South Korean court increases ex-first lady's graft sentence

Top-ranked Nelly Korda, coming off her third major title, closed with a birdie to seize a share of the lead after Friday's second round of the LPGA Riviera Maya Open.

The 27-year-old American fired a bogey-free five-under par 67 to stand on nine-under 135 after 36 holes at El Camaleon Golf Course in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

"It was a good day," Korda said. "Drove it really well. Hit it to the right spots on the green and capitalized on some good shots."

She finished level with compatriot Brianna Do, who fired a 69 in quest of her first LPGA title, with American Melanie Green one stroke back on 136 after shooting 70 and Japan's Minami Katsu fourth on 137 after a 68.

Korda captured the Chevron Championship last week for her third career major and also won the LPGA season-opening Tournament of Champions. She finished second in her other three starts so far this year.

Korda, who began the day two strokes behind co-leader Do, birdied the second, par-five fifth and par-three eighth, then birdied 14 and the par-five 18th to grab a share of the lead.

"Overall just a solid day," Korda said. "Didn't make any mistakes really. If I did, I bounced back really well."

Do began on the back nine with back-to-back birdies then added birdies at the par-three 15th and par-four second before a closing bogey.

"I started with two birdies on 10, 11, my first two holes, and that really got things going," Do said. "Kind of a lull in the middle on the back nine, but kept it together and shot three-under, so good round. Solid."

Spain's Carlota Ciganda and China's Liu Yu, who shot 66, shared fifth on 138 with Germany's Olivia Cowan, Mexico's Gaby Lopez, Paraguay's Sofia Garcia and Thailand's Arpichaya Yubol sharing seventh on 139.

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Fourth-ranked Cameron Young rode a hot start and surged to a five-stroke lead after Friday's second round of the PGA Cadillac Championship.

Young birdied four of the first seven holes on his way to firing a five-under par 67 and stand on 13-under 131 after 36 holes at Trump National Doral in Florida.

"I've just putted really well," Young said. "I've left myself in mostly doable spots when I've missed greens.

"But I haven't driven it great and that's something I hopefully look to return to normal over the next couple days."

Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth, fellow American Alex Smalley and Canada's Nick Taylor shared second on 136 with American Gary Woodland on 137.

Young, who won the Players Championship in March and captured his first PGA title last August at Greensboro, said he feels comfortable with a big lead, well aware it could vanish quickly on the weekend.

"I've been around the lead quite a bit and I'm not particularly uncomfortable. I've liked this golf course thus far," Young said.

"There's a lot of guys four or five back. I'm sure somebody will be four- or five-under tomorrow so you have to prepare for that."

Young topped putting and scrambling statistics.

"I avoided the bad misses for the most part. It's not like I drove it awful but I would love to play from the fairway a couple more times the next couple days," he said.

"There's a lot of golf to be played on a difficult golf course but so far I've played well. If I can drive it a little bit better, I feel like I can keep cruising and see what happens."

Young reached the green in two and birdied the par-five first hole to grab the solo lead then stretched the margin with a 17-foot birdie putt at the third and a 27-foot birdie putt at the fifth.

The lead reached four strokes when Young sank a seven-foot birdie putt at the seventh.

Young's approach at the par-five eighth was plugged in a bunker. He punched out into an adjacent bunker then blasted to five feet and rescued par.

At the par-three ninth, Young missed the green but rolled the ball just outside six feet and saved par again.

Young sank a 16-foot birdie putt at the par-three 13th, boosting his advantage to five, but then needed two shots to escape greenside rough at 14 and made his first bogey of the tournament.

Young drove the green at the par-four 16th and two-putted for birdie from 26 feet to restore his five-stroke margin.

- 'Pick your spots' -

World number one Scottie Scheffler, a four-time major winner, fired a 67 to join a pack in sixth on 138.

"It's a golf course where there's some trouble -- there's a fair amount of water but the greens are fairly big. Fairways aren't too narrow but they are hard to hit just based on how firm the golf course is," Scheffler said.

"There's definitely some challenge out there. You have to pick your spots. I did a good job of giving myself some looks today. Wish I had holed a few more but overall if I do that over the course of the next couple days I'll be in a good spot."

The $20 million signature event marks the PGA Tour's return to the Blue Monster course for the first time since 2016. Doral had hosted a LIV Golf event in recent years.

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A US appeals court on Friday temporarily halted mail delivery of mifepristone, the medication used in the majority of abortions in the United States.

A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals delivered the order in a lawsuit brought by the southern state of Louisiana, which has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country, against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The order by the conservative-dominated court requires women seeking abortions anywhere in the United States to obtain mifepristone in person from health clinics, and bans delivery by mail or through a pharmacy.

The appeals court overturned a lower court ruling that allowed mifepristone to continue to be delivered by mail while the FDA conducts a review of its regulations regarding the drug.

Proponents of reviewing mifepristone's safety have cited a study -- which was not peer-reviewed and was published on a website, not in a scientific journal -- conducted by a conservative think-tank.

The FDA originally approved mifepristone in 2000. It is the most common method for abortion care in the United States and is also routinely used for managing early miscarriage.

Mifepristone, which prevents pregnancy progression, and misoprostol, which empties the uterus, are approved to terminate a pregnancy up to 70 days of gestation in the United States.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill welcomed the appeals court decision calling it a "Victory for Life!"

"The Biden abortion cartel facilitated the deaths of thousands of Louisiana babies (and millions in other states) through illegal mail-order abortion pills," Murrill said. "Today, that nightmare is over."

- 'Isn't about science' -

Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, condemned the appeals court ruling, which is expected to be appealed to the US Supreme Court.

"This isn't about science -- it's about making abortion as difficult, expensive, and unreachable as possible," Northup said in a statement.

Julia Kaye, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said "anti-abortion politicians have just made it much harder for people everywhere in the country to get a medication that abortion and miscarriage patients have been safely using for more than 25 years."

Some 20 states have banned or restricted abortion since the Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling that enshrined the constitutional right to abortion for half a century.

Polls show a majority of Americans support continued access to safe abortion, even as conservative groups push to limit the procedure or ban it outright.

In 2024, the US Supreme Court rejected a bid to restrict mifepristone, ruling that anti-abortion groups and doctors challenging the medication lacked the legal standing to bring the case.

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World champion Lando Norris beamed in the Florida sunshine Friday after steering his upgraded McLaren to pole position for Saturday's sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.

The 26-year-old Briton made the most of the extensive upgrades on his car to outpace Mercedes' Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli, at 19 the youngest man to lead the drivers' championship in F1 history, and end Mercedes' early season domination. 

"I've always loved Miami, both on and off the track," said Norris, who claimed his maiden F1 triumph at the compact circuit built around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens in 2024. "And this is a good result for us, but still only at the beginning of the weekend.

"There's still a long way to go, but it's nice to kick off by doing this. We've got a lot of new upgrades on the car and it is nice to feel some grip again -- and nice to reward the guys and girls who have put a lot of work into this."

Asked if he felt this indicated that the defending constructors' champions had regained the initiative from McLaren, Norris was cautious.

"It's so tough to know because every track is different. We've known that this track has always been good to us, but we knew that what we were bringing was hopefully going to be a good step so it's nice that our estimations have proved to be correct. 

"The team deserve that... Since the first lap today, I felt very comfortable and I thought I had a bit of rear grip, so it is good to start with pole."

McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, who won last year's race, was a close third ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, four-time Max Verstappen of Red Bull and early season leader George Russell of Mercedes. 

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton was seventh in the second Ferrari, the Italian team along with Red Bull having brought major upgrade packages to the Miami race. 

It was the first time this year that Mercedes had been outpaced in a qualifying session, after three races run before the five-week hiatus due to the conflict in the Middle East. 

A disappointed Russell said: "I think it is pretty surprising how big a jump McLaren and Ferrari have made. It's much bigger than we expected, even if this has never been a favourite circuit for me."

He added that he had struggled with overheating tyres and other problems throughout Friday. 

Verstappen was also disappointed, but realistic and said he could see the positives in Red Bull's improved performance thanks to their upgrades, but added that the team were still "very weak" in the high-speed section of the track. 

"We need to work on that," he said, a comment repeated by Ferrari's Hamilton, who said he had hoped Ferrari's extensive upgrade package would have delivered greater rewards.

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Charles Leclerc offered Ferrari fans a message of hope on Friday after the Italian team were outpaced by McLaren's world champion Lando Norris in qualifying for Saturday's sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.

Leclerc, who was fastest earlier in practice, qualified fourth behind both McLarens and Mercedes' teenage world championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

"We struggled with tires today in the heat," Leclerc said. "On mediums, we were working very well, but it was not such a nice feeling on the softs, so we have to look at that.

"We know that we're stronger in race pace but we have work to do in qualifying.

"I'm sure we have the pace to get back to the front in the race and we just have to see if we can find a way to overtake."

Leclerc added that he was impressed by the big improvement in McLaren with their extensive upgrades package. 

"Our upgrades are fine, but it's just that everybody has brought upgrades here," he said.

"We kind of expected this situation where Mercedes is probably still the car to beat, but McLaren made a big step forward.

"I felt they did not optimize their car in the earlier races, but now they've got it together."

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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the withdrawal of about 5,000 troops from Germany within the next year, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The announcement came after President Donald Trump threatened earlier this week to remove troops from NATO ally Germany amid a row with its chancellor, Friedrich Merz, over the US-Israeli war against Iran.

"We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.

"This decision follows a thorough review of the Department's force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground," Parnell added.

Germany's Merz has become a target of Trump's ire after saying Monday that Iran is "humiliating" Washington at the negotiating table.

Trump said on Tuesday that Merz "thinks it's OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn't know what he's talking about!"

On Wednesday, Trump said Washington was "studying and reviewing the possible reduction" of US troops in Germany, and that he would decide in a "short period of time."

During both of his terms in office, Trump has made a number of threats to slash US troop numbers in Germany and other European allies, saying he wants Europe to take on greater responsibility for its defense rather than depending on Washington.

- 'Why shouldn't I?' -

But he now appears determined to punish allies who have failed to back the war against Iran or contribute to a peacekeeping force in the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, which Tehran's forces have effectively closed.

On Thursday, Trump said he may pull US troops from Italy and Spain due to their opposition to the war, telling reporters in the Oval Office: "Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible."

"Yeah, probably, I probably will. Why shouldn't I?" Trump said.

As of December 31, 2025, there were 12,662 active-duty US troops in Italy and 3,814 in Spain. In Germany there were 36,436.

Speaking during a visit to Morocco, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Thursday that Germany was "prepared" for a reduction in US troops and was "discussing it closely and in a spirit of trust in all NATO bodies."

While saying he was "relaxed" about the idea of fewer US troops in Germany, Wadephul said that large American bases in Germany are "not up for discussion at all."

He said for example that the Ramstein Air Base had "an irreplaceable function for the United States and for us alike."

The EU said Thursday that the deployment of US troops in Europe was in Washington's interest, and that the United States was "a vital partner in contributing to Europe's security and defense."

Trump meanwhile took aim at Merz again, telling him to focus on ending the Ukraine war instead of "interfering" on Iran.

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Colombian workers on Friday had a message for the two right-wing candidates trying to flip the presidency four years after the country elected its first leftist leader: "We're not going back."

The South American country goes to the polls on May 31 to choose a successor to firebrand President Gustavo Petro, famous for his skirmishes on X with President Donald Trump.

Polls show Petro's political heir, Senator Ivan Cepeda, winning the first round of voting with a program of continued social support for the poor in one of the world's most unequal countries.

But it is unclear whether he can triumph in a run-off against ultra-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella or conservative senator Paloma Valencia in an election shadowed by a surge in guerrilla violence, which the right has laid at Petro's feet.

Addressing a May Day rally in Bogota on Friday, Cepeda warned that workers' rights, including an unprecedented increase in the minimum wage, would be rolled back if the right came to power.

His rivals, he declared, represented the "neoliberal model of opulence for a narrow, unscrupulous and unproductive elite" that dominated Colombia's history until Petro, a former leftist guerrilla, came to power in 2022.

"Comrades, don't allow them to take away what we have achieved!" Cepeda, a professorial figure in a collarless white shirt and rimless glasses, told thousands of supporters gathered outside Congress under a hot Andean sun.

"The people have awoken. There's no going back," former health minister Carolina Corcho roared from the stage.

- 'Peace of mind' -

A few months ago, the odds appeared to be stacked against the left.

From Argentina to Bolivia to Chile, Latin American voters were tossing out left-wing governments, accusing them of corruption, shambolic economic management and/or failing to halt crime and illegal migration.

Petro was in the crosshairs of US President Donald Trump, who in January told him to "watch his ass" after overthrowing fellow left-winger Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela.

But after patching up relations with Trump during a White House visit, and implementing a 23-percent minimum wage hike, Petro's popularity soared, and with it that of Cepeda.

For Alejandro Guayara, a 38-year-old father of two struggling to make ends meet as a doorman in a Bogota apartment building, the wage hike represented "peace of mind."

While only 2.4 million Colombians are paid the minimum wage, many others have benefitted from increases to night-time and weekend pay pushed through by Petro last year as part of a major labor reform.

"People have experienced new-found hope with this president because ordinary people are being taken into account," Guayara said.

"Today the power is in our hands, that of the people," Jose Cruz, a 60-year-old former member of the M-19 urban guerrilla group to which Petro belonged in his youth, told AFP.

Petro's past within M-19, which disbanded in 1990, has been used by critics to suggest he is cozy with the myriad armed groups that still rule large parts of Colombia's northeast and south.

Yann Basset, a professor of political science at the University of Rosario in Bogota, said the Colombian left was long dogged by its association with left-wing guerrillas.

But now "a large part of the population associate it with something else, with the social reforms of the Petro government in particular, and much less with violence."

Petro's failure to broker peace with the country's various cocaine-trafficking armed groups has however tainted his legacy for some left-wing voters.

It has also soured them on Cepeda, a key architect of the peace talks strategy.

Last year was the most violent in the decade since the Marxist rebel army FARC signed a historic peace deal ending half a century of war with the state.

Last weekend, a dissident FARC faction opposed to the peace deal bombed a highway in southern Colombia, killing 21 people, in what it later said was an "error."

The situation has boosted calls for a "mano dura" approach of the kind promoted by de la Espriella and Valencia.

"Security has been terrible in recent years," 18-year-old engineering student Juan Manuel Cespedes said, calling for harsher prison sentences.

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World champion Lando Norris ended Mercedes' early-season supremacy by steering his upgraded McLaren to pole position on Friday for Saturday's sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix.

The 26-year-old Briton outpaced championship-leading Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli, in his Mercedes, by 0.222 seconds with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri third, adrift by a further 0.239 seconds.

The two McLarens, equipped with a successful upgrade package during F1's five-week hiatus due to the conflict in the Middle East, shone in the Florida heat to finish ahead of their main rivals. 

"It was great, a perfect result for us and a nice way to reward the team," said Norris. "We've got some new upgrades so it's nice for me to feel some grip again. We've known that this track has always been good for us.

"But we knew, too, that what we were bringing would make a good step and it has and our estimations have been correct."

It was the first time this year that Mercedes had been outqualified after dominating the three previous Grands Prix. 

Ferrari also impressed, but were less competitive than they had been earlier in practice with their heavily revised car. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari ahead of a revitalised four-time champion Max Verstappen in his revised Red Bull, Mercedes' George Russell and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari.

Franco Colapinto was eighth for an improved Alpine ahead of Isack Hadjar in the second Red Bull and Pierre Gasly in the second Alpine. 

In hot conditions in the Sunshine State, Valtteri Bottas led out in his Cadillac with all 22 cars joining the fray immediately at the Miami International Autodrome.

Leclerc, who was quickest in practice earlier, was soon on top ahead of Antonelli by 0.022 with Hamilton third, three-tenths adrift ahead of Verstappen and Gasly. Russell struggled to keep pace before Norris and Piastri grabbed the initiative.

Norris, clearly in the mood, clocked 1:28.723 to top Piastri by four-tenths until Leclerc split the two McLarens ahead of Hamilton and the Mercedes pair, leaving Verstappen down in seventh in SQ1.

The first action saw the expected elimination of both Aston Martins and both Cadillacs along with Haas's Esteban Ocon and the luckless Liam Lawson in his lemon-liveried Racing Bulls.

SQ2 began with another fast lap from Leclerc, confirming the success of Ferrari's upgrades, and Piastri, this time dividing him from Hamilton, the McLaren only 0.036 adrift of Leclerc's pace.

Russell was fourth and Verstappen fifth ahead of championship leader Antonelli and world champion Norris as both Audis missed the cut to reach the top 10 along with Oliver Bearman's Haas, the two Williams and Arvid Lindblad in the second Racing Bulls' car.

After the two runs on mediums, the SQ3 shootout between the top three teams made a slow start on softs, reducing the action to one fast lap each for pole. 

Russell went first but could not deliver the pace to maintain Mercedes' run of qualifying domination this year as he wound up sixth, six-tenths adrift of fastest man Norris, whose upgraded McLaren took him to pole in 1:27.869.

Antonelli made a valiant late effort to beat him, but settled for second with Piastri third and Leclerc fourth ahead of Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton.

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(The Center Square) – A federal appeals court on Friday temporarily halted a Biden-era rule that allowed individuals to receive the abortion pill mifepristone through the mail without a prescription from a doctor.

A three-judge panel of the 5th ​U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled that the state of Louisiana likely would win its lawsuit challenging the practice.

"A three-judge panel on the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed the Biden administration's 2023 REMS nationwide," a news release from the Office of the Louisiana Attorney General says. "This means that prescribers cannot lawfully mail abortion drugs into Louisiana. The in-person dispensing of mifepristone is again required while the litigation proceeds."

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill sued after the Biden administration's Food and Drug Administration altered its safety guidelines and allowed mifepristone. to be prescribed online and dispensed through the mail, without needing an in-person doctor's visit. 

The FDA's move came after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which essentially returned the regulation of abortion back to the states.

About 1,500 people demonstrated in Venezuela on Friday, denouncing a 26 percent income increase announced by the government as grossly insufficient in a crisis-hit economy.

Acting president Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday hiked the monthly "comprehensive minimum income" from $190 to $240 -- a package comprised mostly of government bonuses that do not count toward retirement benefits or holiday pay. 

Protesters chanted "a bonus is not a salary" as they marched through the center of Caracas, with dozens of riot police looking on. Smaller protests were reported in other parts of the country. 

A family of five's basic food needs are estimated to cost about $700 a month in Venezuela.

Juraina Palacios, a 55-year-old teacher, said of Rodriguez: "What she did yesterday was an outrage." 

"It's a joke, a trick," said union leader Franklin Velasquez, 61.

Rodriguez -- Nicolas Maduro's vice president before US forces captured him in a stunning raid in January -- is grappling with leading a country that has the world's largest proven oil reserves but an economy in shambles.

Announcing the new minimum wage package on Thursday, she said it was "the most significant increase in recent years" but acknowledged that it was still "not enough."

Demands for better working conditions are intensifying in a devastated economy that shows no signs of recovery following decades of chronic price hikes. In 2025, Venezuela recorded inflation of 475 percent, the highest in the world.

"Workers cannot continue to bear the burden of a crisis they did not cause," union leader Jose Patines said Friday.

Rodriguez has promised better days ahead thanks to reforms opening the oil and mining sector to investment.

Venezuela has signed agreements with various multinational oil companies, including Chevron, Eni, and Repsol, and on Thursday welcomed the first direct flight from the United States in seven years, the latest sign of thawing relations since Washington deposed Maduro.

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