Iran war means more orders for US defense giants

The Boston Red Sox on Saturday fired their World Series-winning head coach Alex Cora following a disappointing start to the Major League Baseball season.

Cora, who led Boston to glory in his debut season in 2018, departs with the Red Sox in last place in the American League East division with a 10-17 record.

Since Cora's victorious first season, the Red Sox -- one of Major League Baseball's most decorated sides -- have only reached the post-season on two occasions.

"Alex Cora led this organization to one of the greatest seasons in Red Sox history in 2018, and for that, and the many years that followed, he will always have our deepest gratitude," said Red Sox principal owner John Henry.

"He has had a lasting impact on this team and on this city. He has led on and off the field in so many important ways."

"These decisions are never easy, but this one is especially difficult given what Alex has meant to the Red Sox since the day he arrived."

Cora, 50, is the first Puerto Rican coach to win a World Series.

His tenure as Red Sox manager consisted of two stints.

He parted ways with Boston in January 2020 following his implication in a sign-sealing scandal during his previous role as Houston Astros bench coach.

Houston had used illicit technology including a video camera to pick up opposing catchers' signs to pitchers about what sort of ball would be thrown next to Astros batters.

Cora was re-hired by Boston when his MLB suspension ended in November 2020. The Red Sox then reached the American League Championship Series in 2021.

Despite the Red Sox's dire start to the season, Cora's sacking came just hours after a thumping 17-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Five other members of Cora's coaching team were also fired.

amz/bb

A highway bomb attack in a restive region of southwestern Colombia killed 10 people and injured at least a dozen on Saturday, the latest spate of violence ahead of next month's presidential election.

Authorities blamed the attack in the Cauca department -- a conflict-ridden, coca-growing region -- on dissidents of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army, who have been sowing violence across the country.

"Those who carried out this attack... are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers," President Gustavo Petro said on X. 

"I want our very best soldiers to confront them," he added.

The leftist leader blamed the bombing on Ivan Mordisco, the South American country's most-wanted criminal, whom he has compared to late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.

The explosion Saturday left "10 dead and 12 seriously injured. However, the toll is expected to rise significantly," a local fire department official told AFP.

A police source said rescuers were searching for several missing people.

Cauca Governor Octavio Guzman shared a video on social media that showed victims on the ground and destroyed vehicles in the aftermath of the bombing.

Other social media posts detailed extensive damage and craters in the roadway, with witnesses claiming the blast was so strong that they were knocked back several meters.

- Political violence -

The violence came after a bomb attack Friday on a military base in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, injured two people and set off a string of attacks in the Valle del Cauca and Cauca departments.

According to military chief Hugo Lopez, 26 attacks have been recorded in the two departments over the past two days.

Authorities have boosted the military and police presence in the areas, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday.

Colombia has a history of armed groups -- which finance their operations through drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion -- attempting to influence elections through violence.

FARC remnants who rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government have been actively trying to disrupt stalled peace talks with Petro.

Security is one of the central issues of the May 31 presidential election. Political violence was brought into sharp focus last June, when young conservative presidential frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot in broad daylight while campaigning in the capital Bogota.

Leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, an architect of Petro's controversial policy of negotiating with armed groups, is ahead in polls, trailed by right-wing candidates Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia.

All three have reported receiving death threats and are campaigning under heavy security.

als/hdz/acb/mlm

Nelly Korda tied the 54-hole scoring record but saw her lead reduced to five strokes with a third-round 70 at the LPGA Chevron Championship on Saturday.

The world number two had been rampant across the first couple of days at Houston's Memorial Park, firing consecutive rounds of 65. 

And Korda got off to an explosive start again Saturday with four birdies on the opening six holes, including a precision eight-iron off the tee on the second hole to within tap-in distance of the pin.

But just as the first women's major of the year threatened to become a procession, the 27-year-old American did not make another birdie all day.

Korda played the rest of her round two-over par, consistently finding greens but failing to convert her putts, to finish 16-under par and give the distant pack a hint of a chance.

"I mean, the front nine was great," said Korda.

"But yeah, I missed that putt on the par-five eighth, and then kind of just slowed down since.

"And all my misses with my putts were right, so I'm going to go to the putting green after.

"Just got to reset and hopefully it goes my way tomorrow."

Korda reached the turn seven strokes clear of her closest rival, Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit, who had managed two birdies on the front nine, curling in a long putt on the sixth.

Both golfers bogeyed the tricky 13th -- Patty's first bogey of the entire tournament.

But the lead shrank back to five strokes as Patty's pinpoint pitch on 14 gave her a straightforward birdie, followed by another on 16, for a round of 69.

China's Yin Ruoning scored a bogey-free 66 -- the joint-best of the day -- to finish her round on 10-under par, alongside France's Pauline Rossin-Bouchard, who had started the day with three straight birdies.

Korda is seeking her second Chevron crown in three seasons, knowing a win would propel her to the top of the world rankings after incumbent Jeeno Thitikul missed the cut.

Korda captured the season-opening LPGA Tournament of Champions and finished second in her other three starts this year.

Her 16-under-par 200 after three rounds matches Jennifer Kupcho's Chevron Championship record, set four years ago.

Patty's only major win to date is also the Chevron, then known as the ANA Inspiration, back in 2021.

amz/js

Oddsmakers favorite Renegade drew the dreaded inside post on Saturday for next weekend's 152nd Kentucky Derby, a position that has not produced a Derby winner since 1986.

Renegade was still fancied at 4-1 for next Saturday's 1.25-mile showdown at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, in the opening event of US flat racing's Triple Crown.

Commandment, starting from the sixth spot, and Further Ado, going out from the 18th gate of 20, were next at 6-1 odds with Chief Wallabee priced at at 8-1 out of the 12th gate.

Renegade is owned by Mike Repole, who is 0-8 with prior Derby entries. The 57-year-old American businessman's horse won last month's Arkansas Derby to secure a prime spot among contenders entering the Run for the Roses.

Not since Ferdinand took the victory 40 years ago has a starter from along the rail taken the Derby triumph.

Veteran trainer Todd Pletcher hopes Renegade could become his third Derby winner after Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017.

Renegade has been ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., a Puerto Rican jockey who rode Triple Crown race winners in 2016 and 2022 at the Belmont Stakes.

This year's Triple Crown also features the Preakness on May 16 and June's Belmont.

The Preakness will be run at Laurel Park in Maryland as Pimlico Race Course undergoes renovations while the Belmont Stakes will be run at Saratoga for the third and final year due to renovations at Belmont Park.

js/bb

Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app long considered one of the most secure in the world, has recently faced attacks from hackers accused of links to Russia.

Top German officials on Saturday blamed Moscow-backed groups for phishing attacks targeting senior politicians on the messaging app, raising questions about how secure Signal really is.

Similar phishing cases have been reported by Dutch and American users, with Google in February sounding the alarm over cyberattacks from Russia-aligned groups.

But what makes Signal different from other messaging apps, and how could one of the world's most secure messaging apps be so widely targeted?

- How does it work? -

Signal's end-to-end encryption means that any sent message travels in a scrambled form and can only be deciphered by the end user. 

Nobody in between -- not the company providing the service, not the internet provider, nor hackers intercepting the message -- can read the content because they don't have the keys to unlock it.

Signal is not the only messaging service to do this, but unlike WhatsApp and Apple's iMessage, the app is controlled by an independent non-profit -- not a big tech behemoth motivated by revenue. That has won it more trust with those concerned about privacy.

Signal also goes further than WhatsApp on data privacy, making metadata such as when the message was delivered and its recipient invisible even to the company itself.

And WhatsApp shares information with its parent company Meta and third parties, including phone numbers, mobile device information, and IP addresses.

For these reasons, Signal has long been a go-to messaging service for users particularly concerned about communications secrecy, such as people working in security professions, journalists, and their sources.

- Who owns Signal? -

Founded in 2012, Signal is owned by the Mountain View, California-based Signal Foundation. 

Its history is linked to WhatsApp: the site was founded by cryptographer and entrepreneur Moxie Marlinspike, with an initial $50 million from WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton.

Both Signal and WhatsApp, which was bought by Mark Zuckerberg in 2014, are based on the same protocol built by Marlinspike.

"We're not tied to any major tech companies, and we can never be acquired by one either," Signal's website reads. Development is mainly supported by grants and donations.

Very outspoken compared to other Silicon Valley bosses, Signal's president is Meredith Whittaker, who spent years working for Google and is a fierce critic of business models built on the extraction of personal data.

- Was Signal hacked? -

Signal's encryption itself has not been broken. 

Cyberattackers accused of Russian links did not target the encryption system directly.

Instead, recent attacks relied on phishing -- tricking users into handing over access to their accounts.

The attacks work by sending messages purporting to come from Signal support, like fake security alerts or invites to join group chats. 

Once users click on these links or enter sensitive account information, attackers can then gain access to messages and chat groups. 

This means hackers gain access to data shared on Signal and can also impersonate the person whose account was compromised.

Signal did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the recent attacks.  

arp-bur/jj/rh/acb

Annika Reiss overtook fellow American Addy Wiley at the finish to win the women's mile in 4mins 25.52secs, a 2026 world outdoor best, at the 116th Drake Relays on Saturday.

Wiley led most of the way but settled for second by 0.44 of a second at Drake University Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Reiss beat the 4:34.33 run by Argentina's Micaela Levaggi two weeks ago for the year's top outdoor time.

"It can really build my confidence," Reiss said. "Confidence is definitely something I struggle with so being able to compete at this level and take the win sets me up for a really good outdoor season. I'm really excited."

American Jamal Britt, who set the 2026 world lead in the men's 110m hurdles three weeks ago with a 13.07-second win in Florida, took the Drake title in the event in 13.22 with compatriot Jamar Marshall Jr. second in 13.31, both running into a 0.4 m/sec headwind.

"The goal was always to come out here and win and move on to the next," Britt said. "I was trying to knock (the world best) down a bit, but I was pretty close."

American Roger Steen, on the world indoor podium the past two years, defended his men's shot put crown with a heave of 21.93m.

Nigerian Chuk Enekwechi was second at 21.74 with Jamaican Rajindra Campbell, third at the Paris Olympics, third on 21.72.

American C.J. Allen won the men's 400 hurdles in 48.94 seconds in his outdoor season debut.

"It felt good," Allen said. "I was very smooth and I executed really well."

American Cooper Cawthra won the men's 1,500m in 3:35.22 with France's Titouan Le Grix second in 3:36.11.

American Shamier Little, a two-time world runner-up, won the 400m hurdles in 54.72, beating a personal best 54.90 for second-place compatriot Amiya Garozzo.

American Alia Armstrong, fourth in the 2022 worlds, won the women's 100m hurdles in 12.77 seconds.

"I just want to show everybody I belong here and I'm here to stay," she said.

js/bb

The Orlando Magic fended off a late rally by the top-seeded Detroit Pistons to take a surprise 2-1 lead in their NBA playoff series on Saturday.

Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane top-scored for Orlando with 25 points apiece as the eighth-seeded Magic pulled off a stirring 113-105 win in front of their home crowd.

Victory had briefly seemed in doubt after Orlando's 17-point fourth-quarter lead was erased in a powerful late showing by Cade Cunningham, who led all scorers with 27 points.

But having nudged into a single-point lead with three minutes remaining, Detroit did not score again and Orlando closed out the win with a 9-0 run.

With barely 30 seconds remaining, Banchero's three-point effort bounced off the heel, looped up in the air and dropped straight through the net to seal the win.

Banchero added 12 rebounds and nine assists, while Bane matched the Orlando playoff record with seven three-pointers.

"We know how we stack up. We know what we got in this locker room. And so we don't fear them," Banchero said.

Orlando are the lowest-seeded team in the Eastern Conference playoffs, having barely crept in with a last-gasp play-in win over the Charlotte Hornets.

They will have a chance to extend their lead when they host game four on Monday, before the teams travel back to Detroit.

The Pistons comfortably topped the East with a 60-22 regular season record. But they now find themselves needing to win three of the four possible remaining games to avoid elimination.

"We got a lot of respect. We just want to bring it on Monday," said Banchero.

amz/bb

Workers on Saturday were resurfacing the bottom of Washington's famous Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with "American flag blue"-colored material used in swimming pools, following an order by US President Donald Trump.

The project -- part of the capital city's sprucing up ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary celebrations on July 4 -- will cost about $1.5 million and take roughly three weeks, Trump told reporters Thursday.

The 2,000-foot (610-meter) pool between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial "was in terrible shape," said Trump, who was a long-time real estate developer before entering politics.

"It was filthy, dirty and it leaked like a sieve for many years," he said in a White House video about the plan.

Built in 1922-1923, the pool has become a key landmark in the US capital. Civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech overlooking the reflecting pool in 1963.

Trump said he rejected a proposal to replace the stone in the bottom, a plan he said would cost $300 million and take three years.

Instead, he contacted contractors he had previously used, and they said using the swimming pool surface would cost much less and be completed in a fraction of the time.

"I've built more than 100 swimming pools in different buildings," Trump told reporters, referring to his project as "a business study."

The contractors have cleaned the bottom and begun pouring the "industrial-grade" substance and will be finished in a matter of days, he said.

"You're going to end up with a beautiful, beautiful reflecting pool, the way it's supposed to be. Much better than it ever was," he said.

Trump has embarked on several other major renovations in Washington, including demolishing the East Wing of the White House, where he aims to build a huge ballroom.

mjf/mlm

Missouri softball fell to No. 6 Arkansas 9-2 Saturday in Fayetteville, dropping its record to 25-26 with five games remaining on the schedule.

The Tigers need to win three more games if they want to stay at the .500 threshold required to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Missouri still has a chance to salvage one Sunday in the series finale against Arkansas before a midweek game against Kansas City on Tuesday and a tough three-game home series against No. 9/11 Tennessee. 

Missouri got on the board first Saturday. After Addy Waits drew a leadoff walk in the first inning, she advanced to third base on a fielder's choice and passed ball. She eventually came home on a single from Abby Carr.

Arkansas responded in the fifth inning with four runs. Rea Johnson started the scoring with an RBI single down the left field line, before advancing to second on the throw home. After a passed ball allowed her to reach third base, Brinli Bain brought her home with a single. One batter later, Ella McDowell worked a walk, before Tianna Bell hit a two run double to give the Razorbacks a 4-1 lead.

Carr hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth to cut into the deficit, but Arkansas responded with five runs in the bottom half of the inning.

After two leadoff singles and a walk, Johnson drove in one with a bases-loaded walk. Bain singled through the left side to score one more, before another single, this time from McDowell, scored two more. A sacrifice grounder from Atalyia Rijo scored the final run of the inning and gave the Razorbacks a seven-run lead.

Only two Mizzou batters, both freshmen, recorded hits. Carr and Saniya Hill each had two hits. Redshirt freshman Hill hit a single in the second and a double in the fifth.

Starting in the circle for Missouri, Cierra Harrison held Arkansas to just two hits through four innings before the Razorbacks broke through in the fifth. In 4⅔ innings, Harrison allowed two earned runs, three hits and one strikeout.

Carr struggled on the rubber Saturday, allowing four earned runs, four hits and two walks in just ⅓ of an inning. Courtney Donahue replaced Carr, allowing three earned runs and two hits without an out. Rylee Michalak finished the game in the circle and allowed zero hits in her one inning pitched.

The series finale between the two schools begins at 1 p.m. Sunday and will be streamed on SEC Network+.

(The Center Square) – U.S. House Republicans face a daunting legislative to-do list for the week ahead.

The Department of Homeland Security has been shut down for more than 70 days, but House Republicans are still refusing to vote on Senate-passed legislation to reopen it until they see more progress on immigration enforcement funding.

The Senate has already passed a budget resolution laying out the guidelines for a filibuster-proof budget reconciliation bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol for the next three years.

Once the House approves the budget resolution, lawmakers can begin drafting the actual reconciliation bill. Yet that approval is far from certain, as some Republicans wish to tack on other legislative priorities to the bill.

U.S. Reps. Jason Smith, R-Mo., Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and others have argued this might be Republicans’ last chance to muscle through partisan policies before the congressional balance of power potentially changes in November.

In an effort to prevent any more delays on ending the DHS shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other Republican leadership are open to pursuing a third reconciliation bill to accommodate those requests.

“We’re going to do it as quickly as possible,” Johnson said.

But budget resolution is not the only bill Johnson must convince Republican holdouts to support next week — he must also win them over on reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The provision allows the federal government to collect the electronic data of foreign actors of concern into a database and access that database without a warrant. However, Americans’ metadata is often swept up in the mix as well, raising concerns about citizens’ Fourth Amendment rights.

Johnson’s most recent efforts to reauthorize the provision dramatically failed in the House, with over a dozen members of his party voting alongside Democrats to tank a proposed 18-month extension as well as a proposed five-year extension.

Despite the blow, the speaker has teed up a three-year extension – without the warrant requirements holdouts have demanded – for floor consideration as soon as Monday. If an extension of some kind does not pass, FISA Section 702 expires April 30.

While all of that is underway, the House will also begin consideration of the five-year Farm Bill, an overdue and critical piece of legislation that supports programs and grants for farmers, rural communities, and American agriculture in general.

In addition, the House Appropriations Committee will continue progress on the 12 annual government funding bills for fiscal year 2027, which begins Oct.1.