Picasso's 'Guernica' at heart of battle in Spain over location

Two US Navy warships have transited the Strait of Hormuz to begin clearing the strategic waterway of mines laid by Iran, US Central Command said Saturday -- a claim denied by Tehran.

The announcement of the first such transit since the US-Israeli war with Iran began came shortly after President Donald Trump said Washington had started "clearing out" the strait, through which a fifth of the world's crude oil passes.

"Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce," said CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper.

The USS Frank E. Peterson and the USS Michael Murphy are the guided-missile destroyers involved in the operation, but CENTCOM said that "additional US forces including underwater drones" could join the effort in coming days.

Iran "strongly rejected" Washington's claims that US vessels entered the strait, military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari told state TV.

"The initiative for the passage of any vessel lies with the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he was quoted as saying.

Earlier Saturday, Trump said in a social media post that the United States was "starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz."

He called it "a favor" to countries such as China, Japan and France that "don't have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves."

Trump insisted that Iran is "LOSING BIG!" in the conflict, while acknowledging that Iranian mines in the strategic strait still pose a threat.

"The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may 'bunk' into one of their sea mines," Trump wrote.

The key shipping lane off the coast of Iran has been virtually blocked by Tehran since the United States and Israel started bombing Iran on February 28, though reopening the strait was ostensibly a condition of the shaky ceasefire put in place earlier this week. 

Senior Iranian and American officials held face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan on Saturday in a bid to bring an end to a conflict that has plunged the Middle East into violence and sent shockwaves through the world economy.

In an earlier post, Trump said that empty tankers were headed to the United States from around the world to purchase oil, without providing details.

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The NBA regular season concludes on Sunday with 10 post-season seedings still to be determined and the Denver Nuggets facing a big decision regarding three-time Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic.

The Eastern Conference fifth through 10th seeds are still to be determined with three teams -- Toronto, Orlando and Philadelphia -- still in with a chance to claim the sixth seed and avoid the play-in.

The Western Conference third and fourth seeds are still in play with the Nuggets one game up on the Los Angeles Lakers.

With home court advantage in the first round assured for both the Nuggets and Lakers, Denver coach David Adelman must decide whether to rest banged-up star Jokic for a second straight game -- even though the Serbian needs to play at least 15 minutes against the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday to meet the minimum 65-game requirement to be eligible for end-of-season awards.

"We're going to have that conversation (Saturday)," Adelman said. "Obviously, his opinion matters."

Adelman sat all of his starters on Friday and the Nuggets still got a win over the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who with the West top seed and best record in the league locked up rested most of their starters, too.

Adelman said having key players healthy after a physically and mentally draining 82-game regular-season was his top priority.

But the 65-game threshold for season honors is a factor when it comes to Jokic, who missed 16 games in January with a knee injury but is averaging a triple-double and is set to become the first player in history to lead the league in assists and rebounds per game.

"We've got to make a proper decision, and we need to go in there with a real plan," Adelman said.

The dozens of players who sat out Friday's games across the league didn't include San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama, who scored 40 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as he played his 65th game to ensure his eligibility for Defensive Player of the Year and MVP honors.

"If I had 65 (games) before, I for sure wouldn't have played," said Wembanyama, who missed the previous game with a bruised rib and could well sit out Sunday's clash with Denver.

The 65-game rule has left a number of stand-out players out in the cold because of injury absences, including Detroit's Cade Cunningham, Minnesota's Anthony Edwards and the Los Angeles Lakers' Luka Doncic.

Cunningham is back for East top seeds Detroit after missing 11 games with a collapsed lung. Edwards missed significant time with a knee injury.

- Impact on season -

Doncic, the league's leading scorer, is currently nursing a hamstring strain that cost him the last five games of the regular season and could sideline him to start the playoffs.

His agent has indicated Doncic will seek an "Extraordinary Circumstances" waiver to the 65-game rule.

"It's an interesting question," Wembanyama said. "If those three, especially Cade and Luka, aren't in the end-of-season awards (race) it's not going to reflect their impact on the season."

The 65-game rule was implemented in 2023 to discourage teams from resting uninjured players.

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr says the league needs something even more radical to keep players healthy: a shorter season.

"We need fewer games," Kerr said in March, with a month left in the grueling campaign that started on October 21 and will now segue to a post-season capped by the best-of-seven NBA Finals that could finish as late as June 19.

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Pope Leo lashed out against warmongers on Saturday while calling on billions of people around the globe to embrace peace and "believe once again in love, moderation and good politics".

In one of his most passionate entreaties yet to end the raging conflict in the Middle East, the American pope said faith was needed "in order to face this dramatic hour in history together". 

"Enough of the idolatry of self and money! Enough of the display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life," Pope Leo implored in an address during a prayer vigil for peace at St Peter's Basilica.

Uttered in measured tones, as is customary for the soft-spoken head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, the comments by the 70-year-old Leo nevertheless marked some of the most pointed criticism yet of the wave of conflicts inflaming the globe.

"Dear brothers and sisters, there are certainly binding responsibilities that fall to the leaders of nations. To them we cry out: Stop! It is time for peace! Sit at the table of dialogue and mediation, not at the table where rearmament is planned and deadly actions are decided!"

As he has done in the past, the Chicago native did not cite politicians by name, and did not call out specific countries. 

- 'Delusion of omnipotence' - 

Responsibility also fell to the "immense multitude" that rejects war, Leo said, urging them to build a "Kingdom of peace... in our homes, schools, neighbourhoods, and civil and religious communities."

"A Kingdom that counters polemics and resignation through friendship and a culture of encounter. Let us believe once again in love, moderation and good politics." 

The pope described the Kingdom of God as a "bulwark against that delusion of omnipotence that surrounds us and is becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive."

It also was a place with "no sword, no drone, no vengeance, no trivialisation of evil, no unjust profit, but only dignity, understanding and forgiveness."

Leo painted a grim picture of the current state of the world, "where there never seem to be enough graves, for people continue to crucify one another and eliminate life, with no regard to justice and mercy."

Pope Leo, who was elected pontiff last May following the death of his predecessor Francis, is moderate and known as a bridge-builder. But he has been increasingly denouncing the conflicts dividing the world, most recently on Friday when he railed against the "senseless and inhuman violence" spreading across the Holy Land. 

Leo has repeatedly urged de-escalation in the current US-Israeli war on Iran and the need for a diplomatic solution. 

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Arsenal's 2-1 home defeat by Bournemouth on Saturday blew the Premier League title race wide open, as Brentford and Everton missed the chance to close in on Champions League qualification after a 2-2 draw.

The Gunners could have opened up a 12-point lead at the top of the table, but a third defeat in four games for Mikel Arteta's men has put the destiny of the title back in Manchester City's hands.

City have two games in hand on the leaders, starting with Sunday's trip to Chelsea, and host Arsenal next weekend.

Just a few weeks ago Arsenal were dreaming of an unprecedented quadruple.

But after losing to City in the League Cup final and being dumped out the FA Cup by second-tier Southampton, a first league title in 22 years may also now be slipping away.

"We were very far from the standards that we've shown all season, so it's a big punch in the face because we wanted to win this game so badly," said Arteta.

"We didn't cope with the situations when they didn't go our way."

Junior Kroupi reacted quickest to Adrien Truffert's deflected cross to give Bournemouth an early lead.

Viktor Gyokeres levelled before the break from the penalty spot, but a lack of creative spark in the final third was again Arsenal's undoing.

It is their defensive record that has put Arteta's men in pole position for the title, but they were cut open with ease when Alex Scott finished off a fine team move for the winner on 74 minutes.

The result was also huge in Bournemouth's charge towards the European places as they move up to 10th on the back of an 11-game unbeaten run.

- Salah back for Liverpool -

Five English sides will qualify directly for next season's Champions League and both Brentford and Everton missed the chance to move level on points with fifth-placed Liverpool.

Twice the Bees led through Igor Thiago, who took his tally for the season to 21 Premier League goals and within one of Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot.

Beto levelled midway through the first half for the visitors and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall struck in stoppage time to salvage a point.

Brighton are also well in the mix for their first ever taste of Champions League football.

Mats Wieffer scored twice as the Seagulls beat relegation-bound Burnley 2-0.

A fifth win in six games for Fabian Hurzeler's men takes them up to ninth and within three points of the top five.

Liverpool can solidify their place in the top five when they host Fulham later at Anfield, looking to snap a three-game losing streak.

Heavy defeats by Manchester City in the FA Cup and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League have ramped up the pressure on Arne Slot's position as Liverpool boss, less than a year he led the club to the Premier League title.

Mohamed Salah returns to the Liverpool starting line-up among five changes made by Slot from the chastening 2-0 loss to PSG in midweek.

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Police in London on Saturday arrested  nearly 100 pro-Palestinian protesters at a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action.

Officers carried away activists to cheers and clapping from other demonstrators who gathered for the sit-down demonstration in the capital's Trafalgar Square.

The protesters held placards in support of the banned group Palestine Action, making them liable for arrest.

Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation last July, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. 

The High Court in London in mid-February upheld a challenge to the ban, saying it had interfered with the right to freedom of speech.

London's Metropolitan Police paused arrests in the wake of the High Court ruling before announcing in late March that it would resume them.

The government has been granted leave to appeal the decision.

"It's really important to continue to show up," said Freya, 28, manager of a London environmental organisation, one of those sitting towards the front of the crowd of protesters.

"It's important that we all continue to oppose genocide... The government might flip-flop in their legal argument but the morals of these people (here) do not change," she added.

Posting on X, London's Metropolitan Police said by early evening they had made 92 arrests of people aged between 27 and 82 with the protesters still in place.

- 'Misguided crackdown' -

Since the ban on Palestine Action was imposed there have been nearly 3,000 arrests, mainly for carrying placards defending it. Hundreds of people are facing charges.

Another protester, Denis MacDermot, 73, from Edinburgh, said he had been arrested before and had no hesitation about turning out again.

"I'm a supporter of these great people," he said waving towards other protesters, adding that if the court process was definitive "there would be no need for all this".

Protest organisers Defend Our Juries said around 500 people had taken part in Saturday's demonstration, protesting "the UK Government's complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza and the misguided crackdown on peaceful protest at home".

Police were "choosing to make arrests despite the government's ban on the group being ruled unlawful by the High Court, and leading lawyers warning that any arrests would be unlawful", it added in a statement.

The ban, which put Palestine Action on a blacklist that also includes Palestinian militants Hamas and the Lebanese Iran-backed group Hezbollah, has sparked a severe backlash.

A judge has put on hold all trials of people charged with supporting Palestine Action, scheduling a blanket review of cases for July 30.

Set up in 2020, Palestine Action's stated goal on its now-blocked website is to end "global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime".

It has mainly targeted weapons factories, especially those belonging to the Israeli defence group Elbit Systems.

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Smoke from an Israeli strike still lingered in the air as a plane from Lebanon's national carrier took off from Beirut airport, which has stayed open despite the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The country's only international passenger facility, whose departure boards are now largely red with cancellations, is located on the Mediterranean coast at the edge of Beirut's southern suburbs.

Israel has pummelled the southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, with strikes since the Iran-backed group fired rockets at Israel last month, drawing Lebanon into the Middle East war.

"The airport has stayed open throughout this crisis" following risk assessments based on information received "mainly from the US embassy", said Mohammed Aziz, head of Lebanon's civil aviation authority.

He said authorities received additional guarantees this week that the airport would be spared, after Israel on Thursday issued an evacuation warning for large areas of southern Beirut, including the main road leading to the facility and areas directly adjacent.

Israel has so far not carried out its threat, which came a day after devastating strikes across the country, including on central Beirut and its southern suburbs, killed more than 350 people.

AFP images showed a flight by Lebanon's Middle East Airlines (MEA), whose logo is the country's beloved cedar tree, landing on Thursday evening just hours after the warning was issued.

Israel and Hezbollah also waged a full-blown war in 2024, and then too the airport stayed open and MEA kept flying.

- 'Specific air routes' -

Aziz, who is also a former pilot, said the airport was seeing less than half the traffic it normally would at this time of year.

Most airlines have suspended trips to Beirut, with MEA keeping up a reduced number of flights, including three a day to Turkey, compared to 11 normally.

On Friday, just a few dozen travellers were in the usually packed departures hall, as porters sat on empty baggage carts and soldiers kept watch at the terminal entrance.

Staring at the departures board, Mohammed Assaad, 48, an Australian of Lebanese origin who was heading back to Sydney via Cairo, said he was unfazed by the Israeli bombardment.

"I'm just hoping that our flight won't be cancelled. That's all I'm worried about," said Assaad, who was travelling with his wife and two daughters.

Commercial planes are in the skies at the same time as Israeli military aircraft, including drones, but they travel along different air corridors, an MEA pilot told AFP.

"We have very specific air routes," he said, and "the Israelis know where our planes are -- our transponders are turned on", he said on condition of anonymity.

- 'Open and operational' -

Israeli military aircraft including drones generally fly at higher altitudes than commercial planes, he said, while such aircraft also show up on commercial planes' radars.

There is little chance of Israel's military somehow bringing down "a plane by accident", he added.

To manage traffic and avoid any incidents, "the Americans are the main intermediaries", the pilot said.

Civil aviation authority chief Aziz said that "only on two or three occasions maximum" a commercial plane delayed a landing due to Israeli military action.

A Western diplomatic source told AFP that Lebanese authorities were sharing information on flight movements with some other diplomatic missions in the country.

"The Lebanese are working around the clock to guarantee the security of the airport," the source said, requesting anonymity.

Jalal Haidar, a Lebanese-American who took over as the airport's chief operating officer two months ago, also expressed full confidence in the airport, its surroundings and the airspace.

"All three are safe," said Haidar, who formerly managed airports in the United States.

He said the facility was taking advantage of the lower passenger numbers to push forward with renovations so that the site, which handles an average of eight million passengers annually, can accommodate up to an extra 1.3 million this year.

"We are prepared to remain open and operational," he said.

"We are also driven by our determination to keep Lebanon connected to the rest of the world."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.