Nepal vows action against trekker rescue scam

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Islamabad on Saturday for talks with Iran that the Pakistani premier hosting the warring sides called a "make or break" effort to permanently halt weeks of fighting in the Middle East.

An Iranian delegation led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf arrived overnight at an airbase near the capital, disembarking from the commercial plane to embrace Pakistan's powerful army chief Asim Munir, who also shares a personal rapport with US President Donald Trump. 

Munir also greeted Vance, escorting him down a red carpet at the Nur Khan air base, where US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were already waiting.

The foes still appeared to be far apart on key issues, including the opening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and were quick to express their mutual suspicion.

"We have good intentions but we do not trust," Ghalibaf said shortly after landing, according to Iran's state broadcaster. 

"Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises."

Vance, who has been dispatched by Trump to lead the US delegation, stopped briefly in Paris for his plane to refuel before flying on to Pakistan.

"If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand," Vance said before leaving the United States.

But "if they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive", he added.

The ceasefire is already under strain, notably from Israel's continued strikes in Lebanon, where on Wednesday it carried out its heaviest bombardment since Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in early March, killing hundreds of people less than 48 hours after the truce came into force.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country's down-to-the-wire mediation got both sides to the negotiating table this week, said talks would not be easy. 

"An even more difficult stage lies ahead," he said, referring to efforts to permanently end fighting that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, sparking Iranian retaliation against Israel and across the Gulf.

"This is that stage which, in English, is called the equivalent of 'make or break.'"

It was unclear what time the talks would get underway, though the Tasnim news agency reported Iran's delegation would meet with Sharif at 1:00 pm.

Iranian state television made only a brief mention of the talks in its first morning news programme, with its second report dedicated to volunteers signing up to defend Iran in the event the war resumed.

- Islamabad plays host -

Iran -- which brought a more than 70-member delegation to Pakistan --  has insisted on the truce covering Lebanon and on the unfreezing of its assets for the Islamabad talks to go ahead, neither of which has materialised so far.

On the US side, President Donald Trump demanded the opening of the Strait of Hormuz as a condition for the two-week ceasefire.

The strait, through which one-fifth of the world's crude passes, has not reopened to normal traffic, however, and Trump vowed on Friday to have it open soon "with or without" Iran's cooperation.

He added his top priority at the Islamabad talks was to ensure the Islamic republic had "no nuclear weapon. That's 99 percent of it."

Security was tight in the Pakistani capital on Saturday, with a heavy police and paramilitary presence on the streets and road diversions around the "red zone" where government and diplomatic buildings are located. 

The city's main luxury hotel, which could host delegations, has been cleared of its normal well-heeled clientele.

It was not known whether the two sides would meet face-to-face, or whether they would mirror an indirect format used in Oman-mediated talks before the war. 

Pakistan has formulated a team of subject matter specialists to facilitate the two sides in negotiations on navigation, nuclear and other key matters, a diplomatic source familiar with the matter told AFP.

The negotiations will be closely watched by other key regional players, with Egypt and Turkey having helped with mediation, along with China, all of which Pakistan was still coordinating closely with for the talks, the source said. 

Beijing has been sought as a possible guarantor of any lasting agreement, official sources have said, with Trump confirming to AFP that China helped get Tehran to the negotiating table.

It was not clear whether China would have any direct presence during the talks or would be willing to take on a formal role. 

- Violence in Lebanon -

Complicating the path to a permanent ceasefire was Israel's assertion that the current truce does not cover Lebanon, at odds with Iran and Pakistan's stance.

Israeli air strikes continued in Lebanon on Friday against Iran-backed Hezbollah despite the Iranian demand that they be halted as a condition of the truce with Washington.

Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said his country will hold discussions with Lebanon's government in Washington next week but would not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The militant group said overnight that it had carried out drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, as well as on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

In Tehran, a 30-year-old resident told AFP he was skeptical negotiations would be successful, describing most of what Trump says as "pure noise and nonsense."

burs/cl/mlm/ceg/smw

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Islamabad on Saturday for talks with Iran that the Pakistani premier hosting the warring sides called a "make or break" effort to permanently halt weeks of fighting in the Middle East.

An Iranian delegation led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf arrived overnight at an airbase near the capital, disembarking from the commercial plane to embrace Pakistan's powerful army chief Asim Munir, who also shares a personal rapport with US President Donald Trump. 

Munir also greeted Vance, escorting him down a red carpet at the Nur Khan air base, where US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were already waiting.

The foes still appeared to be far apart on key issues, including the opening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and were quick to express their mutual suspicion.

"We have good intentions but we do not trust," Ghalibaf said shortly after landing, according to Iran's state broadcaster. 

"Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises."

Vance, who has been dispatched by Trump to lead the US delegation, stopped briefly in Paris for his plane to refuel before flying on to Pakistan.

"If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand," Vance said before leaving the United States.

But "if they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive", he added.

The ceasefire is already under strain, notably from Israel's continued strikes in Lebanon, where on Wednesday it carried out its heaviest bombardment since Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in early March, killing hundreds of people less than 48 hours after the truce came into force.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country's down-to-the-wire mediation got both sides to the negotiating table this week, said talks would not be easy. 

"An even more difficult stage lies ahead," he said, referring to efforts to permanently end fighting that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, sparking Iranian retaliation against Israel and across the Gulf.

"This is that stage which, in English, is called the equivalent of 'make or break.'"

It was unclear what time the talks would get underway, though the Tasnim news agency reported Iran's delegation would meet with Sharif at 1:00 pm.

Iranian state television made only a brief mention of the talks in its first morning news programme, with its second report dedicated to volunteers signing up to defend Iran in the event the war resumed.

- Islamabad plays host -

Iran -- which brought a more than 70-member delegation to Pakistan --  has insisted on the truce covering Lebanon and on the unfreezing of its assets for the Islamabad talks to go ahead, neither of which has materialised so far.

On the US side, President Donald Trump demanded the opening of the Strait of Hormuz as a condition for the two-week ceasefire.

The strait, through which one-fifth of the world's crude passes, has not reopened to normal traffic, however, and Trump vowed on Friday to have it open soon "with or without" Iran's cooperation.

He added his top priority at the Islamabad talks was to ensure the Islamic republic had "no nuclear weapon. That's 99 percent of it."

Security was tight in the Pakistani capital on Saturday, with a heavy police and paramilitary presence on the streets and road diversions around the "red zone" where government and diplomatic buildings are located. 

The city's main luxury hotel, which could host delegations, has been cleared of its normal well-heeled clientele.

It was not known whether the two sides would meet face-to-face, or whether they would mirror an indirect format used in Oman-mediated talks before the war. 

Pakistan has formulated a team of subject matter specialists to facilitate the two sides in negotiations on navigation, nuclear and other key matters, a diplomatic source familiar with the matter told AFP.

The negotiations will be closely watched by other key regional players, with Egypt and Turkey having helped with mediation, along with China, all of which Pakistan was still coordinating closely with for the talks, the source said. 

Beijing has been sought as a possible guarantor of any lasting agreement, official sources have said, with Trump confirming to AFP that China helped get Tehran to the negotiating table.

It was not clear whether China would have any direct presence during the talks or would be willing to take on a formal role. 

- Violence in Lebanon -

Complicating the path to a permanent ceasefire was Israel's assertion that the current truce does not cover Lebanon, at odds with Iran and Pakistan's stance.

Israeli air strikes continued in Lebanon on Friday against Iran-backed Hezbollah despite the Iranian demand that they be halted as a condition of the truce with Washington.

Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said his country will hold discussions with Lebanon's government in Washington next week but would not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The militant group said overnight that it had carried out drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, as well as on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

In Tehran, a 30-year-old resident told AFP he was skeptical negotiations would be successful, describing most of what Trump says as "pure noise and nonsense."

burs/cl/mlm/ceg/smw

How blue really is Blue Curacao, the sapphire-colored liqueur used to make Blue Lagoon or Blue Hawaii cocktails?

Not blue at all is the answer.

The brilliant hue of the drink is synthetic, added to evoke the tint of the Caribbean waters surrounding the eponymous Dutch island, the smallest country to qualify for this year's World Cup.

Curacao, which is flavored with orange peel, has been manufactured in the nation of 185,000 inhabitants for more than a century.

"Most people know it as Blue Curacao but the original Curacao liqueur was never blue to start with. It is clear," Genesis Riley, a 39-year-old guide at the Senior distillery told AFP.

"But we do have a blue version that inspires the rest of the world," she added.

The drink gained worldwide renown in the 1960s after featuring in the romantic comedy Blue Hawaii, starring singer Elvis Presley as an ex-soldier trying to dodge being drafted into the family pineapple business.

Because Curacao is the name of a territory, Senior cannot patent the liqueur, which is produced around the world.

Initially more popular in Europe, Blue Curacao has also been adopted in the Caribbean, Riley said.

Senior also produces colorless, red, green and yellow curacao but the thirst for these is dwarfed by demand for the blue variety.

pgf/cb/mjf/sla/hol

With Artemis II successfully completing its historic lunar mission on Friday, NASA is banking on billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk for the next step: landing astronauts on the Moon.

The Apollo program -- which sent the first and only humans to the Moon's surface between 1969 and 1972 -- was designed so that only two astronauts could land on the lunar surface for a maximum of a few days.

More than 50 years later, American ambitions and expertise have grown, with NASA hoping to send four people on a mission lasting several weeks and eventually building a lunar base.

For the second phase of its mission, the space agency is looking to commercial landers designed by Musk's SpaceX and Bezos's Blue Origin to get its astronauts on the Moon.

After Artemis II splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday after its record-breaking journey, NASA officials urged all hands on deck for a crewed landing in 2028.

"We need all of industry to work and come along with us, and they need to accept that challenge and come with us and really start the production lines that are going to be required in order to achieve that goal," Lori Glaze, the acting associate NASA administrator, told a press conference.

The Apollo program relied on a single rocket, the Saturn V, which carried both the lunar lander and the capsule carrying the astronauts.

NASA has opted for two separate systems for Artemis: the first to launch the Orion spacecraft carrying the crew from Earth, and another to launch the lunar lander, which will be privately contracted.

- 'Camping trip' -

The decision was driven by the technical limitations of the Apollo program, Kent Chojnacki, a senior NASA official in charge of lunar lander development, told AFP.

"It was very not expandable to long-term exploration and long-term stays," he explained.

Although spectacular, the Apollo missions were like "camping trips," said Jack Kiraly, director of government relations at the Planetary Society, which encourages space exploration.

The systems NASA is looking at now are "huge compared to Apollo," said Chojnacki, noting that the new lunar landers being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX are two to seven times larger than before.

The space agency is also drawing from external partners, such as the European companies that built the propulsion module for Orion.

The new approach opens access to more equipment and resources, but also significantly complicates operations.

To send these giant spacecrafts to the Moon, the private space exploration companies will need to master in-flight refueling, a complex maneuver that has not yet been fully tested.

After the lunar lander is launched, additional rockets will be needed to deliver the fuel required for the journey to the Moon, some 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) from Earth.

- 'Lose the Moon' -

Given this risky undertaking and the numerous delays -- particularly those experienced by SpaceX that was supposed to have its lander ready first -- pressure has mounted in recent months.

"We are once again about to lose the Moon," three former NASA officials warned in an article in SpaceNews last September.

China, which is hoping to send humans to the Moon by 2030, has been making progress as well, raising fears in the Trump administration that the United States could get left behind.

With that in mind, NASA raised the possibility last fall of reopening the contract awarded to SpaceX and using Blue Origin's lunar lander first, sending shockwaves through the rival companies.

Both firms announced they were realigning their strategies to prioritize the lunar project -- and keep their lucrative contracts with NASA.

But concerns remain, particularly regarding the feasibility of in-orbit refueling.

"We do have a plan," Chojnacki said, noting that NASA has a back-up plan in case of failure.

The timeline is also up in the air. 

NASA says it plans to test an in-orbit rendezvous between the spacecraft and one or two lunar landers in 2027, and carry out a crewed lunar landing in 2028.

Before that, companies will need to test in-orbit refueling and send an unmanned lunar lander to the Moon to demonstrate its safety.

That all needs to happen within the next two years.

"It feels like a very small amount of time," said Clayton Swope of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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Tourists crowded beneath the Door of No Return, an arch built by the beach at Ouidah in southern Benin in memory of those crammed onto slave ships bound for the New World.

Benin, which holds a presidential election on Sunday, has in recent years leaned into its painful past to encourage tourism. 

Once a key departure point in the transatlantic slave trade, the coastal town of Ouidah lies at the heart of the push to reclaim the country's history, culture and heritage.

Standing nearly 17 metres (56 feet) tall on the seafront, the Door of No Return has been fully restored, now a must-see landmark for visitors.

Its ochre-and-gold facade is carved with figures of chained slaves, frozen mid-stride towards the ocean.

Nearby, a life-size replica of L'Aurore -- one of the last three-masted ships to leave Ouidah for Cuba around 1860 -- is set to open soon as an immersive museum of the slave trade.

"It reminds us of where we come from. It's important to develop tourism around our history because it's very rich, little known, and we want to showcase it," said Arsene Ahounou, an engineer from the commercial capital Cotonou visiting for the day.

"For us natives, understanding our history matters," he added.

Pausing for selfies with friends visiting from Nigeria, Onyinye Anumba said that seeing the site with her own eyes was "awesome".

"As an African, I've read many things about this place... so just being here makes me proud about what Africa has," she said.

- 'Demystify Vodun' -

Elsewhere, tourists explored the 13th-century Python Temple to learn about Voodoo culture -- the popular animist religion rooted in Ouidah.

As many posed for photos with snakes draped around their shoulders, guides explained the reptile's spiritual significance in Voodoo (Vodun in the local Fon language) beliefs.

Having worked in Beninese tourism for more than 35 years, Modeste Zinsou, the temple's head guide, said the sector had evolved.

"This isn't mass tourism, it's cultural tourism. The sacred element remains. We're reconstructing our own history, in which we completely demystify Vodun and the cliches around it," he said.

Benin is the birthplace of Voodoo, which now has its own international festival, the Vodun Days.

The three days of dancing, mask parades and traditional ceremonies have become a major tourist attraction.

This year it drew around two million visitors, most of them Beninese.

"The government has worked to encourage domestic tourism, meaning Beninese people going out and reclaiming their identity," added Zinsou.

- 'Our Eiffel Tower' -

To boost tourism, Benin has launched major infrastructure projects, including road and hotel renovations.

A Club Med resort is planned for 2027 and visa procedures have been eased for many nationalities.

"We're not a country with mineral wealth, so we had to identify where our wealth lies," said Alain Godonou, an adviser to the president on heritage and museums.

"History shows that Benin is a land of great cultures and traditions, and a witness to a pivotal moment in human history -- the slave trade," he said. 

Godonou hopes tourism will account for 10 to 15 percent of GDP within a decade, up from about six percent today.

Sunday's election in the west African country is to replace the architect of this tourism drive, outgoing president Patrice Talon, who is stepping down after two five-year terms. 

The frontrunner to succeed him, Romuald Wadagni, the finance minister from the ruling party, has pledged to carry the projects forward. 

Since 2024, Benin has allowed anyone with an African ancestor who was enslaved and shipped to the Americas to acquire Beninese nationality. 

"It was important for Benin to do justice to this diaspora by granting the nationality that should have been theirs," Godonou said.

In the heart of Cotonou, the country's largest city, the Amazon Monument is now a major attraction. 

The towering 30-metre metal statue depicts a warrior of the Dahomey kingdom, rifle at her side and dagger in hand. 

On Easter Monday, a public holiday, crowds of Beninese visitors strolled through the plaza, snapping pictures of the statue.

"It's a source of pride! We don't have the money to go on holiday in France or elsewhere," said vendor Geraldine Sedami Yagbo.

"This statue is our Eiffel Tower."

pid/bam/rh/kjm/gv

When NASA flight director Zebulon Scoville was working a shift during the uncrewed Artemis I test flight, he realized the US space agency wasn't consistently livestreaming the spacecraft's journey to Earth.

"They said, well, we don't have bandwidth, we've got to get all this vehicle and engineering data down," Scoville recalled. "I was like -- wrong."

"This program will be over if people don't buy it and they don't come with us."

NASA eventually got a low-bandwidth live stream up for that 2022 uncrewed mission.

And once it was over, senior officials named the NASA veteran "imagery czar" to boost engagement.

He told AFP he spent two years working across the agency to figure out how better to take the public on NASA's new Moon missions.

That included adding an optical communications system onto the Orion spacecraft, a laser that transmitted to a ground station on Earth, sending streaming video in higher resolution.

Throughout the more than nine-day Artemis II crewed test flight -- which ended Friday with an emotional splashdown off the California coast -- NASA has maintained live programming on its own streaming platform and across social media. 

That, combined with third-party streamers and broadcast news, has earned millions of views.

And as NASA official Lori Glaze said Friday: "To all of our new followers out there, please stay tuned."

- NASA on Twitch -

From social media posts clipped from livestreamed events with the astronauts to an extraordinary portfolio of celestial photographs, viewers caught an eyeful of Artemis II.

Insitutions including museums held Artemis splashdown parties, and some teachers integrated the launch into their lessons.

Alex Roethler, a Wisconsin physics teacher, said watching the mission helped his students get "more engaged," and made lessons "feel more real."

"I love having the livestream available, and I also think it's cool that they use Twitch," Roethler said, referring to a video streamer site favored by gamers. "That is a platform more of our students use."

The crew themselves have been integral to the storytelling. 

During the nearly seven-hour lunar flyby, astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Weisman gave near-literary descriptions of lunar surface features and left scientists in Houston awe-struck. 

With Artemis II, there have been "just smiles and actually showing emotion through NASA, where we have sometimes had a history of being a little bit dry," Scoville said.

"It's okay to jump up and down and howl at the moon," he added. 

- Apollo-Artemis parallels -

Before Artemis II, the United States hadn't sent astronauts around the Moon since 1972 for the Apollo 17 mission -- the last of that famed space program that saw humans walk on the lunar surface.

In the lead-up to the 10-day test flight, NASA faced both a blase populace and a fractured media environment.

The space agency had to battle for attention across traditional and social media in a way the three-TV-channel era of Apollo never experienced. The Apollo 11 Moon landing in 1969 saw approximately one-fifth of the global population tune in.

Yet for all the mythical qualities of Apollo, Jack Kiraly, director of government relations at the Planetary Society, said "nostalgia" perhaps "glosses over some of the issues that the program at the time faced."

"Everything that led up to that was actually broadly unpopular with the American electorate, with the public writ large," Kiraly told AFP.

Still, even with that in account, the analyst said "I don't think this moment is living up to the hype" of most Apollo missions, and added he hopes NASA's communications strategies continue to improve.

- 'Longing for something good' -

Ahead of Artemis II, Scoville had conversations with mission commander Reid Wiseman in which they reflected on parallels between the Apollo 8 lunar mission and this most recent Moon flyby.

The United States in 1968 was politically fractured and at war. 

Nearly 60 years later, not so much has changed.

"We're watching the news today, with wars, with division, and, like, how much everyone is just so longing for something good to happen," Scoville said. 

In a recent space-to-Earth press conference, Wiseman said their only news source during the mission was their families, who said Artemis has captivated people worldwide, though he admitted they are "biased."

Wiseman said he hoped the trip could "have the world pause" to take in the beauty of our planet and universe.

"I think for the folks that decided to tune in -- and it sounds like it was quite a few -- this has happened," he said. 

Throughout their journey, all four astronauts emphasized how unified Earth looks from afar -- a takeaway they hoped would permeate public consciousness.

"People are wanting to reach out to their inner rocket nerds," Scoville said. "This is just a glimpse of what's to come."

mdo/sla/hol

A temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine for Orthodox Easter is set to begin on Saturday afternoon, as US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war falter. 

The Kremlin said it had ordered a temporary truce from Saturday at 4:00 pm (1300 GMT) until the end of Sunday, a 32-hour period.

Russia's Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and army chief Valery Gerasimov have been instructed to "cease hostilities in all directions during this period," the Kremlin said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv had "repeatedly stated" it was ready for a ceasefire over Easter, and was willing to reciprocate. 

The temporary ceasefire came as US-led talks on ending the four-year-old conflict have been derailed by the Middle East war.

The two sides also held a ceasefire for the Orthodox Easter last year.

Authorities in Ukraine's central region of Poltava, and Sumy, a region in the north east, reported overnight Friday that one person had been killed and around 15 others wounded in two separate attacks, just hours before the ceasefire was set to begin.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched 128 drones against the country overnight Thursday.

- Slowdown in Russian military operations -

Several rounds of US-led talks have failed to bring the warring sides closer to an agreement and Washington's attention is now focused on Iran. 

The negotiations have become deadlocked, with Moscow demanding territorial and political concessions that Zelensky has ruled out as tantamount to capitulation.

The Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Russia had discussed the ceasefire with Ukraine or the United States in advance and said it was not linked to negotiations to end the war. 

The war has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions to flee their homes, making it Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

Over the past few years, fighting on the front has come to a near standstill. Russia has made small territorial gains at a high cost.  

But Kyiv recently managed to push back in the southeast and Russian advances have been slowing since late 2025, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Apart from Ukrainian counter-attacks, analysts attributed the slowdown to Russia being banned from using SpaceX's Starlink satellites and Moscow's own efforts to block the Telegram messaging app. 

The situation is, however, unfavourable for Ukraine in the Donetsk region, towards the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, according to the ISW. 

Moscow occupies just more than 19 percent of Ukraine, most of which was seized during the first weeks of the conflict.

bur/vgu/roc/lkd/tc

The Atlanta Hawks secured an NBA playoff berth with a 124-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday as the Boston Celtics locked up the Eastern Conference second seed with a lopsided win of their own.

CJ McCollum scored a game-high 29 points for the Hawks, who came into the contest at sixth in the East and still in danger of falling into the play-in tournament that will see the seventh- through 10th-placed teams battle for the last two playoff berths in each conference.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson scored 18 points apiece and Dyson Daniels added a triple-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for the Hawks, who led 61-48 at halftime and surged away with a 16-0 scoring run late in the third quarter.

The Cavaliers, assured of the fourth seed in the East and home court advantage in the first round, rested Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen.

The Celtics, who had missed a chance to secure the second seed with a loss to the New York Knicks on Thursday, got the job done with a record-equaling 29 three-pointers in a 144-118 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

It's the second time in two seasons the Celtics have matched the record of 29 treys, first set by the Milwaukee Bucks in December 2020 and also matched this season by the Memphis Grizzlies.

All 30 teams played on the penultimate day of regular-season action, with more than a dozen of those headed for the post-season still jostling to cement their playoff or play-in positions.

The Knicks secured the third seed in the East with a 112-95 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Toronto slipped from fifth to sixth in the East with one game remaining and the same 45-36 record as the seventh-placed Orlando Magic -- who beat the Chicago Bulls 127-103.

The short-handed Philadelphia 76ers shook off the absence of star big man Joel Embiid, who is recovering from an appendectomy, to beat the Pacers 105-94 in Indiana.

Eighth in the East, the Sixers still have a mathematical chance of overtaking both the Raptors and Magic on Sunday and avoiding the play-in.

But the Charlotte Hornets were locked into the play-in with their 118-100 loss to Eastern Conference top seeds Detroit.

- Wembanyama returns -

The playoff-bound San Antonio Spurs, fueled by 40 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots from superstar Victor Wembanyama, beat the Dallas Mavericks 139-120.

Wembanyama returned to action after missing one game with bruised ribs and with 64 regular-season games and the NBA Cup final under his belt has met the 65-game minimum to be eligible for season honors including Defensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player.

Wembanyama underscored his status as an MVP contender with his fifth 40-point game of the season in just 26 minutes on the floor.

bb/aks

US President Donald Trump's administration on Friday revealed renderings for a colossal triumphal arch proposed for construction in Washington near some of the nation's most revered monuments.

At 250 feet (76.2 meters) it would pip Mexico City's Monument to the Revolution by 30 feet, making it the largest structure of its kind in the world, and knocking Pyongyang's Arch of Triumph to third place.

The gold-accented arch would also tower over the 99-foot-tall Lincoln Memorial, sitting just across the Potomac River at the other end of Arlington Memorial Bridge, and be clearly visible from Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, the final resting place for many of the nation's military heroes.

The structure "will be the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World," Trump wrote Friday on his social media platform on Friday. "This will be a wonderful addition to the Washington D.C. area for all Americans to enjoy for many decades to come!"

The arch is one of several architectural projects -- including the construction of a large White House ballroom, lambasted by critics, and renovations to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts -- that Trump has undertaken to leave a mark on Washington in his second term.

Drawings and computer-generated renderings show a large, winged Lady Liberty flanked by two eagles -- all gilded -- atop a towering white arch.

Golden inscriptions read "One Nation Under God" and "Liberty and Justice for All" on opposite sides.

The arch, resembling the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, is proposed for a traffic circle on Columbia Island, which sits in the Potomac River that hugs Washington.

Trump, who was one of America's most famous real estate developers before entering the entertainment industry and later politics, has said it would be built to mark the 250th anniversary of America's founding and 1776 declaration of independence from Britain.

The plans were submitted for review to the US Commission of Fine Arts, a federal agency charged with advising the president on design matters.

Trump fired all members of the board in October and stacked it with allies as he embarks on a series of renovation and building projects across the US capital.

Last month, the same agency gave its approval to the design of a commemorative gold coin etched in Trump's likeness to be minted for the 250th anniversary.

pnb/mlm

Columbia College baseball shined on breast cancer awareness day, securing 2-1 and 10-0 victories over Central Baptist. 

Strong pitching performances willed the Cougars to victory in both contests. Kolten Payne pitched 6⅓ innings in Game 1, striking out five and issuing zero walks. Joey Marcinkiewicz's solo shot in the fourth inning pushed Columbia over the edge to a 2-1 victory.

Parker Anderson threw a complete-game shutout in a Game 2 that was all Cougars from the start. Marcinkiewicz continued his success at the plate with  three hits and two RBI, while Dylan Carlton recorded two triples and led the team with three RBI.

CC prepares for another showdown with Central Baptist at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Stephens softball snaps seven-game skid in doubleheader split

After dropping Game 1 of the doubleheader 7-0 to Central Baptist on Friday afternoon, Stephens softball ended its seven-game losing streak with a 1-0 victory in Game 2. 

The Stars gave up five runs in the first inning of Game 1, a deficit that they never climbed out of. A Landry Bales RBI-single in the first inning proved to be the difference in Game 2, as Elise Kendrick threw a complete-game shutout and struck out six, holding the Trojans at bay. 

Stephens will look to build on the victory in a doubleheader against Mission University starting at noon Saturday. 

CC men's, women's track compete in the UCM Mule Relays

Columbia College competed in both days of the UCM Mule Relays, hosted by the University of Central Missouri. 10 men's athletes and 10 women's athletes placed in the top 10 at the meet.

Lauren Berhorst was the highest-placing Cougar at the Mule Relays, as she came in third in the 5000-meter with a time of 19 minutes, 13.81 seconds. Laik Graham finished fourth in the 5000-meter on the men's side with a time of 15:40.18.

Marcos Lara and Ryan Brown finished fourth and fifth in the 1500-meter with times of 3:55.05 and 3:56.66, respectively. Brenin Howell represented Columbia in the field, finishing fourth in discus with a throw of 171 feet, seven inches and sixth in shot put with a throw of 53-04.

Both teams will compete in the Dewey Allgood Invite on April 18.

Mizzou tennis falls to No. 4 Auburn

The Mizzou tennis team failed to score a point as it lost 4-0 to the Auburn Tigers on Friday night in Auburn, Alabama.

Auburn secured the doubles point quickly, besting the duo of freshman Lara Quaglia and sophomore Gian Octa 6-2, as well as another pair of underclassmen, freshman Alex Ackman and sophomore Zoe Lazar, 6-1.

Over on singles, the three Tigers who completed their matches failed to win a set. A three-headed Auburn monster of No. 37 DJ Bennett, No. 49 Ekaterina Khairutdinova and No. 55 Ava Esposito diced up Mizzou, securing the win in straight sets.

Mizzou will be back in action when it takes on Florida at noon Sunday in Gainesville.