Japan fires missiles during drills, drawing China rebuke

After star Mizzou football running back Ahmad Hardy was injured in a shooting Sunday morning in Laurel, Mississippi, ESPN's Pete Thamel provided a positive update Tuesday.

Hardy is being released from the hospital and plans to head to Missouri’s campus immediately. He will begin the rehab process with hopes of competing in the 2026 season.

The news is optimistic, as Hardy was shot just two days ago. While attempting to leave a concert, he was hit by a bullet in the upper leg at around 2 a.m. at Kamakazy Biker Club on Masonite Drive, according to WDAM-TV.

Hardy underwent surgery later Sunday at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He was reported to be in stable condition.

If the running back can play in 2026, that would be huge lift for the Tigers. Hardy headlined the offense in 2025 with 1,649 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Missouri men's basketball added another experienced piece to its backcourt Tuesday, landing South Dakota transfer Jordan Crawford out of the transfer portal.

Crawford announced his commitment after visiting Columbia earlier this week, giving coach Dennis Gates another veteran guard as Missouri continues to reshape its roster for the 2026-27 season.

The 6-foot-3 guard is coming off the best season of his college career with South Dakota, averaging 14.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game while starting all 32 games. He also shot 36.8% from 3-point range and earned All-Summit League second-team honors.

Missouri fans already got a close look at Crawford last season when South Dakota traveled to Mizzou Arena in November. Despite the Coyotes falling 102-68, Crawford stood out offensively, leading South Dakota with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting against the Tigers.

That performance likely helped put him on Missouri’s radar long before he officially entered the portal.

Crawford brings experience from three different programs after beginning his career at College of Charleston and later spending a season at Eastern Kentucky before transferring to South Dakota. Across his career, he has developed into a reliable perimeter shooter and active defender. His steals average last season ranked among the better marks in the Summit League and showcased the defensive activity Missouri values in its guard rotation.

While Crawford may not arrive as a projected star, he gives Missouri an experienced option capable of contributing immediately off the bench. His shooting ability should help space the floor, and his defensive instincts provide another versatile guard for Gates to use in different matchups.

The Tigers needed additional depth in the backcourt after several offseason roster changes, and Crawford fills an important role as a veteran presence behind Missouri’s expected top guards. His experience at multiple levels of college basketball could also prove valuable for a roster that continues to add younger talent through both recruiting and the portal.

Crawford becomes the latest addition in a busy offseason for Missouri, joining transfers Jamier Jones (Providence), Bryson Tiller (Kansas), Jaylen Carey (Tennessee) and Kennard Davis Jr. (BYU) in the Tigers’ transfer class.  

They join five-star recruits and McDonald’s All Americans Jason Crowe Jr. and Toni Bryant and fellow incoming freshman Aiden Chronister, a four-star prospect, as new Tigers.

With Crawford now in the fold, Missouri’s backcourt continues to take shape heading into next season as the program looks to build on last year’s NCAA Tournament appearance and compete again in the Southeastern Conference.

(The Center Square) – A bipartisan group of Pennsylvania lawmakers has signed on to an immigration reform proposal that is dividing House Republicans.

U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-1st District; Chrissy Houlahan, D-6th District; Mike Kelly, R-16th District; and Lloyd Smucker, R-11th District, have signed on as co-sponsors of the DIGNIDAD (Dignity) Act of 2025.

“America is a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants—not one or the other, but both. That principle has guided our work on immigration reform, and it is the standard any serious solution must meet,” Fitzpatrick said. “For too long, Washington has turned a broken system into a political weapon.” 

“The Dignity Act offers a responsible bipartisan path forward: securing the border, restoring order, protecting American workers, and ensuring legal status is earned through accountability and respect for the law,” he continued. “This is not amnesty; it is common sense, compassion, and the rule of law working together. The American people know this problem can be solved. Now it is time for Congress to finally get it done.”

Fitzpatrick and Kelly are original cosponsors of the proposal in July, while Smucker signed onto the effort in November, and Houlahan added her name in January. The proposal, as of Tuesday, has 39 co-sponsors. Twenty of them are Democrats, while 19 are Republicans.

Punchbowl News reported on Tuesday that the bipartisan U.S. House Problem Solvers Caucus has also endorsed this proposal.

They argue that the bill has five key components, which include “permanently securing the border; modernizing our outdated asylum system; providing legal pathways for undocumented immigrants living in America; protecting American workers; and ensuring the United States remains prosperous and competitive in the future.” 

“Together, these policies provide a practical, bipartisan path toward a more secure, orderly, and fair immigration system,” the Problem Solvers Caucus wrote. “Crucially, the legislation would not require any taxpayer funding and would reduce the national debt by up to $50 billion.”

In addition to Fitzpatrick, U.S. Reps. Rob Bresnahan, R-8th District; Ryan Mackenzie, R-7th District; and Dan Meuser, R-9th District, are also members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. 

Despite being members of the caucus, Bresnahan, Mackenzie, and Meuser are not listed as co-sponsors of the Dignity Act. No one from the lawmakers’ offices responded to a request from the Center Square for comment on whether they support the proposal. 

Punchbowl News reported that this effort is the first time the Problem Solves Caucus has backed the bill under President Donald Trump. At the same time, the news outlet noted that “House GOP hardliners have been railing against the Dignity Act,” including the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which has “bashed it and said the proposal “must die in the cradle” and “undermines the agenda the American people want.”

At least one member of the state’s congressional delegation has also been a vocal critic of the bipartisan proposal: U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-10th District. 

“NO to Amnesty. NO to the Dignity (Dignidad) Act. No one who enters our Nation illegally should be rewarded with the same legal rights and benefits due a U.S. Citizen,” Perry wrote in a social media post on April 15.

Outside of Congress, over 95 national organizations are also backing the effort, including the American Bakers Association, American Business Immigration Council (ABIC), Americans for Prosperity, the Anti-Defamation League, the Center for American Progress, the National Hispanic Construction Alliance, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

(The Center Square) – As the U.S.-Iran conflict continues with no end in sight, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth dodged questions from U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in congressional hearings Tuesday.

Hegseth, General Dan Kaine, and Under Secretary of War Jules Hurst appeared before House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees to defend the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion military budget request for 2027.

The total cost of the 74-day conflict has now topped $29 billion, Hurst said, and the military currently faces $24 billion in material replacement costs – an expense not accounted for in the Department of War’s massive budget request.

Hegseth said the $1.5 trillion proposal “reflects the urgency of the moment…addressing both the deferment of longstanding problems as well as positioning our forces for the current and future fight.”

“We are rebuilding a military that the American people can be proud of,” Hegseth added, saying the budget will “reverse the underinvestment and mismanagement” of the previous Biden administration.

Unconvinced, Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., pointed out that $1.5 trillion “is an extraordinary sum of money,” particularly in light of a national debt approaching $40 trillion and the dubious constitutionality of U.S. military actions in Iran.

“Congress and the American people have concerns about what you plan to do with this money,” DeLauro told the defense officials. “This was only supposed to last six weeks. We have thus far been unable to get any reliable information as to the true cost of this war.”

She also lambasted the “consistent lack of transparency since this war began,” as well as the Trump administration’s shifting rationales and objectives.

“Every additional day this war goes on, brings with it additional costs,” DeLauro said. “This administration has not presented Congress with any kind of clear or coherent strategy.”

Only Congress has the power to declare war, but Congress still hasn’t authorized U.S. military actions against Iran. The War Powers Act of 1973 gives the president only 60 days to conduct military operations without congressional approval, and that deadline has passed.

The Trump administration has skirted the requirement by temporarily declaring a ceasefire, a move which Hegseth argued resets the 60-day clock.

Both Republicans and Democrats, however, expressed skepticism that the declaration truly reflects reality.

“I think reasonable people have disagreed about the boundaries of the presidential war powers for a long time, but the War Powers Resolution is pretty clear here: it requires the president to terminate hostilities within 60 days, absent congressional authorization,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said.

“I think where there is confusion is, while the president says hostilities have ended, we still have 15,000 troops that are forward, more than 20 warships and an active naval blockade [in the Strait of Hormuz]...In other words, it doesn’t appear that those hostilities have ended.”

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., asked Hegseth point-blank whether the ceasefire was “just to evade the War Powers Act.”

Hegseth called the ceasefire is “a very dynamic situation,” but praised the U.S. military’s tactical successes, saying it has “degraded almost completely [Iran’s] defense industrial base” and destroyed Iran’s three aircraft carriers and 11 submarines.

“We’ve had more leverage than we’ve ever had,” he claimed.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., however, appeared dubious of this assessment when Hegseth appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee later.

“As I look at the achievements, Iran [is] to date led now by an even more extreme Supreme Leader, the global economy is held hostage to the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, our munitions stockpiles are dangerously depleted, and Iran is no further from a nuclear weapon than before our invasion,” Durbin said.

Lawmakers in both committees also expressed concern over the conflict’s impact on American citizens. Fuel and fertilizer prices have spiked as commercial vessels have faced uncertain, disrupted, and treacherous passage through the critical strait.

“If this goes on for another thirty days, there will be thousands more farms that will go bankrupt, there are going to be families that are going to be ruined, and so time is not on our side,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Conn., said.

“And I just don’t believe that Iran is ready to capitulate yet, and if they capitulate in a year, there’s going to be a whole lot of families and businesses that are ruined in the United States.”

But defense officials evaded questions on whether they had a plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, as well as questions on Iran’s remaining current drone and missile capabilities and a timeline for when the conflict will end.

“Our military objectives have been clear the whole time around targeting Iran’s ballistic missile systems, preventing them from threatening U.S. forces in the region, destroying the Iranian navy, degrading its capacity and capability, and ensuring that they can't rebuild by focusing on their defense industrial base,” Kaine parried.

When asked, Kaine was also unable to break down how the War Department is spending the over $1 trillion Congress allocated to it last year. The Pentagon has failed eight consecutive audits and remains the only federal agency to never pass an audit.

“You’re coming up and asking for another significant supplemental, and before we can reasonably appropriate additional money, we have to find out how existing appropriated dollars have been spent. That’s critically important,” Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., told Hegseth.

“We’re not getting the detailed spending plan, the detailed obligation plan for this. And without it, it’s very difficult to say ‘just take the money and run.’”

When Missouri women's golf arrived at the SEC Championship last month, the Tigers were no longer hoping to compete with the conference’s best teams. They expected it.

Missouri backed up that confidence with one of the best performances in program history, breaking multiple school records and finishing ninth against one of the toughest fields in college golf.

Now, as the Tigers compete in the NCAA Stanford Regional, their turnaround has become one of the biggest success stories in program history.

The regional opened Monday in Stanford, California, and runs through Wednesday. The top five teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championship from May 22 to 27.

Missouri earned a No. 5 seed in a regional that includes host Stanford, the nation’s top-ranked team, along with No. 11 Pepperdine, No. 13 Vanderbilt, No. 22 Arizona State and more.

But the turnaround did not happen overnight.

When senior Addie Dobson arrived at Missouri as a freshman, the program sat outside the top 100 nationally. Now, the Tigers are one of the top 35 teams in the country.

“We just really bought into the vision,” Dobson said. “We want to be the best, we want to push ourselves to be the best.”

Dobson, Melanie Walker and Jade Zamora helped guide the program through the rebuilding process during their four years in Columbia.

“There’s been times where they probably questioned me as a coach, but they stuck with me and they believed in the vision,” coach Caroline Westrup Gaeta said.

That trust started paying off early in the season.

Missouri opened the year by winning the Sam Golden Invitational with a school-record score of 40-under-par. The tournament quickly became a turning point for the team’s confidence.

Freshman Ebba Liljeberg helped lead the breakthrough despite feeling sick before the opening round.

“She goes out and shoots a 61,” Westrup Gaeta said. “And then the rest of the team was like, ‘Well, if she can do it, why shouldn’t I be able to do it?’”

Liljeberg, who is from Helsingborg, Sweden, finished the tournament at 19-under-par, nine shots ahead of second place. Her second-round 61 tied the lowest round in relation to par in NCAA history at 11-under.

 The freshman continued building one of the best debut seasons in program history.

Liljeberg recorded a 71.48 scoring average this season, more than 1.5 strokes better than the previous freshman program record. She posted three top-five finishes during the fall season and earned a spot on the SEC all-freshman team.

She tied for third at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational, finished third at the Johnie Imes Invitational and helped lead Missouri to wins at the Westbrook Invitational and Valparaiso Augusta Invitational.

Dobson said the early success changed the team’s mindset moving forward.

“Winning is hard and believing you can win is something itself,” Dobson said.

The Tigers carried that confidence into the SEC Championship.

Missouri recorded a 54-hole score of 844, breaking last year’s school record by 25 strokes. The Tigers closed the tournament with an 18-hole score of 277 and finished ninth while beating four ranked SEC teams, including No. 6 Arkansas.

Liljeberg finished tied for 16th individually with an even-par 210, the lowest SEC Championship score in program history. Dobson shot a 211, tied for the second-lowest 54-hole total of her career.

Players said the team’s chemistry played a major role in the turnaround.

The Tigers spent time together outside the course by going to football games, baseball games and team dinners throughout the year.

“We really had one of the best cultures we’ve ever had,” Dobson said.

The competition inside the lineup helped raise the team’s level as well.

“Making the lineup is super hard here,” Dobson said. “Sometimes qualifying is more intense than a tournament.”

Missouri also adjusted practices leading into the Stanford Regional. Westrup Gaeta said the Tigers focused on tighter fairways, pressure situations and preparing for Stanford’s difficult course conditions.

The Tigers practiced at courses with narrow fairways and worked on hitting fairways and greens consistently during practice rounds.

“We can do it,” Westrup Gaeta said. “It’s just putting that pressure to the side as much as we can and just go out and focus on playing the golf that we’ve done all year.”

Missouri’s coaching staff also received national attention during the season. Westrup Gaeta was named to the watchlist for national coach of the year, while assistant coach Francisco Guarneri made the assistant coach of the year watch list.

Now, Missouri is trying to continue its season on one of college golf’s biggest stages.

“We have had an amazing season,” Westrup Gaeta said. “We want to make nationals obviously, but trying to just put that to the side and just go out and play our best golf.”

Dobson, who recently qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open, said the team has stayed focused on the present throughout the postseason run.

“One of the things we always say is being where your feet are,” Dobson said. “We’re confident, we’re ready to go, and we’re just super excited to be here.”

After the opening round Monday, Missouri sat tied for sixth place at 6-over-par. Jade Zamora led the Tigers with 2-under-par. The regional continues Tuesday.

(The Center Square) - President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday that Marty Makary would be leaving his post atop the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

While speaking to reporters on the White House lawn Tuesday, Trump said Makary would be leaving. He said FDA deputy commissioner Kyle Diamantes will take over as the adminsitration seeks a new leader of the federal agency. 

"He was having some difficulty," Trump said. "Marty is a terrific guy, but he's going to go and lead a good life."

Trump did not specify what kind of difficulty Makary experienced. Several reports circulated that there was an internal dispute over approval for flavored vapes at the FDA. The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump pressured Makary to approve fruit-flavored vapes, but he was hesitant to do so. 

Trump said many people are seeking the job atop the agency. 

Makary was expected to testify on Capitol Hill Wednesday to present the FDA's budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Diamantes is expected to take his place. 

Makary was confirmed to lead the FDA in March 2025. Since then, he's sought to make several changes to the agency's policies and change organizational structure. Makary sought to limit antidepressants for pregnant women and ban kratom byproducts. 

"He's a friend of mine, he's a wonderful man and he's going to be off," Trump said of Makary. 

(The Center Square) - President Donald Trump said he will "be thinking" about a potential red line in the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran as he departed to China on Tuesday. 

Trump told The Center Square's Sarah Roderick-Fitch that he will "be thinking" about his limits on a ceasefire with Iran as he got on a flight to visit Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

"We'll be thinking about it on the flight," Trump said. "We'll be thinking about it for the next little while." 

Trump said the United States has beaten the Iranian military "very soundly" and the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz has been "very effective." 

"One way or the other, it's going to work out very well," Trump said. "You're going to have so much oil, you're going to have a gusher of oil."

Trump also reiterated his commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Trump's Tuesday's comments came after he said on Monday that the ceasefire with Iran was "on life support." 

He said Iran's proposal of a peace deal over the weekend was "a piece of garbage" and "totally unacceptable."

The peace deal reportedly failed to include the cessation of Iran's nuclear weapons production and to end the disarmament of its proxies, including Hezbollah. 

He also said inflation would go down once the conflict in Iran ended, but did not give a timeline for its end. 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday inflation at 3.8% in April, the highest rate in the last three years. 

"As soon as this war is over, which will not be long, you're going to see oil prices drop," Trump said. 

He said ships are currently in the Strait of Hormuz waiting to be sent around the world. 

"As soon as they come out, you're going to have a gusher of oil, and you're going to have ifnlation come way down," Trump said. 

(The Center Square) – Over the past seven years, Border Patrol agents working in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Detroit Sector have seized the greatest volume of drugs at the northern border. 

The CBP Detroit Sector area of responsibility covers four states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. It spans 863 maritime miles of international water boundaries as well as more than 3,800 miles of lakeshores and riverbanks. 

Under the Biden administration, a record number of illegal border crossers were reported and apprehended, primarily in the Swanton Sector in Vermont, New Hampshire and upstate New York, The Center Square reported. However, drug and weapons seizures were higher in the Detroit Sector, CBP notes, with most seizures occurring inbound to Canada.

According to a General Accountability Office analysis of northern border security published this year, from fiscal years 2019 through March 31, 2026, Detroit Sector Border Patrol agents recorded 681 narcotics seizures, more than any of the other eight northern border sectors. 

According to CBP data over the last two fiscal years, Detroit Sector Border Patrol agents averaged 150 narcotics seizures per year. 

“Ours is a challenging environment, with both narrow waterways and the expansive Great Lakes, as well as high traffic corridors near major population centers and transportation routes that are attractive to smuggling and criminal organizations,” Border Patro Detroit Sector’s Acting Chief Patrol Agent Javier Geronimo Jr. said. “No matter the challenge, Detroit Sector agents continue to collaborate with our local, state, and federal partners to safeguard our communities and uphold the security of the United States."

The GAO report analyzed eight sectors in 12 northern border states where Border Patrol agents are responsible for covering 4,000 land miles and 2,400 nautical miles, including the Great Lakes system, St. Lawrence River and Strait of Juan de Fuca. Norther Border sectors from west to east include Spokane, Blaine, Havre, Grand Forks, Detroit, Buffalo, Houlton and Swanton. 

The top drug seized at the northern border, including in the Detroit Sector, was marijuana, followed by methamphetamine and cocaine, according to CBP data analyzed in the GAO report. Over the same time-period analyzed, Border Patrol agents reported a 137% increase in cocaine seizures and a 746% increase in fentanyl seizures, according to the data. 

From 2019 to 2024, Border Patrol agents also reported a 495% increase in weapons seizures, primarily in the Detroit and Spokane sectors, with the majority of foiled attempts inbound to Canada, according to the data.

The seizures in Michigan are notable because Border Patrol agents are primarily patrolling waterways near major cities and highway corridors, CBP explains. They’re responsible for patrolling international boundaries in four Great Lakes (Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior) as well as Lake Saint Clair and the Detroit, Saint Clair and Saint Mary's rivers.

“The lakes and rivers which compose the international border in Michigan allow easy waterway access into the United States from Canada for nine months out of the year. During the rest of the year many of those waterways freeze over, impeding navigation by boat. In many places, however, ‘ice bridges’ are created which allow for illegal crossings by foot or snowmobile,” CBP explains.

Overall, Detroit Sector Border Patrol agents are responsible for covering 83 counties and 57,000 square miles in Michigan; roughly seven million acres of state and national forests in the northern half of Michigan’s lower peninsula and most of its upper peninsula; and 22,000 square miles in its lower peninsula.

(The Center Square) – Inflation increased 0.6% in April, with an overall rate of 3.8% over the last 12 months, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

The energy industry remained a key driver of the inflation increase, rising by 3.8% in April. Energy prices were responsible for more than 40% of the overall monthly item increase, largely due to gas prices. 

Uncertainty over the global oil supply after U.S. strikes in Iran, leaving the Strait of Hormuz in limbo, is driving higher energy prices. The popular oil tanker passageway has brought gas prices soaring throughout the world and across the United States. 

Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal, said inflation is the worst in three years. 

"This is painful for Americans, especially moderate-income households," Long said. 

Prices for food rose by 0.5% throughout the month of April. The index for all items excluding food and energy also rose by 0.4% in April. 

The only areas that did not see an increase were new vehicles, communication and medical care. Long pointed out that inflation has now outpaced wage growth for the first time in three years, according to the reports.

Wages grew 3.6% in the last year, lower than April's 3.8% inflation total. In March, the inflation index was 3.3%, reflecting the first data points after the conflict with Iran. Experts pointed out that April's data does not account for the hike in gas prices over the past two weeks. 

Over the past year, energy prices have increased by 17.9%. Food prices, by comparison, increased by 3.2% over the past year. 

"This is painful for Americans and true financial squeeze," Long said. 

Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management, said he does not expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates as inflation continues to rise. 

"It's possible that we may start pricing in rate hikes next year," Zaccarelli said. 

(The Center Square) – Alabama could soon have a congressional map in place that would offer the chance for a Republican gain of seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned an order to use a court-mandated House map until the next appropriation following the 2030 census. That map created two districts with a majority of Black voters.

The Legislature, in 2023, drew a map that had one district with majority Black voters. It’s possible the state could revert to that map in the wake of Monday’s ruling.

The actions are within the vacuum from the historic high court decision involving Louisiana’s maps. Alabama’s representation in the U.S. House is five Republicans and two Democrats.

In Louisiana v. Callais, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled authority to alter districts that would guarantee the race – any race – of an elected representative is not given through the Constitution or Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It was in keeping with several other opinions, including a 2007 Seattle voluntary school integration case for which Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “The way to stop discriminating on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”

The state had anticipated the Supreme Court decision, including on Friday enacting legislation allowing for the void of next Tuesday’s primary for some congressional districts. The state requested an expedited ruling from the bench.

In a statement, state Attorney General Steve Marshall said, “Today, the Supreme Court vindicated the state’s long-held position. Now, the power to draw Alabama’s maps goes back to the people’s elected representatives. That’s our Legislature.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in dissent, said a lower court could still find the state discriminated against Black voters.

The U.S. House was divided 220 Republicans, 215 Democrats following the 2024 election cycle. Today, it's 217 Republicans, 212 Democrats, one independent formerly Republican, and five vacancies.

New maps are in play for the 2026 elections in California, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. Litigation has also led to changes in Utah.

Louisiana is expected to have new maps as well.

Litigation is not fully resolved for Florida, Virginia, Georgia and New York. Maryland’s bid for new congressional maps died in April without making it out of a Legislature with majority Democrats in each chamber.

Tennessee and South Carolina are also in various stages of consideration for new maps this midterm cycle.

Maryland's bid for new congressional maps died in April without making it out of a Legislature with majority Democrats in each chamber.