, despite being expressly warned, hours before publication, that the central allegations were categorically false."

The Atlantic issued a statement on Monday defending the story.

"We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists against this meritless lawsuit," the magazine said.

Since being named FBI director, Patel has been accused of carrying out a purge of agents perceived as being disloyal to President Donald Trump. Among those dismissed have been agents who worked on criminal cases brought against Trump after he left office in 2021.

cl/ksb

Argentine cinema, theater and television legend Luis Brandoni has died at the age of 86, his friend and producer Carlos Rottemberg announced Monday on X.

"Luis Brandoni has died. In 'Beto' we are losing the last leading actor of an unforgettable generation, a driving force for national theater," Rottemberg wrote, calling it a "very sad day for our culture."

Brandoni's body will be taken to the Buenos Aires legislature to lie in state on Monday afternoon.

He was admitted to hospital on April 11 after a fall at home that caused a brain-bleed.

He starred in dozens of films over the course of a prolific career, including "Waiting for the Hearse" (1985) and "The Weasel's Tale" (2019).

He also lit up the stage with hugely successful plays such as "Conversations with My Mother" and "Parque Lezama."

A familiar face for decades on Argentine television, Brandoni starred alongside Robert de Niro in the 2023 Disney+ miniseries "Nada." In the series, he played a curmudgeonly Buenos Aires food critic whose life falls apart after his housekeeper dies, while De Niro played his friend.

Brandoni was active from a young age in the center-left Radical Civic Union (UCR), one of Argentina's oldest political parties.

During Argentina's 1976-1983 dictatorship, when the party was banned, he briefly went into exile in Mexico.

He served two terms as an MP with the UCR in the 1990s and also served as cultural advisor to former UCR president Raul Alfonsin.

sa/ad/cb/sms

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday there was no evident justification for the United States to attack Cuba, following months of mounting pressure from President Donald Trump on the communist-ruled island.

"Despite all the domestic political problems that this country has with its communist regime, there is no discernible threat emanating from Cuba towards other countries," Merz said.

Cuba has been bracing for a possible attack following repeated warnings from Trump that Cuba is "next" after he toppled Venezuela's leader Nicolas Maduro and went to war against Iran.

Speaking at a news conference beside Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Merz said the US should settle its differences with Cuba "peacefully and through diplomatic means and not needlessly start a new conflict in the world which will only cause more problems".

"The ability to defend oneself does not mean the right to intervene militarily in other states when their political systems do not match what others might have in mind," he said.

Trump has imposed an oil blockade of Cuba, aggravating the impoverished island's worst economic and energy crisis in decades.

Lula called the United States' more longstanding blockade of Cuba a "global disgrace", imposed for "ideological" reasons, and expressed his firm opposition to any US invasion of Cuba.

"I am against the lack of respect for the territorial integrity of nations, I am against any country in the world meddling and exercising political interference," Lula said.

"A lot of dialogue, a lot of diplomacy, a lot of democracy -- that is what we want in order to resolve and solve the world's problems, and not weapons."

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Celebrated British zoologist Desmond Morris, who died Sunday aged 98, shook up the world in 1967 when his book "The Naked Ape" posited that humans are essentially primates still captive to evolutionary impulses.

The idea that homo sapiens -- while cleverer and less hirsute than the average ape -- should be analysed as a belonging to the animal world was not new to anthropologists. 

But it was not mainstream among the general public, in a less secular age when, still for most, man was made in the image of God. The book sold upwards of 20 million copies in at least 23 languages.

His death, confirmed Monday to AFP by his son Jason Morris, followed what he called "a lifetime of exploration, curiosity and creativity". 

"A zoologist, manwatcher, author and artist, he was still writing and painting right up until his death," Jason Morris said in a statement. 

"He was a great man and an even better father and grandfather."

Morris's career was not without controversy. 

Feminists and some other scientists objected to his contention that men and women evolved to do different tasks -- split between hunting and managing the home -- and that the modern world was shaped around that.

Gender differences were hard-wired, Morris argued, but he said urbanisation had entrenched an inappropriate split which favours competitive traits in business -- the modern equivalent to prehistoric hunting grounds.

"Because of the structure of urban life, men have been unfairly favoured over women," he told The Oldie magazine in 2021, marking his 93rd birthday.

- TV fame -

Morris denied he set out to be provocative when he wrote "The Naked Ape" over a four-week rush just after the counter-cultural "Summer of Love" in 1967. 

He said he was simply setting down observations from working as a curator of mammals at London Zoo.

In fact, his early ambition was to change how we view the world but through modern art.

Born in southern England in 1928, Morris watched his father die a slow death from wounds suffered in World War I, an experience that informed his youthful desire to find expression through surrealism after World War II.

After a post-war stint as an army conscript, Morris exhibited some of his works alongside the Spanish master Joan Miro in 1950, and said he only studied zoology to better understand the natural world for his art.

In 1993, he told the Swindon Advertiser newspaper -- founded by his great-grandfather -- that his early fascination with wildlife was honed at a local park.

While he continued to paint and exhibit throughout his long life, Morris found his professional calling in popular science, becoming head of a television and film unit at London Zoo in 1956.

- 'Monkey Matisse' -

His contemporary, David Attenborough, became a friendly rival on a different TV channel, both using the newly emerging medium to bring zoology into the home.

Morris's two passions overlapped in 1957 when he curated an exhibition of chimpanzee paintings and drawings in London.

One three-year-old chimp called Congo produced more than 400 works, and was hailed as "the monkey Matisse" and "the Picasso of the Simian world".

The success of "The Naked Ape" -- which inspired a Eurovision Song Contest entry in 2017 by Italy featuring a dancer in a gorilla suit -- brought global fame.

But a stinging tax bill in Britain saw Morris move in 1968 with his wife to Malta, where he worked on a sequel about city-dwellers called "The Human Zoo".

Five years later, with the addition of their son, the couple moved back to England where Morris took up a fellowship at Oxford University. 

A succession of books and TV series followed. 

In the 2000s, Morris wrote opinion pieces from an anthropological perspective on the contestants in the reality television hit "Big Brother".

Asked by The Guardian newspaper in 2007 if he had any regrets, he lamented not sticking to art.

"I still consider myself a serious artist but a very minor one, and I'm a minor artist because I've been doing too many other things."

In 2019 he moved to Ireland, and acquired a property near Dublin which was transformed into the Dun Laoghaire Institute of the Visual Arts (DIVA), according to a website dedicated to Morris's life.

"He sees it as his gift to Ireland for welcoming him in his final years," the site said.

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