McIlroy ready for early start as 90th Masters begins

They came from around the world: hundreds of journalists rushed to Islamabad's flagship convention centre -- converted into a media hub by Pakistani authorities for landmark talks between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East.

But as negotiations began behind closed doors half a kilometre away, all the world's media could do was wait -- and sip on an expertly brewed coffee while listening to live eastern folk music.

Even the lattes had a tagline: "Brewed for Peace."

Branding was a big part of the event, with Pakistan dubbing the process the "Islamabad Talks", and plastering a logo combining the Pakistani, US and Iranian flags all over the city.

Early Saturday, an overcast Islamabad felt like a ghost town, with almost no civilian traffic on its wide avenues. 

The few vehicles that moved were driven by armed, uniformed personnel who patrolled the city. 

Some journalists, accredited by the information ministry, were nonetheless held up for about an hour at a checkpoint outside the venue as a convoy of VIPs swept past.

Inside, they found lavish surroundings, wedding-banquet style spreads of biryani, kebabs and gulab jamun, along with gourmet coffee blended from Brazilian and Ethiopian beans.

"We did the branding ('Brewed for Peace') just for the day," one person manning the stall said.

Outside the hall, musicians played folk songs on a small stage. 

"I'm a professional musician, and also teach music," Amir Hussain Khan, a sitar player, told AFP.

- 'Bored out of my mind' -

Staff had reserved seating with a clear view of the massive main stage for US media, directing correspondents from other outlets elsewhere. 

Iranian media went to the opposite side of the hall.

"I'm bored out of my mind," one journalist told AFP, declining to be named. 

Another offered a similar assessment: "There's not much to do here."

Updates did not begin to arrive until after about 2:00 pm (0900 GMT), hours after US Vice President JD Vance touched down in the capital.

On the large screen dominating the cavernous Jinnah Convention Centre, state television aired footage of his arrival and reception by Pakistani officials, prominently including army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. 

When updates did come, they arrived not from media briefings -- as would be the norm at an event of this scale -- but from press statements released via WhatsApp.

The foreign ministry said a "high-powered" US delegation, led by Vance and including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had been received by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who commended Washington's "commitment to achieving lasting regional and global peace". 

Hours later, Pakistan's government said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had met Vance, expressing hope the talks would serve as "a stepping stone toward durable peace in the region".

Not exactly the kind of gripping, headline-grabbing quotes many of the journalists in the hall had flown thousands of miles for.

The convention centre offered high-speed wireless internet that AFP clocked at more than 150 megabits per second, far above Pakistan's national average of 25 Mbps, according to Speedtest.net figures from February 2026. 

The gesture was not lost on reporters.

"They say they have facilitated the media. No doubt they have given 5G internet speeds," said journalist Nadir Guramani. "But media teams deputed inside Jinnah Convention Centre do not know what's happening outside."

Security measures added to the surreal atmosphere. An AFP journalist was told the coffee could not be taken into the main hall. "Foreign media is here, and they are watching," a guard said cryptically.

By sunset, the "Islamabad Talks" had produced press releases, a memorable food spread and impressively fast internet in a country riven with tech challenges. 

Whether they produced anything more substantive remained, for those inside the hall, just beyond their reach.

abs/aha/lga

Rory McIlroy's astonishing finish to grab a Masters record six-stroke lead after 36 holes remained the talk of Augusta National as Saturday's third round began.

The 36-year-old from Northern Ireland birdied six of the last seven holes, including the final four, to seize command on Friday as rivals struggled to find words worthy of the spectacular feat.

"Rory played great, made the most of pretty much everything he could out there and that's what it takes to be beating the field by six," world number three Cameron Young said after playing alongside McIlroy.

Defending champion McIlroy fired a seven-under par 65 to stand on 12-under 132 halfway into the year's first major tournament, where he hopes to match Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo as the only back-to-back winners of the green jacket.

"Rory may never lose this thing again," 1992 Masters winner Fred Couples said on Thursday after McIlroy shared the lead on 67.

Second-ranked McIlroy solved Amen Corner's formidable par-three 12th and par-five 13th holes for birdies, then closed with a 29-yard chip in at 17 and a six-foot putt at 18 for epic Masters history.

Americans Patrick Reed and Sam Burns shared second on six-under 138 entering the third round with Irishman Shane Lowry and England's Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood seven adrift on 139.

McIlroy will try to solidify his grip on the green jacket when he tees off alongside Burns in Saturday's final pairing at 2:50 p.m. (1850 GMT), 11 minutes after Rose and Reed get started.

"I have to go out there with the same free, trusting mindset I have the first two days," McIlroy said.

The five-time major champion has yet to find a fairway on a par-five hole but has played them in seven-under, delivering a masterclass of iron shotmaking and precision putting on one of golf's greatest stages.

"I haven't panicked when I've hit it off course and into the trees," McIlroy said. "When I was in the trees I didn't mind.

"I sort of feel like I'm playing with the house's money, which is a nice place to be."

McIlroy, who ranks second in driving distance at 334.2 yards and putts with only 51, has kept his composure despite finding only 13-of-28 fairways through two rounds -- ranking last among 54 players who made the cut in driving accuracy but also ranking second in scrambling percentage.

- McIlroy loves Augusta -

After ending a 10-year major win drought last year with an emotional Masters victory to complete a career Grand Slam, McIlroy has made himself to man to beat for a rare repeat.

"I've always loved this course and this tournament even when I felt it didn't love me back," McIlroy said.

Only two 36-hole leads in major golf history were greater than what McIlroy delivered, the record nine-stroke margin by Henry Cotton at the 1934 British Open and Brooks Koepka's seven-stroke edge at the 2019 PGA Championship.

McIlroy's 10th career major round of 65 or lower matched a record shared by Woods and Dustin Johnson.

Woods owns the 54-hole Masters record lead of nine strokes from his first major triumph in 1997, won by a Masters record 12 shots.

The Masters 54-hole scoring record is 200 by Jordan Spieth in 2015 and matched by Johnson in 2020.

js/ea

World No.2 Jannik Sinner eased his way into the final of the Monte Carlo Masters for the first time with a clinical 6-1, 6-4 semi-final win over Alexander Zverev on Saturday.

The Italian becomes the first player to reach all three finals of the season's first three Masters 1000 events since Novak Djokovic in 2015.  

Roger Federer, in 2006, and Rafael Nadal, 2011, are the only two other players to achieve the feat. 

Sinner will face either world No.1 and defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or local boy Valentin Vacherot, ranked 23 in the world, who meet later on Saturday.

If it is Alcaraz, it will be the first meeting this season between the world's top two players which would decide who will be world No.1 come Monday when the new ATP rankings are released. 

As in Indian Wells and Miami, Sinner, 24, had the measure of Zverev who has not prevailed in their meetings since the round of 16 at the US Open in September 2023. 

Extremely aggressive from the start, Sinner blew the German away in the opening set, breaking him three times and wrapping it up in 34 minutes. 

In the second set, the German world No.3 put up more resistance, finding his first serve again, but he still had to battle every time to hold. 

He finally folded after 1hr 22min on another blistering forehand from Sinner, who has lost only one set in his last 21 matches at Masters 1000 events.

aco/bsp/ea

GREAT FALLS, Mont. - Spring is in full swing around Great Falls with several great things to do, hear from Shannon Newth and Bradley Warren for what you can get up to. 

Check out several museums around the Electric City with the Great Falls Museums Consortium's Sunday Sampler on April 12. 

From 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm, entrance to the following museums will be free: 

• The History Museum
• Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art
• Montana Room in the Great Falls Public Library
• Montana Museum of Railroad History
• Ursuline Centre, Spark
• CM Russell Museum
• Sun River Valley Historical Society
• Galleria Trinitas at the University of Providence
• Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

While you're out, take part in a scavenger hunt during the free museum day. 

Turn your eyes to the stars with Blackfeet Star Stories & Open Star Gazing at the Frist Peoples Buffalo Jump on April 18.

Bring a telescope or binoculars from 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm for the free event.

Finally, the 46th annual Ice Breaker Road Race is coming up on April 26.

Runners can register for a 5 mile, 3 mile or 1 mile race online here. 

Britain has shelved plans to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after strong opposition from US President Donald Trump who has previously described the move "an act of great stupidity".

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Downing Street office said the deal would proceed only "if it has US support", after reports the Chagos legislation risked running out of parliamentary time with no fresh bill planned.

The remote Indian Ocean archipelago -- whose main island is Diego Garcia -- was bought by Britain in 1965 before Mauritius gained independence. Following the purchase, the local population was expelled and Britain leased the territory to the United States for what became one of its most strategic military bases. 

Britain's ownership was disputed for years, with the United Nations ruling in 2019 that the UK should hand back the roughly 55 islands and atolls.

- Mass eviction -

In 1965, Britain separated the Chagos Islands from the rest of Mauritius, then a semi-autonomous British territory, and paid three million pounds to acquire them, the equivalent of around $65 million today.

When Mauritius became independent three years later, the islands remained under British control and were renamed the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).

In 1966, Britain leased the islands to the US for 50 years so that it could set up a military base. In 2016, the deal was extended to 2036.

Between 1968 and 1973, around 2,000 Chagos islanders were evicted, described in a British diplomatic cable at the time as the removal of a few "Tarzans and Man Fridays". Most were shipped to Mauritius and the Seychelles.

Mauritius argued it was illegal for Britain to break up its territory and demanded the right to resettle the former residents.

- Strategic military base -

The US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island, took a major strategic role in the Cold War.

It offered proximity to Asia as an assertive Soviet navy was extending communist influence in the Indian Ocean.

After the 1979 revolution that swept Iran, the US expanded the base to receive more warships and heavy bombers.

It later served as a staging ground for US bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, and was used recently to launch B-2 bomber attacks on Houthi rebels in Yemen during the Gaza war.

- Islands returned -

Britain signed a deal with Mauritius in May 2025 to return the islands, while paying to lease Diego Garcia for $136 million annually for 99 years, which London said would secure the use of the military base. 

It follows decades of legal wrangling dating back to 1975 when Chagos islanders living in Mauritius launched legal proceedings against their expulsion, resulting in a 1982 payment of four million pounds in compensation along with land valued at one million pounds.

In 2007, a British appeals court paved the way for Chagossians to return home but its decision was annulled by the upper branch of parliament, the House of Lords, the following year.

In 2016, the British government confirmed its opposition to the resettlement of Chagossians, including for reasons of defence, security and cost.

Today, around 10,000 Chagossians and their descendants are divided between Mauritius, the Seychelles and Britain.

- ICJ ruling -

In 2010, Britain declared the islands part of a Marine Protected Area, arguing that people should not be permitted to live there.

Diplomatic cables revealed by WikiLeaks quoted a British official as saying the plan "put paid to the resettlement claims of the archipelago's former residents".

The move backfired as a UN arbitration tribunal declared it illegal in 2015. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) stated in 2019 that Britain had illegally split the islands and should relinquish control.

Britain rejected the ruling, insisting that Mauritius was wrong to bring the case to court, and arguing the Diego Garcia base played a "vital role" in keeping the region safe.

Later that year, a UN General Assembly resolution demanded Britain cede the islands.

- Colonial history -

Located several hundred kilometres south of the Maldives, the Chagos Islands were colonised by France in the 18th century and African slaves were shipped in to cultivate coconuts and copra.

In 1814, France was made to cede the islands to Britain, which in 1903 merged them with Mauritius, its colony around 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) to the southwest.

After the abolition of slavery in 1834, Indian workers arrived and mixed with the first settlers.

Only three of the islands were inhabited: Diego Garcia, Salomon and Peros Banhos.

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Britain indicated Saturday it would shelve plans to hand back the Chagos Islands -- which hosts a strategic US-UK military base -- after US President Donald Trump strongly criticised the deal.

A former top government official said the government had been effectively forced to abandon the plan as a result of Trump's opposition.

"When the president of the United States is openly hostile, the government has to rethink, so this agreement... will go into the deep freeze for the time being," Simon McDonald, previously the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, told BBC radio.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Downing Street office said in a statement: "We have always said we would only proceed with the deal if it has US support."

Starmer's office issued the statement in response to reports that legislation underpinning the deal to return the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius was due to run out of time in parliament and that no new Chagos bill would be brought forward.

Trump in January lashed out at what he called London's "great stupidity" over the deal.

Last May's Chagos agreement would have seen Britain hand the islands -- some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) northeast of Mauritius -- to its former colony and pay to lease Diego Garcia, the largest island, which is home to the military base, for a century.

- 'Deeply frustrating' -

The UK had still not received a formal exchange of notes from Washington –- a technical step but a legal necessity for the treaty to be enacted, the PA news agency reported.

Time had consequently run out to pass the legislation before parliament was dissolved in the coming weeks, it said, quoting a government source as saying the situation was "deeply frustrating".

Main opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the agreement should now find its "rightful place – on the ash heap of history”.

“That it took so long is another damning indictment of a Prime Minister who fought to hand over British sovereign territory and pay £35 billion to use a crucial military base which was already ours,” she said.

Downing Street said the government would continue to "engage with the US and Mauritius".

"Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US. Ensuring its long-term operational security is and will continue to be our priority -- it is the entire reason for the deal," the Downing Street spokesperson added.

Trump had endorsed the deal after it was signed but then launched a scathing attack on it in Truth Social comments in January.

"The United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia... for no reason whatsover," he said.

"There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness," he said, adding that it showed why the US needed to conquer Greenland from ally Denmark.

Diego Garcia was one of two bases which the UK allowed the US to use for what the British government insisted were "defensive operations" in its war against Iran.

- 99-year lease -

Starmer has previously insisted that international legal rulings have put Britain's ownership of the Chagos in doubt and only a deal with Mauritius would guarantee that the base remains functional.

Britain kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s.

It evicted thousands of Chagos islanders who have since mounted a series of legal claims for compensation in British courts.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that Britain hand the archipelago to Mauritius.

The deal would have given Britain a 99-year lease of the base, with the option to extend.

The UK government has not said how much the lease would cost but has not denied reports it would be £90 million ($111 million) a year.

har/gv

In a first for Europe, the Netherlands is poised to allow Tesla owners to use their car's self-driving feature -- as long as they are in the vehicle and keeping a watchful eye over it.

The country's RDW agency for roadworthiness certifications said in a statement late Friday: "Thanks to the type approval, the driver assistance system can now be used in the Netherlands, with possible future expansion to all member states of the European Union."

The move aligns the Netherlands with what is allowed in the United States, where Tesla owners can already use the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) (FSD Supervised) function in the cars.

That mode hands over driving to the Tesla's computer system, including steering, braking, route navigation and parking, all under the active supervision of the driver, who remains at the controls ready to take over if needed.

The European subsidiary of Tesla, the electric-vehicle company run by the world's richest person, Elon Musk, hailed the Netherlands' move.

"FSD Supervised has been approved in the Netherlands & will begin rolling out in the country shortly!" it said on X. 

"No other vehicle can do this. We're excited to bring FSD Supervised to more European countries soon."

The Dutch RDW agency stressed the difference between FSD Supervised, with a human remaining at the controls, and full autonomous driving.

"A vehicle with FSD Supervised is not self-driving. It is a driver assistance system, and the driver remains responsible and must always maintain control," it said.

RDW's decision has to go to the European Commission for authorisation, so that its national certification has EU weight. 

Tesla sales have been facing headwinds in Europe -- including in the Netherlands -- in the last couple of years. 

Potential clients have turned off by Musk's political activism supporting hard-right politics in the US and Germany, while the brand is also facing increased competition from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers.

fpo/yk/rmb/pdw

Some three-quarters of the airstrikes during the Middle East war targeted sites in Iran or Lebanon, according to an AFP analysis of data from ACLED, a non‑profit that tracks political violence worldwide. 

At least 7,700 strikes or series of strikes by missiles, drones, rockets or bombs, were recorded by the US-based conflict research group between the start of the war on February 28 up to April 8, when a fragile ceasefire concluded between Tehran and Washington came into effect.

ACLED collected and vetted its data from sources that it considers reliable, such as news reports, social networks, institutions, and other NGOs. 

This count, which includes attacks that were intercepted, cannot be considered an exhaustive list from the conflict.

- Iran - 

Approximately four out of 10 recorded attacks targeted Iran, mostly attributed to the Israeli military,  According to AFP's analysis, in only a third of the cases could the target be identified as military or linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the regime's ideological army. 

A third of the attacks had no identified target. April 6 and 7 -- the two days preceding the ceasefire -- saw the highest number of strikes.

- Lebanon - 

Lebanon, where Israel has been conducting a campaign triggered by the pro-Iranian movement Hezbollah on March 2 launching an offensive, accounted for a third of the attacks, according to ACLED data as of April 3. 

The vast majority were carried out by Israeli forces, while nearly 10 percent were Hezbollah attacks against Israeli positions in the south of Lebanon. 

Israel asserts the two-week ceasefire agreed between the United States and Iran does not apply to Lebanon and it has continued to bombard the country. 

- Israel -

One in seven attacks targeted Israel, most of which were intercepted. The attacks were in almost equal proportions from Iran and Hezbollah.

- Other countries -

The main countries targeted by Iran were Gulf states, primarily the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.  In Iraq, 40 percent of the attacks were against Kurdish groups and 20 percent against US interests. 

Qatar and Oman were targeted to a lesser extent. 

In Syria, ACLED recorded approximately one hundred incidents, but these were mainly the result of Iranian missiles and drones being intercepted by Israel. Several dozen similar incidents were recorded in the West Bank and Jordan. 

In Turkey, four missile launches were intercepted by NATO to protect its Incirlik airbase, where US troops are stationed.

- Most common targets -

Israel targeted 15 bridges or their approaches in Lebanon and around 20 in Iran. 

Attacks against energy infrastructure in Iran were most intense during the second and third weeks of the conflict, as well as during the week of the ceasefire announcement. 

Iran's key petrochemical complex at Assalouyeh, already targeted in mid-March, was struck again on April 6 by Israel. Numerous Iranian fuel depots were also hit.

ACLED reported four strikes near Iran's only nuclear power plant, in Bushehr.  

Among the Gulf oil monarchies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were the countries whose oil infrastructure was most frequently attacked, followed by Kuwait. 

Across all countries, strikes against energy infrastructure resulted in damage in approximately 40 percent of cases, according to AFP's analysis. 

Military bases housing US personnel were targeted around 50 times in total, primarily during the first two weeks of the conflict. 

dvz-lc-shu-ot-paj/gv/rmb

Britain is shelving its plan to hand back the Chagos Islands -- which hosts the strategic Diego Garcia US-UK military base -- according to a government spokesperson Saturday, following strong opposition from US President Donald Trump.

"We have always said we would only proceed with the deal if it has US support" the spokesman said in a statement, as reports said legislation to return the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius was due to run out of time in parliament.

Trump in January lashed out at what he called London's "great stupidity" over the deal.

Last May's Chagos agreement would have seen Britain hand the archipelago -- some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) northeast of Mauritius -- to its former colony and pay to lease Diego Garcia, the largest island, which is home to the military base, for a century.

"Diego Garcia is a key strategic military asset for both the UK and the US. Ensuring its long-term operational security is and will continue to be our priority – it is the entire reason for the deal," the Downing Street spokesperson added.

“We are continuing to engage with the US and Mauritius."

Trump had endorsed the deal after it was signed but then launched a scathing attack on it in Truth Social comments in January.

"The United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia... for no reason whatsover," he said.

"There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness," he said, adding that it showed why the US needed to conquer Greenland from ally Denmark.

Diego Garcia was one of two bases which the UK allowed the US to use for what the British government insisted were "defensive operations" in its war against Iran.

- 99-year lease -

Starmer has previously insisted that international legal rulings have put Britain's ownership of the Chagos in doubt and only a deal with Mauritius would guarantee that the base remains functional.

Government officials cited by the BBC said the agreement was not being entirely abandoned.

But they said the legislation underpinning it would not pass before parliament is dissolved in coming weeks and a new Chagos bill is not expected to be put forward.

Britain kept control of the Chagos Islands after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s.

It evicted thousands of Chagos islanders who have since mounted a series of legal claims for compensation in British courts.

In 2019, the International Court of Justice recommended that Britain hand the archipelago to Mauritius.

The deal would have given Britain a 99-year lease of the base, with the option to extend.

The UK government has not said how much the lease would cost but has failed to deny that it would be £90 million ($111 million) a year.

har/gv

Somalia president Hassan Mohamud congratulated football referee Omar Artan who has made history as the first Somalian to be selected to officiate at the World Cup finals.

Artan, 34, was among the 52 referees announced by FIFA to officiate at the June-July finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

President Mohamud said Artan had raised Somalia's reputation on the international stage.

"I commend the effort, professionalism, and integrity shown by referee Omar, as he has become a symbol of inspiration for the new generation of Somalis," said Mohamud.

It is not the first time that Artan has been a groundbreaker in a nation that has never qualified for an international football tournament.

Artan has been officiating in the Somali national football league championships since he became a FIFA referee in 2018.

He made his mark as the first Somalia-born referee to officiate in an African Football Confederation (CAF) Champions League game between Mamelodi Sundowns and Pyramids FC in Cairo in January 2025.

He has also officiated at the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Algeria, and in 2025 he was named by CAF as the best men's referee of year.

However, he played no part in the AFCON finals in Morocco earlier this year despite being picked as a tournament referee.

Somalia can still dream of reaching the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, after they beat Mauritius 4-2 on penalties in March to qualify for the group stage for the first time.

The finals will be co-hosted for the first time by the three east African nations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

aik/pi/ea